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A computer game display
Microsoft
Microsoft, creators of the Xbox and many popular PC games, use UK developers.
Sony
The Sony Play Station is popular with people of all ages.
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider developed by Core Design is famous for the character Lara Croft.
Tempting art students into gaming (BBC News)
Art college and video games may seem an unlikely match. But a project run by a Scottish university is trying to persuade art students to consider a career in the games industry.
gaming developments Orange lozenge left
A man looking at computer games in a shop

The UK’s role
The UK dominates Europe as both computer game consumers and as developers. More computer consoles and games are bought and played in the UK than anywhere else in the continent.

In terms of development, the affordable home computers of the eighties captured the imagination of a generation of individuals who were able to see the potential of the medium by becoming ‘bedroom coders’ and developing games like the 1984 space trading game ‘Elite’.

A child playing with computer joy padCharacter animation
UK developers rapidly gained a reputation for producing fresh and original games which continued into the nineties when Sony released its Sony PlayStation. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe employed UK developers for the production of many of its key titles like the 1996 ‘Tomb Raider’ developed by Core Design. Tomb Raider heralded the move towards realism featuring authentic character animation in a make-believe setting that would maintain the player’s interest.
Other popular computer games like GoldenEye (Rare 1997), a first person shooter game based on the James Bond films, and Grand Theft Auto challenged its players with a real-life environment and increased the profile of UK developers.
A shooting game in an arcade

The future
Microsoft, in their bid to dislodge Sony with their Xbox console, has courted UK developers to produce a significant proportion of the machine’s software. Video gaming may have originated in the United States in the sixties and undergone refinement in Japan but when it comes to a promising future no other nation looks as set to contribute as extensively or constructively as the UK.

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