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Edinburgh Reporter

From Leith to the App Store: Edinburgh Graduates Building the Next Big Mobile Games

In 2025, Edinburgh has matured to become one of the UK's top game development hubs. Video games now add over £5 billion to Scotland's economy, powered by hundreds of studios and thousands of professionals. Many come from the city's universities, where game design and interactive media courses spark innovation. Leith-based Glitchers stands out with Sea Hero Quest, a mobile game that aids dementia research through player data. Accordingly, new developers are building on this momentum, launching startups focused on social impact and user engagement. Although giants like Rockstar North—recipient of £73 million in tax relief in 2023—remain prominent, real innovation often comes from small teams exploring new mobile mechanics. In May 2025, Glitchers received part of a £100,000 funding round to expand health-focused titles. Backed by strong academic roots and a vibrant startup scene, Edinburgh could drive mobile gaming's future in the UK and beyond. Young man paying a mobile game at home. Smart phone gaming Customisation as a Core Design Pillar In the past, games gave you limited control over characters or interfaces; now, customisation is central to game design. Developers from Edinburgh's universities lead this shift, creating titles that let you modify visuals, behaviours, tools and sound. Take Yaldi Games' Wholesome, a mobile game where you craft, explore and personalise a simulated countryside. Your choices on layout, aesthetics and play rhythm make the experience feel tailored rather than pre-packaged. These choices drive how you connect with the game: when you personalise gameplay—like deciding how a farm looks or tackling challenges—you become more invested in your progress. The same approach is now common in casino-style mobile games, where adjustable visuals, personal dashboards and adaptive difficulty give you control. Between changing background colours, selecting sound design or rearranging tools, each choice becomes a form of expression. This turns you from a user into a collaborator, dictating the game in real time. Weapons, Loadouts and Expression Weapons and tools in games have long been functional; however, now they express style and personality. Edinburgh-developed mobile titles focus on modular loadouts, letting you customise both appearance and mechanics, no matter if it's a shooter's weapon or a puzzle game's feature. This approach, adapted for mobile's need for quick interaction and clarity, makes your game unique even if the objectives stay the same. Casino apps use similar ideas—you can adjust spin animations, set win sounds or build profiles that unwind with your play history. These features draw from custom loadout concepts pioneered by Edinburgh-trained designers; instead of treating you as a passive player, developers see you as a co-creator of the experience. It has moved beyond luck or skill, becoming about your personal style and choices. This blend of utility and flair keeps you engaged and coming back for more. Tech and Talent in Sync For these innovations to run smoothly, hardware must support them. Today's developers understand that game performance hinges as much on the device as on the code. Graphics, loading speed, frame rates and battery usage all influence whether a player feels immersed or frustrated. If you've wondered how to optimize phone for gaming, the answer lies in both the phone's specs and how the software is built. Edinburgh-based teams account for these constraints, building lightweight code and offering scalable features that maintain performance across multiple devices. Meanwhile, the city's universities and accelerators continue to train the next generation of game developers, with work supported by funding bodies that recognise the economic and cultural value of interactive media. New studios are emerging each year with fresh ideas about how to make mobile gaming more immersive, inclusive and intelligent. As personalisation continues to reinvent how games are played, Edinburgh's influence will only expand. You can expect future titles to focus even more on user choice as the driving force behind game design. In this model, your preferences enhance and define the experience. Replay Value and Player Identity Replayability used to mean unlocking new levels or harder difficulties. Today, it means discovering different versions of the game through your own behaviour. Edinburgh-based developers have focused on systems that adapt to the individual. No matter if that's a narrative path that shifts based on your responses or a daily challenge that aligns with your preferences, the idea is to keep the game fresh each time it's played. This approach relies on subtle variability—small changes in layout, task or reward that emerge organically based on how you interact with the game. Casino platforms are starting to implement similar frameworks, tracking the kinds of games you play, your preferred wager levels and the frequency of your sessions. With that information, the app reinvents itself, offering bonuses or visuals that suit your habits. That kind of variability, which began in mobile adventure and strategy games from Edinburgh studios, now helps even simple games maintain attention spans in a crowded market. These systems make each session feel new, even if the game's structure remains unchanged. Key Takeaways Edinburgh's game development sector has grown into a major UK hub, contributing to Scotland's £5 billion gaming economy. Graduates from local universities fuel innovation, with studios like Glitchers leading health-focused mobile games such as Sea Hero Quest. Customisation, modular design and adaptive gameplay—pioneered by Edinburgh teams—are recasting mobile and casino gaming, emphasising player choice and identity. Supported by strong academic programmes and significant funding, Edinburgh continues to produce immersive, personalised games that perform well across devices, securing its position in the future of mobile gaming. Scotland's gaming value : Scotland's creative industries—including video games—contribute over £5 billion annually to the national economy. : Scotland's creative industries—including video games—contribute over annually to the national economy. Development businesses and jobs : The UK's gaming sector includes roughly 2,555 active game businesses and employs around 75,000 people, with the Scottish portion mirroring national trends. : The UK's gaming sector includes roughly active game businesses and employs around people, with the Scottish portion mirroring national trends. Rockstar North tax relief : Edinburgh-based Rockstar North claimed approximately £73 million in Video Games Tax Relief in 2024. : Edinburgh-based Rockstar North claimed approximately in Video Games Tax Relief in 2024. Rockstar cumulative tax relief : Over the past decade, Rockstar North has claimed over £330 million in tax relief through the UK's VGTR scheme. : Over the past decade, Rockstar North has claimed in tax relief through the UK's VGTR scheme. Sea Hero Quest reach: Developed by Leith's Glitchers, 'Sea Hero Quest' engaged 4.3 million players by October 2021, delivering data equivalent to 17,600 years of lab-based dementia research. Like this: Like Related