The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) and fellow industry group TIGA have joined forces in order to apply further pressure to the UK government for videogame developer tax breaks.
Members of both organizations, along with specialists from the law, tax and public affairs domains, have already formed a steering committee. Led by TIGA, the committee will “review the existing TIGA submission with a view to enhancing the arguments, evidence and justification for the government to provide a tax break for the sector for the production of qualifying videogames and interactive entertainment products.”
ELSPA board members from the following game companies backed the move: 505 Games, Activision, Disney, Electronic Arts, Mastertronic, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment, Square Enix and Warner Brothers.
The UK’s emergency budget, introduced in June, contained no provisions for game developer tax incentives.
For its part, TIGA announced that the organization and its members remain committed to getting Video Games Tax Relief introduced, with specific support pledged from Blitz Games Studios, Crytek, DR Studios, Exient, Kuju, Rebellion and Ubisoft Reflections.
Crytek UK’s Managing Director Karl Hilton said Games Tax Relief is “critical to the long-term success of the UK’s game industry as we face an increasingly competitive international marketplace both for skilled people and inward investment.”
