TIGA Applauds UK Spending Review's Emphasis on Creative Industries, Highlights Crucial Role of UK Games Fund

The UK's trade body for the video game industry, TIGA, has issued a response to the UK Chancellor's spending review, praising the government's pledge to increase funding for the creative sector as a positive step. The spending review, announced on June 11, outlined a substantial boost in funding to drive regional growth, innovation, and the development of creative hubs, with the creative industries identified as one of the government's key growth sectors. In a statement, TIGA expressed encouragement at the government's commitment to significantly increasing funding for the creative industries, noting that the organization looks forward to the detailed policies to be outlined in the Creative Industries Sector Plan and the forthcoming Industrial Strategy White Paper. TIGA's CEO, Dr. Richard Wilson OBE, noted that the plans for capital investment, education, and the British Business Bank are also welcome. However, the CEO emphasized that the most critical measure for driving investment, employment, and studio growth in the UK video games industry is enhancing the Video Games Expenditure Credit. TIGA suggested that the government consider increasing the Video Games Expenditure Credit rate from 34 percent to 39 percent, raising qualifying expenditure from 80 percent to 100 percent, or introducing an Independent Games Tax Credit with a rate of 53 percent on 80 percent of qualifying costs for game budgets up to £23.5 million. Implementing one or more of these reforms would help maintain the UK's status as a leading game development hub, stimulate investment, create high-skilled jobs, and foster the growth of games clusters across the UK.