North Carolina Considers Developer Tax Breaks

Democratic Representative Pryor Gibson has proposed a bill in North Carolina aimed at attracting video game developers to the state, with potential tax credit of 15 percent. Bill H2157 would reward developers working in the state with a tax credit on equipment and labor costs. The only qualifications in the bill are an unusually specific definition of a video game, which is described as a “computer-controlled universe with which users may interact in order to achieve a goal”, and the understanding that the games produced do not fall foul of existing obscenity statutes. According to consumer website GameSpot, the bill has yet to be co-sponsored, although it has been referred to the House Finance Committee, which is chaired by Gibson. The overall likelihood of the bill be made law though is currently unclear. North Carolina is already home to a number of prominent developers including Epic Games (Unreal Tournament), Red Storm (Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six), Funcom (Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures), Virtual Heroes (America’s Army), Vicious Cycle (Robotech: Invasion) and Octagon Entertainment/Merscom (Trainz Railroad Simulator).