Following the Government’s decision to pull tax breaks from the UK computer games industry, a leading industry figure has called for companies to “work differently” to ensure their survival.
Michael Rawlinson, Director General of ELSPA, believes that the traditional distinctions between developers and publishers are being blurred by the growth of digital content. To make money in this “brave new world”, he says companies must fully understand how to protect their intellectual property (IP).
The inability for traditional game sales tracking methods to capture digital download revenue becomes increasingly problematic as that space forms an increasingly significant share of the industry. The UK's Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association and chart specialist GfK Chart-Track believe they can find a solution.
CVG writes:
Publisher trade body ELSPA is to launch a UK download chart for PC games.
The chart - which will include sales from third party resellers like Steam - is set to carry sales data from most of the major publishers' games, with Ubisoft, THQ, Sega, NCsoft and Square Enix among the big names already signed up.
Long-term packaged goods charts specialist GfK Chart-Track has signed on "to do the heavy lifting" and said it expects the rankings to go live "very soon", once all of the parties involved are satisfied with a closed beta chart.
SquareGo writes:
"Since the Coalition Government back-peddled on tax breaks for the gaming industry; Michael Rawlinson, Director General of ELSPA has argued that traditional distinctions between developers and publishers have changed the state of play since the dawn of digital content."
