TIGA issues warning as GameHorizon says Canada is closing in on British developers
UK game trade association TIGA has described the blossoming Canadian game business as a ‘major threat’.
Many Brits fear that more developers will migrate to Canada if the UK continues to lack means to encourage investment in the region.
“We’re competing on a very uneven playing field,” TIGA CEO Richard Wilson told the BBC.
“The Canadians are a major threat to our industry”, he added.
At the recent GameHorizon event, a number of British developers were outraged at being handed ‘mock Canadian Passports’ – a pamphlet which featured material that encouraged Brits to prosper with Canadian business partnerships.
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Upon reading the material, one source told Develop: “The Canadians are circling like vultures since the news broke that we aren't getting any tax breaks.”
Speaking at the Develop Conference last week, GameHorizon’s Carri Cunliffe echoed the sentiment.
“There are government-funded organisations that are going out and calling and emailing British companies,” she said.
Meanwhile, Prem Gyani of QuickstartGlobal – the company that designed the Canadian passport pamphlet – said Canada is “really serious” about its ambition to be a dominant force in the dev sector.
“They have identified the fact that the games industry is part of that country’s strategy. They’re doing everything right,” he added.
The UK coalition government last month abolished plans for game tax breaks, after sustained pre-election promises.
I have extreme doubts that the current heavily conservative Canadian government of Canada is sponsoring efforts to lure UK game developers to Canada. The government hasn't even shown acknowledgement of developers already in Canada.
I'm more inclined to believe that someone else made an initiative to draw UK game firms, and somehow a myth started circulating that it's government-funded effort, and everyone latched on to that.
However, while the move would seem to clash with the prude and primitive ideals of the Conservatives party of Canada, the crass and smug stupidity behind it would line up perfectly... so who knows.
