UK video games industry wins tax break

A scene from the video game "Titanfall" (AP)

Britain's video games industry has finally won its long battle for tax breaks, just days after Chancellor George Osborne dashed hopes by failing to mention it in his Budget.

The Independent's sister paper, the London Evening Standard, understands a formal announcement should be made by the middle of next week as the European Commission has given the green light.

Brussels opposed tax breaks for a year because of concerns that video games were not culturally equal to other sectors, such as film and high-end television, which have already won tax relief.

Game studios such as Rockstar, whose Edinburgh office helped to make Grand Theft Auto, will need to ensure that part of their games content is “culturally British” to get tax breaks of up to 25 per cent

TIGA, the trade body for the UK industry, has warned that employment fell 7 per cent between 2008 and 2012 and two-fifths of jobs lost were relocated abroad to countries offering tax breaks.