The launch of the Games Insights Database (GIDB) marks a crucial moment in data transparency for the UK games industry. For years, conversations about skills gaps, hiring challenges, regional growth, and workforce diversity have been held without robust, unified, and accessible data. The GIDB finally fills that gap and we’re proud to be a core partner in its creation.

GIDB is a free, UK‑wide platform that brings together never-before-compiled data on skills, salaries, jobs, funding, and workforce trends. It gives developers, studios, educators, and policymakers the evidence they need to make better decisions and to reshape how people enter, navigate, and thrive in the industry.

This new platform exists thanks to a partnership between Games Jobs Live, Into Games and Bird’s Eye View, fully funded by the BFI and National Lottery. Together, we’ve combined expertise in workforce development, hiring, education, and data analysis to build a platform that reflects the real needs of the industry.

The currently live GIDB launches with two core features: the Workforce Hub and the Jobs Framework. Both are built from five years of historical jobs and salary data, alongside public datasets scraped, analysed, and manually verified by experts across every discipline.

Workforce Hub:

Explore real-time data on studios, jobs, and workforce trends across every UK region. The Workforce Hub provides the following data points:

• studio presence
• workforce size
• job and company growth
• creative output

This is the first time the UK has had a real-time, geographically detailed view of its games workforce. For Into Games, this matters because regional inequality is one of the biggest barriers to entry. Understanding where studios are, how they grow, and what they need allows us and others to target support more effectively.

Use cases include:

• Regional policymaking and evidence-based investment
• Sector growth planning and ecosystem mapping
• Training deployment based on real hiring patterns
• Partnership development through comprehensive employer lists

This is the kind of data that can help a college tailor its curriculum, a council justify investment, or a studio understand its local talent pipeline.

Jobs Framework

The Jobs Framework is the most comprehensive mapping of UK games roles ever created, containing a complete framework for every major role in games. Within each role it outlines:

• required skills at each seniority level
• salary benchmarks
• progression pathways across art, animation, design, code, production, and more

For years, we’ve worked with jobseekers and graduates who struggle to understand what “junior-ready” actually means and what they need to reach that level. Now, they can see exactly which skills matter, how they evolve, and what salaries look like across the industry to provide transparency when comparing opportunities.

Use cases include:

• Negotiating salary using industry-standard ranges
• Building better teams with consistent job descriptions
• Student skill development aligned to real industry needs
• Curriculum design for colleges and universities
• Training product development based on verified skills data,

What’s coming next?

Two major features will join the platform at full launch:

• Funding Finder - A UK-wide database of grants, investment routes, and funding opportunities. Filterable by region, studio size, project stage, and eligibility.
• Advocacy Reports - Customisable reports that turn GIDB data into evidence for strategy, investment, and policy change.

The GIDB is free, live, and ready to explore today.