TIGA, the trade association
representing the UK games industry, said today that the commercial success of Sniper Elite demonstrated not just the
excellence of Rebellion, the developer of the game, but also the potential
strength of the UK games development sector.
Rebellion, one of Europe's
leading independent video games developers has just launched Sniper Elite V2, an acclaimed third person tactical shooter set in the dying
days of World War Two. It is a next-generation sequel of 2005’s acclaimed
original, Sniper Elite, and it shot
to number one in the UK charts upon its release on May 1st.
Sniper Elite V2 weaves an explosive
story of an undercover American OSS agent, stalking enemy prey across key
historical locations from the Battle of Berlin in a mission to unravel the
mysteries and dangers of the German V-2 rocket programme.
Rebellion is a founder member
of TIGA and its CEO and Creative Director, Jason Kingsley, is TIGA Chairman.
Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:
“The commercial success of Sniper
Elite V2 is great news for Rebellion. Everyone in the UK video games
industry, and particularly in the TIGA network, will want to congratulate
Rebellion on their success.
“The success of Sniper Elite V2
is a testament not just to the excellence of Rebellion. It also demonstrates
the creativity and strength of talent among UK games development
teams. It further confirms that the
Government made the right decision to introduce a Games Tax Relief in the March
2012 Budget. With tax relief on games
production we can expect to see more investment, more jobs and more games being
created in the UK.”
TIGA,
which successfully pushed for tax breaks for the gaming industry, predicts that
Games Tax Relief could generate and safeguard: 4,661 direct and indirect jobs;
£188 million in investment expenditure by studios; increase the games
development sector’s contribution to UK GDP by £283 million; generate £172
million in new and protected tax receipts to HM Treasury, and could cost just
£96 million over five years. Tax
breaks for games production will ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of video
game development. It will also help to rebalance the UK economy away from an
over-reliance on financial services towards a high skill, R&D intensive and
export focused industry.
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.