The UK gambling sector has been predicted to almost triple its value over the following three years, reaching £10 billion. The industry, which is currently worth around £4 billion, is also expected to see a three-fold increase in the number of people employed there within five years. For the time being, around 27,000 individuals work in the British gambling sector.
The expectations have been revealed in a new report that is officially set to be released later in October by Robert Walters, an international recruitment agency. The report is aimed at highlighting the gaming and gambling industry as the only one within the entertainment and leisure sector to have beaten the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
As revealed by the report, the end of the first fiscal quarter of the year saw a 67% increase in digital downloading week-on-week. Physical game sales, on the other hand, rose by a total of 218%, as the social distancing and lockdown measures unveiled in March further highlighted the large demand for gambling and gaming services.
Robert Walters’ Senior Manager Technology, Tom Chambers, explained that the Covid-19 crisis had an extremely intense impact on the gaming and gambling sector. In a world that saw all major sporting events, hospitality and leisure events and premiers shut, gaming and gambling was literally the only industry that remained widely accessible for multiple age groups during the lockdown.
UK Gaming Sector Shows Signs of Increasing Maturity
Despite the coronavirus pandemic that hit all spheres of the economy this year, gaming and gambling operators have continued to keep a steady pace and show an increase in vacancies of 20% year-on-year, according to Robert Walters’ report cited by The Armchair Trader.
Several countries, which are largely populated and proficient in technology, such as China, Japan, South Korea and the US, have already established themselves as big players in the gaming market. The UK, on the other hand, may still be considered an emerging sector as it currently occupies the fifth position in the list of the biggest gaming markets on a global scale.
According to the global recruitment agency’s report, one of the most significant indicators of the success of the UK’s video game development and sales sector is the speed at which the growth in the jobs market has been generated. The UK may not be as populated as other market leaders in the gaming sector, but it has managed to remain competitive at developing technology. Reportedly, gaming and gambling operators are rapidly increasing recruitment in their sales and marketing teams, which is a sign of the increasing maturity of the sector.
Playtech and NetEnt are among the most popular gaming companies that are heavily involved in gambling and gaming software development, along with Evolution Gaming that in June 2020 revealed that it was to make an acquisition bid for taking over NetEnt. The proposed deal, estimated at approximately $2.1 billion is currently being investigated by the UK Competition and Markets Authority that has until the end of October to make a decision on the matter.
Konami Corp is currently one of the largest gaming companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Japan-based company has so far shown not only interests in game development but also exposure to the health and fitness market. Another foreign company that is London-listed, is Ubisoft – the largest pure-play video gaming stock in the LSE by market cap.
- Author
Olivia Cole
