UK games sector urges state support

UK games sector urges state support
By Tim Bradshaw
Published: June 13 2008 23:37 Last updated: June 13 2008 23:37
The games industry is warning that the UK could lose one of its greatest creative assets without more government support, as cheaper and more plentiful labour in other countries tempt companies to relocate abroad.
Although the biggest game of the year – Grand Theft Auto IV – was developed in Edinburgh, MPs are more often found joining tabloid condemnation of the violent game than celebrating its contribution to the economy.
The big guns of the UK games industry believe that this attitude threatens its competitiveness in the face of tantalising tax breaks and better training abroad, led by Montreal, Canada.
Last month saw the launch of the Games Up campaign, with 15 companies calling for tax breaks and greater government support on education.
Ian Livingstone, a campaign spokesman and creative director at Eidos, the Tomb Raider developer acquired by SCi Entertainment, says the UK has not kept up as countries such as France, Singapore, Australia and the US have mimicked Montreal’s tactics. SCi, still recovering from troubles of its own making, is moving many developers to Canada, the US and elsewhere.
“The UK is the most expensive place to develop games in the world today,” says Rick Gibson, co-founder of Games Investor Consulting, a backer of the Games Up campaign. “Games developers are having to make sensible decisions about where to put millions of pounds of investment.”
That risks squandering not only the industry’s proud heritage, but a lucrative revenue stream: UK games generated almost £4bn between 2006 and 2008, according to Games Investor Consulting. The consequences are already being felt – half the UK’s independent developers disappeared between 2000 and 2006, according to GIC.
Yet the UK development community is still world- renowned for its novel, creative titles such as Buzz, a virtual quiz show by Relentless; Crackdown, Realtime Worlds’ racing game; and Little Big Planet on PlayStation3, a new type of game emphasising community, creativity and exploration in its virtual world – a long way from the ultra-violent stereotype.