According to Develop, things in the EU could get very difficult for game developers very, very soon. France, the site writes, is on the brink of permanently cutting off a program by which game developers were provided tax breaks, offering a twenty percent refund on production costs for any studio that applied for it. The program expired in January, and from the looks of things, it might not be reinstated, as Wouter Pieke's (the EU Commission Directorate) talks with French officials become increasingly tangled and confused.  The fact that France is currently undergoing a budget crisis doesn't realy help matters. 

Why does that matter? It's just one country, right? 

Apparently, if France refuses to reinstate the tax break system, that'll end up establishing an EU-wide standard, and other countries, such as Germany, will be unable to provide tax breaks even if their governments desire to do so. 

Several developers are, as a result, considering jumping ship to greener pastures, including Canada, which currently offers its own initiative for developers. Guilamme de Fondaumiere, Quantic Dream co-CEO, has referred to the abandonment of the tax break as "an historic mistake", and made clear that he, as well as other developers, would be unable to make ends meet without it, meaning that they'd have to set sail for other countries that could aid them. 

We've already seen a sort of 'brain-draining' effect on video game development in the UK, as over two-fifths of UK development jobs lost between 2009 and 2011 have been relocated overseas. Foundaumiere warns that a failure to reinstate France's tax break program could very well lead to the same sort of thing happening in the EU.

As it stands, no decision has been made one way or another, but keep your ears to the ground on this one. It could have a pretty huge impact on the gaming industry, either way.

Source: Develop

[Other Gaming News +]

User Comments