France defines games as artistic culture

In November of last year, GamePolitics covered French minister of culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres’ push to have video games treated the same as movies, and thus be eligible for “cultural” tax credits.

Now, Reuters is reporting that the French Parliament has approved the plan, which provides tax credits of up to 20% of production costs (max 3 million euros), provided the game includes a “cultural dimension:”

"It recognizes the cultural character of the video game, which involves several branches of artistic talent: writers, directors, graphic artists, musical and sound creators."

The European Commission had previously warned Mr. Donnedieu de Vabres that such a tax credit might constitute a subsidy, potentially in violation of EU policy. The Commission has now launched a formal investigation.

-Colin “Jabrwock” McInnes, GamePolitics, February 7th, 2007

France Approves Video Game Tax Credit