For many people, Leamington Spa is a leafy, picturesque regency town in the beautiful county of Warwickshire. Famous for its stunning spa’s, beautiful architecture and award-winning parks, it is also the epicentre of a vibrant sector not widely known to people outside of the industry – gaming. The United Kingdom is one of Europe’s leading gaming markets and the sixth biggest in the world. The West Midlands plays a vital role in the success of the sector, with over 130 companies producing 25% of all UK gaming output. Integral to this, is the town that has become known as ‘Silicon Spa’.
A Centre of National Excellence
Leamington Spa was recognised by UKIE – the UK games industry trade association – as a national Centre of Excellence for the production of computer games and games technology in 2017. The town has become a hotspot of innovation in the research and development of world-class games and technologies. Huge industry names, including Codemasters, Ubisoft, Playground and Sega Hardlight, call the town home. As a result, major titles such as Far Cry 5, Fable, Formula 1 and Forza Horizon have all been produced there.
So how did it all begin?
In 1986, Codemasters was launched by the Darling family, who set up in Southam, just outside of Leamington Spa. The company developed into a world-renowned UK publisher that was eventually purchased by global giants EA for $1.2bn in 2021. As Codemasters continued to excel, talented games developers began setting up their own studios in the area, forming the foundations of a cutting-edge gaming scene. As the town’s gaming prestige has grown, industry giants including EA, Epic and Microsoft Studios have invested in the area, acquiring the region’s leading studios and further enhancing their capability with world-class infrastructure and support. It hasn’t just remained in Leamington either. With the West Midland’s being home to the UK’s fastest growing technology cluster, leading games developers are also looking further afield to the region’s major cities, with the likes of Codemasters opening a second studio in the heart of Birmingham city centre. Just 30 minutes away on the train, it is easily accessible to Leamington and forms a unique corridor of access to a wealth of talent in both locations.
Silicon Spa: A Hotbed of Innovation & Talent
Over 3,000 skilled games professionals work in Leamington Spa, possessing expertise across a range of disciplines including design, software development, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and product development. This depth of expertise is integral as the region continues to produce AAA titles popular across the globe, further cementing its reputation as a world-class location for both domestic and international games development firms.
Why is it so attractive to international investors? Where is the value for them?
A production line of talent
Well, apart from already being home to some of the planet’s biggest gaming companies – and part of the UK’s fastest growing technology cluster – Leamington Spa is supported by the West Midland’s network of world-leading universities. Over 87,000 science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students study at the region’s eight universities. This includes 8,000 studying computer science – the second largest concentration of students focusing on this discipline in the United Kingdom.
It’s not just the universities producing our talented developers of the future. Warwickshire is a leading location for the UKIE’s Digital Schoolhouse Programme which uses play-based learning to engage the next generation of pupils and teachers with the new computing curriculum. Birmingham Metropolitan College has established a reputation for high-quality games design training, while South and City College Birmingham runs a range of courses from ‘A’ levels and apprenticeships to degree level courses such as a BSc in Computing. This just a small sample of the West Midland’s superb academic institutions and the fantastic education on offer to support the gaming market.
Next-Generation Cross-Collaboration
It’s no coincidence that Leamington Spa has developed a reputation as a specialist in the production of racing games. Major global titles such as Forza Horizon, DiRT and Formula One have all showcased the skill, knowledge and expertise of the town’s fantastic gaming developers. It helps that they also have access to another famous West Midland’s sector which has historical roots in the region going back to the industrial revolution – advanced manufacturing.
At the centre of the UK’s largest automotive, rail and aerospace clusters, the West Midlands is at the vanguard of solving many of the key global future mobility challenges. Gaming is playing an important part in this. The automotive capital of the UK and at the forefront of Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) technology, the West Midlands is home to major industry players including BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin Lagonda. This has formed an ideal breeding ground for exciting innovations as a result of the region’s two sectors combining to develop next-generation technologies.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) is a prime example. The gaming sector’s expertise in these technologies has quickly been picked up on by the world of advanced manufacturing, with many companies undergoing digital transformation to harness the power of technology. An example of a cross-sector collaboration includes TATA Motors and Leamington Spa’s Playground Games. The global automotive giant took of the concept of a racing car popular within the Forza Racing franchise as the basis of a physical prototype. Warwick Innovations – who are the commercial arm of the University of Warwick – then used this as the basis for a scalable modular software-based concept for automotive design. Other exciting cross-sector collaborations between the industries have encompassed 3D visualisations using VR, AR and gaming applications for automotive and defence OEMs, as well as AR/VR simulation technologies for driver training, motion simulation and training systems.
An attractive place to invest
It’s no wonder Leamington Spa – and the West Midlands region – continues to be an attractive place for investment by innovative gaming start-ups, established SME’s and global games publishers. The regions booming technology sector, combined with its proximity to London and unrivalled connectivity to the rest of the UK, provides an attractive value proposition to any potential investor. New entrants can call upon a unique business ecosystem of established gaming industry expertise, world-leading universities, state-of-the-art research institutions and exciting cross-industry collaborations. It’s everything you need to take your business to the next level and grow your UK market share.
The West Midlands Growth Company promotes inward investment into the West Midlands, driving business growth, new job creation and exciting opportunities across the region. It provides a comprehensive range of support for both domestic and international organisations looking to expand in the region.
If you’re interested in establishing your company in the region to take advantage of a wealth of opportunities, find out more on our region’s world class gaming sector or contact our sector specialist, Mike Lewis, on [email protected].