Thread: Wise fwom your gwave!
Last time it was posted in, GTA IV was coming out...
A couple of articles in the news recently:
Games Workshop co-founder Ian Livingstone leaves Square Enix
Ian Livingstone, co-founder of Games Workshop and co-writer of Fighting Fantasy interactive game books, is leaving Square Enix after more than two decades with the company.
Livingstone was part of the team that merged UK games publisher Domark with Eidos Technologies where he acted as executive chairman and, later, creative director. During his time at Eidos he oversaw the launch of franchises including Tomb Raider, Thief and Deus Ex.
In 2009, Eidos was bought by Square Enix, and Livingstone was given the lofty title of Life President of Eidos. He became increasingly involved in projects to engage young people interested in game development and in cultivating a sustainable game development and publishing ecosystem in the UK.
As a result, Livingstone recently co-authored the NESTA Next Gen review which made recommendations for how the UK government and education system could help deal with skills shortages in the UK games industry. The review has led to computing being introduce into the national curriculum starting 2014.
According to the official announcement on the Square Enix website, Livingstone's current roles are:
Vice Chair of UKIE, Chair of Playdemic, Chair of PlayMob, Chair of Skillset's Video Games Council, Chair of the Next Gen Skills Committee, Member of the Creative Industries Council, Trustee of GamesAid and an advisor to the British Council.
The announcement concludes, "We're not saying a full goodbye as we're hopeful we will get to work with Ian on some future projects. But all of us at Square Enix do want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Ian for his unparalleled tenure and contribution to this business and the UK games industry. And we wish him every success with his future projects and new ventures."
UK games industry awaits decision on tax breaks
Video games companies in the UK are waiting to hear if they'll get a discount on how much tax they have to pay.
Officials at the European Commission are due to decide whether a government scheme would give firms in Britain an unfair advantage.
Those against tax breaks argue that the video games market is healthy and that subsidies could harm competition.
But UK companies say the country is losing out to others like Canada and France who already offer tax breaks.
Newsbeat spoke to industry figures at Eurogamer Expo in London.
Henrique Olifiers - co-founder Bossa Studios
The UK is where it all started. The British are the most creative people in the games industry. Other countries have been stealing talent because of tax breaks and incentives - Canada being the biggest one.
It's crucial for us. We have been seeing a talent drain for the past twenty years to countries that are incentivising that industry and we are all sitting by and watching. Half of my staff are from abroad, it is difficult for us to find the talent in the UK.
Kyle Jobson - producer at Flix Interactive
We really have to look after the pennies. There's not a lot of support. A few years back when I first graduated, there were going to be tax breaks, so many incentives the government was going to put in to push young creative studios out there.
We do struggle to make ends meet. The people who show us massive support is the industry itself, studios a bit further along who remember what it was like to be us. Delaying taking VAT would help. We need that money to make the game. The production, electricity bills, basic stuff, We are on a shoestring budget.
Fergal Gara - MD Sony Playstation UK & Ireland
There's amazing talent here in the UK which is tremendously exciting. We need to make sure that the UK remains competitive as a home for games development and the tax break is particularly important.
There's a high risk we'll see continued migration of games development to countries like Canada who do have those tax breaks in place.
Jo Twist - Chief Executive, UKIE
We are the most creative nation in the world. We are a real power house but we have slipped a bit globally and that is because other nations are competing with things like tax breaks and they're taking away all our brilliant talent.
The tax breaks decision is incredibly important. We need to create a level financial playing field not only to encourage big companies to base their studios here but also to help grow those smaller companies.
Last time it was posted in, GTA IV was coming out...
A couple of articles in the news recently:
Games Workshop co-founder Ian Livingstone leaves Square Enix
Ian Livingstone, co-founder of Games Workshop and co-writer of Fighting Fantasy interactive game books, is leaving Square Enix after more than two decades with the company.
Livingstone was part of the team that merged UK games publisher Domark with Eidos Technologies where he acted as executive chairman and, later, creative director. During his time at Eidos he oversaw the launch of franchises including Tomb Raider, Thief and Deus Ex.
In 2009, Eidos was bought by Square Enix, and Livingstone was given the lofty title of Life President of Eidos. He became increasingly involved in projects to engage young people interested in game development and in cultivating a sustainable game development and publishing ecosystem in the UK.
As a result, Livingstone recently co-authored the NESTA Next Gen review which made recommendations for how the UK government and education system could help deal with skills shortages in the UK games industry. The review has led to computing being introduce into the national curriculum starting 2014.
According to the official announcement on the Square Enix website, Livingstone's current roles are:
Vice Chair of UKIE, Chair of Playdemic, Chair of PlayMob, Chair of Skillset's Video Games Council, Chair of the Next Gen Skills Committee, Member of the Creative Industries Council, Trustee of GamesAid and an advisor to the British Council.
The announcement concludes, "We're not saying a full goodbye as we're hopeful we will get to work with Ian on some future projects. But all of us at Square Enix do want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Ian for his unparalleled tenure and contribution to this business and the UK games industry. And we wish him every success with his future projects and new ventures."
UK games industry awaits decision on tax breaks
Video games companies in the UK are waiting to hear if they'll get a discount on how much tax they have to pay.
Officials at the European Commission are due to decide whether a government scheme would give firms in Britain an unfair advantage.
Those against tax breaks argue that the video games market is healthy and that subsidies could harm competition.
But UK companies say the country is losing out to others like Canada and France who already offer tax breaks.
Newsbeat spoke to industry figures at Eurogamer Expo in London.
Henrique Olifiers - co-founder Bossa Studios
The UK is where it all started. The British are the most creative people in the games industry. Other countries have been stealing talent because of tax breaks and incentives - Canada being the biggest one.
It's crucial for us. We have been seeing a talent drain for the past twenty years to countries that are incentivising that industry and we are all sitting by and watching. Half of my staff are from abroad, it is difficult for us to find the talent in the UK.
Kyle Jobson - producer at Flix Interactive
We really have to look after the pennies. There's not a lot of support. A few years back when I first graduated, there were going to be tax breaks, so many incentives the government was going to put in to push young creative studios out there.
We do struggle to make ends meet. The people who show us massive support is the industry itself, studios a bit further along who remember what it was like to be us. Delaying taking VAT would help. We need that money to make the game. The production, electricity bills, basic stuff, We are on a shoestring budget.
Fergal Gara - MD Sony Playstation UK & Ireland
There's amazing talent here in the UK which is tremendously exciting. We need to make sure that the UK remains competitive as a home for games development and the tax break is particularly important.
There's a high risk we'll see continued migration of games development to countries like Canada who do have those tax breaks in place.
Jo Twist - Chief Executive, UKIE
We are the most creative nation in the world. We are a real power house but we have slipped a bit globally and that is because other nations are competing with things like tax breaks and they're taking away all our brilliant talent.
The tax breaks decision is incredibly important. We need to create a level financial playing field not only to encourage big companies to base their studios here but also to help grow those smaller companies.
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