The games industry in Flanders
In 2024, we collected comprehensive data focused on video games. We surveyed 49 game studios on a range of operational factors. Additional input was provided for a total of 37 Flemish video games that received VAF-support and had some form of engagement in 2023.
Our working method
In collaboration with four studios we were able to establish a straightforward declaration system with clear KPIs. We settled on several measuring points including, but not limited to diversity, turnover and game figures.
We contacted all studios that received production support at the very least by 2022 or vertical slice support as of 2023 for one or more projects since the VAF/Game Fund was established. Companies that are no longer primarily focused on games were required to submit a final report on their games and are not included in our 2023 scan. Additionally, companies that are no longer operational have been excluded entirely.
This report includes only games that had some form of engagement in 2023. Given the different business models, the following events count as instances of engagement: downloads, purchases, logins for free to play games and indirect revenue generated through advertising or merchandise. In summary any kind of activity, regardless of revenue is considered to be engagement.
The data collection was limited to Flemish studios that had previously received VAF-support. This corresponds to about 60% of the Flemish market and represents around 30% in terms of revenue. Studios that do not request support from VAF are typically large and generate sufficient revenue to fund their projects independently of financial aid. Our intent is to conduct a more comprehensive survey in collaboration with federations and other relevant bodies in 2024, in order to include these studios in the study.
Latest update: 30/10/2024
Games released in 2023
Games can be released in a number of different ways. The most common way is to release a completed game through one or more distribution channels. In 2023, 12 new Flemish games were released this way, four of which received funding from VAF.
Sometimes a studio or publisher elects to release a game that is not yet complete. This is referred to as a preview version. In many cases in the form of a demo or prototype, where one or more levels are published. This allows the studio to cultivate a loyal community by providing people a look behind the scenes of game development. Moreover, the team receives valuable feedback, which enables them to make changes to the game in collaboration with their fans. In some instances, the creator sells the consumer the unfinished game, usually at a discount. This method is commonly referred to as 'Early Access' or 'Paid Alpha' within the industry and allows the studio to rely on an (additional) revenue stream to complete the game while engaging its loyal community in the development process and collecting feedback. Consequently, these players are designated as ambassadors, provided with updates and eventually the full completed game. In the previous year, one game that had received VAF-support was made available in a trial version, where the game was released as a free prototype.
A third pillar of releases we labelled ‘re-release'. Games are typically developed on a single platform and subsequently adapted for other platforms. Games developed for PC will not work on PlayStation or Nintendo Switch by default; this requires meticulous adaptation and in some cases a complete overhaul of the software. This can be very costly, but could reach a previously untapped audience, which is why it's recognized as an additional release, provided the original game was released in another year. In Flanders, three games appeared as ‘re-releases’ in 2023, one of them with VAF-support.
The fourth and final major category is expansions, which could include additional levels, gamemodes, items or story. It should be noted that this is different from a sequel. A sequel is a stand-alone game that can be purchased separately and played independently of the original game. An expansion, on the other hand, marketed as 'downloadable content' (DLC for short), 'season pass' or 'expansion', can usually only be played if you own the original game. No expansions were released in Flanders in 2023.
Turnover per province
Studios per province
FTE per province
Bedrijfsgrootte
Bedrijfsgrootte, aangepaste schaal
Company age
20 studios (41%) that received VAF-support are currently between one and five years old. These entities account for 14% of the total turnover. The remaining 16 studios (33%) are between five and ten years old. The aggregated turnover of these studios was nearly € 4 million, representing 22% of the total. Nine studios have been in operation for more than ten years. In 2023, these studios accounted for as much as 63% of the total turnover.
This shouldn't come as a surprise, healthy companies are expected to grow year on year and their turnover will grown alongside their size. In that sense, it's also understandable that start-ups, the companies of less than 5 years, representing 49% of all studios, only represent 15% of the total turnover. These companies are usually still working on their first big success.
Work for hire: additional observations
As mentioned before, 22.3% of total income came from 'work for hire'. This means that revenue was generated from work for other companies, not from their own intellectual property. It is important for studios to have a stable revenue stream while working on their game, since it can take two to three years for a game to see the light of day.
If we analyse how much 'work for hire' is done by province, there are some interesting findings. In West Flanders, 'work for hire' is double than the average (48.2%), presumably because of training and incubators. Limburg (16.5%) is one of the lowest-performing provinces in 2023. Only beaten by Antwerp with only 12.9% of turnover originating from 'work from hire'.
Surprisingly, ‘work for hire’ in the youngest and smallest studios is very low; only 8.8% of the turnover of studios with less than 1 FTE and 10.4% of the turnover of studios less than 1 year old. We presume that they may rely on funding such as VAF-support for the first year, or that the founders may still be employed elsewhere and are therefore have a stable income while they're working on game projects that don't generate income.
Studios between 1 and 5 years old are pretty close to the average (24.9%). However, just one category higher - studios between 5 and 10 years old - a spectacular 60% of turnover comes from 'work for hire'. These studios have usually built up a sizeable team. We can see this represented in the increase of average number of FTEs. Since they have more employees who need a steady source of income but the studio's games might not generate enough income to bridge the development periods, they need to look for income elsewhere. Once a sufficient buffer has been built up, this percentage drops to 51.5% in the next age category (10+ years). We see similar trends in terms of number of employees, where 42.8% of revenue comes from 'work for hire' in studios with 1 to 4.9 FTE, and then decreases again.
It is noteworthy that the largest studios (20-29.9 FTEs: 28.5%) still rely on this source of income. Do these percentages reflect the balance that experienced studios have reached in order to continue to grow? Are these practical solutions to keep everyone working and not have downtime at various stages of game development. Or could we see this as a sign that companies are struggling, due to growing pains or an ever-changing market? These findings call for further research and a single snapshot is not enough to draw a definitive conclusion.
Women in the industry
We have taken some time to look at diversity above, in particular the proportion of women employees. It is well known that the games industry is male-dominated. Fortunately, efforts are being made to address this imbalance, although it remains a long-term process that requires continuous effort.
We observe that Limburg and East Flanders have a low proportion of women employees, at 14.3% and 14.5% respectively. When compared with the Flemish average of 19.3%, the difference is remarkable. At the other end are West Flanders and Brussels with 29.2% and 34.8% respectively, although the number of studios in West Flanders that were surveyed is not large enough to provide accurate data and could be skewed.
Unlike the local distribution of studios, the number of employees is not a decisive factor. In the first four scales of our breakdown, the percentage is around 20%. Only studios between 20 and 29.9 FTE have a significantly lower percentage: 13.3%. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the age of the studios. The first three scales up to 10 years have a share of women employees of around 20%. Only 15.4% of the employees in companies that are at least 10 years old are women.
A broader view on diversity
Diversity is more than gender. Limburg and West Flanders have the highest percentages of employees with a disability, in which we specifically included neurodiversity. The fact that these two provinces are also home to the only game courses in Flanders may have an influence on these results. Game studios in Flemish Brabant and Brussels do not have any employees with reported disabilities.
In West Flanders, where Howest is the only university in Flanders to also offer courses in English, we see that no less than 12.5% of the employees have a migration background, although in absolute terms this is only 3 out of 24 employees so our sample size is too small to make definitive conclusions. Limburg, on the other hand, has the lowest proportion of employees with a migration background, with only 1 out of 42 employees or 2.38%.
An interesting trend we noticed is that younger and smaller companies have more employees with a migration background. 7.76% of employees in a studio with between 1 and 4.9 FTEs have a migration background. The same is true for 8.11% of employees in studios between 1 and 5 FTEs. Larger and older companies on average employ fewer people with a migration background. The younger or smaller the company, the more opportunities may be given to someone with a migration background.
People with disabilities are pretty evenly represented in most segments. However, companies with 10 to 19.9 FTE had no people with disabilities in 2023, which we believe is mere happenstance and not indicative of certain trends. We can see that the more employees with disabilities work in the older and more established studios: employees with disabilities in the 10+ category is relatively high (3.41%).
What is most remarkable, is that studios with up to one full-time equivalent (FTE) – which includes the owners – do not have any employees with a disability or migration background. In general, these are sole proprietorships. This observation does not imply that there are no founders without a migration background or disability; rather, such individuals are more likely to be found in younger studios with multiple founders.
Remarks
- In accordance with the terms of the contract, each game studio that receives VAF- support is required to provide annual numerical data for as long as it is still operating. Under those contractual terms, we requested these data in 2023.
- With regards to the composition of the teams, we requested only aggregated figures, limited to the extent of the information available. No individual personal data were received.
- The final revenue figures are not yet known, as the financial statements have yet to be prepared. Therefore, we permitted the studios to enter their latest forecast.
- In Belgium, 100 studios are currently operational, with a total turnover of €65.5 million (source: Belgian Games, 2022). It is estimated that approximately 80 studios are in business in Flanders and Brussels. Thus, this study encompasses approximately half of all Belgian studios and two-thirds of all studios in Flanders and Brussels.
- It is important to note that the target group in our study is not necessarily representative of the entire industry. It does illustrate a number of significant trends. VAF attracts both new and experienced studios. However, some studios have been operating for a longer period and have never been eligible for VAF-support, as they were already financially independent at the time of the founding of the VAF/Game Fund. For instance, Larian Studios employed 81.7 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in Belgium in 2022 (source: 2022 annual accounts) and 470 employees worldwide (source: interview). The most recent game released by the company, Baldur's Gate 3, generated over $600 million in revenue (source: Twitter/X). These figures are not included in this study.
- The studios receive many surveys and have been advocating for more efficient ways to collect data. We are discussing a collaboration with the game associations and other stakeholders to organize a collective scan per year. This will lead to more willingness to share information and less work for the studios.