Does the government have to understand the industry a little better in order to create effective tax relief?
There is more we can do in educating government and civil servants, but I don't think we'll ever get away from the fact that production tax breaks and R&D tax breaks will always come after production take place. What we want to do is make them both as generous as possible. I think at the same time we have to understand that government has to create a tax environment that meets many different sets of the economy.

In your dealings with parliament, do you get a feeling that the establishment’s view of the games industry changing?
Absolutely. One thing I was struck by last year was there was a debate in Westminster about videogames and speakers on all sides stood up and praised the industry. That just wouldn't have happened twelve months earlier. Things have changed because we have made such efforts to familiarise MPs and the media about the important role that videogames play economically and socially.

What do you think the average Parliamentarian pictures when you say the word, ‘videogame’?
Look at it this way. We’re making an impact in the briefing that we give to MPs, and I think we are helping them to familiarise themselves with the vast range of games that people can play. Then, there’s the fact that many of these MPs and peers have children and grandchildren, and they are playing videogames. There was one MP I was speaking to last year after I got the job and he hadn't played videogames himself, but his children were playing, and he was familiar with The Sims, and Civilization, so that was a start. Last week we gave evidence to the House Of Lords Communications Select Committee and I was impressed by their questioning. They weren’t experts, but they did know a lot of the key issues. One peer was very familiar with the fact that there were some videogame nasties, but at least she had taken the trouble to watch them.

Is it part of Tiga’s job to redress the balance between publishers and developers when it comes to allowing developers to hold onto IP?
We want to help developers in any way we can and, obviously, this is an issue, but one has to recognise that there are some developers who don't mind working for hire. Going back to the prototype fund, if that lobbying was successful, that would strengthen developers’ opportunities to hold on to IP. Also, the more we move into self-publishing, developers will be in a stronger position again. So there are structural things that are happening in the industry that will strengthen the power of developers, and our own lobbying activities will reinforce those tendencies.

Where did the Play Together initiative come from?
The key issue is that developers in the UK compete on the basis of skills. There are skills shortages, and there are recruitment difficulties - in particular the cost of recruitment - so any way in which Tiga can help to ease recruitment problems within the games industry and cut costs for game developers must be good. I think that was the main, powerful reason driving the idea of Tiga-NESTA working together.

Is it hard to make such a collaborative project work in a community that is based on competition?
The reaction is cautiously welcoming. People aren't quite sure how this will pan out over time, but I think that some job swapping already takes place, and I think there is everything to be gained by developing it on a national basis. Although competition does exist in the UK, it is also down the road in France, Germany, the United States, so in that sense I don't think collaboration within games companies in the UK is an insurmountable problem.

What kind of feedback are you getting in terms of forging links between games and other creative industries?
The initial feedback is that there is a lot of interest and support. Most films need computer graphics these days, for example, so other industries are very much aware of the benefits that videogames can offer to their sectors. We want to promote these exchanges even further. It's not simply getting skilled personnel from one sector to another: it's also about encouraging the spread of ideas and knowledge. Everyone needs to be as open-minded as possible. As an example, staffing. Rather than recruiting from University A, why not think about recruiting someone from the BBC who might be a scriptwriter, for example, or someone from a rock band providing music for a game? There's no reason why these things can't happen in future, it just requires game developers to be open-minded.

So is Tiga almost becoming a dating agency for the development community?
In many ways it will be like that: playing Cupid, firing the arrow at developers and the other creative industries.

What effect do you expect to see Play Together having a year from now?
I hope we'll see the first signs of the industry recruiting in a new way, sharing staff more liberally than they have in the past. I hope we'll see people from other creative sectors actively employed within the games sector, and gave some evidence to show that the cost of recruitment has fallen.