Video games leaders have praised Scotland’s role in the global sector as DICE, the annual European video-game conference held by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, came to a close last night in Dundee.

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4J Studios and Nintendo at Water's Edge, Dundee, Scotland this week (photo by Julie Howden)

Supported by the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, DICE Europe opened at the Intercontinental in the heart of Edinburgh with a keynote speech by Mr Satoru Shibata from Nintendo. There were around 200 senior executives from the games industry in attendance at various events throughout the week, including at Edinburgh Castle and V&A Dundee.

Satoru Shibata, Managing Executive Officer, Nintendo, which released Switch 2 earlier this year, said: “As a company, we want to make people smile by providing unique entertainment and a spirit of originality. It is great to be here in Scotland, a country that has a big reputation in video game development, and to have had the opportunity to discuss the road ahead for the industry with peers."

Chris van der Kuyl, Chairman, 4J Studios, developers of Minecraft console edition, who helped to bring DICE to Scotland, said: “When you think about Nintendo’s Switch 2 or the forthcoming release of Rockstar’s GTA 6, which is set to reshape the entire video game landscape, and own new game Reforj alongside all the other incredible output from studios across the country, Scotland is well placed to lead the way and have an outsized impact on the global stage.”

Scotland is home to around 500 gaming studios, employing thousands of creative staff and launching hundreds of new games each year. It was also announced this week that Chris van der Kuyl will be the first chair of Interactive Entertainment Scotland, a new organisation designed to champion the Scottish sector and an offshoot of Ukie, the trade body for the UK’s games and interactive entertainment industry.

Revenue from the worldwide gaming market reached around $200 billion in 2024, with mobile gaming representing around a half of that total, a year in which the advent of AI gathered pace, venture capital investment contracted after a period of record investment, and market dynamics continued to shift following the impact of Covid.

Key themes discussed at DICE included how AI is creating new gaming experiences, bridging the creative-commercial divide, building sustainable studios, and bringing players to the centre of game design and development.

Matthew Short, Partner at Aream & Co, a global investment bank focused on interactive entertainment with offices in London, Berlin, and San Francisco, said: “The gaming market continues to perform well, with players flocking to quality, towards both the well known big blockbuster titles, as well as to the much smaller but highly innovative independents that push the bounds in creativity and game design.”

Matthew Short added: “Players stick around their favoured games for a lot longer than most in the industry initially believed they would. Games are now social communities that provide as much connectivity and engagement as social media had in the past. Overall, the market is more mature, the types of games that get funded are changing but the sector is as innovative, confident and exciting as it has ever been.”

Notes:

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250919952283/en/

Media contact:
Nick Freer
nick@freerconsultancy.com

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