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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[UK government plans tax breaks for 'culturally British' games]]></title><link>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/17/uk-government-plans-tax-breaks-for-culturally-british-games/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/17/uk-government-plans-tax-breaks-for-culturally-british-games/</guid><comments>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/17/uk-government-plans-tax-breaks-for-culturally-british-games/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<div align="center"><a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/new-culturally-british-test-for-games"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/06/britishflag1170609580.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
The long battle for UK tax breaks for games industry pros may finally be over, with the government <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/new-culturally-british-test-for-games">stating</a> in its recent <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/16_06_09digitalbritain.pdf">Digital Britain report</a> that it "has committed to work with the industry to collect and review the evidence for a tax relief." Here's the kicker, though. In order to be worthy of these potential tax breaks, the games must be "culturally British."<br /><br />What this means is unclear, but games would need to be put through a test to determine whether they can be deemed "culturally British," in a way similar to the UK <a href="http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/culturaltest">film industry</a>. Certain British games, such as <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/tag/littlebigplanet"><em>LittleBigPlanet</em></a> -- whose <a href="http://playstation.joystiq.com/2008/07/17/stephen-fry-makes-littlebigplanet-sound-even-better/">narrator</a> is a British national treasure -- and <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/tag/fable-2"><em>Fable 2</em></a> -- with its cockney characters and very English humor -- would be shoo-ins. Other games, such as <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/tag/burnout-paradise"><em>Burnout Paradise</em></a>, might need to make a few changes. Perhaps we'll see London landmarks like Big Ben or the London Eye introduced in a future DLC pack.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.joystiq.com"><img src="http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Joystiq" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/17/uk-government-plans-tax-breaks-for-culturally-british-games/">UK government plans tax breaks for 'culturally British' games</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.joystiq.com">Joystiq</a> on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:45:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/new-culturally-british-test-for-games>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/17/uk-government-plans-tax-breaks-for-culturally-british-games/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.joystiq.com/forward/19069805/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/17/uk-government-plans-tax-breaks-for-culturally-british-games/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>britain</category><category>culturally-british</category><category>England</category><category>europe</category><category>tax-breaks</category><category>tea</category><category>UK</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jem Alexander]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:45:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>