Tiga uppercuts the UK government

The words "games" and "government" have been in the British headlines a lot as of late. The fallout from the Byron review continues to have repercussions for the BBFC and ELSPA, while the topic of tax breaks and funding arises at nearly every industry event. Although the ratings boards still seem to be in disarray, industry body Tiga has presented its own set of suggestions to address the latter problem, which in the group's opinion can be used by politicians to make the UK the best place in the world to make games.

The key tenets in the outline include lighter business taxation, an increase in maths and science graduates and knowledge transfer between universities, the games industry, and other creative areas. Tiga also specifically called for the lowering of tuition fees for undergraduate courses in mathematics and computer science as a way to directly bolster the number of graduates in those fields.

Richard Wilson, CEO of Tiga, said, "Our industry will be world-beating with a policy framework that leads to lighter business taxation, an increase in the supply of graduates, and which supports knowledge transfer, and research and development."

Tiga particularly criticised the UK government for "its failure to appreciate the significance of the tax environment as a source of competitive advantage for business." The organisation claims that "lighter business taxation" can be achieved either through a tax break for games production and training or through lower corporation tax.