Gaming is bigger than ever. With a valuation that surpasses the film and music industries combined, gaming captivates the hearts and minds of billions.
But it’s a notoriously difficult sector to map using SIC codes. With codes like ‘32409: Manufacture of other games and toys’, SIC codes are simply not good enough for mapping emerging sectors like Gaming. That’s why we’ve built a Real-Time Industry Classification (RTIC) to provide a clearer, up-to-date view of who’s active in this space, where they’re based, and how they’re performing. RTICs are dynamic, machine-learning classifications that identify companies by what they actually do, rather than relying on outdated codes or assumptions.
Mapping the Gaming Industry
Our Gaming RTIC is comprehensive. Mapping subsectors like ‘E-Sports’ and ‘Game Development’, this RTIC was built internally by adapting resources from NESTA.
The sector includes more than 1,500 companies that are generating close to £32bn in turnover and include more than 170 women founded companies. In regards to funding, this sector has received must of its investment privately (£654 million).
So, for this blog, we’ll be using our Gaming RTIC to look at the UK’s top gaming companies that are growing fast and have received any amount of investment.
With that, let’s go gaming!
Key Companies
Radical Forge
Providing a full end-to-end development service, Radical Forge are a company with deep values. Whilst bringing games like Gang Beasts and Jurassic Park Aftermath to life, they maintain a vibrant company culture.
As an OECD scaleup that have an estimated annual growth of 133%, Radical Forge received more than £2 million in early venture capital investment in late 2024.
Since this investment, Radical Forge has been recruiting for software development professionals, multimedia designers, and artists – a strong sign of their growth!
Marmalade Game Studio
Based in London, but with studios in Lisbon and Bucharest, Marmalade has brought numerous household board games to mobiles. From Monopoly to Cluedo, Marmalade is a UK market leading games developer and publisher.
Thus, receiving an incredible £22.5 million in growth equity venture capital, Marmalade is estimated to grow annually by more than a whopping 90%.
XR Games
As an award-winning game development studio, XR Games is led by industry veterans from Rockstar, EA, and . Working with movie studios like Sony Pictures and game publishers like PlayStation and Microsoft, XR Games as contributed to projects like Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded and Starship Troopers: Continuum.
Located in Leeds, XR Games is estimated to have received more than £10 million in private investment, with their most recent early venture capital round raising close to £6 million.
And, as a company employing AR/VR technologies for games development, XR Games is innovating like no other.
Reality Plus
Utilising the blockchain gaming, Reality Plus has created a complete Web3 development platform for game studios and developers. With this focus, Reality Plus can embed Web3 features like importing/exporting NFTs and worldwide payments (including PayPal and Apple Pay).
With such technology, Reality Plus has partnered with major media studios like the BBC and ITV to other well-known names like FIFA and Paul Frank.
With such collaborations, Reality Plus has attracted the attention of investors, receiving £6.5 million in 2022 alone. And, whilst their SIC codes states their involvement in ‘Other information technology service activities’, we’ve found them be operating in sectors like the Blockchain Economy, Immersive Technologies, and of course, Gaming.
Adeptly
Used by Google and the Cabinet Office, Adeptly is an award-winning online game builder that promotes game-based learning. Leveraging artificial intelligence, Adeptly creates role-playing games for customer and employee training.
With an annual estimated growth of 22.5%, Adeptly received an Innovate UK grant of £170K, with hopes of this sparking future private investment. And, as a small AI business that was established in 2019, this is only the beginning for Adeptly.
Want to discover more?
The UK gaming sector is growing faster than ever. With a growing base of consumers, increasing investment, and innovations with AI, this is only the beginning for gaming.
With The Data City, you can explore over 1,500 gaming companies in real time – with accurate classifications, funding data, location mapping and growth insights.
Sign up for a free trial and see the data for yourself today.
Please note: The data from The Data City is accurate at the time the article was written but may change over time due to the dynamic, real-time nature of our data. For the latest insights, visit our platform.
