Jobs will be lost in the computer games industry if the Government doesn’t follow Australia by introducing tax breaks currently reserved for movies and television shows, the Games Developers Association says. Rocketwerkz, one of New Zealand’s largest games developers, said it was considering establishing a second studio in Brisbane to take advantage of the assistance. The Australian government announced ahead of its Budget on Tuesday that it would offer games-makers a 30 per cent “Digital Games Tax Offset” against their spending and would change depreciation rules in their favour. It said the tax breaks, which will kick in from July next year, would help Australian games companies grab a greater share of the A$250 billion (NZ$269b) game development market. The New Zealand Games Developers Association has long called for similar assistance to be extended to games developers here.

Source: Stuff May 10, 2021 01:02 UTC