UK Government to Review Developer Tax Relief

[Jack and Calumon]

When I think of the best ones, there certainly aren't very many (if any) UK-based developers that come to mind. So I'd say this is probably a necessity.

Rare are based in Leicester. They made Goldeneye and various other things people liked, like Viva Pinata. Rocksteady made Batman, and they're based in london. I could go on, but I'm sure your sick of being quoted.

Calumon: Calumon for Tax Cuts!

 

[Desworks]

At the end of the day, there are a fair few good UK developers (Codemasters, Rockstar's Leeds branch, Lionhead, etc.), not to mention tons of indie developers who are starting to break into the industry, and as an aspiring developer myself I was disappointed to hear originally that there wouldn't be tax breaks for developers. Especially since it impacts on the chances of me being hired in the future. But I did Economics A-Level and have a decent idea of how the economy works, and I have faith in the new government (more than I did in Labour, at any rate).

Thing is, the economy is in a bad way, and the government needs to focus on only spending what has to be spent. Tax breaks for developers is something that the country can't afford right now. And to the naysayers who'll likely claim that the Conservatives are doing what they always do, helping the rich and shitting on the poor, let me make one thing clear. The last budget was actually making cuts for everyone. The government are making sure the rich take the hits as much as the poor, so there is absolutely none of the traditional 'elitism' going on here.

Really though, the gaming industry isn't a massively important part of the UK economy. It's important to us, because we're gamers, but for the country as a whole it's the sort of thing we need to cut back on to save the money needed to get things like public transport, schools, hospitals, etc. running through the remainder of the recession. And if that means no tax breaks, then I'm all for it anyway. Gaming is a luxury, after all. Not a necessity.

This is a common mistake to make when thinking of things like tax breaks for industries. The idea behind Tax breaks is to make money for the economy, not to encourage the industry (which is a happy side effect).

The idea is that the tax cut causes the industry to expand, meaning more jobs for people, who then spend the wages on more stuff in the communities. And here's the important part, the stuff that the employees spend those wages on is being taxed. A properly balanced tax break for an industry brings more money to the economy which can then be used on those schools and hospitals and so forth.

UK gaming needs one of these to remain compeditive on the Global Front, or the companies will pull out of the UK and move to places that are more friendly to the industry, and that will take a large chunk of revenue out of the governments pocket, make no mistake.

In short, don't think of a tax break as giving free money to the industry, think of it as an investment to get money from from having the industry.

 

[Jared]

When I think of the best ones, there certainly aren't very many (if any) UK-based developers that come to mind. So I'd say this is probably a necessity.

Its really not though. There are a small group of developers here, yes, but, there are still developers none the less. So, yes the UK may have a smaller base than places like the US, but, that dosnt make it any less important

I really hope in the review it will come into a positive light for the industry!

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

and the Lib-Dems are far more concerned with Parliamentary reform to donate any precious bitching time to something important.

Hang on. Are you seriously suggesting the UK video game industry is more important than Parliamentary reform?

I hope to God I misread this. Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[jamesworkshop]

Criterion Games Guildford, England
Lionhead Studios Guildford, England
Media Molecule Guildford, England
Rocksteady Studios London, England
Codemasters Warwickshire, England
Rare Limited Twycross, England, UK
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe London, England
Revolution Software York, England
SCE Studio Liverpool Liverpool England, UK (orginialy Psygnosis)
Jagex Cambridge, England
Crytek UK Nottingham, England (originaly Free Radical design)
Eurocom Derby, England
Eidos Interactive London, England (Joined Square Enix Europe)
Creative Assembly Horsham, England
Criterion Games Guildford, England
Bizarre Creations Liverpool, England
Rockstar North Edinburgh, Scotland
Realtime Worlds Dundee, Scotland

The UK has always been an important force in gamings history and present Tomb raider, GTA and Total War: Series have been some the most successfull and long running franchises.
The Uk is also responsible for some of the highest rated games of today along with the San Diego studio, Rockstar North produced Red dead: Redemtion (metacritic 95),

Media molecule created Little big planet,

Crytek UK are now working on time spliters 4 plus the multiplayer component to the multiplatfrom Crysis 2 the sequel to the best looking game on the planet,

Lionhead studios with both black and white and Fable series,

Rockstead with the only decent Batman game ever made (metacritic 92) under their belt with a sequel already in the works.

I think they deserve a break, God only knows how little influence the British film industry has at least we are demonstratable on the forefront of the fastest growing entertainment medium in both cultural and financial terms.

 

[Cabisco]

I hope it goes through, seems with the way the worlds going becoming more electronic centric it would be a good idea to invest in gaming.

But in this whole tax relief bussiness the one thing that stuck in my mind was at some point their was a rumour one of the big companies stopped it coming into force.

 

[findler]

This statement sort of only calms down the UK devs while promising nothing. Wasn't there underhanded dealings suspected when this didn't go through in the first place? I wonder what will happen if the tax cuts are denied again...

Ohhhh Canadaaaaaaaa.

 

[Spineyguy]

and the Lib-Dems are far more concerned with Parliamentary reform to donate any precious bitching time to something important.

Hang on. Are you seriously suggesting the UK video game industry is more important than Parliamentary reform?

I hope to God I misread this. Wouldn't be the first time.

No, I was saying that the UK video games industry is more important than the Lib-dem's bitching. If they want Parliamentary reform, then they should stop whining and get on with it, but they're so used to having no power that they can't quite grasp the fact that they DO have some now.

 

[mikecoulter]

The UK government, once again wriggling out of being absolute arses. I honestly hate them. Our UK devs have an extremely hard job keeping up with other countries just due to the crippling amount of money they lose out to our ever-increasingly greedy tax man.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

and the Lib-Dems are far more concerned with Parliamentary reform to donate any precious bitching time to something important.

Hang on. Are you seriously suggesting the UK video game industry is more important than Parliamentary reform?

I hope to God I misread this. Wouldn't be the first time.

No, I was saying that the UK video games industry is more important than the Lib-dem's bitching. If they want Parliamentary reform, then they should stop whining and get on with it, but they're so used to having no power that they can't quite grasp the fact that they DO have some now.

Ah, so I did misread it. Brill.

I suppose it can be debated exactly how much power they actually have. I'm not too informed on the subject, but yes, if they have the ability to do things then they should probably go and...do it.

 

[Spineyguy]

I suppose it can be debated exactly how much power they actually have. I'm not too informed on the subject, but yes, if they have the ability to do things then they should probably go and...do it.

Yeah, it's a complicated mix of Tory dickfart-ed-li-ness and Liberal mindfucked incompetence.

Not at all helped by my murdering of the English Language.

 

[lukeator]

I'm pretty sure rockstar started out in dundee, but they had a different name.