The measure is a scheme, in the form of a tax credit, for supporting the creation of video games with a cultural dimension. The Commission Decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Union then called on interested parties to submit their comments. The Commission received comments from the following interested parties:

• TIGA
• EGDF (European Games Developer Federation). The Federation is committed to the stimulation and development of a stable, vibrant and creative European games development sector that is competitive globally and recognized culturally.
• GAME. Game is Europe’s leading specialist retailer of pc and video game products. The business started trading in 1991 from 11 stores in the UK, and has grown both organically and through acquisition to a 1,161 store chain as at 31 January 2008.
• ADESE (Asociación Española de Distribuidores y Editores de Software de Entretenimiento)
  
• APOM (The Association of Professional Office Managers). The company promotes excellence in office management and is committed to being the leading information resource for office managers and recognized authority in office management ideas and best practices.
• ISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe). The federation was established in 1998 to represent the interests of the interactive software sector vis-à-vis the EU and international institutions.
• Ubisoft. Ubisoft is a leading international developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products based in Montreuil-sous-Bois, France.

To be eligible for the tax credit, the video games must satisfy a number of criteria. Eligible games are defined as leisure software made available to the public on a physical medium or online and incorporating elements of artistic and technological creation; the latter cover not only PC and console video games but also mobile games, on-line games for one or more players, educational or edutainment software and, provided that they incorporate sufficient interactivity and creativity, cultural CD-ROMs. A threshold of EUR 150,000 for development costs has been set so as to exclude games not intended for largescale marketing.

Eligible video games must also have a cultural dimension. For this, they must satisfy one of the following two criteria:

• Either they must adapt an existing work from Europe’s cultural heritage on the basis of a scenario written in French.
• They must satisfy a criterion relating to the quality and originality of the concept and to their contribution to expressing Europe’s cultural diversity and creation in the field of video games. This criterion will be assessed by examining the quality and originality of the content, the scenario, playability, navigation and interactivity as well as the visual, sound and graphic elements.

Tax credit mechanism

The French authorities propose introducing a ceiling per undertaking in order to keep the tax cost of the measure under control. As things stand, they propose to set a ceiling of EUR 3 million. The annual budget expected for the scheme is put at some EUR 30 million.