The 2026 UK Best Places to Work Awards were held on October 1 at the historic Royal Institution in London, celebrating the companies that have demonstrated exceptional commitment to their staff. The ceremony highlighted a range of studios and service providers, with special recognitions awarded to Dink, Hangar 13, Jagex: The RuneScape Company, NaturalMotion Games, Rare, and Snap Finger Click for their standout achievements. The event followed the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit, a gathering that attracted 79 delegates representing 41 organisations across the video‑game ecosystem.
Attendees included representatives from AAA publishers, mid‑tier and independent studios, as well as consultants, training agencies, and academic institutions. The summit provided a forum for candid dialogue about talent acquisition, retention, wellbeing, and the evolving expectations of game‑industry professionals.
The core Best Places to Work awards honoured a total of 25 companies, divided into three size‑based categories – small, medium and large – to ensure a level playing field. Winners were selected through a dual‑assessment model: an employee questionnaire contributed 80% of the final score, reflecting the direct experiences of staff, while a company‑completed survey accounted for the remaining 20%, offering insight into policies, benefits, and organisational culture.
Key sponsors for the 2026 ceremony included Amiqus, Playground Games, IO Interactive, Games London, and Special Effect, each of which underscored the importance of recognising workplaces that foster creativity, inclusivity, and sustainable growth. Liz Prince MBE, Business Manager at Amiqus, explained the synergy between the HR Summit and the awards: "These events are valuable because they complement each other perfectly. The summit creates a space for honest discussion, shared learning and fresh ideas, while the awards shine a spotlight on studios that are turning those ideas into concrete action.
Bringing the industry together to both learn from one another and celebrate success raises the bar for everyone, and we are proud to play a part in that." Paul Evans, Director of HR & Recruitment at Playground Games, added, "We are delighted to support GI.Biz in recognising the UK’s best mid‑sized video‑game studios. These teams are not only delivering brilliant games, they are also setting the benchmark for what a great workplace looks like in our sector." Among the individual accolades, Jo Haslam received the G Into Gaming award. Haslam, now Design Director at Snap Finger Click after a distinguished career at Mediatonic, Relentless and the BBC, was praised by Liz Prince MBE as "one of those rare people who leads with both empathy and action in perfect unison" and described as "an inspiring woman and a natural leader." Snap Finger Click also secured a Best Places to Work award and the Diversity Award, underscoring its commitment to an inclusive culture. Rare captured the Environmental Award for the second consecutive year, a prize sponsored by Games London that recognises studios taking concrete steps to reduce their ecological footprint.
Meanwhile, the Education Award was presented by Veronique Lallier, Chief Development Officer at IO Interactive, to Middlesbrough‑based indie studio Dink for its innovative training programmes and partnerships with local educational institutions. The full roster of winners spanned a broad spectrum of developers: - Fireshine Games - Lively - MLC Studio - Playstack - Silent Games - Snap Finger Click - Stellar Entertainment Software - Swipe Right - Tanglewood Games - Uplift Games - Behaviour Interactive UK - Electric Square - Expression Games - Fenris Creations - Hangar 13 - HundredStar Games - Kinetic Games - Maverick Games - Rare - Studio Gobo - Wushu Studios - Frontier Developments - Jagex: The RuneScape Company - Playground Games - TT Games - Jo Haslam, Snap Finger Click - Jagex: The RuneScape Company (winner) - NaturalMotion Games - Playground Games - Rocksteady Studios - Wushu Studios - Maverick Games - NaturalMotion Games - Rare - Snap Finger Click (winner) - Dink (winner) - Electric Square - Jagex: The RuneScape Company - Rocksteady Studios - Two Point Studios - NaturalMotion Games - Playground Games - Rare (winner) - Rocksteady Studios - Behaviour Interactive UK - Hangar 13 (winner) - NaturalMotion Games - Rare - Rocksteady Studios - Behaviour Interactive UK - Jagex: The RuneScape Company - NaturalMotion Games (winner) - Playground Games - Yvonne Dawes, Frontier Developments - Tuoya Joe, HundredStar Games - Gary Martin, Jagex: The RuneScape Company - Carmen Martino, Playstack - Anna Stone, Playground Games - Leah Wilson, IO Interactive (winner) The awards not only celebrated the achievements of these studios but also highlighted broader trends shaping the industry. Many of the winning companies have introduced flexible working arrangements, mental‑health support, and clear pathways for career progression, reflecting a growing recognition that employee wellbeing directly influences creative output and commercial success.
Environmental stewardship, as demonstrated by Rare, is becoming a core component of corporate responsibility, with studios adopting greener production pipelines and carbon‑offset initiatives. In addition to the formal recognitions, the event served as a networking hub where HR leaders exchanged best practices on topics such as diversity hiring, mentorship programmes, and the integration of new technologies like AI‑driven talent analytics. The collaborative atmosphere reinforced the idea that a thriving game‑development ecosystem depends on shared learning and mutual support. Looking ahead, organisers anticipate that the Best Places to Work Awards will continue to evolve, incorporating more granular metrics around inclusivity, sustainability, and employee empowerment.
By spotlighting exemplary workplaces, the awards aim to inspire other studios—big and small—to adopt policies that nurture talent, foster innovation, and build resilient, future‑ready organisations. Overall, the 2026 ceremony marked a significant milestone for the UK game sector, showcasing the companies that are not only delivering memorable gaming experiences but also setting new standards for how to treat the people behind those experiences.