A Critical Analysis of Business Growth in the UK Digital Gaming Industry

Abstract

Digital gaming has become the fastest growing mass media industry in recent years. In addition to its economic impact, the digital gaming industry is also highly influential in the development of innovation and technology, and in social, cultural and creative spaces. However, as the industry continues to grow, the individual games development companies are facing various challenges, not least that the project-based nature of the industry is often associated with a high degree of volatility. During the game development process, businesses frequently face the difficulties of managing scope and expectations, controlling budget, ensuring timely delivery, and addressing communication and technological issues effectively. In addition, market saturation is becoming of increasing concern in the industry.Therefore, this thesis aims to critically analyse business growth in small and medium sized UK digital games development companies. In addressing the research aim, an extensive literature review was carried out, and in-depth interviews were conducted with owner-managers and other stakeholders in the industry. Primary data was analysed through thematic analysis and case studies methods. The study finds that the characteristics of the industry has largely shaped the way games development companies are doing their businesses. Other than talents, funding, commercialisation, infrastructure, political environment and general business support, aspects such as clustering and networks, and emphasis on internal growth measures are also key to the survival and growth of the companies.By synthesizing literature and analysing primary data, this research makes its unique contributions to the development and enrichment of two frameworks, namely the dynamic states framework and the entrepreneurial ecosystem framework. These in turn play a vital role in informing and enhancing understanding of the practices and policies that impact on the digital gaming industry. From a practice perspective, this research is particularlyuseful in that it can enable less experienced game developers to understand how the industry works and what they should be focusing on for growth in addition to product development. Moreover, these research findings can also support and contribute to future policy development in support of the digital games industry.

Date of Award	Oct 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Coventry University
Supervisor	Gideon Maas (Supervisor), Paul Jones (Supervisor) & Joan Lockyer (Supervisor)