NC Org Against Incentives for Developers of “Kill with Skill” Games

Not everyone, it seems, is a fan of the recently passed North Carolina tax incentives for videogame makers, film producers and other makers of interactive media.

The North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law (NCICL) bills itself as a “nonprofit, non-partisan organization devoted to educating the public, bar, and policymakers about constitutional issues,” but what really seems to raise its hackles is “the granting by governmental entities of so-called ‘incentives’ in the form of taxpayers’ money being used for corporate welfare.”

The Raleigh-based organization came out against the recently enacted tax breaks in the latest issue of its newsletter, entitled Corporate Welfare Weekly, writing:

Oblivious to the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court is in the process of hearing arguments for a law that would ban sales of violent videogames to minors, North Carolina just approved an incentives deal for the industry. Last Thursday, Gov. Bev Perdue signed off on a bill that gives even more taxpayer dollars away, and this time it’s to video game producers. Apparently, North Carolina is now actively luring the video game industry to the state.
 
The signing ceremony was held at the Cary headquarters of Epic Games. Epic produces a variety of violent, “kill with skill” games such as Gears of War, Bulletstorm, and Shadow Complex.