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税收减免政策对英国游戏市场的重要性

发布时间:2014-06-18 14:29:33 Tags:,,,,

作者:Craig Chapple

我们与Codec Studios的创始人David Burns就其在英国创造高预算的AAA级游戏的想法以及他计划如何为此集资展开交谈。

自George Osborne在2012年宣布减免游戏税收以来已经过去了2年。最终游戏开发者终于在对经济和社会的贡献中得到了认可。

在一年后,欧洲委员会落实了游戏税收减免政策,但是他们对英国是否真正面对市场失效表示怀疑。又过了一年,有些游戏工作室选择关门,英国游戏产业仍处于等待中。

在本周,也就是欧洲委员会同意提供给英国市场与法国享有多年的激励机制同样的待遇后,其政府最终将证实这一希望。

这一新闻将让一个人感到特别开心,他一直在为一款由超过100名员工共同创造的3000英镑预算的AAA级游戏募集资金(在英国)。

他表示如果没有税收减免政策的话形式将变得更加困难。

筹集资金

未来的游戏工作室创始人David Burns(他已经创建了电影工作室Eden Films—-利用了该领域慷慨的税收优惠机制)说道:“英国迫切需要这样的激励。如果获得这样的激励我们将创造巨大的回报。”

他感谢TIGA的首席执行官Richard Wilson到目前为止对于其工作室募集资金的大力支持,并强调了在英国为一款高预算游戏集资是件非常困难的事。

他说道:“如果没有Richard,像我这样的人便不可能获得16%的预算。”

他的新公司名为Codec Studios。他想要创造的是面向主机的第三人称行动游戏,即基于他关于大受欢迎的《Redemption: The Challenge》电影三部曲的脚本,即专注于一个名为Elizabeth Grey的堕落天使的故事,以天堂和地狱间的战斗为背景。该故事的第一部分已经整合到Burns所谓的互动动作漫画中(被划分成4个部分),但除了动画外他还有更大的野心。

Codec Studios Redemption(from develop-online)

Codec Studios Redemption(from develop-online)

他已经拥有自己的团队,包括前Epic Mickey艺术总监Rolf Mohr和前Core Design编曲者兼前City Interactive音频总监Nathan McCree。

但即使面对税收减免政策,Burns该如何计划集资去支持由100多名开发者所参与创造的大预算游戏呢?

Burns在说到税收减免局限性时说道:“政府所说的20%并不是真正的20%。”

“当你将广告,保险和银行等等费用考虑在内时,会发现这种政策根本就不适用于这些领域,像我这样来自电影产业的人便会了解这种情况。所以根据我们的经验法则应该是16%。”

“所以如果你再加上大量延迟费用,并且人们想要将自己的钱投入游戏中,那么总计将达到25%。”

“现在在故事片中,你将获得所谓的Gap融资。Gap是指从银行贷款。对于少于1000万美元的故事片,银行将借给你15%。而对于超过1000万美元的电影,银行的贷款发放通常会高达35%,这便是一笔巨额的现金。”

“现在有些这样的银行真正来到了游戏领域。所以如今我们可以与银行谈到35%的Gap贷款,再加上税收减免和延迟费用,我们的预算将合计达到60%。同时我还遇到了一些愿意弥补剩下40%费用的有钱投资者。所以这便是我们现在希望做的事。”

“我希望在接下来的3至6个月内一切都能顺顺利利,即基于这样的时间框架发展。”

Codec Studios Redemption(from develop-online)

Codec Studios Redemption(from develop-online)

他同样也兴奋地解释了它为游戏签订了一份完成保证书,这也是他在电影业务中所执行的标准集资方法。他表示完成保证书将依其申述确保项目将能够完成。

他说道:“这是一种保单,它值一大笔钱,从根本上说它们将从第一天开始直至最后去监控消费,并确保你能够防备任何可能出错的情况。”

“这意味着投资者将能安心,因为一旦他们将钱投出,该公司就必须确保游戏一定能够完成。银行也立即表现出兴趣,因为我们保证了游戏能够按时,按预定预算和所需标准完成,因为我们已经支付了100万英镑的保险。”

3000万英镑的赌注?

通过各种贷款和税收激励为一款高预算游戏筹集资金听起来具有很大的风险,即使是拥有Burns这样的热情并努力在推动工作室发展的决心。

当我告诉他这点时,他表示其实这并不是多大的风险;这只是在寻找能够资助工作室的可行资源罢了。

他说道:“如果税收减免发挥了作用,我们便能够从中获利。而如果它并未能落实行动,我们则需要去募集更多私人投资。”

“银行不会随便发放贷款。他们只会向土地,产权和大型开发发放贷款。但却不包括知识产权,因为它真的具有很高的风险。”

“而Gap贷款却是唯一的例外。Gap出现在故事片中,这也是我多次使用的方法,因为它能够让Gap贷方拥有一定的好处。即如果你创造某些1000万英镑的内容,那么银行借给你将近150万英镑的资金,他们将向你收取18%的利息,也就是他们能够从你的电影中获得第一笔180万英镑的费用。换句话说,他们会期待这部电影至少能够赚得18%的收益,而答案通常都是肯定的。很少有电影的收益不足18%。”

“所以这便是这种贷款的运行方式。如果你所运行的是更大的项目,你便可以期待获得更高的回报,而他们也会愿意将贷款提升至35%。现在我们拥有2个电影项目,一个获得了15%的Gap贷款,另外一个因为超过了1000万英镑的界限而获得了35%的贷款。”

Burns的确拥有一些业务知识能够找到适当的资金来源,而这部分是源于他在电影产业的经历,他曾专注于项目融资好多年,这也是他希望带到游戏产业中的一种模式。

因为他的团队拥有许多产业精英,所以Burns自身也了解游戏该如何运行,即使她那3年的开发周期计划并未考虑游戏开发的本性,而这往往是导致项目延迟的根源。例如育碧的《看门狗》的延迟便是典型的例子。

从结构的角度来看,Burns知道电影和游戏间的巨大区别,以及为何它们总是不能交叉获得成功。

他使用了角色带着到达顶部的目标进入一栋建筑的例子。在电影中,编剧总是会直接切入顶部以确保情节顺利向前发展,但是游戏却是关于到达顶部的旅程。

他还描述了自己所计划的游戏其实是《古墓丽影》和《蝙蝠侠》的结合。他说道:“想想带着翅膀的Lara Croft。”并解释了这款游戏将让玩家围绕着游戏世界而前行,并将行动,谜题和探索元素穿插在一起。

“《古墓丽影》最大的乐趣便是你从一个地方到达另一个地方时,它真的达到了射击元素,谜题元素和探索元素的最佳平衡。这便是我们现在正致力于做到的。我们也持续衡量着重点。所以在某一特定关卡中可能会更注重射击,而在其它关卡中则更注重探索和谜题解决。我们总是尝试着达到不同环境的平衡,如此每个关卡便都会是全新且有趣的体验。”

让企业家休息下

Burns表示他现在已经锁定了Woolwich附近一个的理想的场所,并且迫切的想要创造游戏,如果成功的话他希望能够开发一个完整的游戏三部曲,同时还希望能够尝试较小的手机游戏开发。

但如果没有游戏税收减免政策的话这一切都是扯谈。

他说道:“政府必须理解这一政策的重要性。我敢向你保证这一将会是一个具有象征意义的决定。”:

“在新西兰和澳大利亚,他们可以在故事片中获得40%的税收抵免。想象你将创造一部1000万英镑的电影,并且在开始前你就获得了400万英镑的支持了。”

“如果政府希望像我这样的人能够花3年时间雇佣100个人去创造某些具有赚钱潜能的内容,他们就需要去支持它。他们正在从中赚得收益,所以至少他们要知道去支持这样的游戏。”

税收减免并不会改变这些工作室与现代产业不同步的必然性。但它们却能够将英国与加拿大(游戏邦注:Ubisoft Montreal和EA Vancouver等巨头工作室的家乡)等国家置于同等层面上。

不过谁知道呢,也许英国将能够吸引这些发行巨头和那些想要利用英国巨大的人才基础的商人们的注意。

Burns面向欧洲委员会总结了一段内容:“一旦我们获得这样的激励,所有的一切将会发生改变。因为此时的我不得不从私人投资者身上获得额外的16%至17%的投资。这真的是笔巨大的费用,大概是450万英镑至500万英镑。”

“如果我需要从私人投资者手中筹集的资金越少,游戏便能够越快取得发展。”

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

The UK’s secret £30m game studio stuck in tax breaks limbo

By Craig Chapple

We chat with Codec Studios founder David Burns on his ambitions to develop a big budget triple-A game in the UK, and how he plans to fund it

It’s been two years since games tax relief was announced by George Osborne in the 2012 Budget, sparking widespread adulation amongst the UK game industry. Finally, game developers were being recognised for their contribution to the economy and society.

Roll on a year later and the tax breaks were held up by the European Commission, which questioned whether there was a real market failure in the UK. A further year and a few studio closures later, the UK game industry is still waiting.

There are faint glimmers of hope that incentives could finally be confirmed by the government this week after the European Commission allegedly gave approval to give the UK similar incentives that France has been enjoying for years.

The news would delight one man in particular, who is trying to pick up the funds for a new £30 million triple-A game developed by more than 100 staff, right here in the UK.

But he says it will be a lot harder without tax breaks.

Finding finance

“The UK desperately needs it. We will give a lot back if we get it,” says would-be game studio founder David Burns, who has already set up movie studio Eden Films, which is taking advantage of that sector’s generous tax incentives.

He thanks TIGA CEO Richard Wilson for his support help so far in helping the studio raise funds, highlighting the difficulty of finding the money for big budget games in the UK.

“Without Richard, people like me can’t get hold of 16 per cent of their budget,” he states.

His new company is Codec Studios. The game, which he wants to be a third-person action title for console, is based on his script for a trilogy of blockbuster films called Redemption: The Challenge that focuses on the story of a fallen angel named Elizabeth Grey, set against the backdrop of a battle between heaven and hell. The first entry in the story is already being made into what Burns calls an interactive motion comic split into four parts, but he has much loftier ambitions than just a comic.

He already has some of his team on board, including former Epic Mickey art director Rolf Mohr and ex-Core Design composer and former City Interactive audio director Nathan McCree.

But even with tax breaks, just how does Burns plan to get the money to finance such a big budget game made by over 100 developers?

“What the government says is that 20 per cent isn’t 20 per cent,” says Burns, as an example of the limits of tax breaks.

“By the time you’ve taken out advertising, insurance, banking charges, it doesn’t work out at that and people who work in the film industry like I do know this. So we have a rule of thumb that’s about 16 per cent.

“So if you add on top of that a lot of deferred fees and people who want to put their money back into the game, that puts us up to about 25 per cent.

“Now in feature films, you get a thing called Gap finance. Gap is a loan from a bank. And for features less than $10m a bank will lend you 15 per cent. For films above $10m, they’re often willing to go as high as 35 per cent, which is a massive chunk of cash.

“Now some of these banks are actually now going into games. So we’re currently talking to a load of banks to get a 35 per cent gap loan, which with the tax breaks and deferred fees, takes us up to 60 per cent of our budget. And I have meetings as well with very high wealthy investors who we are looking to for the remaining 40 per cent. So that’s how we’re hoping to do it.

“My hope is it’ll be in place in the next three to six months, it’s that kind of time frame.”

He also excitedly explains that he has secured a completion bond for the game, a standard method of financing in his other business, film. He says the completion bond allegedly ensures the project will be completed – once the finance is in place of course – and says all major high-rise building constructions, for example, get them too to make sure they are finished.

“It’s an insurance policy, it costs a fortune, where basically they monitor the spend from day one to the end, and insure you against anything going wrong,” he says.

“What it means is the financiers feel safe because once they’ve put the money in, this company has ensured the game will be finish. And we’ve got that, it’s absolutely fantastic. All the banks immediately started showing interest because I can guarantee it will be finished, on time, on money and to the requisite standard, because I’m paying over £1 million for insurance.”

A £30m gamble?

Building up the requisite funds through various loans and tax incentives for such a big budget game sounds like a big risk though, even in the face of Burns’ obvious enthusiasm and drive to get the studio off the ground.

When I tell him so, he counters that it’s not that high risk; it’s just finding the sources available to fund the studio.

“If the tax break comes in we’ll be able to benefit from it. If it hasn’t come in I will have to raise more private investment,” he says.

“Banks won’t loan against anything where the general public buys an item, that’s not how banks work. They loan against land, property, huge developments. But they won’t loan against intellectual property. They never have and they never will because it just seems too high risk.

“The only area where there would appear to be a loophole in that is Gap loans. And the Gap is something that’s come in in feature films, which I’ve used several times, because it enables the Gap lender to have first position of the waterfall. This means if you make something for £10m and the bank lends you around £1.5m, they charge you 18 per cent, but they get the very first £1.8 million that comes in from the film. Which in other words, are they expecting this film to at least make 18 per cent, and the answer is yes. Very few films make less than 18 per cent.

“So that’s how they gear it. On much bigger projects where you’re expecting much higher returns, they’re willing to go up to 35 per cent. We have two film projects at the moment, one which is going for 15 per cent Gap, and one which is going for 35 per cent because it is over the £10m mark.”

Burns clearly has the business know-how to find the right funding sources, in part thanks to his history in the film industry where he has been picking up project finance for years, and it’s a model he wants to bring to the game industry.

As well as his team being staff by industry veterans, Burns himself appears to have some knowledge at least of how games work, even if his planned three year development cycle may not take into account the true nature of game development, which can often result in delays in big projects in particular. Just look at Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs delay as an example.

From a structural standpoint though, Burns knows the big differences between film and games, and why the two don’t always successfully crossover.

He uses the example of a character entering a building with the goal to get to the top. In a film, the edit would often cut straight to the top to keep the plot moving forward, while a game is about the journey to the top.

Ambitiously though, he describes the planned game as a cross between Tomb Raider and Batman. “Think Lara Croft with wings,” he says, explaining the title will take players on a trip around the world, weaving in action, puzzle and exploration elements together.

“The joy of Tomb Raider when it was at its best is you’re going from location, to location, to location and it’s a very nice balance between a shooter, puzzle solving and exploration. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re continuously rolling where the weights lie. So in a particular level it might be more shoot ‘em up, and another it’s more exploration and puzzle solving. And we’re trying to get a balance there in these different environments so that each level feels like a new and interesting experience.”

Give entrepreneurs a break

Burns says he has now identified the perfect location near Woolwich, and is clearly keen to make the game, which if successful he hopes to develop a full trilogy of titles while also expanding into the development of smaller mobile games.

But this may not happen without games tax breaks.

“The government must understand that this is crucial. But even then it’s a token gesture I can assure you,” he says.

“In New Zealand and Australia they get 40 per cent tax credit on feature films. Imagine making a £10 million film knowing you’ve already got £4m in place before you’ve even started.

“We have to do it. If the government wants someone like me to employ a hundred people for three years to build something that has the potential of making an absolute fortune, they have to support it. They’re making a ton of money out of it, the least they can do is support getting the games out.”

Tax breaks won’t change the inevitable for those studios out of sync with the modern industry. But they could put the UK on a level playing field with nations like Canada, home to super studios such as Ubisoft Montreal and EA Vancouver.

And who knows, maybe the UK will attract these publishing giants and ambitious businessmen and women who want to take advantage of the UK’s vast talent base.

Burns concludes with a message to the European Commission: “It will change everything once we know we’ve got it. Because at the moment it is a proviso that I’m having to find an extra 16, 17 per cent from private investors. It’s a huge chunk of cash, £4.5 to £5m, it’s a lot of money.

“The less money I have to raise privately, the faster the game will get off the ground. Simple as that.”(source:develop-online)

 


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