Britain Loses Development Talent To Canadian Incentives
With the release of Assassin's Creed, Canada is the new hot property, and some here in Europe and feeling an uncomfortable chill. In a news article published yesterday, the BBC outlined the degree to which Canadian tax incentives are luring British and other European developers over the pond. At the present time the UK doesn't offer similar tax alleviations and credits, and as such large development and publishing houses like Eidos will move a substantial amount of their workforce overseas in the next three years. You've got to worry when the UK's largest publisher packs up shop and goes overseas.
Margaret Hodge, Minister of State for Culture, Media & Sport, outlined that the British government is looking at what is happening in Canada with games industry taxation, and while it doesnt want to be drawn into a "ping pong" trying to outdo others incentives, it would certainly follow France's lead in reviewing taxation for games research and development. The UK has lost its place as third largest games developer in the world to the land of mounted police and maple syrup; Hodge is concerned that Canada's current approach contravenes international World Trade Organisation guidelines, but at the same time understands that things need to change here if the UK is going to remain a player in the international game development scene.
SuperSpecialDavey
Posted to Miscellany on 27 October 2007
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: asssassin's creed, eidos, UK
>At the present time the UK doesn't offer similar tax alleviations and credits
They also, you know, try to sue you if you put their historic landmarks in a game.
F 'em, I say.
"Hodge is concerned that Canada's current approach contravenes international World Trade Organisation guidelines, but at the same time understands that things need to change here if the UK is going to remain a player in the international game development scene."
Admittedly, I know nothing of WTO policies, and if someone knows exactly what that's referring to I'd love to find out; but still, does anyone else find that disturbing? That the WTO regulates how a country decides to tax its own businesses? And countries want to join this organization... why? Well at least it looks like she knows that's the wrong line of thinking if they want to make the UK an attractive spot for the companies.