British Game Dev Decries Canadian "Vultures"
British game developers are "furious" over a stunt at a recent U.K. industry conference that used fake passports to encourage them to pack up and move to Canada.
It's not exactly the complaint to the World Trade Organization [http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/topics/318/] over the Canadian policies and although that turned out to be so much hot air, tempers are rising again in the wake of broken promises for tax relief and a pretty spectacular Canadian zinger.
It's not exactly Bobby Clarke viciously breaking Valeri Kharlamov's ankle, but the decision by CVG [http://www.quickstartglobal.com/].
Making matters even worse, the Develop Conference being held in Brighton next week is sponsored by the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, which currently hosts a website comparing the "crazy costs" and "very difficult" staffing situation in the U.K. with the much friendlier atmosphere in Canada.
"Where's the support for our industry? We get little or no assistance for trade shows abroad and now even our trade shows at home are happening with the 'support' of 'Canadian agencies'," another developer complained. "Are things now so tight that we can't find British companies to sponsor our events rather than having the Canadian Government preying on our talent and companies?"
Many members of the videogame industry are angry over the decision to cancel planned tax breaks for the industry following the election of a new government in May, a situation worsened by reports that a major videogame publisher lobbied hard against the plan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101650-Report-UK-Developer-Tax-Cut-Sabotaged-by-Major-Publisher]. TIGA Chief Richard Wilson was somewhat more circumspect, however, saying it's up to the U.K. government to take steps to even the odds.
"The Canadians are aggressively competing to make their country an attractive place to make video games," he said. "Until the UK introduces games tax relief the UK video game industry will be at a competitive disadvantage."
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British game developers are "furious" over a stunt at a recent U.K. industry conference that used fake passports to encourage them to pack up and move to Canada.
It's not exactly the complaint to the World Trade Organization [http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/topics/318/] over the Canadian policies and although that turned out to be so much hot air, tempers are rising again in the wake of broken promises for tax relief and a pretty spectacular Canadian zinger.
It's not exactly Bobby Clarke viciously breaking Valeri Kharlamov's ankle, but the decision by CVG [http://www.quickstartglobal.com/].
Making matters even worse, the Develop Conference being held in Brighton next week is sponsored by the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, which currently hosts a website comparing the "crazy costs" and "very difficult" staffing situation in the U.K. with the much friendlier atmosphere in Canada.
"Where's the support for our industry? We get little or no assistance for trade shows abroad and now even our trade shows at home are happening with the 'support' of 'Canadian agencies'," another developer complained. "Are things now so tight that we can't find British companies to sponsor our events rather than having the Canadian Government preying on our talent and companies?"
Many members of the videogame industry are angry over the decision to cancel planned tax breaks for the industry following the election of a new government in May, a situation worsened by reports that a major videogame publisher lobbied hard against the plan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101650-Report-UK-Developer-Tax-Cut-Sabotaged-by-Major-Publisher]. TIGA Chief Richard Wilson was somewhat more circumspect, however, saying it's up to the U.K. government to take steps to even the odds.
"The Canadians are aggressively competing to make their country an attractive place to make video games," he said. "Until the UK introduces games tax relief the UK video game industry will be at a competitive disadvantage."
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