Back in June of 2010, amidst calls to strengthen the flagging economy, the U.K. government decided to cut a proposed tax relief program for the gaming industry. TIGA, the trade organization representing that region’s game industry, had been lobbying hard for the relief and was disappointed by the outcome. Well it seems Activision is attempting to play hard ball now, threatening to remove its British office in Slough, Berkshire over the lack of tax relief. The office houses around 600 Activision employees.
"I think it was a terrible mistake," said Activision CEO Bobby Kotick told The Telegraph. "There are so many other places that are encouraging the video games industry."
Kotick explained that the U.K. is full of exceptional developers, with the company having recently grabbed talent from the smoking husk of Realtime Worlds, but the tax relief is a necessary measure. Game industries in other countries like China, Singapore, and the U.S. receive tax incentives to encourage game developers to remain in certain areas.
TIGA recently repeated its call for the tax relief in the New Year - a move that the organization believes would secure 3,550 graduate-level jobs.
"For too long, the Coalition government has acted like a one-club golfer. It has had a strategy for reducing the deficit but little to say about growth," said Richard Wilson, chief executive of TIGA. "The video game sector offers opportunities for growth and high value, high technology job creation for the UK."
[Via Kotaku]
