2014 TIGA & ARM Toolbox Report shows more devs want to work with Xbox One, PS4 & Vita, but PC and Apple will lose ground

TIGA, the network for developers and digital publishers, has announced the key findings from its 2014 Toolbox Report, carried out in collaboration with ARM. The Report reveals that developers are refocusing their attention to the new generation consoles, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

The findings of the Report come from a survey of 100 UK developers identifying the most popular platforms, engines and middleware, as well as what developers intend to use in future.

Key findings: Platforms

The current top three platforms for game developers and digital publishers are Apple, PC and Android. Apple’s iPad and iPhone are the most popular platforms, with 73 per cent and 72 per cent of developers working on these devices respectively. At present, PC is in third place with 63 per cent of developers listing it as a key current platform followed closely by Android at 62 per cent, and Mac at 35 per cent.

Looking ahead, Apple, Android and PC remain the top three platforms that developers intend to work with, (65 per cent on Apple, 63 per cent on Android and 58 per cent on PC). However, 52 per cent of those surveyed said they intend to focus on Xbox One in the future and 48 per cent plan to develop for Play Station 4. Encouragingly for Sony, Vita saw the 4th largest increase in developers who said they intend to work on the platform, with a rise of 11 per cent.

Less positive for PC and Apple however, are the findings that fewer developers intend to work on these platforms in future (15 percent drop on PC, down 8 per cent on iPad and down 7 per cent on iPhone).

Key Findings: Engines

Currently, top engines for developers and digital publishers in the UK include Unity 3D Engine (62 per cent), their own internal proprietary engine (47 per cent) and Epic Games’ Unreal Engine (12 per cent).

Looking ahead to the engines developers intend to use in future, 68 per cent plan to use Unity 3D, 35 per cent will stick with their own proprietary engine and 23 per cent want to work with Unreal Engine .

The good news for Epic Games is that its Unreal Engine saw the largest rise of developers intending to use it (11 per cent) out of all the engines in the survey, closing the gap with Unity, whilst developers’ own proprietary engines saw the biggest drop (12 per cent).

Dr Richard Wilson, CEO, TIGA, comments:

“TIGA partnered with ARM to carry out this survey because as a network by run primarily by developers, for developers and the wider industry, it is essential we understand the challenges developers face and the tools and platforms they prefer. This knowledge will enable TIGA to support our members and the UK video game industry more effectively.

“The 2014 Toolbox Report shows developers are significantly refocusing their attention on the new generation consoles, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Both Microsoft and Sony have invested heavily in engaging developers, especially indies, to make games for their platforms. This investment seems to be paying off. The PS Vita’s position as the 5th biggest change (and 4th largest increase) also ties in neatly with Sony’s efforts to boost sales by focusing on the handhelds close compatibility with the PlayStation 4.

“It’s also interesting to note that a smaller proportion of developers plan to develop games on the iPad and iPhone in the future. This is probably due to the congested marketplace developers face given the popularity of Apple’s platform, and the challenges for discoverability this brings.

“With the gap closing between Unity and Unreal, with nearly a quarter of UK developers intending to work with Epic’s engine in the future, it seems whether you’re looking at engines, middleware or platforms, the future of the UK games industry looks more competitive than ever.”

Nizar Rhomdane, Director of Ecosystem, ARM, added:

“This report will prove extremely valuable, as it provides insight into the array of challenges which developers face along with the engines and middleware which are critical to the completion of their projects.

“With this information, both ARM and TIGA will be in a stronger position to help support UK game developers’ interests when lobbying government and collaborating with partners to create the next generation of hardware, developer tools and resources.

“I’d like to thank the 100 developers and publishers who took the time to complete our survey. I very much look forward to using the insight detailed in the following report to help TIGA transform the UK into the best place in the world to do games business.”

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Notes to editors

Table 1: The top platforms that UK developers make games for

Q: What are the top platforms that you develop for? 1 iPad 73% 2 iPhone 72% 3 PC 63% 4 Android 62% 5 Mac 35% 6 Windows Phone 22% 7 Xbox 360 18% 7 PlayStation 3 18% 8 Xbox One 17% 9 PlayStation 4 15% 10 Linux 14% 11 Other 12% 12 PS Vita 11% 13 Wii U 8% 14 Wii 7% 15 Smart TV / Set Top Box 7% 16 BlackBerry 6% 17 Nintendo 3DS 3% 18 None of the above 1%

Table 2: The top game engines UK developers use to make games

Q: What game engines do you currently use? 1 Unity 3D Engine (Unity Technologies) 62% 2 Internal proprietary engine 47% 3 Other 23% 4 Unreal Engine (Epic Games) 12% 5 Open source 10% 6 Cocos2d-x 9% 7 CryEngine (Crytek) 5% 7 Marmalade SDK (Marmalade) 5% 8 Torque Engine (Garage Games) 2% 8 None of the above 2% 9 Phyre Engine (Sony) 1% 9 Vision Engine (Havok previously Trinigy) 1% 9 Gamebryo Engine (Gamebase) 1% 9 Infernal Engine (Terminal Reality) 1% 9 Shiva3D Engine (Stonetrip) 1% 10 Hero Engine (Idea Fabrik) 0% 10 idTech Engine 0%

About TIGA

TIGA is the trade association representing the UK video game industry. We help developers and digital publishers build successful studios, network with the right people, save money and access professional business advice. We also have traditional publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership.

TIGA is 90% funded by independent UK businesses. 80% of our board members are developers and/or from UK owned businesses, and 50% of our board are UK business owners themselves. Since 2010, TIGA has won 17 business awards.

TIGA focuses on three sets of activities:

Political representation

Media representation

Business services

This enhances the competitiveness of our members by providing benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities. It also means our members’ voices are heard in the corridors of power and positively represented in national, broadcast and UK video game trade media.

Get in touch:

Tel: 0845 468 2330

Email: info@tiga.org

Web: www.tiga.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tigamovement

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LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tiga

For further information, you can also contact:

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org

Drew Field, TIGA Communications Director on: 07720 643 344, or email drew.field@tiga.org