UK Video Games Council pushes for further government support

The UK Video Games Council has pushed for further government support of the industry, arguing that the country has a wealth of talent but not less support than other parts of the world.

Speaking at Pocket Gamer Connects 2026 – as reported by Knowledge – Ustwo’s Maria Sayans said that one of the organisation’s priorities would be increased support for mid-sized companies. She also advocated for more incentives like “loans and tax relief, at a scale that actually makes sense”.

“One of the [priorities] is the lack of support to the medium-sized companies that go under the radar and yet have functioned in this country for so many years,” Sayans said.

She continued: “Not all of us are in this industry to grow and scale into massive companies.”

Meanwhile, Miniclip CEO Saad Choudri argued that while the UK has a wealth of talent, it lacks support at a government level found in other parts of the world.

“The reality of the UK games industry today is we have all the talent but none of the support that other regions in the world have,” he explained.

“I think people don’t understand when we talk about Turkey[‘s boom], how much is actually done by the [Turkish] government. One great example is the Turkish government putting out help to support user acquisition funding, giving a cash rebate back to studios up to a million dollars. The UK government isn’t even close to setting up something like that. You can talk about Canada, you can talk about Vietnam… Vietnam didn’t just happen overnight, either. China is the same. These places don’t just emerge.”

He continued: “The rest of the world, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, have been just far ahead of where we are. We have creativity. This is an island where we can have the best of music, film, TV and technology in one place. But it’s often we’re doing this on our own.

“If I had to start a 100-person studio today, I would not do it in the UK. And most people here would say the same.”

The UK Video Games Council was formed in June 2025 as a means of the government having a better relationship with representatives from the industry. The board has faced criticism, including that from the IWGB Game Workers union, which felt that the council should have better representation.

Meanwhile, there’s also been the formation of the UK Games Industry Shadow Council, whose aim is to address “good and poor practices” in the sector.