Chancellor silent on gaming tax breaks

The UK government has again rejected calls for tax breaks in the game development sector.

Making what was clearly a coarse pre-budget speech for tough times, Chancellor Alistair Darling declared that his budget is one that would "secure the [economy’s] recovery and promote long-term growth."

But Darling’s pre-budget speech – his last before a general election – did not cite any kind of development tax break.

The refusal of any tax subsidies comes in the wake of nearly two successive years of heavy campaigning from the UK game industry, spearheaded by games industry association Tiga.

The British sector is currently facing mass staff emigration to more developer-friendly nations such as Canada, which itself offers tax subsidies as big a 40 per cent of development costs.

For lots more information on this, and a comprehensive timeline on the UK tax breaks debate, head over to Develop.