Scotland’s video games industry contributed almost £108 million to Scottish GDP between 2013 and 2014, according to a new report by industry body TIGA.

It grew by 9.1 per cent, from £99 million in 2013 to £108 million last year.

The Making Games in the UK Today: 2015 report estimates that government schemes and future growth could see the industry double its GDP contribution to more than £210 million within the next five years.

However, industry professionals have repeated their calls for an expansion of tax relief schemes to “reinforce the success”.

The sector has continued to grow substantially, with the number of creative staff in Scottish video game studios rising by 9 per cent from 964 to 1,050 over the course of the year.

Combined direct and indirect tax revenues generated by the sector for the Treasury reportedly increased from £41 million to £44 million, an increase of 8.9 per cent.

Some developers said access to finance is a major problem for smaller game development companies.

Professor Gregor White, head of the school of arts, media and computer games at Abertay University, said: “Achieving nine per cent growth in employment and contribution to UK GDP is no mean feat, especially in an industry as globally competitive as video games.

“While this is welcome news, we must not lose sight of how much work there is to do — across Scotland and the wider UK we still need more of a joined-up approach to fulfil the potential of our sector.

“The measures proposed by TIGA, such as the establishment of a Creative Content Fund to support content and IP development and designating dedicated games development incubators in universities — like Abertay — to promote high technology video games clusters, will go a long way towards sustaining games and tech start-ups, helping them become sustainable and scalable UK businesses.”

Dr Richard Wilson, chief executive of TIGA, added: “The Scottish games development sector grew strongly in 2014 and is set for further growth, thanks to Games Tax Relief, the Prototype Fund promised in the last UK Government’s Budget and the work of Scotland’s excellent higher education institutions and agencies such as Creative Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.

“Yet we can still do more to enable Scotland’s games development sector to achieve its potential. TIGA proposes the establishment of a Creative Content Fund to co-fund new content development and IP generation; and designating dedicated games development incubators in universities to promote high technology video games clusters in Scotland and around the rest of the UK. If adopted, these measures would support start-ups and further strengthen the games development sector.”

Mr Wilson said he wanted to see easier access to finance for the sector, delivered through a match funding scheme, a commitment to making sure tax relief stays competitive, and a greater focus on commercial skills for leading developers.

He added: “There are always more things governments can do to reinforce the success that is happening.”