November 5, 2018

Ukie reports that the latest statistics on video games tax relief (VGTR) from the British Film Institute show that 132 video games received final certification for VGTR in the first three quarters of 2018. These games had a combined UK/EEA spend of £94 million, out of a total budget of £108 million.

While slightly fewer games received final certification in this period compared to the same period last year, the data shows a greater drop for UK/EEA spend and overall budgets. The BFI noted that this is likely due to the fact that there were no video games with budgets greater than £10 million certified so far in 2018, which was not the case for the same period in 2017.

Looking at interim certification, again slightly fewer games were certified so far this year, with 110 games certified in Q1-Q3 compared to 128 in 2017. However, there was a 17% increase in UK/EEA spend on these projects, rising to £346.5 million so far in 2018 versus £296.3 million the previous year.

Due to a significant number of high-budget games receiving interim certification so far this year, the overall budgets for these games was up 190%, totalling £926.1 million, although due to the international nature of these games, UK/EEA spend only represented 37.4% of the overall cost of production. As with previous years, the median project spend remains steady at £400,000, as it has done since 2016.

Ukie says that, while these figures do show slightly fewer games certified for VGTR year-on-year, the increase in UK/EEA spend on projects with interim certification is encouraging and highlights UK-based spend on larger international projects. To read Ukie’s analysis in full and for a link to the full BFI statistics, click here.