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Discover how UCA helped reshape creative industry innovation and strengthen the Surrey games ecosystem.
The final GAIN report shows how three universities, including the University for the Creative Arts, collaborated to develop a new innovation model built specifically for games and creative technology. Instead of relying on traditional STEM-oriented approaches, the programme created a framework that reflects the fast, iterative and commercially focused nature of creative production. This has driven a significant rise in meaningful collaboration, new research partnerships, and sustained investment across Surrey’s globally recognised games cluster.
For UCA, the report highlights a series of contributions with direct impact on regional activity. UCA has championed games innovation since 2010, investing in creative technology, games design, and support for independent developers long before GAIN began. The GAIN programme, supported by Research England CCF funding, accelerated this work over a focused two year period and enabled UCA to expand its Games Incubator, enhance its XR and virtual production facilities, and deliver eighteen innovation projects that helped studios tackle real development challenges. These interventions provided capabilities that smaller studios and freelancers would not normally be able to access, strengthening Surrey’s growing talent base and stimulating new creative and technical experimentation.
Collectively, GAIN has increased activity across the Surrey ecosystem by deepening engagement between universities and studios, improving access to specialist facilities, and enabling new forms of collaboration that continue beyond the life of the project. If you want insight into how this model has transformed the regional landscape and how UCA played a central role in that success, download the full report and explore the findings in depth.
