Immigration rule changes could have a severe effect on Yorkshire’s £300m video games industry, experts warn

As part of efforts to reduce legal migration, the Government controversially announced this month that from next spring, it will raise the skilled worker earnings threshold by almost half to £38,700, meaning only those earning above that amount will be eligible for a skilled worker Visa.

It also announced that workers must earn over £38,700 for their foreign spouses to live with them in the UK - more than double the current amount of £18,600. The move has caused anger among many affected families and different business sectors.

The Government said the new rules will mean around 300,000 fewer people will come to the UK in future years than have done so in the last year.

Mr Sefton said: “The games industry already has major issues with a shortage of skilled people for certain roles within companies, and the government’s decision to increase the visa minimum earnings will only make the situation worse and hamper growth in our sector, which contributes £7.16bn to the UK economy.

“Making it more difficult for the UK to attract the best talent from around the world to join studios, or set up games studios to create new IP that brings in investment and job-creation, could be a backwards step.”

Immigration expert Laurence Keir-Thomas also noted how the changes could have a disproportionate effect on the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Mr Keir-Thomas, who is a senior manager and solicitor at the Sheffield office of immigration lawyers Fragomen, said: “There is a thriving games industry in Yorkshire and The Humber, with more than 140 games businesses in the region. Undoubtedly these changes will impact those businesses in our region, and we’ve seen that from our own analysis.”

Fragomen’s Sheffield office analysed data from a games client in Yorkshire against one in the South East. It found that over the last three years, 22 per cent of its Yorkshire-based client’s visa applications would be vulnerable to the changes, versus 9 per cent from its client based in London.

Mr Keir-Thomas noted that this reflects salary differences between the two parts of the country.

He also noted the risks related to a lack of regional variation in the policy, adding: “There has been some fantastic work done across the region - including by the government - to encourage the industry, but given that we’re not going to get any regional differences in this policy, I think it runs the risk of creating a more difficult scenario for games studios in this region.”

Based on analysis from several video games firms, Fragomen found that, nationally, 30 per cent of visa applications for the games industry over the last three years could be refused under the new rules. 40 per cent of these applications were for roles in design, art, animation and technical art roles, while 30 per cent were for programming related occupation roles.

This follows analysis from video games trade body UKIE, which estimates the skilled worker visa increase will affect roughly 2,800 roles in the UK industry, or approximately 12 per cent of the direct UK workforce.

The group said the changes would “compound serious issues that are already being felt across the UK industry,” noting that over 1,000 vacancies in the sector are currently unfilled.

UKIE added: “The Government’s announcement creates not only a short-term headache for companies but stands to exacerbate a long-term structural issue and in turn risks making the UK a less attractive place to set up or scale up a games business.”

Game Republic claims that at least 9 per cent of the UK’s game development talent is based in Yorkshire, and estimates the regional value of the games industry at around £300 million GVA.

The group also estimates that there are around 4,000 developer jobs in Yorkshire, with a wider ecosystem of over 10,000 jobs within the industry.

Yorkshire is also home to two of the UK’s first games company stock market launches in Team17 and Sumo Digital, which currently bring in combined revenues of over £100 million.

Yorkshire studios have also worked on a number of high profile and award winning games over recent years.

Sumo Digital developed 2020’s LittleBigPlanet spin-off Sackboy: A Big Adventure, which went on to win a number of awards. York-based Revolution Software also developed the popular point and click adventure series Broken Sword.

Yorkshire is home to a number of studios working on triple A games, including PitStop Productions, which worked on the sound design for Baldur’s Gate Three, and Rockstar’s Leeds-based branch which has worked on a number of the GTA games.

A number of publishers are also based in Yorkshire, including the Leeds-based Five Aces Publishing, which has worked with developer New Star to release New Star GP and New Star Manager.

Judi Alston, CEO and creative director of One to One Development Trust, an arts organisation using film, game design, XR and other creative approaches to work with communities, also warned of a detrimental impact to the wider creative industries.

She said: “In our recent game project Play Your Way into Production, One to One Development Trust supported four paid internships, two of which were to overseas students.

“The recent announcement from the Home Secretary announcing sweeping changes to tighten up the immigration system seems very short sighted for the creative industries, including the game development sector, which by its very nature is global.

“Whilst fair pay for all workers is essential, raising the baseline minimum salary levels to qualify for a work visa by more than 40 per cent could outprice many creative studios taking on young people and graduates, as it is currently unclear if new entrants will receive the dispensation which is currently in place.”

The Home Office did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

In its research briefing on the announcement, the Government noted that many details of the proposed changes are yet to be decided and announced, and that this means it is not always possible to say how the changes will affect people in different circumstances.