UK’s richest game developers revealed in new ranking

Originally posted on Video Games on SI | By Marco Wutz | Last updated Aug 19, 2024 7:06 AM ET

A new list published by The Times claims to have revealed the richest game developers in the UK, ranking them by the amount of money they’ve made over the years in the business.

Igor and Dmitry Bukhman, the two founders of mobile game developer Playrix, comfortably sit atop the list with an estimated £12.54 billion GBP in earnings. They founded Playrix in Russia back in 2004 after starting to develop games together in 2001. In 2013, the company moved to Ireland. In 2021, it became the fourth-largest mobile game publisher worldwide by revenue.

According to the list, the two Russians are the only game dev billionaires in the UK, as the co-founder of Improbable, Herman Narula, is listed with £780 million GBP in earnings. His inclusion is a little misleading, as Improbable’s history with actual video game releases is a long string of failures and cancellations – a majority of the company’s money stems from metaverse products and defense contracts.

Rounding out the podium is Riccardo Zacconi, one of the co-founders and former CEO of King, with £410 million GBP – he’s one of three people associated with the mobile game developer on the list, the others being Mel Morris (#7, £312 million GBP) and Sebastian Knutsson (#9, £225 million GBP).

Naturally, Rockstar co-founders Sam and Dan Houser can be found on the list as well: They are ranked fourth with an estimated £350 million GBP. With Rockstar gearing up to release GTA 6 in Fall 2025, their position is bound for an upwards trajectory.

David Braben and Wendy Irvin-Braben of Frontier Developments, which went through layoffs at the end of 2023 that were called “dehumanizing” by some of those affected, complete the top ten.