"They did absolutely nothing" — gaming companies criticized the UK's authorities for their weak support of the industry

The UK National Video Game Council, comprising representatives from various gaming companies, is dissatisfied with the level of government support in the United Kingdom. In their opinion, the government pays very little attention to the game development sector.

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The council members expressed this view during the Pocket Gamer Connects London 2026 conference. Among them were leaders from Miniclip, Chucklefish, JECO, The Games Angels, and the trade organization UKIE.

During a thematic roundtable, Miniclip CEO Saad Choudri acknowledged that the British gaming industry has significantly grown over the past 30 years. However, he believes that the authorities have not contributed to this growth. Choudri argues that the growth was achieved primarily due to the developers’ own efforts.

Choudri added that in some other countries, the situation regarding government support is much better. He cited Turkey as an example, where the authorities reimburse developers for part of their marketing expenses. Emily Bailey, co-founder of JECO, agrees with him. She described the situation in the UK as “absolutely shocking” and pointed out that even countries with much less developed economies have good support programs for gaming companies.

Notably, both Choudri and Bailey stated that they would not consider opening a studio in the UK now.

It is worth recalling that in June 2025, the UK government announced an expansion of the program to fund local gaming startups. At that time, it was reported that over the next three years, the government would spend £30 million on this initiative. Shortly after this announcement, the National Video Game Council was established to help the British authorities develop the game development sector in the country.