While tax incentives for film and television productions receive a lot of publicity, many states offer valuable business incentives for the production or development of video games as well. In some states the incentives can be very significant -- e.g., as high as a 35% of qualified spending. Some credits are transferable. And in some jurisdictions developers may even receive cash refunds for unused credits. An incentive can make investment in the project more attractive, or even become the decisive factor in whether a game gets made or not. Whether you're a start-up deciding where to launch a new game production company, or an established developer deciding where to base a new development team, knowing where the incentive programs are can be critical.
To help our clients and friends identify the different states that make production tax incentives available for video game production, we put together an overview of the current terms and requirements of the programs for video games offered in the United States. You can read the summary here.
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