UK Developers Get Tax Breaks for "Cultural" Games

UK Game Developers now qualify for Cultural Tax Relief, provided they prove their game's British cultural significance, or alternatively that a majority of the game was produced in the UK. 

In order to qualify for the tax breaks, studios must show that at least a quarter of the core expenditure on a game's production was in the UK, it is intended for public release, and that it passes a cultural test in place to promote "sustainable production of culturally significant video games." Alternatively, studios can pass this test by demonstrating that much of the lead design work is done in the UK and that head developers are British citizens.

This welcome announcement, set to become active at the beginning of April, comes after nearly four years of legal purgatory in the EU. While television shows, films and animation already qualify for the tax breaks, it was not until 2010 that the Government proposed adding video game developers to the list. 

Developers like Rocksteady, which is behind the Batman Arkham games, and Fable's Lionhead Studios are UK studios with an already significant presence in the international market, and supporters of the new tax breaks hope to propel more British studios and designers into the world spotlight.