Labour Govt. Can't Say How Much Money It's Given to Game Biz

April 3, 2009 -

The Labour Government of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has given financial assistance to the video game industry, but it doesn't know how much, according to gamesindustry.biz.

Conservative MP Philip Davies (left) addressed the question to the government's Department of Culture, Media and Sports earlier this week. Parliamentary under-secretary Barbara Follett provided the response:

The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. We do not have the specific figures broken down by sector or year.

Richard Wilson, CEO of U.K. game developers group Tiga, criticized the government's confusion:

The government needs good quality information if it is to implement plans that benefit economic sectors. However, the government's admission today that it supports the videogames sector but doesn't record the amount of financial support means that it cannot effectively measure its impact.

This is a great shame - the government needs to record and assess its financial assessments in order to make better policy in the future.

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Comments

Re: Labour Govt. Can't Say How Much Money It's Given to ...

Submitted by shamrock on Sat, 04/04/2009 - 14:44.

I love it. Yet another government gets caught with their pants down! I really don't think this is like some critical moment. It happens all the time. Governments look at who pays their bills, then they do favours. Subtle favors, but still. You know the expression you pat my back and I'll pat yours? Yes, that is politics. The fact that the video game industry recieved something tells me that the industry is important to their economy. Economy is everything right?

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Re: Labour Govt. Can't Say How Much Money It's Given to ...

Submitted by Neeneko on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 13:36.

Considering the bulk of that money is probably in tax breaks (as opposed to grants etc) I can see why they wouldn't be able to pull those numbers out of the air if they had not already generated them.

That is not to say that they shouldn't have these numbers.. it is important to know exactly what effect tax breaks are having.... but I can understand why it isn't as simple as 'see how much money we handed out'.

Tax break != Grant

Re: Labour Govt. Can't Say How Much Money It's Given to ...

Submitted by NovaBlack on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 12:32.

Ah its alright, the taxpayers here will be happy to pay for it.

M.P.s lose (*cough* waste *cough*) money all the time.

New kitchen? Sure, just jam it on expenses and let taxpayers pay.

Porn movies...Sure, pushing it a little, but just jam it on expenses and let taxpayers pay.

No wonder progress is so shite here in the UK. M.P.s dont actually know what the heck is going on half the time. They get paid hundreds of thousands of pounds, but dont really do much that actually benefits people. If any 'normal' person in any regular job, getting paid 10% of their wages knew as little as they did, they'd be sacked. If they 'accidentally' or otherwise used company money to buy a new kitchen or rent porn, they'd be sacked. Wow.. what a life it must be to be an MP.

Re: Labour Govt. Can't Say How Much Money It's Given to ...

Submitted by Chuma on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 16:34.

It's not all they lose. Laptops on trains with personal information of UK citizens is a big favourite too...

Re: Labour Govt. Can't Say How Much Money It's Given to ...

Submitted by Entegy on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 11:03.

Now's not exactly the time to be losing track of money now is it?

Shout box

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm

Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm

Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm

Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm

james_fudge: I think Evan killed it. He's a great guy and super smart.10/17/2014 - 6:38pm

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