Downing Street receives developer petition

A petition on the UK government's Downing Street website has attracted over 500 signatures from people expressing "horror" at the increasingly difficult conditions facing videogame developers in the UK.

It cites problems currently suffered by Eidos as a "flagship UK company", and points to a significant decreases in the number of independent developers in the past few years, as well as significant tax incentives offered by other countries.

"We are looking on in horror as flagship UK company Eidos who created the iconic Lara Croft, is facing problems of competing in a global environment," the statement reads.

"The UK games industry requires tax incentives or some other assistance to maintain a competitive market for global publishers. According to Tiga, the trade association for UK developers, the number of independent studios has shrunk from about 400 in 2001 to 150 today. Much of this is because publishers such as Ubisoft of France, Sony of Japan and EA of the US have purchased the high performing studios.

"It is evident that studios based elsewhere are making efforts to extract what grassroots talent the UK has. The FT wrote in 2007 Montreal is offering to pay about 40 per cent of the salaries of the SCi developers and to give them a tax holiday. Such grants have enticed global publishers, such as EA and Ubisoft, to set up in the city.

"We need the same to support UK talent in this industry that is expected to grow phenomenally in the next 3 years, but with rising costs in development more staff are required and it is increasingly less attractive to fund these larger projects here, and almost impossible for independent studios to start production."

The Downing Street website offers the public the opportunity to raise issues directly with the Prime Minister's office, and notable petitions that have received support in the past include a substantial reaction against plans to tax motorists on the distance that they drive.

Any British citizen is able to add his or her name to the list by providing an email address and a valid postal address or ex-pat location, although there is no way to determine how many of the petition's signatories work in the games industry.

Eidos itself opened a studio in Montreal last November.