The Sunday Times has revealed the UK’s top 30 wealthiest developers and gamers, including Rockstar’s Sam and Dan Houser (#4), Frontiers’ David Braben and Wendy Irvin-Braben (#10), and Rebellion’s Chris and Jason Kingsley (#14), and Hello Games’ Sean Murray (#17).
Other names on The Sunday Times Gaming Rich List include Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg (#25), Alastair “Ali-A” Aiken (#30), and KSI and The Sidemen (=#21).
The youngest person to make the list is The Sidemen’s 27-year-old Harry Lewis (=#21), and former Team17 CEO Debbie Bestwick is one of three women on the list (#13).
The list is topped by Russian-born brothers Igor and Dmitry Bukhman of Playrix.
The Top 10 list is below:
| Rank | Name | Estimated Wealth | Expertise | Company | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Igor and Dmitry Bukhman | £12.54bn | Games developer | Playrix | London |
| 2 | Herman Narula | £780m | Virtual worlds | Improbable | London |
| 3 | Riccardo Zacconi | £410m | Games developer | King | London |
| 4 | Sam and Dan House | £350m | Game developer | Rockstar / Take-Two | International |
| 5 | Lior Shiff | £347m | Games developer | Tripledot Studios | London |
| 6 | Garry Newman | £335m | Games developer | FacePunch Studios | West Midlands |
| 7 | Mel Morris | £312m | Games entrepreneur | King | London |
| 8 | Neil Taylor | £230m | Games retailer | GAME | Northern Ireland |
| 9 | Sebastian Knutsson | £225m | Games developer | King | London |
| 10 | David Bradben and Wendy Irvin-Braben | £175m | Games developer | Frontier Developments | East of England |
For the full list, head to The Sunday Times Gaming Rich List website.
“The UK gaming industry has become a Great British success story of recent years, creating thousands of jobs and contributing strongly to economic growth,” said Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Gaming Rich List. “Our first Gaming Rich List shows who is earning well from hits such as Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto and Candy Crush.
“Making a fortune while playing or creating video games may sound like living the dream to many young people. This Rich List tells the rags to riches stories of people who have done exactly that.
“Our gaming millionaires include a former Tesco shelf stacker, an ex-McDonalds burger flipper and someone expelled from school with no qualifications. There is plenty to inspire aspiring gaming tycoons here.”