Guillemot: French Tax Credits To Aid Ubisoft Expansion

Following the European Commission's recent approval of tax credits for French game development, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has told Gamasutra that the changes will "allow more creations in France." Talking as part of an in-depth Gamasutra article examining the French proposal, which offers companies a tax credit worth up to 20 percent of the cost of producing a video game, the Ubisoft CEO was asked whether he intended to bring some of its employees back to France as part of this still-to-be-ratified deal? "What you need to know is that Ubisoft's success is directly connected to the fact that we are installed in many parts of the world," asserted the confident Guillemot. He continued: "It is the synergy between all these international studios that make the French one strong. Many IPs created in France, or worldwide, may be developed in our French studios. It is because we have international studios that the French studios may expand." "(In 2006) our French entities already had a 20% growth of their population. We recruit everywhere, and we will open studios in other parts of the world because we need to have more products to keep growing. These tax credits will give some fresh air and allow more creations in France." The tax credits will be eligible to any game providing that it is an adaptation of an existing work of European origin or that it passed a government test of quality, originality and contribution to the expression of “European cultural diversity and creativity”. The full Gamasutra article on the subject also includes discussion from Guillaume de Fondaumière of Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain) into the strides the French have made in recognizing games as an artform.