Government invites games studios to apply to Games Growth Package for new funding to help create the next big hits, like Grand Theft Auto.
From today – April 14, 2026 – video games developers can apply for a share of £28.5m of government investment through the Games Growth Package, with grants delivered by the UK Games Fund. The new fund effectively doubles government funding of the sector.
Photo by Axville / Unsplash
In addition, the government has announced funding of £1.5m for the London Games Festival over the next three years, to help attract wider investment in the UK games sector.
The UK is home to more than 2,000 games companies, many outside London, employing tens of thousands of people whose talent and creativity is renown around the world. Gamers spend some £8.8bn on games each year and the industry is fast expanding.
The new funding is part of the government’s wider, £380m creative industries sector plan. The aim is to help games companies take advantage of opportunities to expand, creating jobs and driving economic growth.
Under the new system, developers will be able to apply to the UK Games Fund through one of three categories:
- Entry track – grants of up to £20,000 available to newly formed companies with strong potential for growth.
- Emergent track – grants of up to £100,000 for prototyping new games.
- Expansion track, with grants of up to £250,000 (the largest ever provided by the UK Games Fund) to take games forward to completion and enable studios to scale up.
Ian Murray MP, Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries, says: ‘Video games are not only great fun, they are big business – and for too long their value to the British economy has been overlooked. That’s why the government has thrown its full support behind the sector with £30m of new funding. This will turbocharge the careers of some of our most talented game developers, creating more jobs and economic growth right across the country as their ideas come to fruition.’
Michael French MBE, Head of Games London and Festival Director of the London Games Festival, adds: ‘Over the last 10 years, LGF and Games London has supported talent across the UK and helped establish London as one of the world’s largest hubs for games makers – but this commitment from national government into the London Games Festival has fast-tracked our deeper ambitions.
‘The efforts are already paying off. This week sees the largest showing yet for our festival, which will help to further promote London and the UK as a video games centre of excellence to global investors and decision makers. This can only keep growing over the next three years and we are excited to help raise the international profile of the UK’s games market, reach bigger audiences nationally and around the world, and facilitate investment into games businesses up and down the country.’
Nick Button-Brown, Chair of the UK Video Games Council, says: ‘This is an amazing statement of intent by the government and a sign of their long-term support for gaming in the UK.’
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