TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, has accused UK politicians of being "asleep at the wheel".

Canada have recently announced that their games development workforce has grown to overtake that of the UK, meaning Canada is now the third largest developer of video games in the world. TIGA, who represent the video games industry in the UK, have criticised politicians for their lack of commitment to the video game industry.

“UK politicians have been asleep at the wheel - while the Canadian video games industry has soared in numbers and the UK development workforce has declined. There was nothing inevitable about this process. Canadian policy makers simply took the farsighted decision to create an attractive environment to do games business, in particular, through the provision of generous tax breaks," commented Dr. Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA.

We recently reported that TIGA were unhappy with how promised tax breaks for the video game industry were revoked by the new Government. It would seem that TIGA are still not pleased with how the UK video game industry is being ignored by the Government. While the economy is obviously in a difficult position TIGA believes that supporting the video game industry can offer such benefits that supporting it should not be a question.

“UK policy makers need to wake up. If we are to rebalance the UK economy away from an excessive reliance on public sector employment and financial services then we must encourage the growth of other sectors, including creative industries such as the video games industry. It is not too late to ensure that the UK remains a leading developer of video games. The UK Coalition Government must look again at our proposal for Games Tax Relief – a measure that over five years would generate 3,550 graduate level jobs, �457 million in investment, encourage new business models and the generation of new IP. “