What The LibCon Coalition Means For Gaming

A short time ago David Cameron became the new UK Prime Minister. He announced, in his first statement as PM, that he will be aiming to form a “proper and full coalition” between his Conservative party and Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrat party.

There are a lot of questions to be answered; how the opposing parties will work together, what will be done about the current budget deficit and what will the promised electoral reform be? But less popularised questions also exist from the gaming industry. Just what changes can we expect from this new coalition?

Business stability
A few days ago Michael Rawlinson, director general for the ELSPA (the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) spoke to GamesIndustry.biz and said that the single most important result is one that leads to stability. He rhetorically questioned if the new government “is it going to be so paralysed because it’s such a coalition that every decision has to be taken back to a mass table where everybody has to put their two-pennies-worth in and says are we for it or aren’t we for it?”

The sentiment that business’ top priority is stability has been echoed in the wider business community, and can clearly be seen in the worried stock market. With the news that a new, majority government was forming the FTSE 100 rose after a poor few days.

A pro-gaming government?
When the results of the election were in, MCV did a quick head-count and found that the most vocal games industry supporters (namely Tom Watson, Ed Vaizey, Don Foster and John Whittingdale) had kept their jobs, which is good. However Keith Vaz, the anti-games campaigner once called “deceptive [and] unreliable” by Jack Thompson, has also remained employed, albeit for what is now the opposition party.

So whilst there’s no shift in the pro-gaming camp, there’s not been any major set backs either. As of the leaders themselves, they’re far too busy trying to put plasters on our haemorrhaging economy to worry about gaming. Though during the campaign Clegg was said to have an Xbox on his tour bus.

Tax relief
Tax relief for the gaming industry was an issue that built up over the course of the election campaign. However, now that we have a coalition government, there has to be doubts as to what, if any, progress can be made. Labour were the only party to mention tax breaks in their manifesto, with both the Lib Dems and Tories giving lip service to the idea but never offering confirmation, even when specifically asked.

Making decisions in a coalition government is difficult and typically requires hefty amounts of compromise. Tax breaks for the gaming industry might just be something that is pushed back over the next few months, especially as neither party have made solid commitments.

Education and skills
Over the past few years we’ve seen an ever increasing problem of a games industry skills shortage emerge. Last January David Braben spoke of the problem, talking at a Westminster eForum. He pointed out that the number of students taking Computer Science based courses has dramatically dropped since 2001, adding that those students who are on gaming related courses are often suffering from a “dumbing-down” of the teaching. He also pointed to the ever growing temptations that job opportunities abroad offer.

When it comes to education, all the parties always insist they know what they are doing but all have conceded that cuts in public spending are due. This could lead to some universities doing away with the more game orientated courses, in an attempt to consolidate their resources into more mainstream topics.

Regarding those skilled post-grads leaving to go to the US and Canada for work; the driving force behind the UK’s appeal will come from the aforementioned tax relief, potentially raising the starting wages.

Piracy and crime
The big issue when it comes to piracy is in the form of the Digital Economy Bill. The rushed bill gives overreaching, and many say overbearing, powers to those who feel their copyright has been violated. The Guardian have a good overview here. Where things get interesting now is that Clegg said he would repeal the bill if he got into power, adding that “it badly needed more debate and amendment”.

Another very big issue is with the European Commission’s Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which would see digital rights management (DRM) enforceable under law. Neither party has given much opinion on this, but it could be assumed the Liberal Democrats would oppose it. It may also, at a push, be assumed the Conservatives would oppose it on the grounds that they are all about less power moving towards the EU, who are in charge of this legislation.

Lower tax for bloggers
One of the Liberal Democrats big ideas was to increase the income tax threshold to £10,000. This has reportedly been adopted by the LibCon alliance and would lead to annual savings of around £700.

From personal experience, most bloggers and internet writers earn very little by way of income so this raising of the threshold will have a direct, and surprisingly noticeable impact. Small sites should find a bit more cash in their pockets and whilst only a minor point, it is still noteworthy. Not least in the current environment where ad income seems to be ever decreasing.

Sam Jordan also contributed to this article.