Outplay Entertainment
What InGAME did
R&D into post-pandemic hybrid working models.
What happened next
20new jobs4 original IPs · sales +40% · revenue +20%InGAME · Dundee · 2018–24
£1 in.
£15.90 out.
How a £5.3m public investment in Dundee's games cluster is set to generate £84.7m for the Scottish economy, by helping its companies realise their own growth potential.
Designed and led by Sean Taylor, Director of InGAME, 2018–24.
£1 in
Ten-year GVA forecast · BiGGAR Economics, 2023
20182024
Who designed and delivered it
Sean Taylor, Director of InGAME
- Headhunted from industry to set it up, after two decades designing and producing games, from the culture-defining Grand Theft Auto at DMA Design to BAFTA-winning Quarrel at Denki.
- Built it from scratch. Led it for six years. Owned the strategy, budget and operating model. Designed the programmes, selected the cohorts and built the evaluation. Led a team of 12 with a wider bench of industry and academic partners, reporting to a steering board of industry, public-sector and academic leaders.
- Designed a model others built on. Responsive R&D: research rigour at industry speed, delivering impact far beyond its targets. Its evidence underpins Scotland's National Strategy for Gaming (2026) and the business case for CoSTAR Realtime Lab, part of a £75.6m national research and development infrastructure network.
What it was
A small bet on a famous cluster
Dundee gave the world Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings. In 2018 the Arts and Humanities Research Council backed InGAME to grow that cluster through collaborative, responsive R&D, with industry partners including Microsoft, Sony PlayStation and Ukie.
£5.3mUK public funding
Creative Industries Clusters Programme
Creative Industries Clusters Programme
3 unisAbertay University (lead), University of Dundee & University of St Andrews
5 yrsof delivery before the 2023 impact assessment
ContextOver the same period, games studio headcount in Scotland grew 52% (TIGA, 2023).
This is context, not an InGAME impact.
How it worked
Tailored support, not a fixed scheme
InGAME didn't deliver a programme; it built an operating model.
It met each company where it was, from first idea to scaling studio, and delivered responsive R&D support to accelerate its growth potential.
01 · First idea
De-risk
Creative experimentation
Funding for prototypes and proofs of concept, so new products, tools and startups are tested cheaply before anyone bets the studio.
02 · Scale
Develop
Scale-up capabilities
R&D that helps growing studios commercialise IP, modernise workflows and add jobs.
03 · New markets
Diversify
Innovation opportunities
Game design and technology taken into new markets, from emerging entertainment platforms to healthcare and agriculture.
Under all three
Deploy
Research & innovation infrastructure
Embedded researchers, state-of-the-art labs, innovation funding, horizon-scanning demonstrators and an open toolkit, plus sector-shaping policy research and international partnerships.
- Vouchers
- Labs
- Embedded researchers
- Challenge calls
- Strategic introductions
- Mentoring
- Follow-on funding
InGAME: a gearbox between fast-moving studios, emerging opportunities and slower institutions.
Outputs
It beat every target it was set
Research projects funded1.4×of target
Professionals trained4.6×of target
Co-investment leveraged6.2×of target
Outputs to 31 December 2022 · BiGGAR Economics (2023), section 2.3
What changed for companies
Nearly three in four grew their turnover
73%of collaborators increased turnover
23businesses launched new games, products, services or IP
93%would work with InGAME again
73% and 93%: InGAME collaborator monitoring (2023). Other figures: BiGGAR Economics business survey (2023).
Impact
What £5.3m is worth to Scotland
Public funding · £5.3m
Economic value for Scotland over ten years · £84.7m GVA
16×
£15.90 for every £1 of public funding
175jobs supported across Scotland, 115 of them in the Tay Cities region
£2.08of co-investment for every £1 of public funding
GVA = value added to the economy. Ten-year forecast; £74.3m in today's money. BiGGAR Economics (2023), tables 4-5 and 4-6. Co-investment ratio: BiGGAR Economics (2023).
Success stories
What InGAME did, and what happened next
Denki
What InGAME did
R&D to commercialise original IP.
What happened next
£1.5mfollow-on investmentBecame the most successful IP in Denki's historyNinja Kiwi
What InGAME did
An InGAME researcher embedded in the Dundee studio to build automated testing.
What happened next
+50%revenueLater acquired by MTG for up to £135m (2021)What transfers
Five lessons for a gaming accelerator
- 1
Design for impact; work backwards.
Set outcomes and success measures first, then build delivery and evaluation around them.
Every target beaten - 2
Sector expertise sharpens selection.
Use industry knowledge and trusted networks to find promising teams and judge commercial potential.
177 projects
93% would return - 3
Tailor each journey to the venture.
Match expertise, resources and mentoring to each founder's stage, ambition and next milestone.
One programme,
four pathways to growth - 4
Turn connections into commercial opportunity.
Broker partnerships that open markets and unlock capital.
SmARtview
£250k Innovate UK follow-on funding - 5
Deliver incrementally; learn continuously.
Short feedback loops and shared learning, so the programme improves while it's running.
Open innovation toolkit
Go deeper
The evidence
The tools
Sean Taylor
sean@seantaylor.work LinkedIn seantaylor.workInGAME was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) via the UK Government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, with additional support from the Scottish Funding Council.
Figures from BiGGAR Economics (2023) unless stated. GVA figures are ten-year forecasts.