Off Topic: France Approves Game Tax Credit
In a move that could have oppressed German game developers looking
jealously towards the southwest, the French Parliament has approved a
plan to allow game developers creating games with a "with a cultural
dimension" a tax credit equaling 20% of development costs up to 3
million euros a year. That's a pretty sizeable chunk of change aimed at
keeping developers in the country, providing a sharp contrast to
Germany, where some game developers are looked on and treated like borderline criminals.
So what determines if a game has a cultural dimension? Anything from
the story the music, the look and feel, etc., so while a game about
killing space aliens on a made up planet might not fall under the
criteria, killing space aliens in the Louvre to the music of Jean-Marie
Leclair just might.
Devs shouldn't start counting their euros yet however, as the
European Commission is currently looking the plan over to see if it
constitutes a EU policy violating subsidy.
Michael Fahey
February 7, 2007
Source:
Kotaku