Industry negotiator clarifies French tax credit

A negotiator who worked on the French tax credit since 2002 has offered a detailed explanation of the proposal recently approved by the European Commission.

In a letter to GamesIndustry.biz, Romain Poirot-Lellig, a cofounder and former director of the Association Des Producteurs D'Oeuvres Multimedia and the Eureopean Games Developer Federation, sought to reduce misconception of the law abroad.

The tax credit applies not only to any company incorporated in France, but also any French subsidiary of foreign-owned companies. The amount is equal to 20 per cent of most game production expenses, but is capped at 3 million Euro per year.

The exact list of the scope of the production expenses to be taken into account will be defined by law, and the credit will only be received if the game is released to market.

As for cultural criteria, the requirement doesn't mean only game adaptations of Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past" and Herge's "Tintin & Snowy" will pass the test, Poirot-Lellig wrote.

"Two types of games are aimed for: i) games adapted from the European cultural patrimony (whether books, music, movies, history, etc.) and ii) original works contributing to the diversity of European culture, with an emphasis on narrative in all its diverse forms," he said.

"The system's main focus is clearly to allow the development of European-generated original game IPs, and to allow for greater game innovation in terms of originality of gameplay, narrative and graphics in a way consistent with Europe's rich background."

Games that inclide excessive or gratuitous violence as well as pornography cannot benefit, and neither can pure simulation games or any games without a scenario, according to Poirot-Lellig.

"Cultural significance" will be decided on a case-by-case basis by an official commission of the French media government's branch, CNC.

Lastly, although developers can outsource some of their production to other EU-based companies without prejudice, a majority of team members must be EU citizens.

The European Commission approved the tax credit last week, but the law must still be approved by the French Senate.