As the hopes of tax incentives for UK game developers continue to tread water, industry group TIGA has stepped up its pressure, now stating that UK videogame makers could aid the economy by occupying a “valuable role” in an “export led recovery.”
TIGA recently commissioned a research report entitled “The UK Video Games Industry: An Export Success Story,” which it claimed showed that 91 percent of UK game developers export their products. That compares to figures cited from other research indicating that only one-third of small and medium sized, non-game producing businesses in the UK exported their products.
Richard Wilson, TIGA’s CEO, stated:
If the Government is serious about reorienting the UK economy towards high technology, low carbon, highly skilled, export focused industries, then it should introduce Games Tax Relief in the Budget on June 22nd. Games Tax Relief will increase investment, expand employment and enhance the sector’s capacity to export. Games Tax Relief will more than pay for itself.
Blitz Games Studios CEO Philip Oliver lent his support, adding, “My own business, Blitz Games Studios, generates a large percentage of its turnover through the export of games. If the UK Coalition Government invests in the video games sector by introducing a Games Tax Relief, our industry will generate more jobs, more investment and export more, benefiting both the industry and the wider UK economy.”
