Tiga Wants Tax Breaks For UK Developers

With Eidos’ decision to move their production headquarters to Canada, Tiga (a trade association representing European developer interests) is asking the British government to ensure that developers aren’t bailing ship for lower-cost, subsidised locales:

“UK games developers can compete successfully against games developers all over the world where market conditions are fair,” said Tiga CEO Richard Wilson.

“The UK is the fourth largest developer of games in the world in terms of revenue generation. Games developers contribute 30 per cent of the country’s media exports.

“However, Canadian government subsidies for games developers mean that the playing field is increasingly tipped against UK based games developers.”

Beyond the short-term fix of tax breaks, Tiga is agitating for a World Trade Organization investigation into whether Canadian incentives are breaking WTO rules on fair trade. Wilson said “If they do, as seems likely, the Government must take action via the World Trade Organisation against Canada at the earliest opportunity.” Who’s ready for a gaming industry redux of the Seven Years’ War?

Tiga urges government to create competitive environment [GamesIndustry.biz]