GDAA calls for more government assistance for Australian developers

Wii News | Rebate wanted for better quality games.

Australian developers have it a little bit tougher to those located in other regions of the world. Aside from the obvious logistical problems of being halfway around the world from America, the government funding just isn't high enough, at least according to the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) who are calling for the Australian government to provide an industry wide rebate to assist game development.

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.”

According to the GDAA there are "numerous" examples of Australian developers losing big tenders to rival companies from other countries. The GDAA estimates there are 8,500 people employed in the video game industry in Australia, should a rebate be extended to the industry the GDAA believes that number will grow to 18,000 by 2010.

“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.”

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4 Comments

NegativeZero

4 years ago

I think that this would be great for the industry and I hope that it does happen. The only potential roadblock I see with the idea is that games tend to be a loaded topic of late, especially violent games. A good chunk of our lawmakers are too old to have really grown up with video games pervading everything like they do now, however they are still young enough (and gaming is old enough) that they've likely had kids and those kids will have played games. So the association is that gaming is for children, and as there's a bigger push towards games for a mature audience (the average gamer being ~28 now) this tends to frighten them.

In other words, the people making our laws are about a decade behind reality. I wouldn't expect to see government subsidies for Australian game developers for at least a few more years.

DrTim

4 years ago

^ Unfortunately, I reckon you're spot on.

mayo

4 years ago

NegativeZero wrote

I wouldn't expect to see government subsidies for Australian game developers for at least a few more years.

There already are smaller subsidies & grants for developers, especially from a couple of the state governments (Victoria mainly).
I think the federal government really needs to get more involved, though.

Flypaper

4 years ago

Don't they put out this exact same press release every month and a half or so? Complete with the comparison to Canada, which always sticks in my mind.