TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, warned UK policy makers to wake up to the Canadian threat to the UK video games industry. TIGA made the statement following comments made by Danielle Parr, executive director of the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, on the BBC’s Politics Show on Sunday July 18th 2010, that Canada intended to take “the best and the brightest” of Britain’s developers, claiming “all’s fair in love and war.” Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, also featured in the Politics Show’s feature on the games industry.
Parr said: “But as they say, all’s fair in love and war. We’re just simply trying to promote the videogame industry in general, promote what Canada has to offer. And we’ll take the best and the brightest, we’ll take your investment,” she said, before an outburst of laughter.
Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:
“The Canadians make no bones about their strategic intent: they intend to divert investment and jobs away from the UK video game sector to their own country. UK politicians and policy makers need to recognise Canadian policy for what it is: a direct threat to the continued success of the UK video games industry.
“There is no level playing field. UK developers are competing with one hand tied behind their backs because of Canada’s tax breaks for games production. The UK video games industry and thousands of video game players in the UK will find it extraordinary that while states within Canada explicitly compete to create the most attractive environment for games production, HM Treasury believes that the UK’s best course of action to help our video games industry is to adopt a policy of nonchalance and indifference.””
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. TIGA was awarded ‘Trade Association of the Year’ and the ‘Member Recruitment Award’ at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards 2010.
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 Eva Field, TIGA PR Manager on: 07814 039 983, or email eva@tiga.org.