TIGA manifesto plots more sustainable game businesses

TIGA has published its manifesto outlining its key goals for the sector over the next five years.

The UK game industry trade body wants to see more sustainable studios emerge in future and to improve the current 30 per cent business mortality rate. It hopes as a result this will see an increase from the 620 game businesses it says existed in Q1 2014.

Other goals include investment schemes contributing to more than 2,000 new studio jobs across the country, a rise in the number of studios housing more than 15 staff and to diminish the ‘brain drain’ of talented staff to overseas companies.

To achieve its objectives of a stronger UK industry, boosting regional growth and enhancing skills and education, TIGA has outlined five objectives:

1. A Prototype Fund should be introduced to enable more start-up studios to access finance and develop new IP.
2. A Creative Content Fund (CCF) should be established to enable more studios to co-fund new content development and IP generation.
3. UKTI should help more game businesses to export and aggressively market the UK to attract inward investment. In 2013/14 just 1.4 per cent (£220,100) of total UKTI Trade Assistance Programme funding was allocated to the video game sector. Additionally just 0.18 per cent (£25,000) of total UKTI Events and Missions spending was assigned to the video game sector.
4. Regional/National Game Development Incubators should be established at a university, or at a consortium of universities, in each of the English regions and in each of the nations within the UK to boost start-ups, boost universities and boost regional growth.
5. A Training Tax Relief (TTR) should be introduced for SMEs. This would enable SMEs to offset expenditure on training against corporation tax.

“TIGA’s vision for 2020 and the proposals contained in our manifesto will build up the strength, stamina, and sustainability of UK game businesses,” said TIGA CEO Richard Wilson.

“This in turn will strengthen the UK game industry and the wider economy. We look forward to working with game businesses, education providers and all political parties in driving the UK game industry forward over the next five years.”