Games Up group â??delightedâ?? with game tax review

One of the pioneering groups to campaign for UK dev tax breaks has told Develop of its delight in hearing that Westminster will review the ways it can aid the games industry.

On Tuesday, news broke that Brown’s Government has “committed to work with the industry to collect and review the evidence for a tax relief to promote the sustainable production for online or physical sale of culturally British video games.”

The Games Up campaign, which was established just over a year ago, saw numerous members of the UK games sector rally together to call on the Government to instigate such tax breaks.

Now, Rick Gibson, Director of Games Investor Consulting and one of the founding members of the lobbying group, has said he is “delighted that the government has finally taken note.”

Speaking of the Games Up campaign, Gibson said that “a large number of studios were generous with their time and money, driving forward the studio sector’s agenda in the media and in Parliament.”

“That agenda has now been adopted by government,” he added.

“While it’s not a commitment to roll out cultural tax breaks, it’s a huge step forward. I hope the industry can work with government to make [the tax breaks] happen.”

Back in February, Gibson wrote an article on Develop explaining more about Games Up campaign. Read it here.