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michael rawlinson -

VideoGamer.com: What's the biggest challenge facing UK games development right now?

MR: From the UK heritage, we were at the forefront of creating games, through the Sinclair Spectrum and bedroom coders and all of that. It's become global. Publishers control a lot of the interests. The UK creators are increasingly under pressure. There's a lot of investment and support going into the Canadian market, a lot of product being made over there with tax incentives. I'm concerned that the UK games production code writing will go the way of other industries like hovercraft. We were at the forefront, then we lost it. We got to that point and we got cold feet and it all went abroad and someone else made the big bucks out of it. In terms of our industry we're still in the teenage years. We haven't grown up yet. We might be getting to the top end of teenage years.

VideoGamer.com: We might be able to play GTA soon!

MR: We might be! But in terms of where it's going, the future's ahead isn't it? You look at the Ealing films of the 50s. Now where's the UK film industry? There's some sense of a revival but actually the heart of the film industry is in the US and if the US doesn't want to bring their money to the UK, they don't want to bring it. We haven't got any of our own money saying we're backing Britain. We're reliant on someone else. Where's the game industry? Who controls the game industry? Sony, Japanese, Nintendo, Japanese, Microsoft, America, EA, America, Activision Blizzard, America. Where's the British publishers? Eidos and Codemasters.

VideoGamer.com: What can be done?

MR: We're trying to tell the government wake up and smell the coffee. You give incentives to the film industry to get people to come and invest here and you tell us that it's wonderful. I don't understand why they won't do it for the games industry but they seem incredibly reluctant. But we're really banging the drum on that. We're getting the evidence that shows that if they do that it will work, there's market failure and people are leaving this country. As publishers are investing in development what they're doing is growing their overseas businesses at a much greater rate than in the UK. Where the UK studios could double or triple or quadruple they're just sort of adding one or two staff. The differential is increasingly rapidly. We're gathering evidence to show the government that and if they did something they would reap the rewards. We're not asking them to prop up a failing industry, we're asking them to support a successful industry which will nurture talent and skills and creativity and economic value as well.

VideoGamer.com: So it's not too late?

MR: I don't think so. But it's almost too late.

VideoGamer.com: What's the knock on effect on the average gamer though?

MR: Well, that's a difficult one to answer. One could say quality. Although I think there are still some good games coming out from overseas. But we did make very good games, there's no doubt about that so there may be sort of a levelling off. What's the most successful game worldwide ever? GTA. And where was that made? We can still make the best games. If we lose it we lose it. That's a big issue. Otherwise to gamers? If they're made in Canada or America or Japan it won't make them more expensive per say. So it's difficult from a consumer perspective to say what they're going to lose except when it's gone it's gone. It's like the coal mines. Once they became not cost effective to run then the doors shut, even though there was still some coal in the ground it stayed in the ground and I doubt we'll ever go back and reopen. Once it's gone it's gone. Once these businesses shut their doors they're not going to get them are they? That's the concern.

VideoGamer.com: Thanks for your time Michael.

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