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Radioactive IT Australian games industry step up industry rebate campaign
Radioactive IT Australian games industry step up industry rebate campaign | Australian games industry step up industry rebate campaign |
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| by Mike Bantick | |
| Thursday, 13 September 2007 | |
  
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With a looming election, and with the industry hitting the AU$1 billion mark earlier this year , the GDAA saw a ripe time to make their case heard. CEO of the Game Developers' Association of Australia (GDAA) Greg Bondar commented, "We have been trying to get the government to hear us for a very long time but as yet, we have not had any success. We want the government to give the electronic games industry the economic benefit of a 40% rebate in the 2008 Federal budget, as they have done for the Australian film industry." "The electronic games industry is already a significant contributor to the Australian economy. It's also part of a larger global entertainment industry, which is now bigger than the film industry and is a major area of export for the Australian economy. Unfortunately, the future growth of the industry is dependent on government support. A government rebate will enable our industry to grow, compete on a global scale, employ more Australian talent and make a bigger contribution to our economy." "We know that our local industry has the capacity to become the same sort of global 'centre' of game development as Canada, we just need the leg up to get there," Mr Bondar commented. "Based on our current industry standing and projected earnings, we conservatively estimate that if a 40% rebate was extended to game developers in Australia, this would lead to an additional $25 million in new investment into original Australian titles each year." Inside information indicates numerous examples of lost opportunity to overseas development houses. The GDAA focus's on Canada as a model of what can be achieved in this country. The Canadian government, quite simply, provides incentives to publishers and Canadian-based developers giving them the edge in tender negotiation in the global industry of game development. And it is not just Canada that has woken up to the benefits of supporting the people at the game publishing/developing coalface. Without extra support, the industry struggles to attract the resources, providing overlap to enable innovation and the craft of the industry to emerge: Mike Fegan, CEO of IRGurus said of his recent trip to China, "They're kicking some serious goals in Shanghai and Beijing. They're focused on quality and what they're producing is sensational, including some of the really 'big hit' games like Splinter Cell, Far Cry and Prince of Persia, as well as a large part of Gear of Wars which has now sold over 5 million units world-wide so far this year. That's just amazing when you consider where they were just a few years ago. The quality is brilliant." "What they've done at Ubisoft and Epic Games China Shanghai's development studios is amazing. These offshore companies have been greatly assisted in setting up by the Chinese Government and a number of regional development boards who have established a 'green fields' effect whereby they create the foundation and the financial incentives to attract the big video game publishers to come to their shores and set up big studios. This in turn spawns literally dozens of smaller development companies which are founded by local practitioners who have learnt their local skills from the big multi-nationals. They are going to steamroll us if we sit around - and India isn't that far behind on the technology front," he added. "Also of grave concern is the fact that big production contracts are not coming our way, even though the film or TV license property is being made here. Imagine if we could go to Spielberg and say while your guys are here for the next 12 months making 'Band of Brothers 2' the TV series, how about we share a lot of the assets to make a great game as well? With the right investment incentives this could have been a reality but this opportunity has already been lost." Mr Fegan said. "All we want is for the government to recognise and reward the contribution that our industry makes to the Australian economy today and the enormous potential that it has - with government support - to lift to the next level and consolidate a position as a real global player for tomorrow." "It's time for the government to play the game and put our industry on a level playing field," he concluded. Stats and facts about the Australian games industry: * The Australian games industry is worth an estimated $110 million per year * Australians spend over A$2 million per day on interactive computer games * Total sales in 2006 for the industry was $1 billion * Annual compound growth of the industry is 12.3% * 12.5m games were sold in 2006 * 6.1m video game consoles have been sold since 2000 * 3.6m Australian households have a video game console * 4.8million Australian households have an internet enabled PC which is capable of playing games * The average age of gamers is 28 years * 60%of gamers are male and 40% female * 35% of gamers are parents and 8% are seniors * Families are an integral part of playing games * 8,500 Australians are directly employed in the video game industry in 2007 * By 2010, the GDAA estimate that 18,000 people will be directly employed in the video game industry in Australia. |
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