The European video‑game market posted a total turnover of €24 billion in 2024, supported by more than 6,600 development studios and a labour force that now exceeds 95,000 individuals. These figures come from the European Video Game Industry Insights Report, a joint publication of the European Games Development Association (EGDF) and Video Games Europe (VGA). The report, which aggregates data from the 28 EGDF member organisations, reflects the state of the industry in 2024 because of the time needed to compile and verify national statistics before they are merged into a single European overview. One of the most striking take‑aways from the 2024 edition is the divergence between two key indicators: while the overall talent base – measured by the net increase in employed professionals – has essentially plateaued, the number of active studios has continued to climb.
Depending on the country, studio growth ranged from a modest 5 % to a more robust 10 % over the previous year. This suggests that new companies are being founded or existing ones are expanding their operations even as the pool of new hires is not expanding at the same pace. The trend is evident in several mid‑size markets such as Finland, Italy and the Czech Republic, where employment figures showed only slight upward movement but the count of registered development entities rose noticeably.
Poland emerged as the continent’s biggest employer in the sector, hosting the largest concentration of game‑development and publishing staff across the EU. Polish studios also led the region in terms of output, releasing 450 new titles during the year – a record for the country and a clear indication of its growing production capacity.
The United Kingdom, another major hub, reported a workforce of 28,516 people working in game creation, design, publishing and ancillary services. These two nations together account for a substantial share of the total European employment in the industry, underscoring their strategic importance for the sector’s future. The 2024 report also marked the first inclusion of two previously untracked markets: Bulgaria and Cyprus. Cyprus, despite its relatively small size, generated €4.3 billion in turnover, a figure that positioned it as the leading revenue hub among the newly added economies.
The report described Cyprus as the "main game industry hub in terms of combined revenue," highlighting the island’s ability to attract investment and produce commercially successful titles. Bulgaria, on the other hand, was recognised as an "important regional hub surrounded by key European game industry talent" – a nod to its geographic proximity to strong talent pools in Romania and Türkiye and its growing role as a conduit for cross‑border collaboration.
Commentary from the EGDF emphasised the mixed nature of the year’s results. On the one hand, the data demonstrates that, despite a challenging macro‑economic environment and a series of high‑profile layoffs and consolidations, many European countries managed to sustain or even improve both revenue streams and the number of active studios. This dual uplift helped to keep the overall European figures on an upward trajectory, reinforcing the sector’s resilience and its capacity to adapt to shifting market conditions.
On the other hand, the report also flagged a worrying development: for the first time since systematic tracking began, several countries experienced a slight decline in employment numbers. The EGDF attributed this dip to a combination of layoffs, corporate consolidations and a broader slowdown in hiring. While the decrease was modest and isolated to a handful of markets, it signalled the first measurable contraction in the sector’s labour side, prompting industry leaders to call for targeted policy measures and investment in skills development to re‑energise the talent pipeline. Overall, the 2024 European Video Game Industry Insights Report paints a picture of a sector that is still expanding in terms of revenue and studio count, yet grappling with the limits of its current workforce supply.
The continued rise of new studios suggests entrepreneurial vigor and a willingness to experiment with innovative game concepts, while the stagnation in talent growth points to the need for stronger education programmes, better retention strategies and perhaps more cross‑border mobility for skilled professionals. As Europe moves forward, the balance between nurturing fresh talent and supporting the burgeoning ecosystem of studios will be crucial to maintaining the continent’s competitive edge in the global gaming arena.