Tax Broken
A cautionary tale about Canadian tax breaks via Develop today. “Exodus” is quite an exaggeration, though I spoke to Prince Edward Island at GDC and their Developer community isn’t huge at all, with a headcount of around 100 in total IIRC, meaning that nearly a quarter of the game development workforce in the region might move away or be made redundant.
Of course, many publishers and developers will go wherever offers the best deal, but not necessarily stay there. Other contacts I made at GDC are unconvinced that Canada’s tax breaks have been long-term enough to create a game development community or really allow companies to put roots down, instead perhaps encouraging a 5 year long corporate hit and run on the Canadian tax system. Price Edward Island are now discussing emergency tax breaks, and may be locked into a tax break race with other regions as their measures end too.
(CC image by fling93)
