British Games Tax Relief Cultural Test Detailed

Now that UKIE has responded to the proposed cultural test for tax relief for British video games, and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has confirmed the tax relief in his Autumn Statement, that test is now finalised. Develop has printed the test in full, but if you haven't the time to read it in full here's a summary:

It works on a points system; those games that can rack up at least 16 points by fulfilling enough of the criteria included in the test will be eligible for the tax breaks. There are 31 possible points in total, so developers have a little legroom if, for instance, they don't want the game to be set in Britain but are happy to carry out the work there.

As far as the content of the game is concerned, points are awarded if it includes British locations, characters, stories, or dialogue, with more points given for a higher percentage in each category. Up to 4 points are also available if the game contributes to “the promotion, development and enhancement of British culture”.

But this won't necessarily mean a ream of games about Sweeney Todd set in London, because points are also awarded for the amount of work carried out in the U.K. (i.e. no scarpering off to sunnier climates to finish that code), and a whopping 8 points can be obtained by just having a team made up of “qualifying persons”. Good news for British citizens who want to get into the industry, I guess, since they're now worth one more tax relief point than their non-qualifying competitors.