New York Wants to Attract Video Game Developers

New York State is looking to use a tax credit program to help attract a rapidly expanding industry to the state, video game development.

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Long thought of as "just for children," the video game industry has exploded onto the scene in recent years. Now, many gaming enthusiasts are no longer playing video games in their spare time, but are making incredibly lucrative careers out of them. Gaming leagues have popped up across the country and its turned the industry that was once strictly for entertainment into something a lot bigger than that.

Along with the rise in the popularity and potential monetization of video games, an increased need for video game developers has come as well.

And according to a report by Spencer Conlin of Spectrum News 1, New York State wants to attract a piece of that rising industry by offering a $25 million tax credit program to attract and boost video game developers.

To qualify, developers must have production costs of at least $100,000 and at least 75% of those costs must be incurred by work performed in New York State. When a project is complete, those developers can receive up to a 25% reimbursement in New York City, or up to 35% anywhere else in New York State.

Clarke Foley, vice president and director of operations at Wolfjaw Studios, wants to see the tax credit program expanded even further, saying "The video game industry, we say, is pretty small in a sense that there is a lot of companies competing for a finite pool of the skilled workers that we need."

He also said "Not every company has full cerative control of a game, and you need to have different teams and do different portions to make it successful."

Whether New York adheres to the request to expand the tax credit program has yet to be seen, but there's no denying that it would be beneficial to New York State to attract an industry growing as quickly as the gaming industry. Those are highly skilled, well-paying jobs that would bring a lot of money to the region should New York someday become the country's hub of video game development.