Insights from the North Wales games industry

As of 2025 the UK Games market was valued at £8.76bn, with thriving pockets of industry around the country. One of these thriving pockets is in North Wales where companies including; Rarebit Studios, Evil Owl Studios and Round Squares Studios are based.

As part of BAFTA Cymru’s 2026 Guru Live event Gaz Thomas, co-founder of Conwy-based Rarebit Studios, shared his experience and provided inspiration for future talent looking to join the industry too…

As a games designer and publisher Gaz Thomas advises anyone looking to get into the games industry to not be afraid to try something from scratch. He reflects that when he started out it was about embracing trying new things and finding ways to learn new skills, suggesting that could be through videos, tutorials, forums etc.

He says: “If you’re confident and you keep trying and you keep making, then you’ll find a way to make it work as a business at some point…

“My top tip is to just make stuff. Make lots of things: games can be huge, they can be tiny… make lots of tiny games, because that’s how you’ll get good.”

Adding to this he also urges thinking about your audience and doing market research to find out what people really want. For example, he found out 60% of his audience was female after initially assuming he was making games for teenage boys. And almost 80% were over the age of 55 as market research showed this group really liked PC games and so by using this information he was able to boost the average time people spent on his website by focusing on making more games like this.

Thomas’ first game back in 2009, Tangerine Panic, was by his own admission pretty basic in terms of both artwork and utilising simple code, but it became viral with 100,000+ plays. It was an experience that he was able to draw upon as he kept making new mini games including Super Stacker 2 in 2010, which went on to be played over 235 million times. What he learnt on the way was that simplicity and silliness were what online players enjoyed.
He says: “One of the cool things about it [Super Stacker 2] is anybody of any age can play this from age 3-100 – it had really broad appeal and that spread around the internet even better than anything else I’d made before…

“I got approached by a big company and this game was so popular they wanted to buy the rights and make a PlayStation and an iPhone version and they were going to give me revenue share on those.”

But as well as showing how even something simple can have a huge impact he also urges creators to take caution in protecting their intellectual property (IP) when making any deals. Thomas says he learnt this when unfortunately new versions of Super Stacker 2 were not the same and “nobody bought [it]” so “it turned out to be a really bad mistake because the most popular thing I’d made I’d then lost the rights to it and I couldn’t make a sequel to it…. That’s a lesson for me. Always keep hold of your IP if you can because even if they seem on paper like a better company, they might not be able to do what you can do.”

As someone working in an industry that is constantly evolving, when he started everything was on Flash, Thomas says of course everyone is talking about AI but being able to adapt and respond to situations is what’s really vital.

He says: “I can’t say [AI] is bad across the board, but I don’t think we should let it take over creativity. And I think we should continue to support people that are putting their human creativity into projects…

“My business direction has changed so many times over the last twenty years. It’s more about me and how I respond to it (rather than changes in the industry e.g. introduction of AI )… If you’re confident and you keep trying and you keep making then you’ll find some way to make it work as a business at some point.”

You can play games developed by Gaz for free on his popular websites https://freegames.org/ and https://solitaire.io/

The BAFTA Cymru Guru Live event that Gaz Thomas was speaking at was supported by Creative North. Emily Roberts, the organisation’s engagement and outreach manager at Creative North / Gogledd Creadigol, says: “We want people to realise that there is a huge network of likeminded people in the creative sector here in North Wales…

“Gaming alone is a massive sector just in North Wales and Gaz is living proof that you can build a whole career out of it right here…

“There are quite a few different groups (in North Wales), I’d recommend the first thing you do is join them and start talking because then you’ll start to get to know us and then when you come to events then that’s where the real connections happen.”

If you want to find out more head to the Creative North/Gogledd Creadigol website.

BAFTA Guru Live Cymru is part of BAFTA Cymru’s programme of initiatives aimed at shining a light on career pathways and opportunities in Wales. It brings together an inspiring mix of talent and organisations to inspire and support aspiring talent across the nation.