The Australian government's proposed research and development tax credit is the most convenient support package the Australian games industry has seen from the national government, says CEO of the Game Developers Association of Australia, Tony Reed.
The new A$1.8 billion ($1.89 billion) research and development tax credit legislation, currently waiting to pass through Australian Federal Parliament, will deliver a 45 percent refundable tax credit to businesses with a turnover of less than A$20 million, a bracket that many Australian game development studios fall into.
Reed says this will help the local industry become one of the top three game development territories in the world, something the GDAA hopes will be achieved in the next five years.
"No matter how big or small a studio is, this is the kind of thing that will encourage development. It is designed with our own independence, creativity, and innovation in mind. Our goal at the GDAA is to prepare Australia to become one of the top three territories in the world for game development within the next five years. I think this can be achieved; the industry is doing really great right now and we seem to have gone back to our roots in generating amazing content."
Aussie studios must register with the government to apply for the tax credit and show proof of research and development.
"From a contract point of view this is really attractive because it really does help offset the really high Aussie dollar," Reed says.
Check out the video below to see more of Reed's comments on the tax credit, as well as his thoughts on high game prices in Australia.
Discussion
How about they find a way to lower game prices (like getting the ACCC off their asses) before they consider doing this. Not even an "Australia Made" tag would get me to buy games locally (really, that stupid tag and advertising campaign was to try and stop people from importing and submitting to being ripped off)
Hmmm... Maybe, JUST MAYBE, this could be what lowers Australia games prices. It's a joke how we got the highest game prices in the world. Secondly, actually fix that dodgy rating otherwise it's all for null
really...its gonna be hard to be on top without being able to make games that are rated M
finally, The Castle or Wolf creek the game!
I think the whole ban on mature rated games will be a factor that keep developers away from the territory. I am not from the area so I don't have to much information on the thinking of the classification board there but I dont see why there is not 'Mature' rating. I understand the impact they believe games of that caliber will have but its on think to have strong enforcement of ensuring those that are mature enough to take in and handle the material is one thing. An all out ban is another and as long as the continue on that path, many developers will keep away. But the tax credit wil bring a benefit to small developers that can adhere to their compliances. I guess we will see how this move impact future classification debates there.
"says CEO of the Game Developers Association of Australia" hahahahahaha
Can we start laughing **AT** them now? Bahwahahahahaha uha uha wait wait.. Bahwahahahahaha ahh ok I'm done. Sorry Australia your jokes so unfunny it's laughable seeing as you cannot even sort out a rating system yet would want to attract devs for what PG and G rated games?
If they do, I will eat my hat. I don't think so.
First lets get rid of the insanely overpriced games the moronic rating restrictions. One step at a time...
And 1 of 2 things will come about from this: 1. All of the games will be E and T rated and will recieve the gamer-ranked status of Casual, which translates into meaning Australia will be responsible for a slew of Wii-based party compilation games and mediocre shooters. Or... 2. Australia will be the head developer of the videogame industry and as such will develop games so amazing that if they're not already banned from ever having been developed by the Australian Government, the Australian population will be banned from playing them upon release, thuse eliminating the entire purpose of ever making Australia a development powerhouse. In conclusion, unless they fix the rating system for Australia's Entertainment venues, Australian Videogame will merely be detrimental to the overall well-being of the Videogame industry (which is already suffering enough thanks to the hostile Casual and Social Network takeover thanks to companies like Zynga and Nintendo and the annual shovelware cash-cow franchises that companies like Activision are notorious for.)
This would be good if the Aussie Government would just add a mature rating otherwise the artistic integrity could become compromised in exchange for saving on development; As I'm sure this credit won't include games denied classification due to mature content contained. That said maybe it will also allow them to put truly mature content and not just random sexual and violent content...