The coalition government has been accused of being “asleep at the wheel” by failing to take steps to protect the games industry in Scotland.
TIGA, the video game developers trade association, has said the decision to drop plans for a games tax relief system has allowed the UK to be overtaken by Canada as the world’s third largest developer of video games.
Chief executive Dr Richard Wilson’s comments came on the day that Dundee’s biggest games studio Realtime Worlds went into administration.
Although the move has not been blamed specifically on the lack of tax relief, local politicians such as Dundee West MP Jim McGovern have said it is at least partly to blame when the first job losses were announced last week.
“UK politicians have been asleep at the wheel while the Canadian video games industry has soared in numbers and the UK development workforce has declined. There was nothing inevitable about this process,” said Dr Wilson.
“Canadian policy makers simply took the far-sighted decision to create an attractive environment to do games business, in particular through the provision of generous tax breaks.
“UK policy-makers need to wake up. If we are to rebalance the UK economy away from an excessive reliance on public sector employment and financial services then we must encourage the growth of other sectors, including creative industries such as the video games industry.
“It is not too late to ensure that the UK remains a leading developer of video games. The UK Government must look again at our proposal for games tax relief a measure that over five years would generate 3550 graduate level jobs, £457m in investment and encourage new business models.”
Dr Wilson also said it was “a very sad day for Realtime Worlds, Dundee and for the Scottish and UK video games industry.”
“Realtime Worlds is a fantastic company with an exceptionally talented team, management and board of directors,” he said.
“Despite today’s terrible news, Dundee and Scotland remain good places to do games business.”