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UK games tax relief claimed by £1 billion-worth of game development in the last year

Fewer developers approved for tax relief in Q1 2018 than the year prior

UK games tax relief claimed by £1 billion-worth of game development in the last year

The total expected budget of games that have received interim certification for UK games tax relief for the year ending March 2018 has skyrocketed past £1 billion for the first time.

A total of 49 games were given final certification during the quarter, which is down from 60 in Q1 2017. It’s still up from the 35 certified games in Q1 2016, however.

The figure spent on those titles in the UK and EEA was almost at the same level though at £40.1 million, slightly down from the £41.1 million the year prior. The total budget fell from £59 million in Q1 2017 to £44 million in the last quarter.

The number of games receiving interim certification rose from 52 in Q1 2017 to 54 in Q1 2018, the highest ever, with an expected budget of £164 million, almost four times larger than in Q1 2017.

This was said to be mainly due to one title’s development supported by a “very large budget” and three other games with budgets over £10 million.

Big budgets

From April 2017 to March 2018, 201 games received final certification, down from 214 during April 2016 to March 2017. The amount spent on those titles in the UK and EEA however increased to £248 million from the £221 million the year prior.

The total budget meanwhile increased from £258 million to £263 million for the year.

Interim certification for the year ending March 2018 was awarded to 184 games, down slightly from the year prior. Interestingly however, the total expected budget is £1.1 billion - the first time this has crossed the £1bn mark.

That’s up from £472.3 million from April 2016 to March 2017 and the previous record of £631.3 million the year prior.

The large budget was again said to be largely due to one title, as well as a further 11 games with budgets over £10 million.

It’s not clear what game could be responsible for such a large budget. To wildly speculate, Rockstar is currently at work on Red Dead Redemption 2 and possibly Grand Theft Auto 6, either of which could be responsible for the rise, though the former is a largely US-led endeavour.

Another major game being developed in the UK is Cloud Imperium’s Star Citizen, though that has already been claiming tax incentives.

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Head of Content

Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.