TIGA,
the trade association representing the UK games industry, said today that the
new tax break for games production which it had campaigned for had the
potential to support new business models and could also support a wide range of games on a wide range of platforms.
TIGA made the
comments in advance of the Coalition Government’s publication of the
consultation document on June 18th on the implementation of the tax
relief for video games, animation and high end TV production.
TIGA
persuaded the last Labour Government to back Games Tax
Relief in the March 2010 Budget and successfully won cross-party support for
the measure during the 2010 General Election campaign.
Games Tax Relief was
dropped by the Coalition Government in the June 2010 Budget. TIGA continued to campaign for Games Tax
Relief and the Coalition Government adopted the policy
in the March 2012 Budget.
TIGA predicts that the new tax relief will enable the UK
games industry to compete on a more level international playing field and it
will secure 4,660 jobs and £188 million in investment over five years.
Dr
Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:
“The new tax break
which TIGA campaigned for will provide a powerful stimulus for the UK video
games sector. TIGA is delighted that the Coalition Government aims to make the
tax relief among the most generous in the world. This will reinforce the UK as
a technological and creative centre and it will support the wider UK economic
recovery.
“TIGA
will now work with the Coalition Government to ensure that the tax relief
supports new business models, a wide range of games and is practical to access
and to administer. Much of the UK and Scottish video games development
sector is involved in tablet, mobile and online games development. It is
crucial that the new relief supports these developers and digital publishers,
as well as the more traditional console developers and publishers. TIGA will
work in partnership with the Government to achieve this objective.”
Jason
Kingsley, TIGA Chairman and CEO and Creative Director at Rebellion, said:
“It is critical that the games as a service business model can benefit
from the new video games tax relief because this is the future direction of
much of the games industry. With the games as a service
model, games that are developed no longer end with launch. Games, from
traditional console titles such as Call
of Duty to most Facebook and iPhone games, are now being developed as a
service, with a large amount of the content being created and released
post-launch, and the game evolving over time.
The tax
relief can cater for this model by enabling studios to make annual claims on
development of their continuous products, after the categories of costs that
are allowable for relief have been determined.”
Games will need to pass a
cultural test to qualify for the tax relief. TIGA
submitted a cultural test in the TIGA report, A Video Games Tax Relief: An
Incentive to Build a Sustainable Games Development Sector (February 2012). Essentially,
we need a cultural test which can be approved by the Government, the EU and
which helps UK developers and digital publishers. The Government will be
submitting a separate consultation on the cultural test later in the year.
Notes to editors:
About TIGA:
TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s
games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games
developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have games
publishers, outsourcing companies, technology
businesses and universities amongst our membership. Since 2010, TIGA has won 11 business awards and has been nominated a
finalist for 9 other awards. In 2010 TIGA won two business awards including
‘Trade Association of the Year’ from the Trade Association Forum.
In 2011, TIGA
won eight business awards including ‘Trade Association of the Year’ from the
Trade Association Forum, ‘Outstanding Organisation’ from the Chartered
Management Institute and two Global Business Excellence Awards, including ‘Outstanding
Marketing Campaign’. Richard Wilson won
the ‘Leadership Award’ from the Trade Association Forum and the ‘Outstanding
Leader’ award from the Chartered Management Institute. In 2012, Richard Wilson
won the IoD’s East of England Director of the Year Award. TIGA is an Investors in People organisation.
TIGA's
vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games
business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation,
generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the
competitiveness of our members. This means that TIGA members are
effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the
media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their
businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial
opportunities.
For further information, please contact
Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org.