Livingstone: Tax breaks level the global playing field

The introduction of game tax breaks repositions the UK as a world leader, development luminary Ian Livingstone has said.

The Eidos life president said the UK government has “sent a very positive message to the world for the UK to claim it is the best place to develop games and digital content."

He added: "The UK is arguably the most creative nation in the world, including its world-class games designers.”

Today the coalition sent shockwaves across the sector by declaring its support for games tax relief, two years after it branded such a measure as “poorly targeted”.

Specific details of the measure have yet to be announced. At the time of going to press, the 2012 Budget documents have not been released for review.

Livingstone added: “The government’s recent announcement on computer science being taught in schools, coupled with today’s introduction of a competitive tax regime regarding production, helps UK studios to compete internationally on a level playing field. The incentives are now there to encourage inward investment, job creation and for the UK games industry to reclaim its position as a world leader in games production.”

Livingstone, who also serves as deputy chair of UK games industry trade body UKIE, has been a vocal champion of both tax breaks and better teaching of computer science in schools and universities for many years.

He last year co-authored the Livingstone-Hope report, which set out a number of recommendations for improving the UK education system’s teaching of subjects that support the creative and digital industries.