Another big studio, apparently closing!

[Joelcool7]

non-gravity said:

Joelcool7 said:

I find the post about why Australia's game industry is collapsing very informative as well. I'm surprised the Government didn't give incentives to keep and grow development like Canada or to a lesser extent other countries. Especially at a time when the economies of the world are struggling the games industry employ's thousands at least at one point they did.

But I guess since the market for software in Australia is much smaller then other countries maybe the Government doesn't understand how important the industry is. The Australian Government should have taken action to preserve its industry a long time ago, even if they implemented changes now I doubt any of the publishers would re-open or open new studios in Australia.

On the other hand what are all these ex-employees doing for work? Why haven't they founded new Australian studios? Every time a major studio closes in North America somebody usually starts a new one. Especially with so many closures you'd think that a ton of the former staffers would be founding new studios.

So 20 million Australians should pay for a couple thousands jobs?

Pay, no not pay. Give the game companies incentives like tax breaks if they hire a certain amount of staff. Offer them grants if their projects yeild fruit. Canada a country of only around 34-million people per capita is the largest game producing country in the world. Not only that but game reveniew makes our Government alot of money.

So no the Government shouldn't pay for game companies to come. But offering incentives and perks to those that do should be standard. Its the Government that stands to profit and the jobs it provides for citizens is an added bonus.

Proof below from the Entertainment Software Association of Canada!

"Over the past two years, despite the economic recession, the industry grew by 11% annually and is projected to grow more rapidly over the next two years at 17% per year." and "With nearly 350 companies, Canada’s video game industry is conservatively estimated to contribute $1.7B to Canada’s economy. The Canadian video game industry remains the third largest in the world, or in first place on a per capita basis based on the employment levels in other countries. Quebec leads the Canadian video game industry with over half of the country’s jobs and a high proportion of large game developers and publishers located there.".

Thats right 1.7-billion dollars contributed to the Canadian economy. These companies are pumping billions of dollars into the countries economy. providing jobs and tons of tax revenue. The industry is only expected to grow as more and more publishers and developers re-locate to Canada.

The US states like Texas are desperately trying to increase development in their country as well. Offering similar incentives because video game companies bring in a ton of tax dollars, help pump up the economy and provide jobs.

Australia is pretty stupid not to be doing something similar to Canada and the US and other countries. Australia had a thriving games industry with big studios providing tons of jobs and no doubt pumping millions into the economy. But rather then trying to keep those game companies from leaving Australia lets four studios close in one month.

Those four studios alone probably would have pumped a sizable income into the Australian economy. Provided about a 1,000 people with jobs and of course could have led to future investments. But loosing all these studios means less tax income, less money spent in the economy and less jobs.