EA VP Calls For “Pragmatism” in UK Tax Relief Debate

Electronic Arts’ VP of North Europe has said that the UK videogame industry should take a more pragmatic, less absolutist approach when debating tax relief with the government.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Keith Ramsdale spoke at length about the tax relief subject and was noticeably more measured in his opinions of the government and its polices towards the videogames industry.

Ramsdale said the industry needs to be aware of the current austerity measures the government is taking and form their arguments based on this. “The conversations we’ve had with government are pretty clear on this,” he said. “That doesn’t mean to say that we’re not arguing the need for tax credits.

“Consumers are being faced with austerity measures,” Ramsdale said, “and I don’t think it looks great on a company to be bleating loudly that we want our [profit & loss] to look better by having tax credits given to us, by the very government that’s having to pass these austerity measures onto consumers.”

He described the constant campaigning for tax relief by some bodies as “[flogging] a dead horse” and said that “if we just keep going in every time we speak about R&D tax credits, [the government is] just going to stop engaging with us.”

Ramsdale made reference to the attitude of other executives, specifically Activision CEO Bobby Kotick who last week reportedly called the government’s commitment U-turn a “terrible mistake”. Kotick said that there are “so many other places that are encouraging the video games industry”.

Ramsdale called EA’s attitude “less aggressive than our big competitor [Activision]” who, he noted, “doesn’t speak on behalf of all of us.” He continued: “Back to what Mr Kotick said, I think just to hone in on one headline soundbite isn’t really where EA’s position is.”

He maintained that videogames should be treated as an equal art form when it comes to government legislation, however, saying that he “would like to see an equitable status between all entertainment industries” and asked, as the film industry continues to receive tax relief:

“Are therefore jobs in the games industry less valuable than those in the film industry? Maybe that’s a question – and why would policy continue to have that view, given the contribution that the games industry makes?”