Developments

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

A man looking at computer games in a shop

The UK’s role
The UK dominates Europe's computer game industry in both consumption and development. 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 80s 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.

Character animation
UK developers rapidly gained a reputation for producing fresh and original games that continued into the 90s when Sony released its Sony PlayStation. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe employed UK developers for the production of many of its key titles such as 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 their players with a real-life environment and increased the profile of UK developers.

The future
Microsoft, in its bid to dislodge Sony with its 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 60s 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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