Read MP Tom Watson’s foreword in Tiga’s new Investing in the Future report
“Since the inception of home computer gaming in the 1980s, the UK has effectively built an impressive reputation for delivering quality, innovative and inimitable video game titles.
This had led to the development of a highly successful video games development sector that has revolutionised global interactive entertainment, which until recently had been consistently the third largest centre for video games development in the world.
The industry and talented people that drive it have forged successful businesses, careers and products with little Government support.
However, the evidence in TIGA’s new report reveals that between July of 2008 and September 2010 the UK’s studio headcount fell by 9 per cent.
During the same period the global industry’s software sales grew by 16 per cent. Whilst we prevaricate at home, other countries are surging forward, leaving the acclaimed British industry paralysed.
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As TIGA’s report is published, the sector faces unprecedented pressures that affect its future competitiveness.
UK video games producers face competition from overseas, particularly from countries such as Canada, France, USA and South Korea, all of whose Governments offer favourable tax incentives, investment and support.
The case for Government support has never been more compelling.
The Labour Government brought forward proposals in the March 2010 Budget to legislate for a Games Tax Relief. The Coalition, despite promises from both partners before the election, pulled the plug. They urgently need to reconsider this decision.
The phenomenon the video games industry is suffering is reminiscent of the film industry’s problems in the early 1990s. The UK Film Tax Relief that was introduced has since led to increased investment, productivity and employment.
The Film Council estimates that without the Film Tax Relief there would have been 75 per cent less production in the UK.
The global video games industry will continue to grow; if the UK wants to remain as a serious player then it needs to have the competitive conditions that attract new investment, companies and highly skilled staff.
The solution is introducing Games Tax Relief.”
Tom Watson MP
Co-Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Computer and Video Games Industry.
We aren't losing jobs because there is not enough investment. We are losing jobs because it is too expensive to hire people in the UK. We are losing jobs because there is too much red tape involved in employing people here. We are losing jobs because even when they get investment our management are not always up to the job of making quality games that sell.
You can make the statistics make it look like you have a case, but lets be honest. How many of those 9% lost jobs were lost because of a lack of government handouts and how many were lost because of crap management - yes, I'm pointing my finger at you, Real Time Worlds. RTW had hundreds of millions in investments and still managed destroy jobs.
If we want investment we need to be able to show that we can make games that sell. The way to do that is not to depend on government to pay for our development when publishers think it is too high a risk.
How many more free games does Channel 4 need to fund until our industry forgets that it grew out of nothing by making IPs that people were willing to pay for?
Perhaps Tom Watson can get really help us - maybe he can start by campaigning against the red tape and taxes that his government introduced instead of trying to pretend that our country can afford more government handouts.
How many entrepeneurs left because of the high tax rates in this country? How many jobs were lost because entrepeneurs said 'fuck it, I'm not dealing with the paperwork' and went to Canada. Now lets look again at that 9% figure and ask ourselves, how many were directly down to Tom Watsons party?
In case nobody reads the newspapers, THERE IS NO MONEY. Tom Watsons party spent it all bribing voters. Not only did they take all the money in the exchequer, not only did they put up taxes, not only did they raid our pension schemes but then they borrowed as much as they could get their hands on, even during the boom years.
Why wasn't Tom Watson's party giving our industry handouts when they had all that cash? Maybe because we don't all live in marginal Labour constituencies?
While our industry was being taxed to death where were the Labour MPS? Getting close to the bankers, of course.
Government handouts means higher taxes which means less jobs in the UK economy. Remember, it was Labour who wanted to push up NI just before the country threw them out of office. How many jobs would that have created in our industry?
We just had a perfect example of the waste of government financed game creation - why did Tom Watsons government give millions to a New York based developer to make a game that nobody wanted to play? Why was the UK industry not even told about the project? Maybe we could have made a game that was fun so people wanted to play it. Maybe not. It would have been nice to have been asked, anyway.
Tom Watson may think that he can buy my vote by giving me money to make games while at the same time taking it away by raising taxes. He may think that he can sound friendly to the games industry while at the same time pushing endless rules and regulations onto us, which just make it harder to do business in the UK.
Tom can say what ever he wants, but the evidence is out there in the statue of the economy after thirteen years of misrule by his party. I for one will not be listening.
