The third and final full week of Election campaigning has been packed full of dynamic press conferences, exciting photo opportunities and stimulating debates. Oh alright, it has not, same usual guff as before, after the first weeks stella performance from Alistair Darling visiting game developers I was hoping we would get some exciting politics/games stories each week but alas no.
The only minor event happened today when the Liberal Democrats released a statement to Tiga confirming an already made pledge to support tax breaks for game developers. More conspicuous by its absence is the confirmation from the Conservatives that they would give games developers the same sort of tax breaks. They promised this announcement within a week, it has failed to arrive.
Labour has already signed up to the plan and TIGA CEO Richard Wilson has been clarifying how and why games could qualify.
“It’s going to be quite easy to qualify for this,” he said, “There’s a wide criteria for the cultural test, and it’s a points system, which a lot of games would pass for.”
“Studios get points for senior staff being British and working in the UK. Also, you get points for games reflecting European or UK cultural heritage. So, in regards to cultural British heritage – if the game was based on a UK sport, or film, or myth or historical events – a studio would get points for tax relief.”
“If your game is an original as opposed to being a sequel, you’ll get points. You will also get points for being innovative, or using new technology, or even being creative.”
Around 44 per cent of current UK games would have qualified to tax breaks according to a TIGA study including GTA IV and FIFA 10.
If you cannot decide who to vote for then I have a treat for you – why not have a game of ‘Downing Street Fighter’ and see if it helps you decide. It may not, but at least you will get a chance to toss a fireball in Gordon Browns face. Click this linky to give it a try.
Source: Develop