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The Scottish Government does not provide specific support to independent video games developers. Developers can access bespoke business advice and support through our enterprise agencies.

The Scottish Government has not provided funding directly to video game development companies in the past five years through targeted schemes.

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland have provided funding in 2022 and 2023 to support Scottish Games Week, which included an Education Symposium. This event brings together video game industry and education providers with an aim to share learning and establish partnerships.

Education Scotland has also supported (through attendance and delivery) the Scottish Games Education Symposium in 2024 and inaugural Scottish Esports Education Conference in 2024.

Education Scotland supports all 32 local authorities to develop and deliver digital literacy, computing science and creativity learning - all of which are in-demand from the games industry.

The Scottish Government is engaging with an industry led action plan and which will look to address future support requirements of the sector.

The Scottish Government provided £49,425 in 2022 and £40,000 in 2023 to support Scottish Games Week as the platform to bring industry together to showcase talent, share learnings, build networks, and highlight the potential of the sector.

Further to this, the Scottish Government has been engaged with the video game sector as it develops an industry led games action plan. It is our expectation that this plan, developed by the Scottish Games Network following a series of workshops hosted around Scotland, will set out what support is required to successfully grow the sector in Scotland.

As this action plan is being developed by industry we cannot definitively say what these actions will include but we expect to see the action plan in the coming months.

The Scottish Government spent £20,000 (excluding VAT) in 2024-25 for advice on a specification for a financial advisor to provide expertise and guidance to support an inaugural issuance. This remains the only external fees incurred to date. The civil service resource for this work is met through the DG Scottish Exchequer budget allocation.

The Scottish Government published a further update to the work on Scottish Government bonds alongside the 2025-26 Scottish Budget .

This explains the outcome of the initial phase of due diligence and the work required in the next stage in the due diligence process. This phase will include timing considerations for an inaugural issuance given market conditions and related events.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring Parliament is updated on this work as it progresses.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34544 on 6 March 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34544 on 6 March 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The following table summarises VisitScotland’s paid media advertising spend in the UK and Republic of Ireland and international markets over the previous five financial years.