Utah offered Walt Disney Co. more than $5 million to bring hundreds of video game jobs to the state. Louisiana is spending $29 million on a new digital media center that would provide space for game publisher Electronic Arts. And about 20 states — from Michigan to Maine — offer tax incentives to any video game companies that qualify.
It turns out Rhode Island’s $75 million loan guarantee to entice former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling to move his video game company from Maynard to Providence was just an outsized example of efforts across the country to establish their own video game clusters. The field is particularly attractive because the industry is growing rapidly, the jobs carry high salaries, and the sector offers a dash of glamour.
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States always seem to get suckered into the tax credits to attract entertainment related jobs. They are politicaly sexy, but losers for tax payers. The video game industry is high stakes, high risk and as we've seen, picking specific winners among companies is hard. But there is a way for MA to help foster the start of these types of companies without exposing tax payers to any risk. First, remove non-competes from employment contracts; this helps new companies grow. 2- Create/invest in college courses at our state institutions that teach the required programming languages and networking skills used as a foundation for games (or other types of internet-based products). 3- Work with broadband providers to improve access and upgrade to high speed pipes. In my opinion, these types of steps will bring broader benefit over time and not tie our fortunes to any one company or even a specific industry sector. This will provide fertile soil for new companies to take root in. Then, step back and let the VC pros determine which of these seedlings is worthy of private cpaital investment. To me, this seems the perfect public/private sector balance to grow the economy.
Kids could spend more time exercising and spending time in what little is left of our public spaces if they weren't consumed with video games.That goes for adults as well.You need high-octane sugar and carb food to feed the buzz.
I would love to see a follow-up story which investigates whether other states are truly profiting from giving gaming companies subsidies. The film tax credit program is a scam. It has NOT generated money for Mass. And, as an experienced video producer, I can tell you that the number of locals who are hired is very much limiited. These film companies fly a lot of their support people in from LA or NYC.