Government urged to play fair with UK video games industry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/21/games-wii
An article i just ran across with some views id like to here and not from a news write :P
"The problem is that it is in relative decline." - in the UK this is, anyone have input from UK based companies about this?
"tax breaks to games developers" - how much has this hurt people working in the UK, as you dont get tax breaks?
"the problem with universities is that they're paid on a bums-on-seats basis", which led to a "dumbing down" - is this the general view as to why some polycounters recomended to take art instead of a game dev course?
An article i just ran across with some views id like to here and not from a news write :P
"The problem is that it is in relative decline." - in the UK this is, anyone have input from UK based companies about this?
"tax breaks to games developers" - how much has this hurt people working in the UK, as you dont get tax breaks?
"the problem with universities is that they're paid on a bums-on-seats basis", which led to a "dumbing down" - is this the general view as to why some polycounters recomended to take art instead of a game dev course?
Replies
In this article, they are focusing more on coders. (computer science degrees) Most college "Game" curriculum these days do not result in science degrees. A BA in game design is no better, and possibly worse, than a BA in studio art or graphic design. In England, they aren't hurting for BAs, they're hurting for BSs. They want more people with science degrees, most likely for low-level coding. How many major game engines have come out of England in the past decade?
The relative decline of the game industry in the UK has been a hot topic in the past few years. It's true that Great Britain took an early lead in game development and publishing. Until recently, they were a major power in this industry. Now one of the largest publishers in England (Eidos) just got purchased by Square Enix. A Japanese company just bought a large British game publisher, just to strengthen their presence in Europe. That's how bad its gotten.
As to tax breaks, here's the low-down. In the U.S., the federal government generally stays hands-off when it comes to industry tax breaks. That sort of function is usually handled at the state government level. However, a lot of U.S. states have gotten very serious about tax breaks for game companies. And up in Canada, a lot of Canadian provinces are getting into the game too. British Colombia has been leading that charge for some time. Their presence is now a powerful force in the game industry. In the U.S., Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia have all been making pushes to attract more technical companies, especially game developers. And all three of those states have a much lower cost of living than California, Seattle, or the North-East. And I believe France has been getting into the game as well. England is in bad need of more technically capable development talent, and all of it is getting poached by other countries and territories that are offering more money with a lower cost of living.
I think there just waiting till things get quieter so they can call it job done, which ofc it will do once most of the studios have gone under/moved overseas ;(
We are taxed to death in this country so I can't see Brown parting with his own shite let alone do anything to help the games business.
No shit. I can't even imagine how long it would take to seriously address the issues with the education system, or why Britain's network infrastructure is so woefully inadequate. I think it's great that the industry is at the very least voicing its concerns in a way that the government can understand, but any meaningful action on this is going to take a very long time.
i doubt that any tax break could lure one of the big players to set up shop in the kingdom for realz. one slight nudge on the ever so fragile pound exchange rate and that advantage is probably gone. and the studios here seem to be starving for talent as it is. but what do i know.
not that i wouldn't welcome more opportunities in europe, don't get me wrong. just can't quite imagine deep-in-shit-britain could really afford to care for such a niche industry at this point.
You stand a better chance of tying "the industry" to film rather than "games" but not by much...
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
In other news media reporting the forum, it seemed like much more of a big deal was made of Keith Vaz's absence than of the actual issue itself, given that he's prone to ridiculous outbursts about how games are evil. He's probably on equal footing in terms of hysteria as Australia's Atkinson.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Vaz#Video_game_violence