UK video game tax breaks are now finally available

Video game companies in the UK can finally claim tax relief starting from today, with the potential to claim up to 25 percent of your production costs. It's been over a year since these tax breaks were meant to be introduced, as the EU Commission wasn't completely sure that they were necessary. However, the tax relief was finally approved in April, and is now available from today. British game studios can apply for the relief, and will have to undergo a cultural test to find out whether they are eligible. The government estimates that this new tax relief will provide around £35 million ($58.2 million) of support per year to video game studios. For those studios planning to take advantage of these tax breaks, it's worth reading through UKIE's quick guide to claiming. There are around 500 game studios currently in the UK, and around 9000 people working on video games. Sales of video games in the UK totalled roughly £2.19 billion ($3.6 billion) in 2013, according to the UK government.