News - Government cash injection for the UK Games Industry

[HEXUS]

£10 million government investment to support new Intellectual Property for the games industry.

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[aidanjt]

So, if the government is now paying for games development, does this mean the British public is gonna get free games?

[Hicks12]

So, if the government is now paying for games development, does this mean the British public is gonna get free games?

Not all of us, the people on the dole will just like BB/phonelines/tv etc etc.

Tax relief on games? I didnt know there was much of a tax on it originally, i dont see how the government can justify taxing us a lot more in other areas and then reduce it on a major luxury!.

[Knoxville]

So, if the government is now paying for games development, does this mean the British public is gonna get free games?

They've been financing the film industry for years and I haven't seen a free copy of Lock Stock come through my letter box yet

Not all of us, the people on the dole will just like BB/phonelines/tv etc etc.

Tax relief on games? I didnt know there was much of a tax on it originally, i dont see how the government can justify taxing us a lot more in other areas and then reduce it on a major luxury!.

I think you might have misunderstood that bit dude, tax relief isn't going to meen you pay less for games. It gives games companies a break so they can operate more profitably and in theory encourages growth in the UK's game industry

In his final Digital Britain report in June, the then communications minister, Lord Carter, proposed a so-called "cultural tax break" for computer games companies and there has been intense lobbying since then to get the idea approved by the Treasury. Richard Wilson, chief executive of the videogame trade association Tiga, said not coming to the aid of the industry would be "a colossal mistake and a failure of imagination on behalf of the government".

"We have provided concrete, substantive and compelling evidence to support the case for a games tax relief, which our research shows would more than pay for itself," he said. "We are convinced that the games industry has the potential to be one of the UK's leading digital industries as we emerge from the recession, so we will redouble our efforts to convince government and policymakers of the need to back our sector."

Tiga had proposed support that it reckoned would cost the Treasury £192m – roughly equivalent to three days' worth of interest payments on the burgeoning national debt – over a five-year period. That cash, it argued, would safeguard £415m in tax receipts and encourage £450m of investment by the industry, creating more jobs.

[aidanjt]

I think you might have misunderstood that bit dude, tax relief isn't going to meen you pay less for games. It gives games companies a break so they can operate more profitably and in theory encourages growth in the UK's game industry

They're hardly on the verge of going broke, and if some are feeling the pinch, it's their own fault for not negotiating better deals with their publishers.

This bailout mentality has long since gotten out of hand. Either absorb it into a public organisation or let it float (or flop) on the market naturally. It's not the responsibility of the tax payer to be the pockets for private enterprises with little to no benefit to them in return.

[Mavarok]

Its true that many UK games companies are hardly on the verge of going broke. To be honest its an industry that has grown very rapidly in the UK and accounts for a fair bit of our economy, more so than the film industry which receives treasury support.

Also by plugging this money into the gaming industry Tiga recon it could preserve or create 3,550 jobs for graduate level candidates, which will help employment figures, and in around 5 years will ultimately lead to paying back into the tax system(plus more) through tax receipts.

Its also thought that if the UK gaming industry didn't get the support then there is a possibility that they will loose the ability to compete with other countries where there is support for the industry.

[aidanjt]

Also by plugging this money into the gaming industry Tiga recon it could preserve or create 3,550 jobs for graduate level candidates, which will help employment figures, and in around 5 years will ultimately lead to paying back into the tax system(plus more) through tax receipts.

Speculative, and artificially created jobs are useless anyway. If a market for new games developers exists, and people come up with worthwhile projects then private investors are always eager to have a stake in it's development.

Its also thought that if the UK gaming industry didn't get the support then there is a possibility that they will loose the ability to compete with other countries where there is support for the industry.

Again, speculative, there's no evidence that the British games developers are showing any signs of abating yet.

But what is a fact is, by removing yet more cash from the hands of the tax payer, the British public is going to have less fiscal resources to put back in the economy. We are where we are because the public was over taxed and *had* to borrow in order to be able to spend, that, along with Rip-off Britain, and finally having to rob Peter to pay Paul led to this mess.

How any sane and rational thinking person could think the way to get out of this mess is to accelerate borrowing and squander money faster is well beyond me. Only something this insane, idiotic, wasteful and destructive could possibly come from someone like Gordon Brown.