Ctrl+Alt+Create: London’s Creative Industries Are Redefining Games
What happens when you blur the line between cinema and simulation? When a West End performance becomes a playable experience? When a game isn't just played — but lived, streamed, remixed and scored live by an orchestra?
Welcome to London in 2025 — where emerging technologies are rewriting the rules of entertainment, and games are leading the charge. In a city where theatre producers are teaming up with coders, filmmakers are borrowing from game engines, and indie studios are building global IPs from Shoreditch basements.
How will games evolve as technology pushes the boundaries of storytelling, immersion and fan experience? And what role will London play in empowering the next generation of creators — across screens, stages and simulated worlds?
The UK’s Creative Engine
Nowhere is this convergence of creative technologies more apparent than in London. According to the Greater London Authority, one in every five jobs in the capital is in the creative industries, making it the most concentrated creative economy in the UK — and one of the most diverse in the world. The sector spans everything from theatre and fashion to music, film, advertising, and, increasingly, video games.
London is a city of creative collisions: where VFX studios in Soho work on both Oscar-winning films and AAA games; where immersive theatre companies like Punchdrunk collaborate with technologists to build interactive narrative worlds; where musicians scoring West End musicals also compose for virtual avatars in rhythm games and digital concerts.
It’s also where AI researchers at institutions like UCL and King’s are experimenting with generative storytelling tools alongside indie developers and narrative designers. The boundaries between industries are blurring — and technologies like virtual production, motion capture, game engines, and spatial computing are the connective tissue.
From Stage to Screen to Simulation
Take ABBA Voyage — a groundbreaking blend of live performance and virtual production that brought digital avatars of the band to life in a custom-built London venue. The result was a sell-out sensation that combined motion capture, real-time rendering, and immersive theatre. That same technology is now shaping the way we build virtual characters and worlds in games.
This spirit of innovation continues at Screen Play, the flagship conference within the London Games Festival (LGF) which explored the relationship between games and other entertainment industries. Headline speakers included Story Kitchen, the company behind the Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise, and the upcoming adaptations of Just Cause, It Takes Two, and more. Their presence underscores a simple truth: games are the next frontier of transmedia storytelling.
Transmedia Storytelling and Fan Engagement
The rise of transmedia storytelling — where characters and narratives stretch across games, TV, film, and live events — offers a new playground for creators. Technologies like real-time engines, virtual production, and spatial computing are making it easier than ever to tell stories that jump between media and even between realities.
Meanwhile, fan engagement is being transformed. Tools like Unreal Engine’s Metahuman, generative AI, and interactive livestreaming enable creators to bring fans into the narrative, allowing them to co-create, remix, or even embody characters in real-time. Events like asses.masses, which came to Battersea Arts Centre during LGF 2025, push this idea further — inviting live audiences to collectively play and shape a seven-hour theatrical video game hybrid.
This convergence is also playing out on the streets and in stadiums. Niantic’s Pokémon GO Fest, which attracted over 70,000 people to London’s Brockwell Park in 2023, turned the capital into a living game board — blending augmented reality, geolocation, and real-world social play. Meanwhile, the UK’s booming esports scene is fusing live entertainment with interactive competition, offering fans an experience that sits somewhere between football, theatre, and Twitch.
Bridging Digital and Physical Worlds
Gaming is now at the heart of the phygital revolution — seamlessly blending physical and digital experiences to create deeper immersion and cultural resonance. At Somerset House, exhibitions like GAME ON have invited visitors to step inside theworlds of iconic games, combining interactive installations, concept art, and playable demos in a gallery setting. Meanwhile, Outernet London, the immersive entertainment district near Tottenham Court Road, has hosted 360° gaming showcases and playable public art powered by real-time visuals and responsive soundscapes.
Events like Now Play This, returning as part of London Games Festival 2025, showcase experimental game design in physical spaces, where games become tactile, social experiences — from cardboard-built controllers to AI-driven escape rooms. And on the retail side, pop-ups like the PlayStation VR2 experience in Covent Garden have brought cutting-edge technology to the high street, giving fans a chance to explore new worlds in physical locations.
Empowering the Next Generation
Emerging technologies don’t just enhance how we consume games — they reshape who gets to create them. From accessible development tools to remote collaborative platforms, barriers to entry are lower than ever.
London is uniquely placed to lead this shift. As a city that combines engineering firepower with creative flair, London draws on a talent pool that’s unmatched across Europe. With more international software engineers and creative professionals than any other European capital, London offers games and creative tech companies the ability to scale globally from a single, connected base.
That’s why global players — from Supercell to Epic Games and Unity — have chosen to expand or set up in London. They’re tapping into the city’s world-class universities such as UCL, Imperial College London, Goldsmiths and the Royal College of Art, where leading courses in game design, computer science, VFX, and creative computing continue to fuel a new generation of creators.
It’s a place where legendary storytelling traditions meet frontier innovation — where Shakespearean drama informs narrative games, and where stage lighting designers pivot to virtual production for immersive titles. In London, studios don’t just recruit talent — they plug into a globally connected ecosystem, collaborating across sectors, borders, and media.
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Rory joined techUK in June 2023 after three years in the Civil Service on its Fast Stream leadership development programme.
During this time, Rory worked on the Government's response to Covid-19 (NHS Test & Trace), school funding strategy (Department for Education) and international climate and nature policy (Cabinet Office). He also tackled the social care crisis whilst on secondment to techUK's Health and Social Care programme in 2022.
Before this, Rory worked in the House of Commons and House of Lords alongside completing degrees in Political Economy and Global Politics.
Today, Rory leads techUK's emerging technologies activity across everything from immersive, web3, AI and robotics to space, gaming & metaverse.
This involves co-running techUK's flagship Innovation campaign, managing four series (including the 'Meet the Innovators' interview series), and launching 4-6-month 'sprint campaigns' on transformative technologies and sectors.
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Rory Daniels
Rory Daniels
Rory joined techUK in June 2023 after three years in the Civil Service on its Fast Stream leadership development programme.
During this time, Rory worked on the Government's response to Covid-19 (NHS Test & Trace), school funding strategy (Department for Education) and international climate and nature policy (Cabinet Office). He also tackled the social care crisis whilst on secondment to techUK's Health and Social Care programme in 2022.
Before this, Rory worked in the House of Commons and House of Lords alongside completing degrees in Political Economy and Global Politics.
Today, Rory leads techUK's emerging technologies activity across everything from immersive, web3, AI and robotics to space, gaming & metaverse.
This involves co-running techUK's flagship Innovation campaign, managing four series (including the 'Meet the Innovators' interview series), and launching 4-6-month 'sprint campaigns' on transformative technologies and sectors.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorydaniels28/
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These include blockchain, smart contracts, digital assets, augmented / virtual / mixed / extended reality, spatial computing, haptics and holograms.
Activity took the form of roundtables, workshops, panel discussions, networking sessions, tech demos, Summits, thought leadership pieces, policy recommendations, and a report (to be launched in 2025).
Get in touch below to find out more about techUK's future plans in this space.
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Rory Daniels
Rory Daniels
Rory joined techUK in June 2023 after three years in the Civil Service on its Fast Stream leadership development programme.
During this time, Rory worked on the Government's response to Covid-19 (NHS Test & Trace), school funding strategy (Department for Education) and international climate and nature policy (Cabinet Office). He also tackled the social care crisis whilst on secondment to techUK's Health and Social Care programme in 2022.
Before this, Rory worked in the House of Commons and House of Lords alongside completing degrees in Political Economy and Global Politics.
Today, Rory leads techUK's emerging technologies activity across everything from immersive, web3, AI and robotics to space, gaming & metaverse.
This involves co-running techUK's flagship Innovation campaign, managing four series (including the 'Meet the Innovators' interview series), and launching 4-6-month 'sprint campaigns' on transformative technologies and sectors.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorydaniels28/
Running from February to June 2025, this sprint campaign is exploring how the UK can lead on the development, application and commercialisation of robotic & automation technologies.
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Activity is taking the form of roundtables, workshops, panel discussions, networking sessions, tech demos, Summits, thought leadership pieces, policy recommendations, and a report (to be launched in Q4 2025).
Get in touch below to get involved or find out more about techUK's future plans in this space.
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Get in touch
Rory Daniels
Rory Daniels
Rory joined techUK in June 2023 after three years in the Civil Service on its Fast Stream leadership development programme.
During this time, Rory worked on the Government's response to Covid-19 (NHS Test & Trace), school funding strategy (Department for Education) and international climate and nature policy (Cabinet Office). He also tackled the social care crisis whilst on secondment to techUK's Health and Social Care programme in 2022.
Before this, Rory worked in the House of Commons and House of Lords alongside completing degrees in Political Economy and Global Politics.
Today, Rory leads techUK's emerging technologies activity across everything from immersive, web3, AI and robotics to space, gaming & metaverse.
This involves co-running techUK's flagship Innovation campaign, managing four series (including the 'Meet the Innovators' interview series), and launching 4-6-month 'sprint campaigns' on transformative technologies and sectors.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorydaniels28/
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