Tiga proposes £1b investment plan for gaming

Development industry group Tiga has urged the UK government to pour its £1 billion Investment Scheme into the nation’s game industry.

Announced in June by the business department, the Innovation Investment Fund will send £1 billion’s worth of private and public investment into British start-ups over the next ten years.

Tiga believes that games industry start-ups are ideal candidates for such a scheme.

“UK games developers have traditionally faced difficulties in raising finance from founders outside of the sector,” said Tiga CEO Richard Wilson.

“The city has been relatively uninterested in investing in games, partly because of the risks involved. As a result, it has been comparatively hard to raise new funds for the creation of original intellectual property,” he added.

“Yet it would be a mistake to overlook the games industry. Separately, the Technology Strategy Board invested £577,000 in projects involving games businesses in 2008-09. This is testament to the fact that there are worthwhile investment opportunities in games businesses.”

Wilson concluded that such funding, if sent into the game industry, should encourage the development of original IP.