GREENS ANNOUNCE PLAN FOR $100 MILLION GAMES INVESTMENT FUND

Nice idea, shame about the political climate

There are those who say that games and politics should never mix - but the Greens have obviously never subscribed to the notion. The political party has just announced a $100 million Games Investment and Enterprise Fund to support local game developers. “Video games are culturally, artistically and economically significant,” Greens senator Jordon Steele-John said in today’s announcement. “Worth more than $3 billion annually in Australia and over $100 billion worldwide, the Australian Greens see video games as a key component in rebooting our digital future.” The announcement comes as part of the party’s aggressive Batman by-election campaign. There is currently zero government support for the industry, since a $20 million fund set up by Labor in 2012 was dismissed by Tony Abbott’s government in 2014. This new fund would be in line with recommendations from a Senate committee held over two years ago, but subsequently ignored by the government. The Greens’ plan also includes an extension of the Producer Tax Offset and the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Offset to game developers, and $5 million to help create co-working spaces along the same model as Melbourne’s very successful The Arcade.