14 DAY TRIAL // All the American states seem to be about to enter a competition to see which of them can lure large videogame companies to do business in their territory. Wisconsin is announcing that it is offering a 25% tax credit to all film, television and game studios that move to the state and go through a qualification process.
Officials from Wisconsin have revealed that all expenses related to actual development of a product will get a 25% tax rebate, while all infrastructure development expenses will get a 15% tax write-off. Another distinguished initiative in the state is the effort on behalf of the office of the Governor of Wisconsin, which aims to persuade more colleges in the area to add courses and degree tracks that will produce professionals who can work in film, television and games development.
Wisconsin is not the first state to offer sweeping tax credits to videogame developers that are willing to relocate. Recently, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has signed into law a new act that will give local television, film and video game production studios up to 30% tax breaks, as part of a governmental effort to attract more entertainment industry studios to do business in Georgia.
Mike Crowns, product development director at Raven Software, believes the tax breaks are a good idea and says in this respect: "I truly believe that the tax incentive will greatly assist the growth of game development in the State of Wisconsin."
Usually, games studios are eager to relocate to new grounds, if the incentives offered are good enough. This is especially true for small and medium developers that have one hit game picked up by a big publisher. As the money starts coming in, there's a clear temptation to move into a nicer bigger building in a state that offers tax credits.
The states, meanwhile, are coming up with these incentives just as more and more studios are being opened outside of America, mainly in Eastern Europe and in South East Asia.