TIGA has submitted four proposals to HM Treasury to “get the UK video games industry firing on all four cylinders”:

1. Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) should be retained and improved: research by TIGA and Games Investor Consulting (GIC) shows that an increase in the rate of relief from 25% to 32% would create almost 1,500 additional development jobs and generate £88 million in additional investment by 2025;
2. introduce a Video Games Investment Fund (VGIF): this would provide pound for pound match funding for games businesses, up to a maximum of £500,000; research by TIGA and GIC suggests that the VGIF would create over 1,200 additional jobs and £78 million in additional investment by 2025;
3. resurrect the Skills Investment Fund (SIF): to provide matched funding for games businesses to hire trainees, enhance their skills and grow the industry; the SIF previously operated between 2013 and 2017 and during this period it facilitated the co-investment of £2,783,125 in skills spending; 144 different games companies accessed SIF funding and 1,373 people benefited from SIF training; 80% of trainees were subsequently retained by the participating games businesses; and
4. continue support for the UK Games Fund: to offer grants of up to £25,000 to businesses looking to build game prototypes.

Dr Richard Wilson OBE, CEO of TIGA, said: “TIGA’s proposals for the Autumn Budget will get the UK video games industry firing on all four cylinders. Enhancing Video Games Tax Relief will encourage growth and boost inward investment. Introducing a Video Games Investment Fund will enable small studios to access finance and scale up. Resurrecting the Skills Investment Fund will allow more studios to hire and train more staff. Maintaining the UK Games Fund will support start-ups and encourage innovation. Taken together, these measures will enable the UK video games industry to support the growth of games clusters throughout the UK and enable our industry to secure a larger share of the market for games production and content.” To read TIGA’s press release on TIGA’s website, click here.