The Massachusetts Legislature is considering extending film industry-style tax breaks to game developers to boost the industry there, the Boston Globe reports.
Who’s the guy in the tiny picture on the left? It’s Tom Crago of course, president of the Game Developers’ Association of Australia and CEO of (the rather successful) Tantalus.
The GDAA has been very active of late, its most recent move an alliance with the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia on the issues of classification and tax consessions.
But that’s not all the organisation has been up to, so I threw a few questions Crago’s way. He was more than happy to fill in the blanks, and on a few occasions, colour the blanks with green and pink highlighter. More »
Upon hearing the news that Oz animation studio Animal Logic had opened a gaming studio, Animal Logic Interactive, in Los Angeles, I couldn’t help but be sad. To me it seemed the government’s lack of support for developers had finally manifested itself in a way we could all appreciate.
Jason Hill of Screenplay managed to get in contact with AL’s CEO Zareh Nalbandian to find out exactly what motivated the company to go with LA over Melbourne or Brisbane:
“We felt that there was a rich pool of talent … that we have more options in Los Angeles at this point of time than we have elsewhere.”
Options and talent? Sure, those are important factors, but I find it hard to believe that tax breaks had nothing to do with it. More »
Tax cuts for Australian game developers. It’s not a big ask, and certainly a justified one; the industry rakes in around $136 million a year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We know the last federal government had little interest in the idea, and that Labor senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, promised a committee on the matter if his party was elected. It was.
It seems the Game Developers Association of Australia and the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia want to make sure our current government continues to investigate the issue and as such, the two organisations have joined forces.
Said Tom Crago, Tantalus CEO and GDAA president:
“Australian game developers cannot be expected to be internationally competitive when global market conditions are ‘not level’. We owe it to the companies themselves to offer these incentives and we also need to make an investment into Australia’s ‘smart economy’.”
We know how awesome tax rebates have been for game developers in other countries, so there are no problems as far as logic is concerned. The government just needs to get its act together.
Full release after the jump. More »
The ABS has released hard numbers on the state of our local games industry. Don’t be shy – the data is available to anyone who wants to read it, including tech-savvy amphibians, extra-terrestrials and my grandma.
While there’s a lot of interesting info in the report, I found the opening paragraphs the most poignant:
At end June 2007, there were 45 businesses in Australia involved in the provision of digital game development services. These businesses employed over 1,400 people and generated a total income of $136.9m which represented an average of $3m per business.
Sadly, these numbers contrast poorly with the industry’s expenses:
Total expenses incurred for the same period were $128.5m. Almost two-thirds of this amount was attributable to labour costs ($83.8m).
Two-thirds in labour costs? If this doesn’t stick a massive flashing sign on just how much a 40% tax rebate is needed, I don’t know what will.
Hit the jump for a press release from the Game Developers Association of Australia, which includes a few words from president Tom Crago. More »
Way back in February of this year the French Parliament approved a plan to allow companies creating video games with a “cultural dimension” a 20% tax credit on development costs, a credit long enjoyed by the film industry in that country. Now the European Commission has approved the plan for a period of four years for games that meet the “criteria of quality, originality and contribute to cultural diversity”. While the plan had initially excluded subcontracting costs, France has accepted the commission’s request to include such costs as a way of making sure the rest of the European Union can benefit from the new policy. The EU will more than likely be closely monitoring what games benefit from the credit. EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes is watching. “We must be sure that the measure will promote only genuine cultural projects and that it will not have the effect of an industrial policy instrument in favour of the videogames sector.”
EU approves tax breaks for games [GamesIndustry.biz] More »
Yes, Australia’s new Minister for Communications, Broadband and the Digital Economy is Senator Stephen Conroy. The same Senator Conroy that promised Labor would assemble a committee to discuss the potential for a 40% tax rebate for Oz game developers. A rebate the film and television industry already enjoys.
This exciting bit of news was announced yesterday, and the Game Developers’ Association of Australia (GDAA) couldn’t be happier.
Said GDAA CEO Greg Bondar:
“The GDAA now looks forward to working with Senator Conroy to progress the establishment of a high level committee to review the GDAA’s call for a 40% tax rebate for the games industryâ€
Now, let’s pray that this was one of Labor’s core promises.
Full GDAA press release after the jump. More »
