Scotland's role as games industry player threatened by foreign rivals

Published on Saturday 31 October 2009 13:56

FORGET green-haired lemmings absentmindedly throwing themselves off platforms – Scotland's computer games are now populated by a cast of characters that includes car-jackers, drug dealers and gun-toting criminals.

Just like their pixellated personas, Scottish games companies mean serious business. Together they provide more than 700 high-quality jobs and have a combined turnover of more than 20 million a year.

But homegrown software houses are under threat from overseas rivals, according to Tiga, the industry's trade body. Competitors in countries such as Canada, France and Ireland are using the extra cash generated by tax breaks to try to "poach" Scottish talent abroad.

Now Tiga is baring its teeth and is trying to enlist the help of MSPs to mount the fight-back. The association held an event at the Scottish Parliament last week and has submitted detailed proposals to the UK Treasury calling for a tax break to aid games development.

Tiga is also urging the Scottish Government and its agencies to do more to promote Scotland as a place to do business.

Dundee has been at the epicentre of the games explosion since the release of titles such as the classic Lemmings back in the 1990s. With the city's Abertay University renowned for its computer arts courses, Dundee is still home to some of the country's most innovative companies. But even in the city at the heart of the computer games industry, some firms continue to struggle to recruit enough talented staff. Tiga wants the Scottish Government to invest more money in developing computer games courses at institutions such as Abertay and the University of the West of Scotland.

"We're in a fortunate position in that we're on the doorstep of Abertay, which is the leading university for games education in the world," says Colin Macdonald, studio manager at Real Time Worlds, the firm behind the All Points Bulletin game.

"We've established great links so we do OK in terms of graduates, but we realise that's not typical of the industry. If we were anywhere other than Dundee we'd be really struggling.

"One of our biggest hurdles at Real Time Worlds has been recruitment. I think we've struggled with Scotland's image and Dundee's image – once people come they love it, but people have a negative perception sometimes."

He praises the Scottish Enterprise team in Dundee for promoting the industry but says they need more resources.

The Scottish Government defended its record in the games arena, pointing to funding of the "Dare to be Digital" games design competition at Abertay University and the setting up of a master of science degree in computer games technology.

"Our agencies are adopting innovative funding approaches in this area such as the Digital Media IP Fund, backed jointly by Creative Scotland's Innovation Fund and Scottish Enterprise," a Scottish Government spokesman says. "It will maximise opportunities presented by new and emerging technologies and is clearly an initiative that games developers in Scotland will benefit from. Scottish Development International has also supported a significant Scottish presence at this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco – a key shop window for the Scottish gaming industry."

Following last week's meeting at the Scottish Parliament, Richard Wilson – Tiga's chief executive – called on culture minister Mike Russell to lobby Westminster's Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw for a computer games tax break. In the longer term, Wilson also said he would like to see a cross-party computer games group set up in the Scottish Parliament.

For now, all eyes are turning to Alistair Darling and his pre-budget report (PBR), expected at the end of November or start of December. Will the Chancellor unveil a tax break for the computer games industry when he stands to deliver what could be his final PBR?

"I'm hopeful and optimistic that a computer games development tax break will feature in the PBR," Wilson asserts. "It would be of huge benefit to the Scottish and wider UK games sector."

The Westminster all-party computer games group will meet next month to discuss the idea of a tax break. Tiga has submitted figures to the Treasury claiming that a tax break costing about 192m could safeguard 3,500 graduate-level jobs in the UK over the next five years and increase tax receipts by 415m.

"When you look at the economic case for a tax break, I think it's overwhelming," Wilson adds. "I feel we've done everything we can do – giving the UK government the evidence they need to show a tax break could work."

In the meantime, developers will have to wait to see if a UK government tax break could help them to advance to the next level or leave them staring at a "Game Over" screen.