UK game development is not just a London industry. Studios cluster in towns and cities across all four nations, each with its own history, specialisms and mix of employers. This guide tours the main hubs, what kind of work you will find in each, and some of the studios based there.
How to use this guide
Clusters matter for your career in practical ways. A city with several studios gives you options if a project is cancelled, a wider network of people to learn from, and more chance of moving up without moving house. Before relocating for a role, it is worth asking whether the area could support your next job too.
The studios named below are examples, not a complete list, and the industry changes quickly: studios open, merge, rebrand and close. For an up-to-date view, use our directory of every UK studio we track and the list of studios hiring now. Where we have a page of live vacancies for a place, it is linked under each heading.
England
London
London has the largest concentration of games companies in the UK, and the widest range. It is home to big console studios, a large mobile and free-to-play sector, publishers, platform holders' UK offices, and a dense indie scene. It also hosts the business functions many international companies place in the UK: marketing, publishing, partnerships and data.
Well-known studios include Rocksteady, maker of the Batman: Arkham series; Sports Interactive, the Football Manager studio; Mediatonic, which created Fall Guys; and Splash Damage, based in Bromley in south-east London. Mobile is especially strong, with King, NaturalMotion and Hutch all operating in the capital. The annual London Games Festival brings much of the community together.
London roles often carry higher salaries, sometimes with an explicit London weighting, but living costs are higher too. Hybrid working has widened the commuter belt considerably. See the salaries guide for how location affects pay.
Guildford and Surrey
Guildford punches far above its size. Its games history runs back to Bullfrog, Peter Molyneux's studio behind Populous and Theme Park, and to Lionhead, which made Black & White and the Fable series before closing in 2016. Many of today's Surrey studios were founded or staffed by people from those companies.
Today the town is home to Criterion, the EA studio known for Burnout and Need for Speed, and to EA's UK presence more widely. Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet, Dreams), Hello Games (No Man's Sky) and Supermassive Games (Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology) are all based in or around Guildford. Two Point Studios, maker of Two Point Hospital, is in nearby Farnham.
Just over the border in West Sussex, Creative Assembly in Horsham, developer of the Total War series, is one of the UK's largest studios. The wider area, including parts of Hampshire, has many smaller studios too, so a base in Surrey puts a lot of employers within commuting distance.
Leamington Spa and Warwickshire ("Silicon Spa")
Live Leamington Spa games jobs
The Regency spa town of Leamington and the surrounding area have built such a dense cluster that the nickname "Silicon Spa" has stuck. Much of it traces back to Codemasters, whose headquarters at Southam, a short drive away, trained a generation of developers who went on to found or join other local studios.
The flagship is Playground Games, the Xbox studio behind Forza Horizon and the new Fable. Codemasters, now part of EA, is known for racing games. Kwalee is a mobile and PC developer and publisher, Lighthouse Games was founded by former Playground leaders, and the town also has a range of mid-sized and smaller studios including Pixel Toys and Third Kind Games.
The cluster leans towards racing, open-world and technically ambitious console work, with strong demand for programmers, technical artists and vehicle and environment artists. Coventry and Warwick, both close by, add university links and further studios.
Brighton
Brighton has a long-established creative and digital sector, and games are part of it. The city hosts the Develop:Brighton conference each summer, one of the UK's main events for developers. Studios include The Chinese Room, known for Dear Esther and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture; Electric Square and Studio Gobo, both part of Keywords Studios and frequent co-development partners on large titles; and a UK studio of 2K's Hangar 13. Co-development and work-for-hire are a notable strength, which can be a good way to work on a wide range of big projects.
Cambridge
Cambridge's technology sector, sometimes called Silicon Fen, includes several major games studios. Frontier Developments, publisher and developer of Elite Dangerous, Planet Coaster and Jurassic World Evolution, is headquartered here. Jagex, the RuneScape studio, has run one of the UK's longest-lived online games from the city. Ninja Theory, the Xbox studio behind Hellblade, is also based in Cambridge.
The cluster is strong in simulation and management games, live online services and engine and tools programming. Proximity to the university and the wider tech sector means competition for engineers is high, which tends to be reflected in pay.
Oxford
Oxford's best-known games company is Rebellion, the independent developer and publisher behind Sniper Elite and Zombie Army, which also owns the 2000 AD comics. Rebellion has studios elsewhere in England, but Oxford is its home. The city also has a smaller set of independent studios, and NaturalMotion began life as an Oxford University spin-out before growing into a London-based mobile company. Commuting links to London and the Thames Valley widen the options.
Manchester and Salford
Manchester's digital economy has grown rapidly, helped by MediaCityUK in Salford, which brought broadcasters and creative businesses to the city. In games, the largest employer is Cloud Imperium Games, which develops Star Citizen and Squadron 42 and runs one of its main studios in Manchester. The city also has a mix of mobile, indie and service companies, and several universities with games and computing courses that feed the local talent pool.
Manchester is a good base for the wider North West, with Liverpool, Cheshire and the Pennine towns within reach.
Liverpool and Merseyside
Liverpool has one of the deepest games histories in the UK. Psygnosis, publisher of Lemmings and creator of Wipeout, was based here and later became Sony's Studio Liverpool. When that closed in 2012, much of its talent stayed in the city and went on to found new studios.
Today Firesprite, a PlayStation Studios developer, is Liverpool's biggest name. Ripstone develops and publishes games, and Lucid Games works on its own titles as well as co-development for larger publishers. Across the Mersey in Runcorn, d3t, part of Keywords Studios, specialises in technical co-development and porting. The cluster is particularly strong in console development, technical programming and co-development.
The North East
Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland and Middlesbrough together form a compact cluster with a long track record. Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle, originally the creator of the Driver series, has been part of Ubisoft for many years and contributes to the publisher's major franchises. Newcastle also has a Sumo Digital studio.
In Sunderland, Coatsink develops and ports games and is known for its VR work. Middlesbrough is home to Double Eleven, which specialises in porting, live operations and co-development. Teesside University in Middlesbrough has long-standing games courses and a strong link to the local industry, as do Newcastle and Northumbria universities. Living costs are lower than in the south, which many developers count heavily in the region's favour.
Yorkshire: Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield
Yorkshire's games industry is spread across several cities. Sumo Digital, one of the UK's largest independent developers before its acquisition by Tencent, is headquartered in Sheffield and has worked on everything from Sackboy: A Big Adventure to co-development on major franchises. Sheffield is also home to Steel City Interactive, the studio behind the boxing game Undisputed.
Team17, creator of Worms and publisher of many independent games, is based in Ossett near Wakefield. In Leeds, Rockstar Leeds is part of Rockstar Games' network of studios, and the city has a growing mix of smaller studios and digital agencies. The three cities are close enough that many people consider jobs across the region.
The Midlands: Birmingham, Nottingham and Derby
The Midlands has some of the UK's most famous studios, though they are spread out rather than concentrated in one city. Rare, the Xbox studio behind Banjo-Kazooie and Sea of Thieves, is based in the Leicestershire village of Twycross. Playtonic, founded by former Rare developers and known for Yooka-Laylee, is in Burton upon Trent.
In Derby, Bulkhead develops shooters and military games. Nottingham is home to Lockwood Publishing, maker of the social game Avakin Life, along with a range of smaller studios. Birmingham, the region's largest city, has a growing creative and digital sector, several universities with games programmes, and good rail links that make the Leamington cluster and much of the Midlands commutable.
Scotland
Scotland's games industry is concentrated in three cities, each with a distinct character. This site began as a Scottish job board, so it is a part of the industry we know well.
Dundee
Dundee is one of the most important games cities in the UK relative to its size. Its modern industry grew from DMA Design, the studio that made Lemmings and the original Grand Theft Auto. That legacy, together with Abertay University and its pioneering games courses, has given the city a deep pool of experienced developers.
Rockstar Dundee is part of Rockstar's studio network. 4J Studios is known for bringing Minecraft to consoles. Outplay Entertainment is one of the UK's established mobile developers, Ninja Kiwi Europe works on the Bloons series, and Tag Games is part of the mobile publisher Scopely. Dundee's mix of console and mobile work, compact size and lower living costs make it a strong place to start or build a career.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is home to Rockstar North, the lead studio on the Grand Theft Auto series and one of the largest game development teams in the UK. It is also where Build A Rocket Boy, the studio behind MindsEye, is based. The city's universities, particularly in informatics and computer science, and its broader technology sector add depth, and there is a lively community of smaller studios.
Glasgow
Glasgow has a creative, indie-leaning scene with strong links to the city's art schools and universities. Studios include No Code, known for narrative horror games such as Observation, and Blazing Griffin, which works across games and film. The city also has numerous smaller and service studios. Glasgow and Edinburgh are under an hour apart by train, and many developers treat the Central Belt as a single job market. Glasgow roles are listed on the Scotland page.
Wales
Cardiff and south Wales
Live Cardiff games jobs
Wales has a smaller games industry than England or Scotland, but it is growing, much of it around Cardiff and the south Wales corridor. The Welsh Government supports the creative industries through Creative Wales, and Cardiff's strength in television and animation overlaps usefully with games. Cloth Cat, a Cardiff studio that works across animation and games, is one example of that crossover. Universities in Cardiff and across south Wales run games and computing courses that feed local studios. Expect a community of mostly small and mid-sized independent companies, with opportunities in art, animation and interactive work alongside traditional game development.
Northern Ireland
Live Northern Ireland games jobs
Belfast
Belfast's games industry is small but active, supported by Northern Ireland Screen, the screen agency that funds film, television, animation and games. The city's wider technology sector, including software development and cyber security, means strong demand for programmers, and Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University both provide relevant courses. Most studios are independent and small, and the scene benefits from a close-knit community where it is relatively easy to meet the people who hire.
Choosing where to look
If you are weighing up locations, a few questions help:
- How many studios could you work for without moving? A single-studio town is riskier than a cluster.
- What does the area specialise in? Mobile, console, co-development and live online games each need different skills. Match the cluster to your portfolio.
- How do pay and living costs balance? A higher London salary does not always leave more in your pocket.
- Is hybrid or remote working an option? Many studios now hire people who live an hour or more away and visit a few days a week. The remote work guide explains what to check.
- Where are the universities and events? They are where you will meet people, particularly early in your career.
The jobs-over-time chart shows how vacancies are split across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and how that changes through the year.
Next steps
- Browse by nation: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.
- See which studios are hiring now, or explore the full studio directory.
- Consider working remotely: remote roles and the remote work guide.
- Starting out? Read how to get into games and the guide to graduate schemes and placements.
- Search every live vacancy on the job board.