UK Games Industry

As the Department for Culture, Media and Sport declare on their website, ‘The King’s Speech would not have been possible without the support of about £1 million of public money’. The film received Lottery funding through the UK Film Council and will also have been eligible for the Film Tax Relief.

Dr. Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, commented:

“TIGA is naturally delighted that the King’s Speech was so successful at the Oscars. It gives a clear indication that with Government support the UK creative industries can continue to deliver world class products.

“TIGA calls on the Government to extend this support to the UK video games industry. This should include the introduction of TIGA’s Video Games Tax Relief, improvements to the existing Research and Development tax credits, and deploying some lottery funding to finance game prototypes and to support full game development projects.

“As the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee said last month, ‘A games tax relief would cost less than the tax credit currently awarded to the film industry’. TIGA urges the Government to introduce Games Tax Relief in the March Budget to help more UK video game businesses to develop successful and award winning games.”

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

About TIGA:

TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have games publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. TIGA was awarded ‘Trade Association of the Year’ and the ‘Member Recruitment Award’ at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards 2010. TIGA has also been named as a finalist in the 2010 Chartered Management Institute (CMI) National Management and Leadership Awards in the category of ‘The Outstanding Organisation of the Year Award (SME)’. TIGA is an ‘Investors in People’ accredited organisation.

TIGA's vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business.  We focus on three sets of activities: political representation, generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the competitiveness of our members.  This means that TIGA members are effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.

For information about the King’s Speech on the DCMS website, see: http://culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/7877.aspx

For comments about the film industry and video Games Tax Relief, see the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, Video Games Industry in Scotland, Second Report of Session 2010-11, Volume 1, February 2011.

For further information, please contact Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on 07875939643: or email richard.wilson@tiga.org; or contact David Hodges on 02070911653