Australian games devs ‘should stop whinging for a tax break’

One of the more vocal supporters for a tax break for games developers is the Australian games industry, whose developer association the GDAA has regularly lobbied for a good subsidies environment for developers.

Often the association points to the credits available to Australian games companies as reason for its lobbying, but according to one film industry insider, the local studios should stop complaining and "should be left on their own to see who survives".

The anonymous comment comes in a report on ITWire. In the piece, a film industry insider says the Australian developers should be left to die out ‘leaving a much more robust, leaner game industry, able to survive on its own two feet’.

However the GDAA rejects the suggestion.

“As developers, our responsibilities tend to end once the game has been completed. We love to get involved in marketing and promotion, but as a rule that’s left to the Publishers. So for the most part, cooperation among Australian developers is limited to the development process itself. And it’s true, we do help one another out where we can. We are a very close knit community, which is rare in any industry, and pretty unique to Australia in terms of game development," said association head Tom Crago.

“I’m a big fan of Australian films, and absolutely believe that our film industry should be supported by the Australian Government. It’s important to understand, though, that without that support, the industry would not exist in anything like the form that it exists today. To that end, it’s a bit rich for the film industry to say that games should go it alone. The fact is, we have gone it alone since day 1, receiving no federal support whatsoever. In spite of this, we have been able to become far more viable commercially than our friends in film. The bottom line here is that screen culture in all its forms should be treated equally.”