Games Contract Job Trends in Scotland

Gaming
UK > Scotland

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Games in contract job vacancies in Scotland. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Games over the 6 months leading up to 17 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 111 110 136
Rank change year-on-year -1 +26 +35
Contract jobs citing Games 3 7 2
As % of all contract jobs in Scotland 0.19% 0.43% 0.084%
As % of the General category 0.30% 0.61% 0.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 7 0
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £54 £600 -
Median % change year-on-year -91.00% - -
UK median daily rate £460 £380 £450
% change year-on-year +21.05% -15.56% -10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 0 0
10th Percentile £51.50 - -
25th Percentile £53.75 - -
Median hourly rate £57.50 - -
75th Percentile £61.25 - -
90th Percentile £63.50 - -
UK median hourly rate £50.00 £43.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year +16.28% +22.86% +19.66%

All General Skills
Scotland

Games falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills in Scotland.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 1,013 1,148 1,567
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Scotland 63.99% 69.96% 66.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 560 685 942
10th Percentile £199 £192 £200
25th Percentile £358 £363 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £480
Median % change year-on-year - -6.25% +1.05%
75th Percentile £560 £538 £588
90th Percentile £675 £625 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 75 28 70
10th Percentile £12.60 £18.54 £11.84
25th Percentile £13.30 £20.99 £16.25
Median hourly rate £17.87 £23.50 £24.44
Median % change year-on-year -23.96% -3.83% +41.02%
75th Percentile £35.84 £25.43 £60.75
90th Percentile £67.40 £49.25 £70.38
UK median hourly rate £22.81 £29.00 £25.71
% change year-on-year -21.34% +12.80% -4.78%

Games
Job Vacancy Trend in Scotland

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Games relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Scotland.

Games job vacancy trend in Scotland

Games
Daily Rate Trend in Scotland

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing Games.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing Games

Games
Hourly Rate Trend in Scotland

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing Games.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing Games

Games
Hourly Rate Histogram in Scotland

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Games in Scotland over the 6 months to 17 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Games in Scotland

Games
Contract Job Locations in Scotland

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Games within the Scotland region over the 6 months to 17 February 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Edinburgh +1 3 £54 -91.00% 6
Games
UK

Games
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Scotland by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

General
1 1 (33.33%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 1 (33.33%) Principal Engineer
1 1 (33.33%) Principal Systems Engineer
1 1 (33.33%) Software Engineer
1 1 (33.33%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (66.67%) Unity (Game Engine)
1 2 (66.67%) Unreal Engine
Miscellaneous
1 2 (66.67%) Animation
Processes & Methodologies
1 3 (100.00%) 3D Modelling
1 3 (100.00%) Ergonomics
1 3 (100.00%) Human Factors
1 3 (100.00%) Prototyping
1 3 (100.00%) Rapid Prototyping
1 3 (100.00%) User Experience
2 2 (66.67%) Human-in-the-Loop
2 2 (66.67%) UX Design
2 2 (66.67%) Workshop Facilitation
3 1 (33.33%) Game Development
3 1 (33.33%) Mentoring
3 1 (33.33%) Product Roadmap
3 1 (33.33%) Roadmaps
3 1 (33.33%) Software Engineering
3 1 (33.33%) Stakeholder Management
3 1 (33.33%) Systems Thinking
Programming Languages
1 3 (100.00%) C++
1 3 (100.00%) Lua
1 3 (100.00%) Python
Qualifications
1 3 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 2 (66.67%) Degree
2 2 (66.67%) Master's Degree
3 1 (33.33%) SC Cleared