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.
THE GDAA and IEAA CALL FOR TAX INCENTIVES FOR GAMES DEVELOPERS
MELBOURNE, June 12, 2008 – The Games Development Association of Australia (GDAA) and the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) have today announced an alliance to urge the Australian government to offer tax incentives for the local interactive entertainment industry. The GDAA and the IEAA have also aligned to support intellectual property protection and the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games.
According to Tom Crago, President of the GDAA, the local games development community produce world-class games and have worked hard to create a community of innovation and excellence and deserved the support of the Australian government.
The Australian games development community employs over 1400 people and in 2007 generated a total income of $136.9 million.
According to Crago, tax incentives have been deployed in Canada, France and elsewhere in the world, and have been shown to assist local industry to develop its potential. “There are over 300 companies in the video game industry in Canada employing over 8000 people. The growth of the Canadian industry has been in no small part thanks to Government support,” he said.
“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’.”
Ron Curry, CEO of the IEAA says that the popularity of video games rivals, and in many cases surpasses, releases of popular books and film. “Interactive entertainment is a huge, mainstream business and like our home grown film and television industry, it’s vital that our local games developers are given the best chance to be competitive on the world stage.”
GDAA and IEAA will be holding joint discussions and industry round tables to highlight the importance of government support of local innovation for interactive entertainment.
Greg Bondar, CEO of the GDAA said that “the joint GDAA and IEAA campaign will be called “Game-On’ to coincide with the GDAA’s Asia Pacific GCAP conference to be held in November in Brisbane.”
The other industry issues the GDAA and the IEAA will work closely on include the need for an R18+ classification for video games and strategic reforms to address the problem of games piracy.
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