UK Games Developers Show a Taste for Action and Adventure

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Jun 11, 2015, 10:27 ET

LONDON, June 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

A new study from trade association, TIGA, shows Action-Adventure games made up 21% of recorded UK games developed in 2014, with iOS being the dominant platform.

A new report from TIGA, the trade association representing the UK's games industry, has revealed an in-depth look at the UK games developed by genre. Out of the 220 UK-developed games recorded in the report titled, The Name of the Game, 21.4 % belonged to the Action/Adventure genre. Other popular genres included Traditional Arcade games with 14.4% of all releases, and Puzzle/Trivia games at 12.3%. But are UK developers meeting the needs of consumer buying habits?

A recent study by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK investigated consumer buying habits in 2014 and revealed that that over 1/3 of respondents listed Puzzle/Trivia games as their favourite titles, with 56% of respondents being women. TIGA's report revealed the rise of Puzzle/Trivia games being developed and that Android and iOS devices comprised well over 50% of all the games released last year. iOS took the lion's share of that number with nearly 100 titles launched on its platform.

The report also confirmed developer perceptions according to genre. A series of UK developers were approached and asked a number of questions including whether the UK specifically excels at any particular game type. These companies included award-winning studios Fireproof Studios, Playground Games, Lionhead and Rebellion.

Rebellion's Chris Kingsley also acknowledged the rise of mobile as a defining factor in future games development in the UK, "The Action/Adventure genre has always had a great reputation for innovation, and that's going to continue," he noted, "There's great scope for grand blockbuster Action/Adventures on PC and consoles, but it is perhaps the smartphone market where there is the biggest opportunity."

Genres that catered to a much smaller percentage of games developed in 2014 included educational, racing and horror games. Developers were also asked to evaluate their understanding and thoughts behind these genres including what the general disadvantages are and what the future would hold. A number of developers commented that hardware could help their genre evolve.

Lorna Probert, Head of Digital Production at Aardman Entertainment, stated that while the studio predicts educational games will become more accepted and widely used as a form of teaching, "we also expect to see more educational games in the field of connected toys and interactive books."

While both Paul Bennun, CCO of Somethin' Else and Jonathan Bunney, VP Publishing at Codemasters both agreed that VR could pave the way for immersive experiences that would allow consumers to fully enjoy horror and racing games. Jonathan Bunney added: "The obvious advances in hardware will allow us to close the gap between the experience we can put on the screen and what it really feels like to drive the cars around real world tracks."

TIGA's report comes ahead of the largest tradeshow, E3 2015, which will unveil a series of new games and updates on hardware. TIGA is known for recognizing excellence in particular genres, TIGA's Games Industry Awards include Best Arcade Game and Best Action/Adventure Game.

Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, said: "Our members consist of independent games developers and in-house publisher-owned developers. It's important for us to be able to relay our findings in order to best advise our members and to help maintain the growth of the industry. We have found that while UK game developers don't necessarily bow down to consumer trends they are continuing to adapt to the changing needs of the UK market."

About TIGA

TIGA is 90% funded by independent UK businesses. 80% of our board members are developers and/or from UK owned businesses, and 50% of our board are UK business owners themselves. Since 2010, TIGA has won 24 business awards and commendations. TIGA focuses on three sets of activities: