In the last budget before the General Election the Government did a surprising U-turn and announced plans for tax relief for Britain’s Game Developers.
The UK games industry contributes about 1 billion to the GDP and used to be third largest developer community behind the States and Japan. However tax breaks offered in other countries has lured talent away and the UK has started to slip down the league tables. News of the new tax relief has been welcomed by the whole Industry, and it should help it continue to grow in the UK. Brighton is a bit of a Mecca for the games industry, with Relentless, Black Rock Studios and Babel Media to name but a few.
We’ve found that over the last few years by working with clients within the gaming industry that there are a few common issues that reoccur within this industry. Developers are often seated for long periods of time and working with multiple screens, they are often susceptible to RSI conditions such as Carpel Tunnel Syndrome as they are interacting with their keyboards and mouse extensively. We’ve found that using a combination of better seating, double monitor arms and better ergonomic mice has helped to minimise a lot of these issues. Successfully resolving these issues is paramount to helping these companies and this industry continues to grow and develop world class games.
Further reading
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/24/budget-2010-video-games-tax-relief
