TIGA a trade association that represents the the UK games industry has said that the governments needs measures in order to promote inwards Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country. As inwards FDI’s for the UK have declined by 7% and investment into the UK games industry fell by £41 million between 2008 and 2010, god forbid we need them. The industry is heavily reliant on global companies for inwards FDI’s, as 76% of investment comes from them. So TIGA suggest that breaks are in need to promote companies to setting up within the UK. Dr. Richard Watson the CEO of TIGA says:
“If the UK economy is to enjoy a strong recovery then we must continue to encourage FDI. The Government must engineer a low tax environment to encourage inward investment in the UK economy. As far as the video games industry is concerned, the Government should look again at the case for a sector specific tax break for games production. Three major global publishers – Activision Blizzard, THQ and Ubisoft – have each stated that they would be more likely to invest in the UK video games sector if we had a tax break for games production. TIGA will continue to refine the case for Games Tax Relief and encourage the Government to think again about the merits of this important measure.”
This can only be a good thing. A plan like this was originally planned but was dropped last year so a revival would be nice. It’s a shame with recent closures we need more companies setting up here. With many students taking programming and gaming based degrees, the talent is out there. Why not support them.
