Global Games Development Incentives

UK

Country	Type	Benefits	Criteria	Notes / Limitations
UK	Tax break	Video Game Tax Relief. 20% of qualifying spend (if wholly developed in EEA). Can claim an additional deduction in computing their taxable profits, and where that additional deduction results in a loss, to surrender losses for a payable tax credit.	Cultural test. 25% of core expenditure is incurred on goods or services provided from within European Economic Area / Lead VGDC must be in UK.	Subcontracted costs are subject to a cap of £1million per game. Cannot claim R&D relief in conjunction.

Please read the dedicated Ukiepedia page for more detail on the UK's Video Game Tax Relief.

Europe

Country	Type	Benefits	Criteria	Notes / Limitations
Belgium	Tax break	Expansion of Film & TV Belgian Tax Shelter. Tax Shelter would provide additional funding of up to 25-30% of total qualifying expenses in the EEA. Allows finance of up to 40-45% of Belgian-eligible expenses..		Awaiting approval from European Commission. Spend must specifically be within Belgium.
France	Tax break	Tax Credit for Video Games. Tax relief for 30% of all eligible expenses incurred. Limit of receivable tax credit increased to 6million.	Cultural test. Production costs exceeding €100 000.	A game deemed excessively violent (meeting a criteria) will not benefit.
Germany	Cultural fund	German Games Fund. 50 million EUR available for both prototypes and fully developed games.	Culture test. At least 60% of development costs spent in Germany. Prototype development costs must be at least 30,000 EUR. Grant amounts to 50% of development costs at a max of 400,000.
Italy	Tax credit	Planned since late 2016, a new law would provide for the introduction of four different types of tax credits, between 15 and 30%, for production companies, distribution companies, national executive and post-production companies, and companies and trusts that invest in the sector.		Delayed
Poland	Cultural fund	Pilot program. 18million EUR investment fund for games studios.	Have a budget of 500,000 Polish zloty to 20 million zloty. A project timeline of up to three years. Must consists of industrial research and experimental development or experimental development only. Expenses with sub-contractors may only make up 60 percent of eligible costs of the overall project. All work must be done in Poland.
Spain				Delayed

USA

Rather than a national-level federal tax offset for video game development, tax offsets in the USA have been introduced at state-level in an attempt to draw more US businesses away from major game development hubs such as California.

Country	Type	Benefits	Criteria	Notes / Limitations
Puerto Rico	Tax credit	Qualifying media projects, including video games, are eligible for a 40% tax credit on all payments to Puerto Rico resident companies and individuals, and a 20% tax credit on payments on all non-resident spending.	Projects must spend a minimum of $100,000.
Tennessee	Cash rebate	Spend a minimum of $200,000 on qualified Tennessee spend, either per episode or per project, you are eligible for a cash rebate in the form of a 25% grant. The film and TV incentive program was enhanced in May 2018 to include computer-generated imagery and interactive digital media, as well as stand-alone, post-production musical scoring and editing.	Spend a minimum of $200,000 on qualified Tennessee spend.
Texas	Cash rebate	Video Game and XR Incentive. Qualifying video game projects are eligible to receive a cash grant up to 22.5% of Texas spending of eligible Texas spending.	Minimum in-state expenditure of $100,000. 60% of production days completed in Texas. 70% of employees and contractors working in Texas must be Texas residents.
Utah	Tax credit	Utah Motion Picture Incentive Program (expanded to include interactive entertainment). Up to 20% tax credit on payroll and in-state spending; this only applies to new state revenue generated by "digital media" companies.	Spend a minimum of $500,000 in Utah.
Virginia	Tax credit	Virginia Motion Picture Tax Credit Fund. Tax credits equal to 15-20% of the production company's qualifying expenses.	Spend a minimum of $250,000.	Must include a reference to Virginia in credits.
Washington	Tax credit	Interactive media productions with qualifying costs of at least $500,000 are eligible for tax credits equal to 30% of the company's qualifying expenses. Note: in 2017, this tax incentive was extended for 10 years.