UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the Piss

July 6, 2010

Attendees of a recent Game Horizon Conference in the UK last week found mock Canadian passports on their seats in a stunt designed highlight Canada’s pro-game developer tax incentives. The timing of the marketing initiative however—coming less than a fortnight after similar tax breaks were killed in the UK—managed to rankle a few feathers.

One anonymous British developer told CVG that the promotion, put on by the relocation firm Quickstar Global, made Canada seem like “vultures.” The source stated, “As a British developer it makes me disappointed and angry to see the Canadian government agencies circling the UK like vultures as soon as word was out that the Government u-turned on our tax breaks.”

Another source bemoaned “Are things now so tight that we can't find British companies to sponsor our events rather than having the Canadian Government preying on our talent and companies?”

Image via I Can Haz Cheezburger

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Comments

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by tallimar on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 22:44.

quickstar? as in that pyramid scam company?

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by thesillyoldbear on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 19:55.

“As a British developer it makes me disappointed and angry to see the Canadian government agencies circling the UK like vultures as soon as word was out that the Government u-turned on our tax breaks.”

Heaven forbid a country should actually want to support and nurture industry.

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by MechaTama31 on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 13:18.

I never thought I'd see the day when somebody would feel threatened by Canada. It's a crazy, crazy world we live in.

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by lordlundar on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 12:18.

Gee, the UK is apparently still bitter about that.

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by E. Zachary Knight on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 12:32.

This would be like you and a friend are both eating an ice cream cone, but before you could take that first bite, the ice cream falls on the floor. Then your friend starts eating his and saying things like "Mmmmmmmmm, this is the best ice cream ever!"

Not a pleasant experience for you.

E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma

E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by Xveers on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 16:29.

Oh, it's not pleasant, but it's a little more than that. Canada's been running the tax breaks for a while now. The UK government made the decision to kill their own tax breaks. So it's more like:

"You and your friend are both enjoying some ice cream. Your friend however then decides to throw his last scoop out, while you finish yours. At that point, the sun comes from behind a cloud and then starts baking you both. You then say to him 'mmmm... this is really good ice cream', while your friend looks into the trash."

It's an entirely unplesant experience, but it is one that is ultimately self-inflicted.

Best keep your wits about you: The gears of life are always spinning, and ignorance eventually means you'll get caught in them.

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by SticKboy on Wed, 07/07/2010 - 04:05.

BULLSHIT. You're conflating the British Government with the UK's videogames industry. One definitely does not equal the other. Plus, what with various local trade bodies clamouring loudly for these tax incentives and bemoaning their disappearance, it would be totally unfair to say that this wound was self-inflicted.

-- teh moominz --

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by SimonBob on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 12:07.

Aw, Canada's not so bad. We're like the UK except the weather is nice sometimes.

---
Fangamer

Re: UK Developers: Pro-Canada Marketing Stunt Takes the ...

Submitted by killatia on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 12:00.

Maybe the UK will now have tax brakes for game development. That or have Canada invade there entire gaming industry.

http://www.magicinkgaming.com/

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Shout box

Andrew Eisen: Well, the Xbox One reveal certainly had an interesting affect on the big 3's stock prices. https://twitter.com/AndrewEisen/status/33705126448977100805/21/2013 - 10:45pm

PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/so-the-xbox-one-reveal-screwed-up-a-lot-of-peoples-kin-509179256 So The Xbox One Reveal Screwed With Some People's Kinects05/21/2013 - 10:36pm

Zen: On a funny side note...both of my boys have already voted NOT to get the Xbox One as soon as they found out Minecraft won't transfer lol. Some people have priorities damnit! ;)05/21/2013 - 9:27pm

Andrew Eisen: Here's the full quote on EA making Wii U games according to Neogaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56112105/21/2013 - 8:19pm

Andrew Eisen: Xbox One may not be always on but that doesn't mean you can use it without an internet connection. http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-50916410905/21/2013 - 7:39pm

Andrew Eisen: Polygon says EA's CFO says it is developing games for Wii U but doesn't provide that quote. http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4351844/ea-developing-wii-u-games05/21/2013 - 7:11pm

Andrew Eisen: Well, I was right. Both Sony and Microsoft's consoles will be out by the year's end and both will be significantly more powerful than the current gen.05/21/2013 - 5:06pm

james_fudge: thnx05/21/2013 - 4:47pm

Zen: Just to let ya know...you called it the "Xbox 260" in the backwards compatibility article lol.05/21/2013 - 4:26pm

Zen: @PHX Awesome, I will hit those up after class tonight. Going back to college finally! :) My kids have had a blast telling ME to do my homework now lol.05/21/2013 - 4:19pm

PHX Corp: @Zen I sent you a friend request on both PSN and XBL, just a heads up05/21/2013 - 4:16pm

Zen: I noticed it with the football players when EA showed off Madden as well.05/21/2013 - 4:11pm

Zen: Is it just me or is call of duty hitting the "uncanny valley" with their nicely modeled faces and dead looking eyes? I found it distracting and seemed actually "less" real to me lol.05/21/2013 - 4:10pm

james_fudge: it sounds like if you have an HD reciever you'll be able to use it with a pass-through cable... not 100 percent sure yet05/21/2013 - 2:41pm

james_fudge: happening now http://majornelson.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-architecture-panel/05/21/2013 - 2:20pm

E. Zachary Knight: Some reading material for Microsoft on its used games blocks. That will hurt the console more than helping. http://ezknight.net/?page_id=20505/21/2013 - 2:18pm

james_fudge: yeah good luck with over the air TV05/21/2013 - 2:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: But what if I want to only watch over the air tv? I don't subscribe to pay tv. I never will. If that is a requirement, then MS wasted 45 minutes telling me how great TV will be.05/21/2013 - 2:08pm

james_fudge: EZK it will depend on your provider, just like HBO Go i'd imagine.05/21/2013 - 2:05pm

PHX Corp: @IanC there's also a chance that those titles might be Xbox one exclusive, but it's too early to tell afaik05/21/2013 - 2:03pm

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