The government has asked Nesta to produce an independent report into how to provide the skills that Britain’s video games and visual effects businesses need.

Nesta will work in partnership with Ian Livingstone, Charles Cecil, Alex Hope and Skillset.

The government has also asked Nesta to pilot ways for games developers to explore self-publishing opportunities in order to help them attract private investment to develop and retain original IP.

Growth leader

The UK's video games sector generates £2 billion in global sales. Worldwide, the video games market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 10.3% in the next two years - compared to an average of 6.6% for all media and entertainment markets. Helping UK games developers to capture new markets and ensuring that there are skilled young people to work in the sector will be critical to the UK capitalising on this rapid expansion.

A force for innovation

Nesta has long championed the games industry as a force for innovation and economic growth in the UK. Through our unique blend of programme activity and research, we have worked closely with the games industry to help the sector through challenging economic times so that the UK can retain its strong global market share.

You can watch the speech by Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries in full. Scroll to 7.45 to hear the news about NESTA.