Colin Macdonald, studio manager at Crackdown and APB developer Realtime Worlds, has called on the government to back the Scottish games industry in the face of “intense international competition”.

"Tiga has been working hard to raise the profile of the industry in the UK and this is the first time we as an industry in Scotland have joined forces to approach government in this way,” he said at the Tiga/NESTA Scotland In Focus event.

“Intense international competition means that we now need the government to step up to the plate and back our industry. We are not looking for handouts, we just want a more level playing field to ensure our industry can survive in Scotland.”

According to Tiga CEO Richard Wilson, the Scottish development sector has a “combined current turnover of approximately £20 million” and employs over 700 staff.

At the Scotland In Focus event Tiga, NESTA and industry figures called on the government to offer support to the games sector in three specific areas. They would like to see UK-wide development tax breaks introduced, better promotion of the Scottish games industry and more investment in education to counter skills shortages.

It was previously reported that tax holidays for game creators could tempt leading Scottish studios like Realtime Worlds to relocate to Ireland. In response, Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy pledged to support the industry by whatever means possible. “France has introduced tax breaks and we want to talk more about that and we will listen to any strong case being made,” he said.