Heavy industry may be the basis of our historical past, but Scotland is quietly developing itself a very different future - an on-line, interactive, on-screen future, reports the Scotsman. Despite the continuing prominence of manufacturing alongside up-and-coming sectors such as electronics and biotechnology, Scotland’s digital media sector is steadily starting to make a strong name for itself.

The budding sector - which includes the design and development of games for PC, console, handheld and mobile as well as a range of other products - is now considered the country’s fastest growing sector. Globally, at $20 billion a year, video games sales now exceed box office receipts.

The sector is expanding rapidly, and the potential rewards are rising. In fact, consumer demand is increasing at such a rate that traditional media are targeting the sector. Only last week, Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate, News International, admitted it was looking for possible acquisition in the sector - a sign of just how far it has come.

Scottish Enterprise is in the fourth year of a £25m strategy for the industry, while Noble’s Tim Gatland set up Fund4Games two years ago, a £2.5 million fund aimed at managing projects from initial concept to publisher.

Scotland currently has about 12 established digital media companies, along with about 12 start-ups. Names include well-known companies such as Rockstar North - formerly DMA Design - Visual Science and Real Times Worlds, through to Denki, Outerlight and Hiding Buffalo. Notably, every single company is a designer or developer, rather than a money-spinning publisher. And despite being recognised as the creative engines, developers wield little power.

Unlike conventional funds, Fund4Games focuses on projects rather than companies, and has so far managed to take four games to market, with another five in the pipeline.

Gatland says 'When you look at the calibre of individuals we have around in Scotland, I don’t think things could be much healthier."

One of these individuals is Dave Jones - the man behind Grand Theft Auto. Jones, who left DMA after it was taken over by Rockstar, is now the brains behind Dundee-based Real Time Worlds - which opened an office in Korea in October. It is now pioneering multiplayer on-line games (MMOGs), a web-based game in which thousands of players take part in a constantly-running virtual world, running 24 hours a day.