Heavy Rain Man: UK Video Game Funding is 'Depressing'
But Heavy Rain man doesn't think tax breaks are the be-all and end-all
Quantic Dream's head-man, and the creative force behind Heavy Rain, David Cage, has extolled the virtue of government tax breaks for the video games industry... in France and Canada. The UK, however, is 'depressing'.
With his studio based in France, Cage is candid with Develop, telling the mag, “To tell the truth, without tax breaks, I’m pretty certain we’d be in Canada right now."
He stresses that in fact that, “Tax breaks are not a ‘benefit’", rather they are an essential for earning back revenue for the host nation.
"If there were no tax breaks… well, Heavy Rain would probably still exist, but a lot less money would have been spent on it", he explains.
“If you miss a milestone, it’s only the money that keeps your project away from death.”
Comparing France's development environment with other leading nations, he declares that, “Life is easy in Canada. You’ve got all the money in the world. You can recruit like mad over there. You’ll have tax breaks and more tax breaks and nearly 40 per cent tax breaks on every project that you do. It’s crazy.
“The French games industry couldn’t compete without tax breaks. And I look at the UK and think it’s all quite depressing.”
Another nail in the coffin for UK Games Dev? Tell us in the comments below.
With his studio based in France, Cage is candid with Develop, telling the mag, “To tell the truth, without tax breaks, I’m pretty certain we’d be in Canada right now."
He stresses that in fact that, “Tax breaks are not a ‘benefit’", rather they are an essential for earning back revenue for the host nation.
"If there were no tax breaks… well, Heavy Rain would probably still exist, but a lot less money would have been spent on it", he explains.
“If you miss a milestone, it’s only the money that keeps your project away from death.”
Comparing France's development environment with other leading nations, he declares that, “Life is easy in Canada. You’ve got all the money in the world. You can recruit like mad over there. You’ll have tax breaks and more tax breaks and nearly 40 per cent tax breaks on every project that you do. It’s crazy.
“The French games industry couldn’t compete without tax breaks. And I look at the UK and think it’s all quite depressing.”
Another nail in the coffin for UK Games Dev? Tell us in the comments below.
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