The Download – April 2026
Video Games Market Outlook survey, new UK public funding and the findings from our latest roundtable
Welcome to the first monthly newsletter from Moore Kingston Smith’s video game team – The Download.
The Download will provide you with updates on industry financial developments, while keeping you informed on what our team is up to in a short, easy-to-read bulletin.
If you would like to receive The Download straight to your inbox, make sure to sign up here.
Video Games Market Outlook survey: tell us how your game business is doing
We’re kicking off the first Download by giving you the chance to tell us how business is going.
The Moore Kingston Smith Video Games Market Outlook is a brand-new survey that asks how your company is doing, your thoughts on the market and your opinion on the effectiveness of government support.
The survey, which is based on similar forms we’ve produced for other media sectors, is short and takes around 5 minutes to complete.
We will share the results with the market with the aim that it becomes a useful benchmarking tool, and with partners like Ukie to inform their public policy work. All responses will be kept anonymous.
The survey will be open until 29 May. Complete it here.
Games industry business news in brief
£30m games growth package announced for UK games industry
The Government has confirmed the rollout of £30m of funding for the UK games industry called the Games Growth Package. Most of the cash, approximately £28.5m, will be distributed via the UK Games Fund through three funding pots: a Starter Fund (£20,000), a Prototype Fund (£100,000) and a Content Fund (£250,000). The remainder will be distributed to cluster groups to support their efforts to grow the ecosystem. Read the UK Games Fund update here.
UK video games market reaches record £8.76bn in 2025
The UK consumer video game market hit a record high of £8.76bn in 2025, according to Ukie. Game software sales rose to £6.03bn and game hardware revenue increased to £2.17bn as sales of the Switch 2 boosted the market. Game culture also grew by an impressive 42% to hit £566m, largely as a result of the release of the Minecraft movie. See the market valuation in full here.
Super Mario Galaxy movie becomes highest-grossing film of 2026 so far
And speaking of successful video game movie adaptations, the Super Mario Galaxy Movie has become the highest-grossing film of 2026 so far. It surpassed revenue of $755m globally last week, with the US ($361m), Mexico ($49.6m) and the UK ($38m). Pocket Gamer Biz has the full report.
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Roundtable
We hosted the latest in our series of behind-closed-doors roundtables designed to give underrepresented parts of the games industry a chance to talk shop.
The session, hosted by George Osborn of Video Games Industry Memo, saw marketing, PR and media service providers in the industry discuss shared challenges.
The group discussed the value of submitting to pitching process, the return of relationship building as a secret to success in the AI age and concerns over a lack of opportunities for junior talent in the landscape. To read the full summary, click here.
We will be hosting our next roundtable to discuss the challenges of the publishing sector in May. If you’d like to join, get in touch by emailing Edwina.
Pathways to growth, performance and funding for games studios
We recently hosted a webinar for the members of Ukie on performance, cash and funding.
Here, Rob Husband, Rob Kersse and Rodrigo Cerqueira outlined practical strategies to strengthen business performance and secure the right funding at each stage of growth. The discussion included how to build an adaptable business plan, identify key operational and financial pressure points, and understand what investors look for when assessing both early‑stage and scaling studios.
Click here for our top tips.
