British Game Devs Want Govt. Backing, Point to Ontario
British Game Devs Want Govt. Backing, Point to Ontario
October 7, 2008
The head of Tiga, the trade association for game developers in the U.K., has renewed calls for government support.
As reported by Edge Online, CEO Richard Wilson paid notice the current world economic crisis, but maintained that it should not deter the British government from backing home grown game developers:
The credit crunch, turmoil in the financial markets and declining economic activity constrain a government’s fiscal room for manoeuvre; but constraint is not the same as paralysis. Just as the Ontario administration is supporting its games developers in the midst of difficult economic conditions, so the UK government should back its video games industry.
UK video games developers have a skilled workforce; experienced management teams; and an effective approach to outsourcing. UK games businesses offer high quality games, produced on time and at great value...
The UK government can build on these competitive advantages.. by announcing a consultation on the merits of a tax credit for games production and eventual reductions in corporation tax. Consultation on these measures would give a powerful signal of support to the UK games industry...
Wilson's comments about Ontario refer to the recent announcement that the provincial government would create a $1.5 billion fund to provide incentives for game developers. The disparity in government support between Canada and the U.K. has long been a sore point for U.K. developers.
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Posted 11/21/08 at 04:54am
d.vel.oper: ...faith in the human race.
d.vel.oper: ...faith in the human race.
Posted 11/21/08 at 04:54am
d.vel.oper: @Nova: The only thing on that site that makes me more sick than JT is his readers. The comments section on that site questions my..
d.vel.oper: @Nova: The only thing on that site that makes me more sick than JT is his readers. The comments section on that site questions my..
Posted 11/21/08 at 04:26am
NovaBlack: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29566&page=8#c1
NovaBlack: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29566&page=8#c1
Posted 11/21/08 at 04:25am
NovaBlack: i am SO baffled. DisbarredGuy writing an article about PROTECTING freedom of speech.... WTF. hes such a lying twofaced scumbag
NovaBlack: i am SO baffled. DisbarredGuy writing an article about PROTECTING freedom of speech.... WTF. hes such a lying twofaced scumbag
Posted 11/20/08 at 10:03pm
PHX Corp: ok, I get it now, no need to repeat it
PHX Corp: ok, I get it now, no need to repeat it
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:45pm
Brokenscope: The DTV transition doesn't effect the videogame industry.
Brokenscope: The DTV transition doesn't effect the videogame industry.
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:31pm
PHX Corp: If JT attempts to flood his punditry with Gay porn It will cause him to become a Public Nusciense and put him in trouble with the people who run his site
PHX Corp: If JT attempts to flood his punditry with Gay porn It will cause him to become a Public Nusciense and put him in trouble with the people who run his site
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:22pm
PHX Corp: sigh, nevermind
PHX Corp: sigh, nevermind
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:16pm
sqlrob: @PHX: What does DTV have to do with video games? A console doesn't care, and most people are on cable
sqlrob: @PHX: What does DTV have to do with video games? A console doesn't care, and most people are on cable
Posted 11/20/08 at 09:16pm
sqlrob: @d.vel.oper: What protocol? Depends a lot on what you're doing. I think it's 10X+ on CIFS
sqlrob: @d.vel.oper: What protocol? Depends a lot on what you're doing. I think it's 10X+ on CIFS
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:45pm
PHX Corp: Just asking anyway since we have 88 days til analog has finally bitten the dust
PHX Corp: Just asking anyway since we have 88 days til analog has finally bitten the dust
Posted 11/20/08 at 08:42pm
PHX Corp: Do you think the Video game industry is already aware of the DTV transistion
PHX Corp: Do you think the Video game industry is already aware of the DTV transistion
Posted 11/20/08 at 07:18pm
Shadow D. Darkman: @PHX: Yo.
Shadow D. Darkman: @PHX: Yo.
Posted 11/20/08 at 07:14pm
PHX Corp: hey shadow
PHX Corp: hey shadow
Posted 11/20/08 at 07:13pm
Shadow D. Darkman: Hmm...
Shadow D. Darkman: Hmm...
Posted 11/20/08 at 07:06pm
d.vel.oper: @sql: Ah. How's the performance? Looking for a quantifiable sum, btw.
d.vel.oper: @sql: Ah. How's the performance? Looking for a quantifiable sum, btw.
Posted 11/20/08 at 07:03pm
sqlrob: when it hits the server. The server doesn't know anything happened
sqlrob: when it hits the server. The server doesn't know anything happened
Posted 11/20/08 at 07:03pm
sqlrob: @d: The endpoint doesn't see the change. It's compressed (and other optimizations) between client and hardware, then normal
sqlrob: @d: The endpoint doesn't see the change. It's compressed (and other optimizations) between client and hardware, then normal
Posted 11/20/08 at 07:01pm
d.vel.oper: @sql: I'm assuming we're talking about more here than just endpoint compression?
d.vel.oper: @sql: I'm assuming we're talking about more here than just endpoint compression?
Posted 11/20/08 at 06:59pm
sqlrob: ..., needs the proper network backend hardware for most features, but not all
sqlrob: ..., needs the proper network backend hardware for most features, but not all
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Comments
As a french Canadian living in Quebec and lusting for it to become independant, I will say one thing.
Every friggin' time England nudges it's ungrateful elbow at Canada for help, the whole damn govt. bends over to the British, pretty much like the bully tackles his usual prey in the school yard.
Or, better example, like Canada is the nice well behaved suck-up lil brother, and USA is the big boy who, at this point could use to return to mom and dad's house, managed to free itself of the bond from it's parent.
I say, we should help the gaming industry wherever it is, but giving my well-earned taxes to ensure jobs outside my country to a govt I find despotic and seriously outdated... Not sure.
P.S.: I hold something against the govt, but not the people. Hurray for Euro-hotties!
WOW - you really didn't read that article, did you?
Yeah, you *MIGHT* want to read that again.
The UK gaming industry isn't asking us Canucks for money.
Also: I can't say I can remember the last time the UK asked us for aid. We're pretty independant, buddy -- the last real connection between us and the UK is that we share a figure head.
You're right. You're absolutly right.
Re-reading it over and over, the sentence "The disparity in government support between Canada and the U.K. has long been a sore point for U.K. developers." was probably the one that set off the fire to the barrels of my seperatist gonads.
@Chris Charabaruk
Sir, you got me all wrong. I was a knee-jerk reactionary who don't bother to actually look at what's really going on YEARS before I even knew what the word politic meant. Leave the seperatists out of this!
Thanks for further reducing my opinion of you seperatists. You types really are just a bunch of knee-jerk reactionaries who don't bother to actually look at what's really going on, aren't you?
I'm no federalist myself (although I'm not a seperatist either), but really, you just lowered the bar for everyone, there.
Chris 'coldacid' Charabaruk <coldacid.net>
IGDA Indie SIG Coordinator, Programmer, Designer
Ha, and after they get this, I look forward to their next act: Getting blood from a stone!
They have some serious nerve asking for tax breaks at a time when families are struggling to make ends meet due the credit crisis.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
In all fairness, they have been asking for them for years now.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
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Lots of people have been asking the goverment for things for years. And nearly all of them are a damn sight more needy than a bunch of game developers. And even they don't usually get anything. It annoys me when game developers (or any other companies for that matter) seem to think they are 'entitled' to something because of what some other government in some other country is doing.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Whilst I wholeheartedly support Tiga, I do think that DarkSaber makes a valid point. In the current global economic climate, it's unreasonable to ask the state to support industry in this way. ALL taxes will need to be raised over the coming 18 months if The State is to take on toxic assets from the money markets - this is simply a case of bad timing and conflicting events, IMHO.
Higher taxes would be a deathknell. It isn't a well hidden fact that people need more money now, and taxes only steal from that. If revenue is your game, cut the capital gains tax.
The UK doesn't have a capital gains tax. Go back and read the story. It's about the UK (and to some degree Canada) NOT the USA.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
I'm of two faces about what our province is doing here. (NB: I'm from Ontario). On the one hand, the game developer in me is sqealing like a kid who got all the gifts he wanted at Christmas. After so many years of neglect and psuedo-support from the OMDC, finally having some real money and a plan to improve the industry in this province is great.On the other hand, I can't help but feel that this is a waste of money, that it won't actually accomplish much or make it any easier to create games here in Ontario. That it's the province's equivalent to the US bank bailout (although on a much smaller scale, and without all the pork barreling).
I'm of a mind that if you need government financial assistance to survive and thrive, you're doing something wrong. Queen's Park could be doing a better job of taking down the other barriers to entry into this industry, and looking to make Ontario more competitive (not just for game development but for our other industries).
Chris 'coldacid' Charabaruk <coldacid.net>
IGDA Indie SIG Coordinator, Programmer, Designer
As far as I know, Tiga is really trying to get video game development on the same level of government support as the Movie industry. Currently movie producers get finacial incentives from the government, but the games industry does not.
They are only pointing at Canada to add a basis to their point.
Now I may not have the best memory in the world, but I do remember the UK government complaining that all their game developres were leaving for Canada and they wanted WTO to force Canada to drop their tax incentives. That's a sure fire way to keep the games industry in teh UK if I ever heard one. /sarcasm.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1325674091
Good point, well made. What's especially galling is how well UK developed games such as GTA IV have behaved in the market when compared to similar offerings from the UK's anaemic film industry.
But there's not much chance of UK dev's getting the equal treatment they deserve whilst the global credit crunch rages on.