Game Developers Association of Australia

Gamespot AU's Laura Parker cornered Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) CEO, Tony Reed, to discuss a few things about the $1.8 billion R&D tax credits bill that was passed recently and what it offers to the local games industry.

Some great news for the Australian games industry which has long been in the fight for tax breaks and incentives going as far back as 2003.

The Government has given cross-bench support for a R&D tax credits bill of $1.8 billion starting on the 1st of July, 2011, awarding relief to local companies who can demonstrate innovation. The two main components of the new R&D Tax Credit Program are:

The Games Developers' Association of Australia is organising delegates to various upcoming conferences for the opportunity to showcase their work to publishers as well as media. Needless to say, opportunities like these are important for all types of games developers, from startups, indies, to established developers, so if you're interested, be sure to forward an email to the GDAA email displayed below!

GDAA is putting support plans together for all companies wanting to attend GDC/Game Connection or PAX East in March 2011.

The Games Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) have officially announced the new committee that will be steering the association to tackle the important challenges that currently face the local games development industry.

They are:

CEO - Tony Reed
President - Anthony Lawrence, general manager of 2K Australia
Vice President - Shainiel Deo of Halfbrick Studios, Ross Symons of Big Ant Studios

Committee

Several local government representatives were brought to E3 this year courtesy of the Games Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) in an effort to create a greater awareness and understanding of the importance of the games industry.

The Games Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) has been experiencing some major restructuring of late, the start of which began with Tony Reed being appointed as the new GDAA CEO last year. The latest update is that GDAA President, Tom Crago, is moving on from the role he has taken care of at the association for the last three and a half years, and in his place will be Tony Lawrence, the general manager of 2K Australia (or 2K Marin, if you will).

IGN AU has an editorial on the ongoing downsizing of the Australian games industry, brought upon the recent round of lay-offs from Krome Studios late last month. They cover the high profile closures of Pandemic Studios Brisbane and Auran, particularly focussing on Auran's Fury's failure to spark interest in the MMOG market.

The Games Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) has responded favourably to the news on the proposed changes to the Federal Government's Research and Development Tax Concession Scheme, which has been criticised for "threatening innovation". While it may be but a small progress towards the ultimate goal of tax incentives for the local games industry, it's a step forward nonetheless.

The GDAA's new CEO, Tony Reed, has been quoted at Screenplay expressing his support for the changes...

Ah, I seem to have missed this one. Last week, Gameindustry.biz put up an interview with GDAA president and Tantalus CEO, Tom Crago, on how Australia game developers are faring during the current economic slowdown. His opinion? We're doing better than expected, compared to our overseas counterparts anyway. From Gameindustry.biz...Tom Crago: We've been relatively resilient - certainly we've felt the effects of the downturn, and I'm sure most Australian companies are finding it more difficult to procure pay-for-service work than in the past.

President of the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) and CEO of Tantalus, Tom Crago, has made an appearance at Triple R's Byte Into It technology focused radio segment. Tom talks about the upcoming Game Connect: Asia Pacific 2009 which is being held in Melbourne later this year, the trend towards casual gaming, the lack of the R rating classification in Australia, and all the latest at Tantalus.

MB: Do you see the trend towards casual or “snack” type gaming continuing, especially with Apple and the iPhone on the scene?