In the past several months, many government bodies world-wide have voted to give tax breaks (and other incentives) to video game companies. As the industry grows and becomes ever more central to entertainment in general, governments are seeing a rare opportunity to build their own game-centric “Hollywood,” with corresponding long-term economic and cultural benefits.
The Isle of Man, a tiny self-governing democracy in the British Isles, just announced a zero corporate tax rate for game companies. Its neighbor, the UK, also offers major tax credits to game developers, but apparently many studios fail to take advantage of this due to confusion and/or ignorance.
The Australian government has created a $25M fund to encourge local developers, with the stated purpose of freeing studios “from the onerous constraints publishers impose.”
The Singaporean government has also made a major financial committment to fostering local game studios and training its citizens in 3d animation and game engineering.
In the US, both Georgia and Louisiana recently announced tax credits for game companies.
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