The UK gaming industry has come out in support of George Osborne's tax breaks for gaming, announced in the 2012 budget.
Richard Wilson, CEO of games industry body TIGA told The Huffington Post via telephone: "This is fantastic news. After four years of campaigning, we are so pleased the government has seen sense is providing tax cuts for the industry. It will simply mean more games and more jobs. It's been a war of attrition. We've kept at it and constantly honed our pitch to the government."
Game designer Mike Bithell, Mike Bithell, creator of independent game Thomas Was Alone and lead designer at BAFTA award winning Bossa Studios told The Huffington Post: "This is great news for games and animation in the UK. These tax breaks should go some way to keeping jobs in this country, and hopefully begin to turn the tide towards generating new ones. Our industry has lost some awesome talent overseas, this should give a lot of guys the confidence to stick around and pass their skills on. Excellent news"
In a submission to HM Treasury and to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in February, TIGA asked for the same tax relief that the UK film industry gets.
The report said that employment in UK games development has fallen by over 10% since 2008, while the Canadian games industry has grown by 33%.
Rob Cooper, UK Managing Director, Ubisoft told The Huffington Post via email: "We're delighted that the government has announced its intention today to provide production tax credits for the UK games industry. This gives recognition to the wealth of creative development talent in the UK and will allow publishers to continue to support UK studios. The UK has always been a leading market in gaming, and with this support from the government, we can continue to be competitive within the global landscape."
Retailer Simon Kilby, founder of video game marketplace Playr2.com said in a statement: "Thank God the government has finally stepped up to the mark and realised that the UK video games industry could die a sorry death unless something is done to help growth. The fact of the matter is we're simply not competing with the likes of the USA when it comes to game development, and these tax credits are direly needed."