According to a report on Kotaku, the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) and the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) have banded together in an effort to lobby for government tax breaks.
Of the fight for incentives, GDAA president Tom Crago said:
Australian game developers cannot be expected to be internationally competitive when global market conditions are 'not level'. We owe it to the companies themselves to offer these incentives and we also need to make an investment into Australia's 'smart economy'.
IEAA CEO Ron Curry added:
Interactive entertainment is a huge, mainstream business and like our home grown film and television industry, it's vital that our local games developers are given the best chance to be competitive on the world stage.
Comments
One can only hope that this leads to something other than another stonewalling.
They should just leave and go setup shop in Canada or something... that'll learn 'em ;)
-- mostly harmless
It's about time. Australia has been trying to position itself as a hub for movie making, games are a logical extension of that same desire. If they manage to get things together & actually get a bit of political weight, maybe they can also lobby for the OFLC to add the 18+ certification we really need. If nothing else they could whack the south australian attorney general in the head with a fish & explain that his objection to an 18+ rating is making the entire country look like immature morons.
Not going to be easy while the current Australian governmental attitude that adults never play computer games exists.
Well I'm actually related to the prime minister (very distantly, something like 6 generations), maybe I can have a word with him...