Gaming
Gaming glitch: UK gaming industry hit by skills shortage as applications to creative courses down 20% in last decade
Following higher education funding cuts of 50%, falling applicant numbers for creative courses at UK universities have caused a skills shortage. Experts highlight an increasing reliance on international students to plug the creative skills gap.
The UK could be facing a creativity deficit, with 20% fewer applications for arts and design courses at UK universities in the last decade. In the last five years alone, there has been a 12% drop.
These courses play a key role in providing talent to creative industries, including gaming, fashion, film, photography and music, among others.
The greatest contributors to the decline are falling numbers of UK and EU applicants. Domestic applications are down 25% in 10 years, while EU applications have halved since Brexit.
By contrast, the amount of non-EU applicants for creative arts and design courses in the UK has more than doubled in the last 10 years. In the last five years, it has risen by 44%. Around one in six applications for UK creative courses now come from non-UK citizens.
The data was collected from UCAS through a freedom of information request, by high-resolution design textures specialists Ultra High Resolution. The findings show applicant numbers and diversity in demographics for all creative arts and design courses at UK universities.
Recent reports suggest that the booming UK film industry and related sectors will have 40,000 vacancies by 2025, with a severe skills shortage looming on the horizon.
A ripple effect
The UK government slashed higher education funding for art and design courses across England by 50% this academic year.
This prompted a wave of criticism that the cuts misunderstood art’s role in society, and predictions that the impacts would ripple across the economy. Industries that rely upon both technical and creative skills are reporting skills shortages post-Brexit.
The pandemic, a surge in games’ popularity and Brexit have caused a labour shortage in the gaming industry, which used to rely heavily upon EU talent. There’s a demand for those with animation, design and writing skills in the UK games market, which is more than double the size it was 10 years ago.
Meanwhile, the fashion industry – the UK’s largest creative industry – which is worth £35 billion a year, has warned of severe talent shortages, with EU workers leaving gaps post-Brexit. Architecture is facing a similar challenge: the RIBA’s Future Trends survey reports that one in five practices are struggling to recruit.
David Lineton, a still life photographer who heads up the digital specialist team at Ultra High Resolution, said:
“During the pandemic, we’ve seen the arts suffer greatly, with lockdowns keeping people away from galleries, cinemas and theatres. And funding has been another huge issue, with those in the industry sometimes struggling for their incomes, making the field more competitive than ever.
“What’s pleasing though, is that the UK’s international reputation for the creative industries is still shining through. And as the UK scene becomes even more diverse, we’re sure to see a truly vibrant industry emerge from the pandemic.”
Ste Bergin, film producer and lecturer on the film production course at the University of Salford, said:
“When George Osborne was Chancellor of the Exchequer, he brought in some major tax incentives for productions to shoot in the UK. This allowed the UK to grow further as a cultural powerhouse – and students want to study in that kind of environment as it simply may not exist at home. More international talent moving to the UK means that more art is created here, and we are more financially incentivised as a country to fund that talent’s art.”
Gaming
New SuperScale eBook Launched to Help Mobile Game Developers Maximise Organic Success
SuperScale has released its latest ebook “From organic success to long-term revenue,” which addresses the concerns and opportunities identified in SuperScale’s landmark study, “Good Games Don’t Die”. The new SuperScale ebook builds on the signature whitepaper, providing mobile game developers with actionable insights and strategies to implement when a game gains organic traction.
Organic strategies such as celebrity endorsement, streamer coverage and TikTok virality can quickly catapult a game to the top of the charts, but it can be a challenge to maintain popularity. As discovered in the Good Games Don’t Die Report, 76% of launched games hit peak revenue and 47% of games die in year 1. The ebook provides developers with advice to further maximize the long-term revenue of games that have generated organic successes to date.
Previous findings also revealed that over a quarter (26%) of developers do not measure the lifetime value (LTV) and return on ad spend (ROAS) for their games. The ebook offers insights for developers exploring LTV and ROAS for the first time, alongside the significance of factors such as seasonality and marketing to seasoned game-makers. As discovered in the Good Games Don’t Die report, only 41% of developers use Ad mediation platforms. Inside the ebook, SuperScale specialists explain this process, offering advice about picking the right network, and the bidding and waterfall optimisation processes.
Ivan Trancik, CEO and Founder of SuperScale, said: “The findings from the Good Games Don’t Die white paper have been read far and wide by the industry. We’ve delved into the data to deliver an ebook that addresses the opportunities some developers are not currently exploring. In today’s mobile gaming landscape, every revenue-making opportunity counts, so we’re giving developers the insights to take their organic success to the next level.”
Gaming
Gaming Corps boosts Smash4Cash™ offering with release of RAMPAGE!
Gaming Corps – a publicly-listed game development company based in Sweden – is giving players the chance to swing wildly and bring the riches home in new game RAMPAGE!
Players can put their luck to the test and crack open ball after ball, revealing marvellous prizes hidden within.
RAMPAGE! is the second game in Gaming Corps’ Smash4Cash™ series, following the release of Piggy Smash in January. The Smah4Cash™ mechanic is designed to make the game experience even more unique and bring an even greater chance for players to make the most of bonus rounds.
Each time a player wagers on RAMPAGE! they make an attempt to smash a single active ball laid out in the middle of the game screen. There are two racks, with one on each side of the active ball, each holding four balls.
If the ball is smashed, the player will be rewarded with an instant prize, and one of several features may also be awarded. After a ball is smashed, it will be replaced with a new ball that drops from the rack, becoming active.
A ball being smashed may activate the MULTIPLIER feature, which will apply to the payout of the next ball that will be smashed. The next ball is automatically made active and is a guaranteed smash.
What’s more for players is the RAMPAGE feature could also be activated. The game will enter RAMPAGE MODE, where the Hammer automatically attempts to smash balls until it fails. A minimum of two balls will be smashed in this feature.
Even more winnings can be claimed if the MULTIPLIER RAMPAGE feature is triggered, combining both the MULTIPLIER and RAMPAGE features. During this feature, all smashed balls will have their payouts multiplied by the awarded multiplier at the start of the feature.
That’s not all, as players can also win a random prize if the INSTANT WIN feature is triggered. The game will award a random prize of 10x, 25x, 100x or 1000x the bet.
Connor Blinman, Head of Games at Gaming Corps said: “Our Smash4Cash™ mechanic is giving players even more opportunities to make the most of our thrilling games, and following the successful release of Piggy Smash, I’m very thankful to our team for smashing it out the park with our latest game to use the mechanic, RAMPAGE!
“This won’t be the last you will be hearing from us with releases like this, and I really look forward to seeing how we can make our games even stronger through the use of this mechanic in the coming months.”
Gaming
THE BATTLE OF POLYTOPIA ARRIVES ON APPLE ARCADE
The award-winning 4x strategy game The Battle of Polytopia has joined Apple Arcade as a ‘plus’ version with all tribes and skins unlocked.
In The Battle of Polytopia, tribes offer new units, technology, and buildings for players to enjoy as they seek to gain the highest score or defeat their opponent in the turn-based game. Apple Arcade users can have instant access to all 16 Polytopia tribes without needing to buy them separately as DLC.
The game has already been enjoyed by more than 20 million users on mobile, Steam and Switch and has a string of high-profile fans including Deepmind´s CEO Demis Hassabis and MrBeast. The standard version of the game will remain available on the App Store.
Christian Lövstedt, General Manager for The Battle of Polytopia, commented:
“The Apple Arcade release of The Battle of Polytopia will make the game available for even more players to enjoy. Whether it’s the unique insect abilities of the Cymanti, or the icy powers of the Polaris, the special tribes of Polytopia each offer a new spin on gameplay. By making all 16 tribes available, players can enjoy everything Polytopia has to offer from the very start.”
As initially announced by Apple Arcade, The Battle of Polytopia joins Bloons TD Battles 2+ and Crayola Adventures as new additions to the subscription service.
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