InGame Economic Impact June 2023

The economic
impact of InGAME
June 2023
InGAME is funded by the Creative Industries Clusters Programme,
managed by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as part
of the Industrial Strategy. Grant Reference AH/S002871/1.
InGAME is delivered by Abertay University, in partnership with the

University of Dundee and the University of St Andrews.
InGAME is supported by additional funding from the

Scottish Funding Council.
Economic Impact of InGAME
A report to the InGAME Academic Partnership (Abertay University, University of Dundee and University of St.
Andrews)
April 2023
Photo by
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Contents
Executive Summary 2
1. Introduction 3
2. InGAME 6
3. Business Benefits 9
4. Economic Impact 14
5. Digital Innovation Ecosystem 22
6. Solving Societal Challenges 29
7. Conclusions 34
Appendix – Study Consultees 37
Economic Impact of InGAME 1

Executive Summary
InGAME has helped to establish a thriving digital
innovation ecosystem that will help sustain and grow
Dundee’s games cluster. It is expected to generate a
total of £84.7 million GVA for the Scottish economy
over 10 years and support around 175 jobs.
InGAME is one of nine Creative Industries Cluster Programmes established by the
Arts and Humanities Research Council in 2018. Its purpose is to increase the scale
and value of the Dundee video games cluster through collaborative research and
development. It is led by Abertay University in partnership with Dundee University and
the University of St Andrews. It has received £5.3 million UK public funding from the
Creative Industries Clusters Programme and stimulated a further £11.1 million of co-
investment from industry and other partners.
Since 2018 InGAME has become a key element of Dundee’s successful games
cluster, a convening power at the heart of its innovation system. It has helped to
address the strategic challenges to realising the potential of the games sector by
supporting co-ordination and communication and brokering new partnerships and
projects both within the sector, and between the sector and external stakeholders.
The links it has helped establish between the sector and wider stakeholders are likely
to lead to significant societal benefits with impacts in both public health and
agriculture expected to be substantial over the longer term.
InGAME has also generated substantial benefits for the businesses it has supported.
It has played an important role in helping several young businesses successfully
transition into mature enterprise with the capacity for long-term sustainable growth.
Some of the businesses supported were able to attribute specific performance
improvements to the support they had received, resulting in substantial quantifiable
economic impacts. This is unusual for this type of initiative and is a testament to the
effectiveness of the approach adopted by the InGAME team.
It is estimated that over 10 years the initiative will generate £84.7 million GVA for
the Scottish economy and support more than 175 jobs. This is expected to include
around £55.3 million GVA and around 115 jobs within the Tay Cities Region.
This implies that for every £1 of UK public funding invested through the Creative
Industries Clusters Programme, InGAME:
• will generate a total of £15.90 GVA over a 10 year period; and

• has (to date) leveraged £2.08 of co-investment, a figure that continues to grow.

1. Introduction
Innovation for Games and Media Enterprise
(InGAME) is a collaborative research and
development centre in Dundee that exists to increase
the scale and value of the local videogames cluster.
This report describes its impact.
In 2023, BiGGAR Economics was commissioned to assess the economic and
societal impacts of InGAME. This report presents the findings of that assessment.
The objectives of the study were to:
• measure the quantifiable economic impact of InGAME;

• identify the wider societal impacts generated by InGAME;
• assess potential future impacts for the local cluster and wider creative sector;
• recommend how the ongoing impact of InGAME can be monitored; and
• provide recommendations for optimising any contributions InGAME’s approach
makes to supporting the strategic priorities of the sector.
1.1 InGAME
InGAME was established in 2018 to increase the scale and value of the Dundee video
games cluster through collaborative research and development. It is led by Abertay
University in partnership with Dundee University and the University of St Andrews. It
has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Scottish
Funding Council, industry and academic institutions.
InGAME is one of nine Creative Industries Cluster Programmes to be established by

the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It received £5.3 million from the Arts and
Humanities Research Council (AHRC). This funding was used to leverage a further
£0.5 million funding from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and in-kind support
from industry and academia, including R&D expertise and facilities.
1.2 The Economic Value of the Games Industry

According to the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association the UK home
entertainment market (which includes music, video and games sales) is estimated to
have reached £11.1 billion in revenue last year1. Video games accounted for £4.7bn
of these sales, making it the largest home entertainment sector in the UK in 2022.
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1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64187547

There is no doubting the economic power of Scotland’s games industry – Scotland is
one of the top games and software developer locations in the world. Well known
global successes have emerged from Dundee, like Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings,
and there is a healthy pipeline of innovative products and businesses.
However, the value of the sector extends beyond the direct economic benefits
associated with of digital games. Games technology is also an increasingly
important platform technology with the potential for wide ranging applications and
slipovers for other important sectors and areas of society. This assessment
considers both dimensions of the sector’s economic role.
1.2.1 Digital Games Businesses in Scotland

There are clusters of games companies and researchers in Dundee, Edinburgh and
Glasgow, with collaboration supported across the country. In Dundee, the games
industry is central to the city’s technology sector - the international profile of the
games sector underpins Dundee’s attractiveness to technology businesses, whose
digital cluster includes large companies such as BT and NCR and companies and
research institutions in related sectors such as financial services and life sciences.
According to research by TIGA, the trade association for the video games industry2,
Scotland’s games industry is growing quickly, faster than the rest of the UK, and the
proportion of games developers employed in Scotland is growing. TIGA’s research,
based on a survey of UK games businesses shows that in December 2021 there were
2,269 FTE creative staff working on games development in 147 games development
companies, an increase of 53% since April 2020. This makes Scotland home to
almost 8% of the UK’s games studios and almost 11% of its developer employees3.
While this paints an encouraging picture for anyone interested in the economic
opportunity offered by the sector, it is likely to underestimate its full scale, because a
growing number of businesses do not actively create games and are not included in
this picture. According to data from the Scottish Games Network, Scotland has 425
companies working in the games sector, of which 317 are developers. Of the
remaining businesses 34 are tech companies and 74 are supporting companies –
largely specialists in audio, animation, digital design, music 4. Chapter 3 considers
how InGAME has supported the growth of these kinds of businesses and chapter 4
quantifies the economic impact of this.
1.2.2 Sectoral Challenges

There are several challenges that need to be overcome to realise the potential of the
games sector. Some of these were highlighted by a cross disciplinary project
delivered in 20225, which identified a lack of entrepreneurship and commercialisation
as a particular issue. The project also noted that the smaller businesses that make
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2
https://tiga.org/about-tiga-and-our-industry
3
Data aligns with findings of the 2021 Screen Business Report produced by the British Film Industry
4
Scottish Games Network news, https://scottishgames.net/2022/05/11/scottish-games-industry-
growing-more-quickly-than-uk-may-22/
5
Video Games Ecosystem Project, A cross disciplinary project
https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/business/news/headline_890502_en.html

up most of the industry can find growth difficult and highlighted a lack of collective
representation and strategic focus at a local or national level. A functioning
innovation ecosystem will play an important role in addressing these challenges.
Chapter 5 considers the extent to which InGAME has supported the development of
an innovation ecosystem for the Dundee cluster.
1.2.3 Societal Benefits of Games Technology

The games sector plays an important role in innovation across the UK. UKRI reflects
on the games sector as “the innovation engine of the UK digital economy”6. For
example, artificial intelligence and games playing innovations are intertwined, and
the games sector could be the UK’s most mature when it comes to AI adoption. This
is a key element of both the UK National AI Strategy7 and the Scottish Government’s
Logan Review. The National AI Strategy reflects on the power of AI to increase
resilience, productivity, growth, and innovation across the private and public sectors.
Beyond AI, games engines create 3D environments that are used across industries,
the backbone of the immersive economy8. The UK is Europe’s largest market for
virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), tapping into what is predicted to become
a $160 billion immersive technologies market. The infrastructure put in place by
games developers to enable this is built on cutting-edge technology, from super-
powered computers to 5G and cloud networking. There are growth opportunities for
immersive technologies across architecture, construction, engineering,
manufacturing, defence, entertainment, healthcare, training, and transport sectors9.
This technology is enabling innovators to transform

industries, calling them games engines simply isn’t
doing them justice.
Source: UKRI, The games sector: the innovation engine of the UK digital economy, (2021)
The impacts of the games sector go beyond technological advancements - it is also

key driver in user behaviour research. User interfaces commonplace across the
digital economy all originated from this sector, and have practical applications in
social care, education and mental health, all of which involve wider societal benefits.
Chapter 6 considers how InGAME has driven innovation in this area, not least
through the application of games technology to agriculture and chapter 7 presents
the conclusions of the analysis.
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6
UKRI (2021), The games sector: the innovation engine of the UK digital economy,
https://www.ukri.org/blog/the-games-sector-the-innovation-engine-of-the-uk-digital-economy/
7
UK Government, National AI Strategy, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-ai-strategy
8
UK Digital Catapult and High Value Manufacturing Catapult, The Immersive Economy in the UK Report
2019, https://www.immerseuk.org/resources/immersive-economy-report-2019/
9
Ibid.

2. InGAME
InGAME has developed an organic model of support
that enables it to respond effectively to the needs of
a rapidly evolving and highly diverse sector.
InGAME was set up in 2018 to increase the scale and value of the Dundee video
games cluster through collaborative research and development. The project has
four strategic priorities as depicted in Figure 2-1.
Our purpose is to drive growth and innovation in the

Dundee video games cluster through collaborative
R&D.
Figure 2-1 InGAME Strategic Priorities
Source: InGAME

2.1 Programme Design
At the outset of the project it was envisaged that InGAME would engage in three
main types of activity to deliver its objectives:
• collaborative applied research;

• cluster development support; and
• innovation challenges.
2.1.1 Collaborative Applied Research

Collaborative applied research involved working with individual businesses to
identify opportunities for applying academic knowledge and expertise to real world
business challenges. At the outset of the project it was envisaged that the principle
collaborative applied research vehicles InGAME would use were likely to include:
• voucher-based support – non-monetary awards valued at up to £5,000 that could

be used to procure relevant academic expertise to deliver specific innovation
projects;
• labs and experts – practical support to enable companies, many of whom were
very small with limited resources, to work with experts based at the InGAME
building to develop a product or process; and
• action research – this involved embedding academic researchers within a
business to develop a solution to a specific problem, while gaining industry
experience (like Knowledge Transfer Partnerships).
2.1.2 Cluster Development

As well as providing tailored support for individual businesses it was also envisaged
that InGAME would engage in activity designed to support the development of the
Dundee games cluster more generally. Specific activities were expected to include:
• skills, incubators and residency programmes designed to help small cohorts of

young companies and games developers increase their skills and knowledge;
• providing and disseminating evidence and analysis about the sector; and
• industrial fellowships to facilitate knowledge transfer within industry by
embedding an academic within a business to work on a specific project.
2.1.3 Innovation Challenges

Alongside the cluster and business support described above it was also envisaged
that InGAME would enable greater collaboration between businesses and academics
by facilitating access to research funding, for example through:
• open calls whereby researchers were invited to submit proposals for research;
and
• challenge-based industry funding, including customer-centred challenges
designed to identify solutions to industry-specific problems.

2.2 Approach
The structure outlined above provided a helpful starting point for the InGAME team at
the outset of the project. However as the project moved into its operational phase it
quickly became apparent that the nature of support required was more fluid than
anticipated. The team quickly adapted to this by adjusting processes and delivery
pathways to meet the needs of the businesses engaging with the project.
Over time this evolved into a very organic approach in which the needs and
aspirations of each business were assessed on a case-by-case basis and used to
develop a bespoke package of interventions tailored specifically to the situation.
This typically involved members of the InGAME team working closely with individual
business leaders, often over an extended period, to understand the challenges and
opportunities facing the business. Through this process the team have been able to
develop strong working relationships with the businesses they work with and in-
depth insight into the kind of support they require.
This approach has proved particularly well suited to the relatively young digital
games sector. Fast moving and heterogeneous, the sector encompasses a wide
range of business models, technologies, genres, audiences, and business sizes and
includes a high proportion of businesses that have not yet reached maturity. Many of
these businesses are still defining their vision and competitive strengths and may
not yet have a complete picture of their own development needs.
For these types of business engaging effectively with the much better established,
slower moving and more structured worlds of academia and public research funding
can be challenging. However, this type of engagement can be invaluable for enabling
young businesses operating in a rapidly changing and highly technical field to exploit
emerging opportunities. The approach developed by the InGAME team evolved to fill
this gap by helping bridge the gap between different actors in the system.
2.3 Delivery
Since 2018 the approach outlined above has enabled InGAME to 10:
• fund 177 research projects (target of 125);

• provide training for 2,283 professionals (target of 500); and
• leverage £11.1 million co-investment (target of £1.8 million). Implying £2.08 of
co-investment has been leveraged (to date) for every £1 UK public funding
received from the Creative Industries Clusters Programme.
The team’s ability to adapt its approach in response to the needs of the sector has
almost certainly been an important factor in enabling these outputs to be achieved.
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10
At the time of writing project outputs were increasing. Figures accurate to end of December 2022.

3. Business Benefits
InGAME has delivered tangible and quantifiable
benefits for some businesses, but the wider,
unquantifiable benefits delivered have the potential
to generate even greater value in the long run.
This chapter considers the benefits InGAME has helped to generate for the
businesses it has supported. It starts by summarising the quantifiable innovation
outputs and performance improvements reported by businesses before going on to
consider the extent to which these can reasonably be attributed to InGAME. The
chapter then concludes by considering the wider, unquantifiable benefits realised by
the businesses supported.
3.1 Innovation Outputs

The traditional starting point for evaluating the impact of innovation support
initiatives is to measure the outputs generated from the process. Indicators such as
the number of new products and services developed, collaborative partnerships
established or business practices improved all provide welcome assurance that
activity will one day lead to tangible business benefits.
In 2022 InGAME contracted Interface11 to undertake a survey of the businesses it has

supported. In total 32 businesses participated: 30 via an on-line questionnaire and
two through in-depth interviews. The evidence gathered provides a starting point for
understanding the types of benefits InGAME has delivered for businesses.
Of those interviewed 23 reported they had developed new games, products, services
or intellectual property (IP). This included 27 new games. Two companies also
reported that they had improved an existing game (or other product, service or IP)
and 11 reported being actively engaged in at least one ongoing development.
Businesses were also asked about other commercial developments supported by

InGAME. Overall 72% reported that they had developed new tools and technologies,
60% stated they had developed a new business model and 49% reported they had
formed a new commercial partnership.
When asked to reflect on other developments since engaging with InGAME:
• 53% of businesses either agreed or strongly agreed that there has been follow-on
engagement with academic partners;
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11
Interface is the public innovation agency responsible for connecting businesses and other organisations
in Scotland with relevant academic expertise in Scottish universities and research institutes.

• 19% agreed initiatives had spun out of their organisations as a result;
• 50% agreed that their productivity had increased;
• 46% agreed they had improved their internal development processes; and
• 28% agree their R&D processes have improved.
When asked about the commercial performance of their business since engaging
with InGAME, many of the businesses also reported that they had either already
created new jobs or expected to do so in the future. The economic impact of these
quantifiable improvements is presented in the chapter 4. However, these benefits are
likely to represent a fraction of the total value businesses derived from engaging with
InGAME. The remainder of this chapter therefore considers the nature and scale of
these unquantifiable benefits.
3.2 Wider Business Benefits

Thematic analysis of feedback from business leaders who engaged with InGAME
suggest there have been three main types of unquantifiable business benefits:
• new and enhanced business networks and relationships;

• increased capacity for future growth; and
• enhanced credibility and business profile.
The value of these benefits to the businesses concerned is considered below.
3.2.1 Networks and Relationships

The most commonly identified benefit (mentioned by seven of the nine businesses
leaders interviewed) were new or enhanced business relationships and networks.
Some businesses reported establishing new relationships with academia. This

included both digital games specialists and those working in complementary fields.
These relationships matter because they could help businesses leaders access the
expertise they need to grow their businesses in the future.
Other business leaders described how networking events arranged by InGAME had
helped them to develop stronger connections within the sector. Such connections
have the potential to generate business value by making it easier for people to find
out about new opportunities in the sector and collaborate with their peers.
A third type of relationship described by consultees were those established with non-
games businesses and organisations. These types of relationships tended to emerge
in the context of projects designed to explore opportunities to apply games
technology to non-games related applications and as such are likely to be
particularly important from a societal perspective (see chapter 6).
Each of these relationships is valuable in its own right because each holds the
potential to unlock new opportunities that might not otherwise emerge. But what is
perhaps even more valuable are the relationship building skills this process has
helped to nurture.

This point is well illustrated by the experience of one business leader who engaged
with InGAME to access specialist coding expertise to develop a new product. Once
the initial project was complete the InGAME team continued to provide informal
support by encouraging the business leader to participate in networking events and
trade fairs to market the new product. The new product now generates a small
income for the business but it is this follow-on support that has proved even more
valuable because of the effect it had on the confidence of the individual involved.
The ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively with others is

fundamental to the success of any business so any initiative that helps business
leaders to develop these skills is likely to be beneficial. This kind of support is
however likely to be particularly valuable in the digital games industry, which is not
an environment that is naturally conducive to building these kinds of social skills.
3.2.2 Capacity for Growth

For at least four of the businesses supported by InGAME the most valuable benefit
realised from their engagement was not a specific product or process innovation but
more fundamental improvements in the business’ capacity for growth. The basis for
these improvements was different for each business but the effects are expected to
be long-lasting.
For one business the basis of this improvement was the opportunity for the chief
executive to participate in a peer-to-peer mentoring programme. This supported his
growth as a leader and enabled him to lead the business through the next phase of
its growth with greater confidence.
“The games sector is young and dynamic. Things

tend to move quickly. Before engaging with this
scheme [my business] was at the slower end of the
spectrum. Since then things have speeded up. We
are now more confident, less risk adverse and
better equipped to take decisions. This is likely to
have long term benefits for competitiveness.”
Source: Business leader supported by InGAME
The improvements experienced by a second business arose through a project to

develop and establish a new approach to hybrid working. This helped the business
respond quickly to the post-pandemic expectations of staff, helping it to ensure it
can continue to attract and retain the best talent. A third business reported how the
support they had received from InGAME had helped the business to successfully
transition from a “work for hire” business model to one based on original IP while a

fourth described how InGAME had helped them develop a sustainable source of
long-term competitive advantage (see box below).
Hyper Luminal Games is a values driven business

committed to staff wellbeing and focused on
creating social as well as commercial value.
One way the business creates social value is by designing games that are accessible
(to people with physical or cognitive barriers to play) and inclusive (i.e. broadly
representative of society). While these characteristics are important from a societal
perspective, they are of limited commercial value so tend to be overlooked by
commercial developers.
InGAME gave Hyper Luminal the opportunity to change this by participating in an

Inclusive Design for Immersive Experiences programme. This was an open
innovation competition for SMEs in the games and immersive content sectors. Its
purpose was to speed up the adoption and evolution of inclusive design and
innovation within games and immersive experiences. This programme was a co-
production between InGAME, StoryFutures Academy and inclusive innovation agency
Open Inclusion.
Through the project the business received input and advice from industry experts
and participated in market testing workshops. Following a successful competitive
bidding process the businesses was awarded £35,000 to develop their ideas.
The project has had a big impact on the business. The most immediate outcome
was to enable the business to embed accessibility and inclusivity into new original
intellectual property: “Pine Hearts”. This resulted in a better game with a wider
potential market.
Building on this experience the business was then able to develop a tool kit that has
enabled it to automatically embed inclusivity and diversity considerations as a
standard part of its design process. The business has since taken the opportunity to
develop a new service offer that will enable them to support clients interested in
embedding these considerations into their own work.
These developments have led to tangible commercial benefits for the business, but
the non-quantifiable benefits are likely to be equally if not more important in the long-
term. By enabling the business to focus on a socially important but commercially
marginal value proposition InGAME has helped it to establish a niche market offering
for clients and prospective staff. In the long-run this is expected to help the business
establish a stronger competitive position that could be even more valuable than the
short-term increase in turnover supported by the project.

3.2.3 Credibility and Visibility
A final theme to emerge from the consultations with businesses leaders was the
reputational value companies derived from engaging with InGAME.
For some businesses this was simply a result of the additional publicity received by
participating in projects. InGAME’s social media channels were perceived as a
helpful resource in this respect that helped provide welcome visibility, particularly for
some of the smaller and less mature businesses supported.
Other businesses described how working with InGAME had enhanced their credibility,
particularly with external partners. One business leader for example described how
his business is now regularly bidding for contracts up to ten times larger than they
were before engaging with InGAME. This outcome is largely attributable to the
enhanced confidence and skills the team developed through working with InGAME
and the enhanced profile the project helped generate for the business.
3.3 Summary Business Benefits

A distinctive feature of InGAME has been the organic and bespoke approach the
team has taken to supporting businesses. The package of support received by each
businesses has been as individual as the business themselves. This diversity is
reflected in the nature of the benefits generated but it is possible to identify four
important common themes.
The first is the value InGAME has generated for businesses by helping them to build
networks and professional relationships. While the value of these connections
cannot be quantified, they are likely to be an important source of long-term
competitive advantage.
A second important theme is the role InGAME played in helping businesses to

develop the capacity for future growth. Many of the businesses supported by the
initiative are relatively young and still in the formative stages of development. The
evidence gathered to inform this report suggests that the InGAME team have played
an important role in helping to nurture these businesses and help them to identify
and develop authentic sources of long-term competitive advantage.
A third type of benefit identified were reputational. These arose both because of
publicity generated by InGAME and through the enhanced credibility collaborating
with InGAME provided.
The final important type of benefit realised by businesses were tangible, quantifiable
improvements to business performance. It is unusual for an innovation support
initiative of this type to have generated such tangible benefits in such a short space
of time and this provides strong evidence of the effectiveness of the InGAME model.
The economic benefits generated by these business improvements are considered in

the next chapter.

4. Economic Impact
The quantifiable economic impact of InGAME is
substantial. Over 10 years the project is expected to
generate £84.7 million GVA for the Scottish economy
and support more than 175 Scottish jobs.
Unusually for an initiative of its type there is good evidence that InGAME has already
stimulated tangible commercial benefits within the businesses it has supported. This
chapter quantifies the economic value of these benefits.
4.1 Economic Impact Approach

The starting point for assessing the economic impact of an intervention it to
estimate what is known as its gross direct effect. This is the total change in
economic activity that has occurred since the intervention took place.
It is then necessary to consider the extent to which this effect can be attributed to
the intervention in question (additionality). To do this it is necessary to account for
the following important factors.
4.1.1 Deadweight
Deadweight is the extent to which the impacts that have been observed might have
happened anyway. To assess deadweight it was necessary to consider the level of
growth that might have been achieved by each of the businesses if they had not been
supported by InGAME (see section 4.3.1 for further discussion).
4.1.2 Leakage
Leakage is the extent to which the impacts of a programme occur outside the study
area, e.g. Dundee City. The location of all companies was ascertained, and this was
used as the basis for assumptions around leakage, with some businesses based
elsewhere in the Tay Cities Region or Scotland.
4.1.3 Multiplier Effects

In addition to the direct economic activity generated, each of the businesses
supported by InGAME will also generate multiplier effects elsewhere in the economy.
Indirect effects are generated by the expenditure an organisation makes on goods

and services, which supports employment and generates value elsewhere in the
supply chain. Induced effects arise because of expenditure made by those employed
by the businesses supported and the additional staff related expenditure of their
suppliers. These multiplier effects include both indirect and induced effects and
apply to both GVA and employment effects.

The multipliers used to capture these indirect and induced effects were sourced
from the Input-Output Tables and Multipliers for Scotland.
4.1.4 Displacement
Displacement is when a business supported by a programme reduces economic
activity in another business within the study area. As the businesses taking part in
InGAME are in the games industry, which is global, it was considered unlikely that
there would be any displacement in Scotland.
4.1.5 Substitution
Substitution is the extent to which those assisted may have been diverted from other
activities that could have also generated impacts or from other similar support
programmes. A key finding of the consultations was that no other organisation
provides a comparable service to InGAME and therefore it was assumed that there
would be no substitution effect.
4.1.6 Measures Used

Economic Impact is quantified using two widely accepted measures:
• Gross Valued Added (GVA) is a measure of the monetary value an organisation

adds to the economy through its operations. GVA impacts are usually based on
annual estimates of financial performance and are therefore cumulative over
time (e.g. a business that generates £10 million GVA/year will have a cumulative
impact of £100 million GVA over 10 years.)
• employment is measured in terms of headcount jobs supported. Jobs are a
measure of on-going employment impact and as such are not cumulative.
The direct GVA of an organisation is equivalent to the sum of its employment costs
and operating profit (excluding loss). Where this was not available, but data on
turnover was, direct GVA was estimated by applying turnover/GVA ratios for the
sector in which the business is based, and where only employment data was
available direct GVA was estimated by applying staff costs/employee, or in a small
number of cases GVA/employee12, to the number of staff employed.
4.2 Gross Direct Impact of InGAME

The starting point for the economic analysis presented in this section was an
electronic survey undertaken by Interface on behalf of InGAME. The survey contains
data from 30 businesses that received support from InGAME.
It shows that 13 businesses reported having created 72 new jobs and 18 businesses
expected to create 108 new jobs within the next three years. These businesses also
reported that since engaging with InGAME, 123 jobs had been safeguarded and 61
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12
Scottish Government (2022), Scottish Annual Business Statistics 2020

were expected to be safeguarded in the next three years. (For the purposes of this
analysis new and safeguarded jobs were treated as equivalent.)
The fact that the businesses supported by InGAME have improved their performance
since engaging with the project is encouraging; however, it is not in itself evidence of
impact. To assess the impact of InGAME it was also necessary to understand the
extent to which the improvements reported by businesses can reasonably be
attributed to InGAME.
To provide this understanding a series of 9 interviews were undertaken with a

sample of the businesses that responded to the Interface survey. To ensure the
findings were as comprehensive as possible, the businesses selected for interview
were those that reported the largest impacts in the survey.
The responses provided by the interviewees did not precisely align with the
responses gathered in the survey. Some businesses reported higher levels of actual
and expected job creation than they did in the survey while others reported lower
levels. This is not unusual and is likely to reflect both differences in understanding
and perception between those who participated in the interviews and those who
completed the survey and developments that have occurred within the businesses
since the survey was completed. In general however the interviews confirmed that
InGAME has been an important factor in driving business performance.
By combining13 the findings of the survey and supplementary interviews it was found
that a total of 89 jobs have been created or safeguarded since InGAME was
established. (Elsewhere in this report employment estimates are rounded to the
nearest 5 jobs.)
The GVA impact associated with these jobs was estimated based on the Scottish
Government growth Sector statistics for the video games industry14. For established
companies it was assumed that the economic impact would be equal to GVA per
employee for the sector. For less established companies, which are less likely to be
generating a profit, it was assumed that GVA per employee would be equal to staff
costs per employee.
On this basis, it was estimated that the gross direct economic impact of these jobs
would £5.8 million GVA across Scotland. The gross direct benefits in each of the
study areas are presented in (Table 4-1).
---------------
13
This estimate incorporates the data gathered through the interviews undertaken as part of this study and
data from the Interface survey for those businesses that were not interviewed as part of this exercise.
14
Scottish Government (2022), Scottish Growth Sector Statistics 2020

Table 4-1 Gross Direct Economic Impact
Dundee City Tay Cities Region Scotland

GVA (£m) 5.3 5.4 5.8
Employment (Jobs) 80 80 89
Source: BIGGAR Economics Analysis
4.3 Net Additional Impact of InGAME

Not all of the increased economic activity reported by businesses can be attributed
to InGAME, some of it would have happened anyway, without any intervention. The
next step was therefore to take account of this “deadweight”.
To do this it was necessary to make assumptions about what might have happened
to the performance of each of the businesses supported if InGAME did not exist.
These assumptions were informed by feedback provided directly by the businesses
involved through the interviews undertaken to support this study.
4.3.1 Deadweight
Businesses often struggle to quantify how much of their improved performance can
reasonably be attributed to support they may have received. For this reason
deadweight assumptions are always to some extent a matter of judgement.
This is because business performance is determined by a multitude of inter-related

factors. Each is important but rarely decisive making it difficult (if not impossible) to
isolate the effect of individual changes. While business leaders may be confident
that their participation in an initiative has been beneficial, they are rarely able to
attribute specific benefits directly to the support received.
However, when questioned on this point some of the businesses interviewed as part
of this exercise were able to attribute some of their recent business performance
improvements to their engagement with InGAME. While these businesses struggled
to quantify exactly how much of these improvements could be attributed to InGAME,
each was confident that their business would not have achieved the same level of
success within the same time-scale were it not for the support received. Although
InGAME is not the only factor that has helped drive performance, it has, as one
business leader put it “definitely helped weight the dice”.
It is uncommon for this type of sector support initiative to generate such tangible
evidence of quantifiable economic returns in such a short period. The fact these
businesses were able to point to tangible economic impacts therefore provides good
evidence of the effectiveness of the InGAME approach.
Where business were able to quantify these benefits, the estimates provided were
used directly. Where they were not it was assumed that 50% of the benefits realised
were attributable to the support received from InGAME.

Using these assumptions it was estimated that the current net direct annual
economic impact of amounted to £2.5 million GVA and 40 jobs across Scotland.
4.3.2 Net Indirect and Induced Impacts

The businesses supported by InGAME will also generate activity elsewhere in the
economy by spending money on goods and services. Staff working in these
businesses (and in the businesses that supply them) will also generate economic
impact by spending some of their income in the study areas. This expenditure is
attributable to InGAME to the extent that support from the initiative has enabled
businesses to improve their performance.
This effect was estimated by applying industry appropriate indirect and induced GVA
and employment multipliers to the additional direct impact of each business.
4.3.3 Net Additional Impact

By applying these assumptions to the gross direct effect estimated in section 4.2 it
was estimated that the net additional economic impact of InGAME amounted to £6.3
million GVA/year and around 95 jobs across Scotland (Table 4-2).
Table 4-2 Net Additional Economic Impact

GVA (£m)
Direct 2.3 2.4 2.5
Indirect 0.5 0.6 1.5
Induced 1.0 1.6 2.2
Total 3.8 4.5 6.3
Employment
Direct 35 35 40
Indirect 5 10 20
Induced 15 25 35
Total 55 70 95
Source: BIGGAR Economics Analysis. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
4.4 Forecast Economic Impact

4.4.1 Gross Direct Impact
Many businesses supported by InGAME also forecast increases in employment. In
total, they reported new and safeguarded employment of 146 jobs.
There is a degree of uncertainty around future employment because entrepreneurs

are known to be prone to making overly optimistic projections about future growth
(optimism bias). It was therefore necessary to adjust forecast employment

estimates to account for this. This was done by applying an optimism bias rate of
50% to forecast benefits. This may be a conservative assumption as Scottish
Enterprise guidance suggests an adjustment of between -20% and -40% may be
appropriate15.
Forecast jobs were estimated using the same approach used to estimate current
employment impact. The starting point for this was the evidence provided by
businesses that responded to the Interface survey on the number of jobs expected to
be created and safeguarded in the future. This was then supplemented with data
provided by businesses interviewed as part of this study. In this way it was
estimated that businesses supported by InGAME expect to create and/or safeguard
a total of around 75 jobs in the future across Scotland.
As with the current impact either GVA per employee or staff costs per employee
were used to estimate the direct GVA impact. In this way the gross direct economic
impact associated with businesses working with InGAME were estimated to be £4.7
million GVA per year (Table 4-3).
Table 4-3 Gross Direct Economic Impact

GVA (£m) 3.5 3.6 4.7
Employment (Jobs) 55 60 75
4.4.2 Net Additional Impact

The same assumptions described above were then applied to account for
deadweight and multiplier effects. In this way it was estimated that the forecast net
additional economic impact associated with InGAME will amount to £5.3 million
GVA/year and 80 jobs across Scotland within three years (Table 4-4).
---------------
15
Scottish Enterprise (2011), Optimism Bias in Non-Infrastructure Projects

Table 4-4 Forecast Net Additional Economic Impact

GVA (£m)
Direct 1.5 1.6 2.1
Indirect 0.3 0.4 1.2
Induced 0.7 1.1 2.0
Total 2.5 3.1 5.3
Employment
Direct 25 25 35
Indirect 5 5 15
Induced 10 15 30
Total 35 45 80
4.5 Total Economic Impact

Current and forecast impacts were then added together to estimate the total
economic impact attributable to InGAME, which was estimated at £11.1 million
GVA/year and 175 jobs across Scotland (Table 4-5).
Table 4-5 Forecast Net Additional Economic Impact

GVA (£m)
Current 3.8 4.5 6.3
Forecast 2.5 3.1 5.3
Total 6.3 7.5 11.6
Employment
Current 55 70 95
Forecast 35 45 80
Total 95 115 175
4.5.1 Impact over Time

The impacts associated with InGAME are expected to be long-term. To capture this,
the impact of InGAME was modelled over 10 years.
To do this it was necessary to account for the ramp up of forecast benefits over
three years and any subsequent policy decay (a concept used to reflect the idea that

the benefits attributable to an intervention may decrease over time). To capture this
it was assumed that the impact of benefits attributable to InGAME would persist for
three years before starting to decline at the rate of 10% per year. This assumption is
consistent with Scottish Enterprise guidance and implies that by year five the impact
of the intervention would be 80% of what it would be in the first year it was realised16.
Using these assumptions it was estimated that over ten years, the economic impact
of InGAME would amount to £84.7 million GVA across Scotland.
Much of this impact will be realised in the future and future benefits tend not to be
valued as highly as current benefits. To account for this it is common practice to
present a future stream of benefits in terms of Net Present Value (NPV). Using a
discount rate of 3.5%, which is consistent with guidance from UK Treasury,17 it was
therefore estimated that the net present value of the stream of economic impacts
attributable to InGAME amounts to £74.3 million GVA across Scotland (Table 4-6).
Table 4-6 Current and Forecast Net Additional Economic Impact over Ten Years

Current 27.1 32.3 45.3
Forecast 18.8 22.9 39.5
Total 45.9 55.3 84.7
NPV 40.3 48.5 74.3
4.5.2 Data Limitations

Since 2018 InGAME has delivered a total of more than 150 R&D projects. Many of
these projects were delivered with the 30 businesses that participated either in the
Interface survey and/or the interviews undertaken to support this study (with some
businesses participating in multiple projects).
Based on discussion with the InGAME team these are the businesses most likely to
have realised quantifiable financial benefits because of the support received;
however, it is possible that other businesses have also realised quantifiable benefits.
It is likely that any such benefits would be relatively small in comparison to those
considered in this chapter and, as no data is available about the nature or extent of
these benefits, they have not been included in the analysis. While this helps maintain
confidence in the robustness of the analysis it could mean that the impacts
presented in this chapter are an underestimate. It should also be reiterated that the
quantifiable economic impacts presented in this chapter do not reflect the wider
(and potentially more significant) business benefits described in section 3.2.
---------------
16
Scottish Enterprise (2014), Impact Delivery, Build, Persistence and Decay
17
HM Treasury (2022), The Green Book

5. Digital Innovation Ecosystem
InGAME has supported the emergence of a strong
digital innovation ecosystem that will support the
future development of Dundee’s games cluster.
The success of Dundee’s digital games sector rests not only on the success of
individual businesses but on the wider ecosystem within which those businesses
operate. This chapter examines how and to what extent InGAME has contributed to
the development of a healthy digital innovation ecosystem in Dundee.
5.1 Innovation Ecosystems

There are many definitions of innovation systems and innovation ecosystems, with
the terms often used interchangeably. Some focus narrowly on businesses in a
particular sector competing and collaborating whilst others are broader, recognising
the interdependence of innovation and skills development, along with other actors
such researchers, funders and investors, and the workforce.
The approach taken in this chapter is consistent with this wider definition.
Specifically it adopts the Systems of Innovation approach developed in Sweden by
Professor Charles Edquist (Figure 5-1) which is influenced by the successful
innovation systems in the Nordic countries in particular. There are strong theoretical
groundings for this systems approach, which allows all the determinants of
innovation to be considered.
InGAME plays an important role in underpinning this system of innovation,

supporting inter-relationships between different parts of the system, including:
• innovation;
• creating and changing organisations;
• research and development;
• networking through markets and other mechanisms;
• provision of R&D support services; and
• competence building.

Figure 5-1: Determinants of Innovation Processes
I. Provision of knowledge inputs to the innovation process
Provision of R&D and, thus, creation or recombination of new knowledge.

Competence building, e.g. through individual learning (educating and training the labour
force for innovation and R&D activities) and organisational learning.
II. Demand-side activities
Formation of new product markets.
Articulation of quality requirements from the demand side with regard to new products.
III. Provision of constituents for Systems of Innovation (SIs)
Creating and changing organisations needed for developing new fields of innovation.
Examples include enhancing entrepreneurship to create new firms and intrapreneurship
to diversify existing firms; and creating new research organisations, policy agencies, etc.
Networking through markets and other mechanisms, including interactive learning among
different organisations (potentially) involved in the innovation processes. This implies
integrating new knowledge elements developed in different spheres of the SI and coming
from outside with elements already available in the innovating firms.
Creating and changing institutions – e.g., patent laws, tax laws, environment and safety
regulations, R&D investment routines, cultural norms, etc. – that influence innovating
organisations and innovation processes by providing incentives for and removing
obstacles to innovation.
IV. Support services for innovating firms
Incubation activities such as providing access to facilities and administrative support for
innovating efforts.
Financing of innovation processes and other activities that may facilitate

commercialisation of knowledge and its adoption.
Provision of consultancy services relevant for innovation processes, e.g., technology

transfer, commercial information, and legal advice.
Source: Edquist (2011)18
5.2 The Role of InGAME

5.2.1 Co-ordination and Convening
Innovation ecosystems are by their nature complex, encompassing different
institutions with different incentives, such as businesses, universities, researchers,
the public sector and investors. While this complexity is necessary to create, develop
and apply new knowledge, it can also lead to poor co-ordination and poorly informed
decision making. As a result, different actors may behave in ways that don’t
maximise the value of the cluster overall.
---------------
18
Adapted from various publications from Professor Charles Edquist, Ruben Rausing Chair in Innovation
Research at Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE), Lund
University, Sweden, including Edquist (November 2011) Design of innovation policy through diagnostic
analysis: identification of systemic problems or failures, in Industrial and Corporate Change

InGAME is well placed to help address these issues, because it has an overview of
the whole sector and acts as the nexus point of the Dundee games sector, with
connections to companies, researchers and different institutions. This enables it to
increase the overall efficiency of the cluster, by connecting companies and other
actors who may have expertise or who may have already undertaken similar work.
InGAME’s ability to bring together different actors within the system in this way has
been a key factor in the effectiveness of the initiative. This convening power rests on
a deep understanding of the different actors within the system, an awareness of the
priorities that drive them and the challenges they face and the ability to bring them
together in mutually beneficial ways.
For example the innovation voucher scheme, which is modelled on the national
scheme administered by Interface, is often the first step for companies to
understand the potential benefits of engaging with the cluster more widely and
accessing the full depth of its expertise, particularly in universities. This is important
because companies often lack knowledge of the sector as a whole, particularly for
academia, and find it difficult to navigate. Consultees frequently mentioned that
without InGAME they would not have known how to access research expertise within
universities and other institutions or even where to begin.
Furthermore, staff employed at InGAME increase the efficiency and circulation within
the system because they often go on to work at other organisations. A talented and
fluid labour force that moves between different institutions and companies is one of
the hallmarks of a well-functioning innovation ecosystem, as it facilitates the transfer
of knowledge and ideas.
Many of InGAME’s current and former employees were previously or are now
employed in other parts of ecosystem, bringing different perspectives to create a
better understanding of the sector. Their experience of working for InGAME in turn
heightens their strategic awareness, and they frequently transition to more
experienced roles elsewhere. This turnover is a good sign that InGAME is closely
integrated within the cluster.
5.2.2 Communication
Communication between different institutions is crucial to the success of an
innovation ecosystem. Without it, while the each of the constituent parts may be
present (e.g. companies, researchers, public sector) they will operate in silos and the
ecosystem will fail to function.
An important element of the role that InGAME plays is in brokering relationships

between different actors within the system. For example an innovation voucher may
connect a young start-up business with a university. However, simply connecting
these two organisations may not be enough.
Whereas the start-up may be creating innovative new products and developing
quickly they are likely to have limited commercial experience. The academic partner
on the other hand may have deep expertise but is likely to be operating within much

more bureaucratic processes and proceed at a slower, more methodical pace.
Simply bringing the two partners together may therefore not be enough to bridge
these differences in culture, ethos and experience.
An important part of InGAME’s role is to act as a neutral intermediary that

understands both sides of this interaction, effectively translating their respective
needs and capabilities and increase the efficiency of the engagement. InGAME is
uniquely well-placed to play this part because of its combination of industry and
academic expertise.
InGAME describes this role as akin to a gearbox, harnessing the relatively high speed
of nimble young companies and transforming it into a format and timescale that is
understandable to academia, and vice versa. As discussed in Chapter 6, this can
include adapting the large amounts of data produced by the gaming industry so that
organisations outside the sector can harness its potential.
One of the important ways in which InGAME facilitates relationships within the
sector is by hosting events and other professional development networking
opportunities. The InGAME team also helps integrate new individuals and companies
into the cluster by introducing people to each other. They can also improve
communication and collaboration between existing business leaders, who may
otherwise not have reason to speak to each other but would at a networking event or
an innovation call.
One consultee, who has been involved with the Dundee games cluster for over fifteen
years noted that taking part in these events felt like the earliest days of the cluster’s
development, when it was much smaller and therefore easier to know what other
people were doing.
The impact of this type of communication is difficult to assess because it is difficult

to measure, which can make it seem minor and unworthy of comment. However, it
may result in changes to decision making or future collaborations that can generate
significant value. In less successful clusters, this type of communication is much
more limited.
5.2.3 External Relationship Building

As well as facilitating communication within the cluster, InGAME also encourages
engagement and collaboration with institutions outside the sector. This is
particularly important for the gaming sector, which is highly research-intensive and
may develop technologies with the potential for wider societal application (as see
Chapter 6).
One of the main ways that InGAME does this is through Innovation challenges, which
are intended to address a specific problem faced by an organisation. While these
challenges were initially intended to foster relationships with large gaming
companies, who would frame specific problems faced by them or their users, in
practice they tended to involve non-gaming organisations which faced challenges
that could benefit from the application of games technology.

InGAME’s role was to articulate these problems in a way that is understandable to
games businesses and to help position them so they can then help address the
challenge. Without InGAME it is unlikely that these connections would have been
made. These connections are often the first step in an ongoing relationship with the
potential to support long-lasting benefits for the businesses and organisations
involved and society.
One of the important ways in which the InGAME team has supported relationship
building within the sector is through the active engagement of senior staff with
organisations outwith the games cluster. Senior members of the InGAME team
regularly attend conferences and other networking events, which they use to make
connections with decision makers in other sectors and explain the potential
advantages of incorporating gaming technologies. While the benefits of such activity
are difficult to measure, such connections can become a catalyst for future
collaborative ventures with the potential to generate substantial value.
For example, to identify the potential application of virtual reality in developing

surgical skills. The initial engagement involved convening a number of workshops
between partners to explore opportunities and help build relationships. Several
months later, the Wellcome Trust and its partners issued a funding call and the
consortium compiled a $4.3 million funding bid. Without InGAME’s facilitation and
the relationships it helped to establish it is unlikely that this would have happened.
5.2.4 Cluster Capacity

Part of the role played by InGAME is in adding capacity to the overall cluster, leading
to additional activity that would not have occurred and the associated benefits.
One of the important mechanisms used to achieve this have been Applied Games
Labs. This workstream is founded on the recognition that innovation happens when
curious and creative people play with ideas and technologies for purpose. The
approach involves bringing together games designers and technologists with
academics and experts in fields with the potential to apply games technologies. Its
purpose is to harness the potential of videogames to solve wicked problems, boost
productivity and drive positive change.
InGAME has run several Applied Games Labs including one specifically aimed at
immersive games technology and another focused on women in games. Each was
designed to help boost the R&D capacity of the sector by giving companies access to
facilities and equipment, expertise and new perspectives.
For some companies InGAME provided additional capacity to focus on a specific

project. In some instances this has involved embedding a postdoctoral researcher or
industry experienced developer within a business to help develop a new piece of
technology that may have significant long-term potential, but which the business
may not have capacity to pursue. An example of this was a project undertaken to
develop a new approach to quality assurance.

InGAME has also worked with some companies to develop tools that can be used by
other companies across the sector, though these tools are often in the early stages
of developments. They can lead to increased revenue for the business developing
the product or process, as well as the companies using them. For example, one
business developed a plug-in which means that game text can be read out, making
games more accessible to those with dyslexia.
Another important element of adding cluster capacity is by adding to the skills and
experience of companies working with InGAME. While some of the companies
supported by InGAME may be unsuccessful, the founders themselves will have
increased knowledge and skills and can apply the lessons learned to new start-ups
or companies that they subsequently work for. In this way, even projects that may
not appear successful can have long-term benefits.
5.2.5 Advocating for the Sector

As an independent organisation based within the Dundee games cluster, InGAME
also has a role in advocating on behalf of the cluster and the sector more widely.
This role relies on InGAME’s unique position at the centre of the innovation
ecosystem. It has a range of relationships and an awareness of developments
across the cluster. As a result InGAME is able to identify and articulate the needs of
the sector to policy makers.
InGAME’s independence from specific organisations also means that it is well placed
to advocate for the sector. For example, InGAME was commissioned by the UK
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to undertake an evidence
assessment on the effects of loot boxes, a controversial game mechanism where
users pay to access a randomised reward that has been linked to problem gambling.
As part of the assessment, which was published in July 2022, InGAME suggested
several principles to inform ethical game design, including an age limit for loot
boxes, on-screen information about how much has been spent and suggesting
pauses in gameplay and generous refund policies. InGAME’s position means that
these recommendations have greater weight than if they were from a typical industry
body or other group.
InGAME has also supported greater mapping of the games sector across the UK.
This has increased knowledge of the sector amongst policy makers and led to the
first Scottish Games Week, which took place in October 2022 and was hosted by the
Scottish Games Network. It has advocated for greater gender diversity within the
games sector, hosting an innovation sprint with Women in Games and hosting a
showcase designed to increase awareness of these issues in the sector and to
identify potential solutions.
5.2.6 Views of the Sector

Several key stakeholders, including Dundee City Council, UKIE and TIGA, were
consulted on the role InGAME has played in supporting the development of the
secotr. The views expressed were universally positive.

Some stakeholders commented on how unique InGAME’s role is, with other clusters
in the UK lacking a similar organisation that has an awareness of the whole cluster or
the ability to effectively advocate on their behalf. InGAME’s role in supporting
growing companies was also commented on, with its combination of academic and
industry experience making it especially effective.
A recurring theme was that the loss of InGAME would be keenly felt, and that it
would adversely affect the continued growth of the Dundee games cluster.
“No other UK university has the equivalent of

InGAME – a distinct initiative that has benefited the
video games industry and assisted the UK
Government.”
Dr Richard Wilson OBE, CEO The Independent Games Association (TIGA)
An academic with experience of InGAME who is now based at a university in the

south of England has specifically highlighted InGAME as an example that he would
like to emulate in developing a creative arts cluster.
5.3 Summary of Ecosystem Benefits

Innovation ecosystems are complex systems that are needed to maximise the
benefits of research and development and translate it into successful products and
processes. InGAME plays an important role in supporting co-ordination and
communication between the actors within the Dundee games cluster, fostering and
strengthening relationships and networks and adding capacity to the cluster.
This includes brokering new relationships and translating the needs and strengths of
very different institutions, such as nimble, highly innovative start-ups and more
process-driven universities. InGAME is uniquely well-placed to do this, due to its
combination of industry and academic expertise.
Through its networking and events it creates links between the sector and
stakeholders in other industries where games technology has the potential to lead to
significant benefits. It is also able to articulate the needs of the sector to wider
stakeholders and advocate on its behalf, due to its unique position within the cluster.
Key stakeholders had a universally positive view of InGAME, noting its distinct and
substantial benefits to the Dundee games cluster.

6. Solving Societal Challenges
InGAME has stimulated innovative co-operation
between games companies and those seeking
solutions to seemingly unrelated challenges.
Games technologies have the potential to solve many societal problems. InGAME
has played an important role in bringing together games companies with
organisations working in very different fields, stimulating co-creation of solutions
with broad societal impacts. This chapter considers the benefits from this activity.
6.1 InGAME and Technology Diversification

The team at InGAME has demonstrated a distinctive ability to identify opportunities
for applying games technologies in other sectors. Its ability to do this rests on the
team’s deep understanding of how innovation works in the games industry and how
value is added.
Only a fraction of the value generated by sector is captured in transactional value of

games. The real potential for value lies in the processes, systems, approach to
operations, skills and expertise embedded in games businesses and in the access
they can provide to specific audiences. Businesses themselves often don’t see this
– but InGAME does – and that’s how it has been able to establish cross sectoral
projects with the potential to generate wider value for society.
InGAME’s team seeks out opportunities for engagement with people with a wide
array of interests. Consultees for this study have remarked on the importance of
these seemingly “chance encounters” and the conversations they stimulated, some
of which have led to innovative co-operation between gaming companies and those
seeking solutions to seemingly unrelated challenges. For example, work with Nesta
established a Virtual Healthy Neighbourhood Challenge, to identify the value of
applying video game engine technology and design techniques to develop virtual
environments that shape access to healthy and more affordable food options. This is
illustrated in the example box below. Another example is work with the School of
Medicine at the University of Dundee to identify how virtual reality could be used to
help develop surgical skills, eventually leading to a $4.3 million research bid.
InGAME also plays an important role in providing “proof of concept” for the
application of digital technologies to societal problems. Several of the projects
executed by the team have generated outputs with the potential for wider
application. A good example of this is InGAME’s work with Agri-Epi (see below).

An innovative collaboration between a young games
developer and the UK’s Agricultural Innovation
Centre led to the development of an innovative
augmented reality tool for animal health.
InGAME’s work with Agri Epi (the UK innovation centre for Agricultural Engineering
Precision), led to a £250,000 Innovate UK funding award to develop SmARtview, an
AI-powered Augmented Reality Tool for animal health and productivity. InGAME
introduced games developer Pocket Sized Hands to Agri Epi, and together they
worked with a team of vets to develop and test this new technology.
SmARtview integrates multiple data-streams from any technology platform deployed

on farm, using AI to identify an individual cow and access her data, together with AR
to visualise the integrated analysis to support data-driven decision-making. In future,
this will enable livestock keepers and vets to readily access and interpret the data
tools at their disposal, informing point-of-care decisions.
Figure 6-1 SmARtview - a game changer for dairy cow health
Source: Agri-Epi, https://agri-epicentre.com/news/dairy-cow-health-game-changer/
SmARtview is an early-stage innovation that has not yet been commercialised

therefore the economic impact of the technology is not yet quantifiable. However,
the future societal impact is potentially significant and likely to be realised as there is
strong evidence that the innovation partners involved are actively progressing it.

6.2 The Crucial Role of InGAME
The role played by InGAME in supporting diversification into wider societal
applications has been crucial. It has acted as an effective go between, developing
relationships, co-creating ideas, and bringing together games companies and other
organisations, who would never otherwise have met. It is a vital hub in the centre of
the innovation system that stretches across and between more typical alliances and
sectors.
Games companies are often very small, inexperienced, agile and fast changing – and
the innovation partners involved are large, public-sector bodies, with longer slower
operating practices. It would have been difficult for them to work with each other
without some kind of intermediary. InGAME has a crucial role to play, being out and
about, on the ground, communicating and engaging with people and helping them
recognise potential opportunities. A good example of how this role has worked in
practice is the collaboration between InGAME and Nesta (see below).
Nesta and InGAME collaborated to explore game

engine technologies’ potential to address complex
social challenges.
Showcasing the strength of InGAME team members in building relationships for
innovation outcomes, this project has created a springboard for social innovation.
Nesta is an innovation foundation. In 2021, it announced a new ten-year strategy,
that would be focused on three major areas: childhood inequality, public health and a
sustainable economy. It is mission driven, and the public health mission is to
increase the average number of healthy years lived in the UK, while narrowing health
inequalities.
Colleagues at Nesta and InGAME had been talking for a while, with Nesta being
interested in food environments and the influence they have in increasing weight
gain. Their conversations had been around the potential of the gaming industry to
reach millions of audience members. Nesta was interested in understanding how
games developers attract large audiences, and to see if they could apply that to a
social innovation mission challenge. InGAME thought it sounded like an interesting
proposition and could see the potential of games engine technology to address
complex social challenges. The Virtual Healthy Neighbourhood Challenge
Programme was born.
The Virtual Healthy Neighbourhoods Challenge called for Scottish video game
makers to pitch ideas for developing virtual food environments. The idea behind the
project is to increase understanding of how our food environments shape access to
healthy and affordable food. And to assess the viability of using video games
techniques to test and shape new policy approaches to help ensure healthy and
appealing food options are accessible and affordable for everyone.

Two Dundee SMEs, Biome Collective and Konglomerate Games, were awarded
£45,000 each from Nesta and InGAME to develop their applied games concepts after
an open call to the Scottish games sector in autumn 2021.
Biome’s CityBox game is based on the Hilltown area of Dundee and was designed in
conjunction with residents from the area who shared their experiences to help the
team create realistic characters for the game. Users in CityBox are given a span of
ten years to improve the average BMI of residents using different policy levers such
as advertising restrictions and incentivising healthy outlets to open in the
neighbourhood.
Konglomerate’s Nesta Playbox allows users to build neighbourhoods from scratch,

placing shops and takeaway outlets alongside homes to create virtual food
environments. Users can then set different parameters such as household income,
cost and calories of different foods available from different outlets.
Both proof-of-concept games use real data on what we eat, where we buy our food
and the average calories in different settings and types of food, as well as what
happens when we change the availability or promotion of different foods.
Figure 6-2: Nestie Game, Konglomerate Games
Source: InGAME
Nesta sees huge potential for game design thinking and technology to help it map
and understand complex real-world food environments, allowing it to formulate, test
and measure impacts in a virtual world before implementing them in the real one.
At the time of writing this collaboration was still at a relatively early stage and had
not yet fully addressed the innovation. However, Nesta is providing £50,000 follow-on
Investment to Konglomerate Games to continue the development of the proof-of-
concept demonstrator. PlayBox 2.0 will include a digital twin of a neighbourhood in

Glasgow and the ability to implement and experiment with a recognised policy
intervention.
“I can’t speak highly enough of InGAME. It has so

many strengths: deep domain expertise; a hugely
collaborative and open approach; a very practical
application of complicated technology; and a
willingness to get stuck into a complex problem, to
work with us to solve it.”
Deborah Fox, Director of Creative Innovation, Nesta

7. Conclusions
InGAME is a key element of Dundee’s successful
games cluster, the convening power within its
innovation system.
The objectives of this study were to measure the quantifiable economic impact of
InGAME, identify wider societal impacts, and consider the future impacts for the
local cluster. The quantitative economic impact was found to be substantial. It was
estimated that over 10 years the project could generate a total economic impact
amounting to £55.3 million GVA for the Tay Cities Region and support a total of
around 115 jobs. Across Scotland this impact was estimated to amount to £84.7
million GVA and more than 175 jobs. This is an impressive level of economic impact
for a project that has only existed for 5 years.
Since 2018 InGAME has and has received a total of £5.3 million UK public funding
from the Creative Industries Clusters Programme. It has used this funding to
leverage a further £11.1 million of co-investment. This implies that for every £1 of UK
public funding invested through the Creative Industries Clusters Programme,
InGAME:
• will generate a total of £15.90 GVA over a 10 year period; and

• has (to date) leveraged £2.08 of co-investment (a figure that continues to grow).
Figure 7-1: InGAME’s Strategic Objectives
InGAME Establish new modes of research collaboration between industry and

academia.
Facilitate the creation of original products, services, experiences, tools,

processes, and technologies, accelerating growth and investment.
Widen access to the industry and improve performance through

facilitating diversity at all levels.
Improve access to high-value expertise and assets to accelerate the

pace of development and growth.
Develop the cluster’s innovation capacity and global competitiveness.
Capture cluster and research expertise to improve the impact and return
on investment on original IP by developing tools and processes that
locate commercial viability and innovation opportunity at the heart of
game development.
Develop a new generation of creative R&D practitioners and establish a

talent pipeline through postgraduate education and engagement to
ensure the sustainability of an innovative workforce.

InGAME addresses the strategic challenges to realising the potential of the games
sector, introduced in the introduction to this report and highlighted in key UK and
Scottish Government policy. It has had a very direct influence on individual
companies, helping them to build their capacity, allowing a scaling-up of activity
across the region and supporting the growth of the sector. Strong evidence is
provided throughout this report that InGAME has helped businesses to transition
from young, inexperienced and, in some cases, small enterprises to mature, resilient
businesses with the capacity for future growth.
“InGAME has been a realistic and highly attractive

way for organisations including SMEs to engage
with R&D, a key route to raising competitiveness for
individual companies and Scotland and the UK as a
whole.”
Julie Craik, Economic Growth - Creative/Digital/Tech, Dundee City Council
A distinctive feature of InGAME has been the organic and bespoke approach the
team has taken to supporting each business. It has helped them to build networks
and professional relationships, an important source of long-term competitive
advantage. It has supported other types of capacity for future growth, nurturing them
to help identify opportunities. Being associated with InGAME has also provided
reputational benefits, enhancing their credibility by association with the project. All
of this has led to tangible, quantifiable improvements in business performance.
InGAME has been a key player in building an innovation ecosystem capable of

supporting future growth of the sector. It does this by:
• playing an important role in supporting co-ordination and communication

between the different partner institutions in the Dundee games cluster, fostering
and strengthening relationships and network building;
• brokering new partnerships and projects, translating the needs and strengths of
different institutions, across industry, public sector, charity and academic arenas;
• creating links between the sector and wider stakeholders in industries where the
approach taken by gaming companies can lead to significant societal benefits.
(Future benefits in public health and agriculture could be particularly significant.)
InGAME is a vital element at the centre of the innovation system. There is great
potential for it to support the continued growth of the games sector, economic
growth, and ongoing diversification to create even broader societal benefits.
Recommendations arising from the study are:

• the convening power of InGAME should be supported into the future, on the
basis of its demonstrable role in the innovation system and its success in
creating economic and social benefits;
• an evaluation framework should be established to allow on-going monitoring of
InGAME’s performance and impact, and enhancement of these; and
• a clear ‘offer’ to potential partners should be developed, to support continued
and increasing engagement from a wider community of interest.

Appendix – Study Consultees
This report drew on interviews with 9 businesses and 8 stakeholders who engaged
with InGAME. A list of those who participated directly in this study is provided below.
Businesses
Hyper Luminal Games Rob Madden
Lowtek Games Ally Low
Pocket Sized Hands Gary McCartan
Outplay Entertainment Doug Hare
Denki / Reforged Studios Colin Anderson
Ninja Kiwi Danny Parker
Floyen Jim Piggot
Tag Games Marc Williamson
Konglomerate Games Jamie Bankhead
Stakeholders
Ukie / Creative UK Dan Wood
Interface Howell Davies
Dundee City Council Julie Craik
Agri-EPI Centre Duncan Forbes
Nesta Deb Fox
Abertay Uni Gregor White
The Independent Games Association – TIGA Richard Wilson
Scottish Games Network Brian Baglow
The study also drew on data from a previous survey undertaken by Interface. A list of
those that participated in this exercise is provided for completeness below.
Businesses and Stakeholders that Participated in Interface Study

Ninja Kiwi Biome Collective crab.Bit
Outplay Entertainment Ltd. Yaldi Games Zappaty Limited
inChat MindMaze Healthcare UK University of Dundee
Floyen Limited Stacking Chairs Auxworks
EvoRevo Ltd Chimera Tales Games Jobs Live
3Finery Astrodreamer Studio 3DNovations
Team Terrible Fish Tin Games Ltd Scottish Games Network
Lowtek Games NHS Scotland Agri-EPI Centre
Denki Ltd. Pocket Sized Hands Konglomerate Games
Agency of None 321do Dynamic Decom
Tag Games Ltd Hyper Luminal Games

BiGGAR Economics, Pentlands Science Park,
Bush Loan Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland EH26 0PZ
info@biggareconomics.co.uk
biggareconomics.co.uk
© Copyright 2023. BiGGAR Economics Ltd. All rights reserved.

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InGame Economic Impact June 2023

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The economic

InGAME is delivered by Abertay University, in partnership with the

InGAME is supported by additional funding from the

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

5. Digital Innovation Ecosystem 22

6. Solving Societal Challenges 29

Appendix – Study Consultees 37

Economic Impact of InGAME 1

• will generate a total of £15.90 GVA over a 10 year period; and

Economic Impact of InGAME 2

• measure the quantifiable economic impact of InGAME;

InGAME is one of nine Creative Industries Cluster Programmes to be established by

1.2 The Economic Value of the Games Industry

Economic Impact of InGAME 3

1.2.1 Digital Games Businesses in Scotland

1.2.2 Sectoral Challenges

Economic Impact of InGAME 4

1.2.3 Societal Benefits of Games Technology

This technology is enabling innovators to transform

The impacts of the games sector go beyond technological advancements - it is also

Economic Impact of InGAME 5

Our purpose is to drive growth and innovation in the

Figure 2-1 InGAME Strategic Priorities

Economic Impact of InGAME 6

• collaborative applied research;

2.1.1 Collaborative Applied Research

• voucher-based support – non-monetary awards valued at up to £5,000 that could

2.1.2 Cluster Development

• skills, incubators and residency programmes designed to help small cohorts of

2.1.3 Innovation Challenges

Economic Impact of InGAME 7

• fund 177 research projects (target of 125);

Economic Impact of InGAME 8

3.1 Innovation Outputs

In 2022 InGAME contracted Interface11 to undertake a survey of the businesses it has

Businesses were also asked about other commercial developments supported by

When asked to reflect on other developments since engaging with InGAME:

Economic Impact of InGAME 9

3.2 Wider Business Benefits

• new and enhanced business networks and relationships;

The value of these benefits to the businesses concerned is considered below.

3.2.1 Networks and Relationships

Some businesses reported establishing new relationships with academia. This

Economic Impact of InGAME 10

The ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively with others is

3.2.2 Capacity for Growth

“The games sector is young and dynamic. Things

The improvements experienced by a second business arose through a project to

Economic Impact of InGAME 11

Hyper Luminal Games is a values driven business

InGAME gave Hyper Luminal the opportunity to change this by participating in an

Economic Impact of InGAME 12

3.3 Summary Business Benefits

A second important theme is the role InGAME played in helping businesses to

The economic benefits generated by these business improvements are considered in

Economic Impact of InGAME 13

4.1 Economic Impact Approach

4.1.3 Multiplier Effects

Indirect effects are generated by the expenditure an organisation makes on goods

Economic Impact of InGAME 14

4.1.6 Measures Used

• Gross Valued Added (GVA) is a measure of the monetary value an organisation

4.2 Gross Direct Impact of InGAME

Economic Impact of InGAME 15