Two months on from reports that negotiations had run aground and the European Commission was preparing to scrap the relief, weeks of concerted pressure by the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF) have resulted in an extension being approved by EC directorate general for competition Wouter Pieke. More >
European Union legislation may outright forbid its member countries from offering tax incentives to local game developers. Develop reports that France's games tax relief, which was introduced in 2008 and allows the nation's videogame companies to reclaim 20 per cent of production costs, expired in January. More >
5Quantic Dream co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumiere says “between €5 and €10 million worth of royalties” were lost due to second-hand sales of the developer’s interactive thriller Heavy Rain. Though he understands the plight of a customer, trapped in a recession and faced with full-price retail, Fondaumiere is keen to find a solution to the problem. “I've always said that games are probably too expensive so there's probably a right level here to find,” he said. “And we need to discuss this altogether and try to find a way to I would say reconcile consumer expectations, retail expectations but also the expectations of the publisher and the developers to make this business a worthwhile business.”
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