TIGA has submitted proposals to HM Treasury in get the UK video games industry firing on all four cylinders:
- TIGA has called for Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) to be retained and improved. Research by TIGA and Games Investor Consulting (GIC) shows that an increase in the rate of relief from 25 per cent to 32 per cent would create almost 1,500 additional development jobs and generate £88 million in additional investment by 2025.
- TIGA has proposed the introduction of a Video Games Investment Fund (VGIF), which would provide pound for pound match funding for games businesses, up to a maximum of £500,000. Research by TIGA and GIC suggest that the VGIF would create over 1,200 additional jobs and £78 million in additional investment by 2025.
- The resurrection of the Skills Investment Fund (SIF) to provide matched funding for games businesses to hire trainees, enhance their skills and grow the industry. The SIF previously operated between 2013 and 2017. During this period the SIF facilitated the co-investment of £2,783,125 in skills spending. 144 different games companies accessed SIF funding and 1,373 people benefited from SIF training. 80 per cent of trainees were subsequently retained by the participating games businesses.
- The continuation of support for the UK Games Fund to offer grants of up to £25,000 to businesses looking to build game prototypes.
Dr Richard Wilson OBE, CEO of TIGA said:
“TIGA’s proposals for the Autumn Budget will get the UK video games industry firing on all four cylinders. Enhancing Video Games Tax Relief will encourage growth and boost inward investment. Introducing a Video Games Investment Fund will enable small studios to access finance and scale up. Resurrecting the Skills Investment Fund will allow more studios to hire and train more staff. Maintaining the UK Games Fund will support start-ups and encourage innovation. Taken together, these measures will enable the UK video games industry to support the growth of games clusters throughout the UK and enable our industry to secure a larger share of the market for games production and content.”
About TIGA:
TIGA is the trade association for the UK video games industry. Our core purpose is to strengthen the games development and digital publishing sector. To this end, we focus on four strategic objectives:
- influencing Government policy via effective political representation;
- raising the profile of our industry to influence public policy;
- enhancing education and skills through our accreditation programme (https://tiga.org/education/tiga-university-accreditation) and TIGA Games Education Awards (https://tiga.org/education-awards); and
- promoting best practice through our membership services, including the TIGA STAR Employer Award (https://tiga.org/star), the TIGA Games Industry Awards (https://tiga.org/awards) and the TIGA UK Games Education Awards (https://tiga.org/education-awards).
For more information contact TIGA:
Tel: 0845 468 2330
Email: info@tiga.org
Web: www.tiga.org
Twitter: www.twitter.com/tigamovement
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TIGAMovement
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tiga