The Australian Government to offer tax break for video game developers in 2022

The Australian Government will next week announce tax offset for video game development for developers here in Australia. It’s the first time ever that the Government has any incentive to produce video games here in Australia. According to the IGEA, the 30% offset will be announced next week, which about the same as TV and Film. 

This means if you want to make a game here in Australia, the Government will help you out by giving your company 30% off the tax you’d typically have to pay. The offset will be officially announced as part of a Digital Economy Package in next week’s federal budget. 

IGEA CEO Ron Curry said in a statement “This is a very welcomed day for Australian-made video games. We congratulate the Prime Minister, Minister Hume, the Minister for the Arts the Hon Paul Fletcher MP and the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg MP for recognising not only that video games have an important place alongside TV and film in Australian screen production and storytelling, but also their unparalleled potential for supercharging Australia’s exports, attracting vast inward investment, and up-skilling a whole new generation of Australian digital workers”.

“The Government’s new investment commitment today will do many things. It will spur the creation of brand new Australian game development studios, give existing Australian studios the support they need to take on ambitious new projects and accelerate their growth, plus attract further blockbuster AAA studios to Australia, all of which will create game development jobs in every state.

“This new federal investment will underpin a new wave of Australian video game development, leading to even more amazing Australian-made games to take to the almost $250 billion global video games market – which is arguably the largest entertainment market in the world – and bring new Australian voices and stories to a truly global audience”.

There will be some restrictions, a company will have to spend at least $500,000 to qualify, and games that have gambling elements or don’t receive a classification cannot get the offset.

The Digital Games Tax Offset will be available from July 1 2022, and only available to “Australian resident companies or foreign resident companies with a permanent establishment in Australia”.