TO BE PUBLISHED June 2025
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Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
This conference will examine next steps for the UK video game industry, including latest thinking on opportunities for growth.
Stakeholders and policymakers will discuss implications of recent policy developments, including from the 2024 Autumn Budget, and expectations surrounding the Government’s Invest 2035 strategy and the 2025 Spending Review. Delegates will assess whether measures such as the continuation of the Video Games Expenditure Credit and funding for the UK Games Fund sufficiently address industry needs, including for smaller games companies.
There will be a focus on regulatory challenges facing the sector. Looking at the Online Safety Act 2023, attendees will consider next steps for industry stakeholders in relation to requirements for risk assessments, content moderation, and safety-conscious innovation in game design. We expect discussion on how best to balance legally-mandated and self-regulated loot boxes, whilst ensuring developers adhere to their own guidelines.
Sessions will also address skills shortages within the industry, considering opportunities and potential benefits following the Government replacing the Apprenticeship Levy with a Growth and Skills Levy, and how effective collaborative frameworks can be put in place to tackle skills shortages.
Further sessions will examine implications of international regulatory developments, notably the European Commission’s Fitness Check of EU Consumer Law on Digital Fairness. The agenda will also explore the impact of generative AI, and how industry can ethically harness innovation.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- policy: measures in the Autumn Budget - the Video Games Expenditure Credit - support for smaller game companies - the UK Games Fund - potential outcomes of the Spending Review
- promoting sector growth: funding and investment priorities - expectations from Invest 2035 - identifying funding needs of small and medium sized enterprises - options for grants or funding pools
- safeguarding: responding to recent safety concerns on gaming platforms - enhancing protection for young users - implementing effective content moderation - ensuring regulatory compliance
- regulation: implications of the Online Safety Act 2023 - Ofcom’s upcoming codes of practice - preparing for risk assessments and content moderation requirements - innovation with safety
- loot boxes: balancing between self-regulation and legal mandates - effectiveness of current industry guidelines - international approaches to loot boxes - addressing concerns over addictive design
- international developments: outcomes of the EC’s Fitness Check - anticipating effects of the Digital Fairness Act - potential impact on UK regulations - transparency and consumer protection
- skills: addressing industry-specific training needs - evaluating the Growth and Skills Levy - developing tailored apprenticeship programmes - fostering collaboration between industry and education
- AI: developments, opportunities, and priorities for innovation - impact of generative AI on the industry - addressing concerns around IP and image rights - implications for the wider workforce
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those due to attend include officials from DSIT; HMRC; Department for the Economy, NI; and the Home Office.
