BFI appointed to administer cultural test for games tax relief

The British Film Institute will take responsibility for administering the cultural test required for game makers to secure tax relief.

Develop reports the BFI will also apply the test to animation and high-end TV content, and is looking to make two hires in order to process applications.

UKIE CEO Jo Twist expressed satisfaction in the UK government's choice of administrator.

"The BFI Cultural Test team have delivered a very effective service and expertise to the film industry so we welcome their experience to the game industry," hse said.

“The process of developing a game, and understanding their cultural nature is extremely different from films so we’re happy too that BFI will be hiring recognised games industry experts with significant experience of the sector to administer cultural test applications from games businesses, as we recommended in our tax break response to government. We will be assisting BFI with the recruitment of these key roles and will also be in regular contact with them to make sure the guidelines for the test are fit for games businesses.”

Develop has a full set of guidelines for the cultural test, if you're interested.