The Independent Games Developers Association (TIGA), which represents the interests of game developers in the EU and the UK, responded today to the UK government’s spending on the arts, claiming that an unbalanced amount of money goes to the film industry, while other consumer arts industries go without.
Recent comments by Sion Simon MP, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, revealed that the UK film council receives annual government funds totaling £155 million (USD$252.3 million), £30 million of which comes from lottery funds, with the rest in the form of grants and Film Tax Relief credits, all of which goes directly toward film production.
“There is no reliable information concerning how much public money is invested in the UK video games industry,” says Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA.
“We do know that Regional Development Agencies provided just over £1 million (USD$1.6 million) to the video games sector in 2007-08 and that the Technology Strategy Board invested £577,000 (USD$938.7k) in projects involving UK video game businesses in 2008-09. This is a fraction of the support available for the film industry.”
“[This is] remarkable considering the relative size of the video games industry compared to film,” he continued, referring to the fact that the UK video games market brought in 44 percent more profit last year than the film industry.
“The UK has a variety of creative industries with the potential for strong economic growth,” said Jason Kingsley, Chairman of TIGA and CEO and Creative Director at Rebellion Studios.
“The success of the UK film industry demonstrates the positive impact of tax relief: the UK Film Council has estimated that the sector would be 75 per cent smaller without it. TIGA continues to urge the Government and Opposition parties to support Games Tax Relief. We also encourage the Government to recognise the potential of all creative sectors.”
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