UK Government Snubs Video Game Industry

According to ELSPA... but we're confused...

Posted by Staff
Lovely sandwich box, Darling.
Lovely sandwich box, Darling.
Paul Jackson, the director general of ELSPA (Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association), the UK's video game trade body is disappointed about yesterday's budget as no tax credits were made available for game development.

In a statement released today, Jackson states that:

"‘We are disappointed that the Chancellor missed the opportunity today to offer French style tax breaks to UK developers."


This is a strong statement from a body which, according to a source close to its inner workings, prefers the softly-softly approach to defending UK game development from brain and revenue drain.

This makes it difficult to understand exactly why ELSPA is disappointed that Chancellor Darling's budget. There have been no publicly released statements from either the Treasury or ELSPA indicating any firm mention that this budget was going to introduce a French-style tax credit scheme.

That scheme (ratified by the EU in 2007) offers any company incorporated in France as well as French subsidiaries of foreign parent organisations a tax credit equal to 20% of most game production expenses - capped at €3-million (£2.3m) per year.

The expectation that the industry might have hoped for such a benefit could have come from a behind-closed-doors expression made to ELSPA by the Exchequer. It is more likely, however, that it came from the Labour government's working paper, 'Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy'. This was released last month and made mention of the UK's video game makers as follows:

"(There is a commitment to) Increase awareness of the current R&D tax credit scheme (details here) and investigate how to make it more user-friendly for small businesses, with a particular focus on the video games industry."


At the time the paper was released, ELSPA highlighted and warmly welcomed the above statement as one a "benefit from several specific Government commitments...".

As SPOnG pointed out at the time, the wording in that statement clearly states that the only commitment was that awareness of the existing scheme would be increased. In short, nothing would be done to extend it and certainly not commitment to include the development of video games was promised.

It would appear, however, that ELSPA is preferring to use its negotiating power in more low-key form, stating that despite its disappointment, "...positive discussions continue with the Treasury and we are hopeful of persuading them of the economic argument to support our case in due course."

We look forward to 'due course' becoming 'right now'. In the event it does not occur, would the last developer to leave the country for Canada or Australia please turn the lights off?
Companies:

Comments

Joji 13 Mar 2008 12:41
1/1
Why am I not surprised? I feel they want to do something but fear a public/party backlash, that's such a shame becausse the U.K film industry is forever getting such breaks.

Games are the new kind of media we should be investing in, next to films and music, and if developers/publishers decide to up sticks and go abroad, I'd be sad about that but very understanding.

I guess it comes back to that old fish again named Double Standards. How ironic indeed.
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