Georgia law aims to lure game makers

  • By Anne Broache, News.com
  • Posted May 16, 2008 11:15 am PT

Peach State adopts new tax breaks for entertainment projects from film and TV to music and games.

From News.com

Earlier this week, Georgia's Republican governor, Sonny Purdue, signed into law a proposal to offer greater tax incentives not only to game producers, but also to music video, movie, and TV production projects. Its latest goal, in the name of economic development, is to become the video game production capital of the United States.

"The new incentives will put Georgia among the top five states in the US, in terms of financial competitiveness for entertainment projects," Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said in a statement. "We expect to see an increase in the number of industry jobs and overall economic impact for the state in the coming years."

Under the 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act, eligible companies that spent at least $500,000 on production costs in the state would be eligible for a 20 percent tax credit on that investment, up from the 9 percent that was previously on the books. The companies can qualify for an extra 10 percent tax credit, too, but only if they agree to embed promotional ads and animated Georgia logos in their content.

According to a statement from the Peach State, the entertainment industry has contributed more than $1.17 billion to Georgia's economy since 2005, when the first wave of tax credits took effect. Georgia, of course, is home to Turner Broadcasting System, the high-power media empire that includes CNN, Cartoon Network, and game network GameTap.

66 Comments

  • trj156

    Posted May 19, 2008 8:42 pm PT

    I love Georgia.

  • mbartoetg

    Posted May 19, 2008 1:15 pm PT

    Maybe if GA brings in more developers, and in so doing brings more money to GA, they'll stop harassing TN about moving the border (placed in 1796 mind you) so they can pump water from the Tennessee river to Atlanta... bunch of whiners. GO VOLS!

  • Hvac0120

    Posted May 19, 2008 8:42 am PT

    Nice to see legislation promoting games instead of banning or condemning them. My uncle works for CCN in Atlanta. This has got to somehow reflect back on him as an employee of a media firm.

  • poedon01

    Posted May 18, 2008 8:49 pm PT

    Well i was born and raised in ATLANTA. I have never seen a hillbilly. I also know for a fact we are not slow. If you all say we are country well.. HEE HAW the money is coming back and forth like a SEE SAW!!! Keep Hating and we will keep motivating.... YA DIGGGG

  • PhantomPhoot

    Posted May 18, 2008 7:50 pm PT

    Of all the places, I'd never expect Georgia. I have family there, but none are gamers. Go Georgia!

  • ANumber1

    Posted May 18, 2008 7:39 pm PT

    Nice to see some states trying to embrace the gaming industry for a change.

  • Roken1

    Posted May 18, 2008 6:16 pm PT

    Nice move GA, although this does smell like it's going to only benefit the multi-million dollar corporations and not the small & new companies trying to survive what is already a competitive industry.

  • himmler

    Posted May 18, 2008 5:17 pm PT

    Go Georgia , home of the infantry

  • TRH4469

    Posted May 18, 2008 3:19 pm PT

    i live in GA and i love this. great news what if the future e3 type conferences happen in our own backyard!

  • baller72

    Posted May 18, 2008 2:02 pm PT

    OMG... I still cant believe that people still think Georgia is stuck in the past. Sure if you go to the rural areas of georgia you might see a cow or a chicken or two, but for the most part Georgia is very well developed... I am graduating from Mercer university in Macon, Ga with a computer science degree so I am extremely excited about this news...

  • blackhawk101

    Posted May 18, 2008 1:12 pm PT

    @ Nitro720- I'm from Georgia man. I live in TN now, but I went to college at Georgia Tech, so I'm very familular with the ATL. Just making a joke, didn't mean to upset anybody! But com'on really, redneck rampage was a fun game!

  • 4blizzard

    Posted May 18, 2008 9:37 am PT

    To all those who are from Georgia/ Live in Georgia. Don't let these peoples comments get to you. I know it's hard to convince people that Georgia is more then just stuck in the 1960's.

    I'm from New York and I've lived various places in New York (Brooklyn, Queen & Long Island) and various places in Georgia (Decatur, Atlanta, College Park, Stone Mountain and now Marietta). So I still meet people who have stereotypes about New Yorkers and Georgians. Let me give you an example of how life in Georgia is not stuck in the 60's. As your reading this Georgia is the fastest growing state in the Southeast (Google it..if you don't believe me), a $1,500 a month paycheck can get you a $200,000-$250,000 house with 3-5 bedrooms & 3-5 bathrooms. I know for a fact in NY a house like that would cost $700,000+, Girls so fine you'd cheat on your own girlfriend and so many different races and cultures down here you can easily taste various foods from other countries without having to drive more then 20 minutes.

    If you've learned nothing from reading this post...know this. It would be very unwise of you to think that a state that from 1996 till now has Doubled in it's population could be backwards. So, if video game makers want to make some extra money on their investments, let them. But we all know that no self respecting game maker will put ANY states logo on anything, for the fact that would cause major ramifications or people would just ignore the image.

    So don't sweat it..It's not going to happen and if it does, life will go on.

  • starfox15

    Posted May 18, 2008 6:55 am PT

    a ten percent add-on if they allow animated GA ads. So help me, if I start seeing GA ads in my games...

  • syafiqjabar

    Posted May 18, 2008 5:44 am PT

    I'm from Malaysia and I'm disgusted by all this stereotyping of Georgia. Come on, Atlanta hosted the Olympics in 1996! And all those other stuff other people mentioned before me that you can read below.

  • edmakel

    Posted May 17, 2008 9:46 pm PT

    Man..I just posted without calming down first.. I just hate it when people pre-judge where you'r'e from or have this pre-conceived notion that the southeast is like bumpkinville or something. it just ticks me completely off..I'm sorry if I offended anybody....some peple just need to visit and make up their own minds....try visiting the little grand canyon or savannah, or andersonville, Lake harding or other places outside of the ATL.....people are moving her for a reason man...smart people at least. just think ....how would like it if somebody talked trash about YOUR HOME. really....and don't have a clue about what it's really like.

  • MatrixSpidey92

    Posted May 17, 2008 9:41 pm PT

    Finally! Something about games instead of Washawn Jones: kills 2 in house; arrested, everytime I turn the tv on.

  • edmakel

    Posted May 17, 2008 9:32 pm PT

    THis is for all you dumb asses that live outside the southeast. Don't comment on places you haven't been before....please... I live in Columbus Ga. the home of the largest Theatre chain in the world Carmike Cinemas...spidy 3 woldn't have launched properly without Carmke. Not to mention Columbus is home to AFLAC..you know the..duck ...and home to Ft. Benning....Second largest only to Bragg. And this is not THe ATL....there are nearly 250,000 people here. Wake the Frack up!!....You can't get those little plastic Credit cards or Boeing engines without coming through Columbus' own Pratt and Witney plants or Total Systems Credit and BAnking infastructure.....
    Some of you fools are severly living in the past...Keep thinking it's like mississippi burning down here.....Why the hell do you think all those fools from NY , Chicago, D.C. Cleveland, Pittsburge and other major northern cittes are moving down here.....oh..and by the way....you can get 2700 sq feet for about $220,000....yeah..so keep thinking were a buch of backwards yahoo's from the 60's.... I like my paper green..and plenty of it.... oh...by the way..I'm black. (iknow some fool will probably want to comment after that little rant so don't get it twisted...)

  • shadow8585

    Posted May 17, 2008 4:05 pm PT

    Lets all give Georgians a nice, S-L-O-W round of applause!

  • Thesupersm

    Posted May 17, 2008 1:13 pm PT

    I live in south georgia and I dont know what you guys are talking about, I never see quote "one tooth hill billys"..

  • im-a-roustabout

    Posted May 17, 2008 11:01 am PT

    nakasa5 Atlanta is the hub of the New South. It is the headquarters for Coke, Home Depot, Southern Bell, CNN, Delta Airlines, and houses the largest aquarium in the world. It also hosted the Olympics in 1996. South Georgia is rural and maybe more "hillbilly," but wake up- it's not 1964 anymore.
    ---------------------------------
    As well as the world headquarters for various martial arts schools, the Center for Disesase control, we have THE biggest army fort etc.......It's not bad here, it's just really humid during summer

  • im-a-roustabout

    Posted May 17, 2008 10:35 am PT

    I live here in the great state of Georgia and I gotta tell you this is a great idea to boost this already great city into the realm of "one of the greatest states for entertainment". Musically we have caught up with L.A. Recording albums for bands such as "Incubus" and various and I do mean VARIOUS rap artists who resdie in this state. Now if only this place wasn't so ghetto.....

  • INMATEofARKHAM

    Posted May 17, 2008 5:45 am PT

    Good news (great even) but its still too hot down there in the summer...

  • Damnation_6

    Posted May 17, 2008 5:34 am PT

    hmmm to house your company in the middle of the Bible belt.....I don't trust this xD

    First they are gonna give uhm tax cuts and when enough companies go there...they are gonna make uhm create bible games

    *I'm just fooling around, partially anyway*

  • Nitro720

    Posted May 17, 2008 3:42 am PT

    trojanlax12 I meant to has somewhere in there. slipped my mind.

  • elwood499

    Posted May 17, 2008 1:24 am PT

    finally someone is doing something smart

  • dkidfrmdbx

    Posted May 16, 2008 9:13 pm PT

    Im from New York and i am simply disgusted with the ignorance and bigotry being displayed here by the gamespot community.. In regards to the subject matter this is really good because now it can possibly help out the georgia residents and possibly bring even more prestige to savannah and the students influence can come oout in future games. i would like to add that no matter where you go there will be "hillbillies/rednecks" I attend a college in upstate new york and i guess some of the townies would be classified as hillbillies, but i dont allow media portrayal to hinder my views or make me say oo thats a hillbilly... its like when people say you are actin ghetto or white essentially what is "ghetto" what is "white" we should try our best not to feed into the ignorance thank you. o and also i am a person of "color" (w.e dat is) before anyone goes off in rants about me being "white"

  • nakasa5

    Posted May 16, 2008 7:14 pm PT

    Atlanta is the hub of the New South. It is the headquarters for Coke, Home Depot, Southern Bell, CNN, Delta Airlines, and houses the largest aquarium in the world. It also hosted the Olympics in 1996. South Georgia is rural and maybe more "hillbilly," but wake up- it's not 1964 anymore.

  • Deckard2323

    Posted May 16, 2008 5:30 pm PT

    acsam12304: That may be true of rural GA, but most of the people living in Atlanta are from the north.

  • Cabal23

    Posted May 16, 2008 4:54 pm PT

    If you are worthy of a game job, you wouldn't be waiting for your big break in Georgia. What rock have people been living under? Yeah Atlanta is full of hillbillies? Every state has hillbillies if you go far enough into the rural areas. People's perceptions of the south are so tainted by the civil war. Welcome to 2008. To the person moving to Augusta Ga, Uh have you been to Augusta? You think ATL is boring? Man there are some seriously delusional people on this forum.

  • darthtim69

    Posted May 16, 2008 4:25 pm PT

    Go ATL! I'm from Atlanta and this is an awesome idea. Sonny Purdue has had bad ideas, (No sunday beer sales), but tax breaks for game companies is a good idea. Cartoon network is from here. Ask anyone where Williams Street is and they can show you. It used to be the hood. Looks like i'm looking for a new job, Lol.

  • Seraphim_24

    Posted May 16, 2008 4:17 pm PT

    We need this in Utah

  • ctg867

    Posted May 16, 2008 3:54 pm PT

    Good news for Georgia and video game devs I guess. Hope it all works out well.

  • AncientDozer

    Posted May 16, 2008 3:52 pm PT

    . . . Wow. That's different. More power to them.

  • Jalem01

    Posted May 16, 2008 3:52 pm PT

    Anything which supports the gaming industry is good. Well perhaps not everything, but definitely this.

  • nickelarcade

    Posted May 16, 2008 3:21 pm PT

    @ enoslives7 : a comedian did once say that their version of star 69 is shooting the pigeon carrying the message from the person you dont like.

  • trojanlax12

    Posted May 16, 2008 2:51 pm PT

    nitro720, Georgia is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. huh? That is quite interesting; I thought Georgia was a state. Although this is great news, it won't really impact the state of Georgia for a few years due to the time it takes to move an operation like game development.

  • K-Grogg

    Posted May 16, 2008 2:51 pm PT

    A game job wouldn't be too tough for me, I live in Montreal, we've got Ubisoft and EA Montreal, and a bunch of places to learn the tools of the trade.

  • Willy105

    Posted May 16, 2008 2:12 pm PT

    Sweet.

    Maybe I can now look for a job in games, since I live in Georgia.

  • Super-Mario-Fan

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:47 pm PT

    Great news. The east coast needs more gaming love. California is such a hog.

  • player_leo

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:44 pm PT

    I can only hope all those jobs arn't on the north side where all the traffic is. It gets stand for hours it seems. Maybe some of those jobs can go to Henry Co south of ATL.

  • hunter8man

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    I've lived in Georgia for 26 years and I can say that it's about time. A lot of people in the entertainment industry have to move away to find jobs. I still want to move after I get married out to the west coast, but it's good that this is finally happening here. But a lot of businesses have been scared away by our heavy traffic problems.

  • Merl57

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:18 pm PT

    interesting I'm going to school in Florida to be game artist, I'll look into it

  • nakasa5

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:11 pm PT

    glory, glory, to ole Georgia! As a Georgia Bulldawg, I am proud.

  • Richmaester6907

    Posted May 16, 2008 12:49 pm PT

    Not bad to be honest at least their making money

  • chikahiro94

    Posted May 16, 2008 12:45 pm PT

    As someone who used to live in Georgia, all I can say is WOOOO! Nice move.

  • jmartin1016

    Posted May 16, 2008 12:42 pm PT

    Does this mean that there will be a videogame episode of squidbillies? If not there should be.

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