Eidos boss blasts UK Government

Eidos chief executive Jane Cavanagh OBE has hit out at the Government for starving UK video games studios of funds – and said that the industry is not being taken seriously” at the highest level.

The Britsoft firm announced its decision to open a giant new Montreal-based studio in February – a move which created 350 jobs, and directly contributed to Canada overtaking the UK in terms of development-related employees earlier this year.

But Cavanagh has pinned the blame for the UK’s crumbling stature as a global development centre on Parliament – and said that Canadian tax breaks are a huge incentive” for UK publishing firms.

She told MCV: Quebec offers a 37.5 per cent contribution towards development salaries, which is a huge incentive.

Over the years, people have tried lobby for this sort of funding in the UK – in line with the perks given to UK film studios – and the result has been pretty much nil.

It seems that this industry is not being taken seriously: not only in terms of retaining talent, but for foreign companies to come in and create a pool of talent.”