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Brown: UK games industry best in Europe

"Leading the way," says Prime Minister.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown reckons making videogames is something the UK does very well, and that it is in fact "leading the way" in Europe.

Waffling in a podcast before the Global Investment Conference in London, Brown said the games industry is excelling, as are other proper grown-up pursuits like life sciences, renewable energy and advanced engineering.

"We're leading the way in creative industries: by far the biggest producer of computer games in Europe," he said, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

"And we're leading the way in digital communications. In a country with only one per cent of the world's population, more than a third of all internet traffic is routed through UK servers.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, speaking at the GIC conference, said he'd heard investors takling about the UK as "the best place in Europe to do business".

"In Europe, we have the biggest industries for life sciences, financial services, creative industries and ICT. We are also the number one choice for European headquarters.

"The UK Government is committed to building on these strengths and has acted strategically to actively boost growth sectors. We want investors to grow their business from the UK, thereby creating jobs and supporting the global economic recovery."

The UK houses world-renowned developers Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto), Realtime Worlds (Crackdown, APB), Sony London (SingStar), Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet), Lionhead Studios (Fable II, Fable III), Criterion (Burnout Paradise, New Need for Speed game), Relentless Software (Buzz!), Black Rock Studios (Pure, Split/Second) and many more.