"Reforming VGEC is essential to ensuring the UK remains a competitive place to build and grow games businesses," says UKIE CEO
Image credit: Unsplash via Nathaniel Cherian News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Oct. 27, 2026, noon Follow Ukie Ahead of this week's Autumn Budget, UKIE is urging the UK government to modernise the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC).
The trade body is also pushing for a new fund to address the £500,000 to £2 million domestic growth capital gap, and incentives to prevent studios and talent from relocating to countries with better tax credits.
"UKIE has led sustained engagement with government on these priorities, working with our members and industry partners to build the evidence and make the case for reforms that will help British games businesses compete, attract investment and grow," UKIE CEO Nick Poole tells GamesIndustry.biz .
UKIE, TIGA, and the UK Video Games Council have proposed a tapered 'games growth' fund, offering 53% support for projects with budgets up to £15 million, and 39% for those between £15 million and £23.5 million.
"This would provide more competitive support for studios of different sizes and help attract greater investment into UK games development," says Poole. "We are also calling for reform of the current restriction on qualifying expenditure, which is currently set at 80% and limits the support available even when significant development activity takes place in the UK."
"The rules must also reflect how modern games are made, including live-service development, downloadable content, co-development and projects brought into the UK."
Under the current rules, Poole notes that there are "several types of games and production models where the current rules can create barriers or uncertainty."
He highlights how co-development projects often struggle as "international partners, or work brought into the UK, can encounter questions around qualifying expenditure and eligibility," as well as how ongoing development for live-service games and DLC "do not always fit neatly into rules designed around more traditional production models."
One UK studio head confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that current VGEC regulations meant that a significant chunk of the studio's work was exempt, as it was work on existing titles for which it could not claim to be the lead developer. “In 2021 67% of our work-for-hire projects qualified for VGEC. In 2025 this reduced to just 25%,” they said.
Mobile and non-narrative games "can face challenges meeting the cultural test, despite being successful examples of British game development," while indie studios "can have a strong prototype and credible commercial potential but lack the capital to reach full production."
Last year, the UK government launched a £30 million fund to support British game development. It began rolling out earlier this year, resulting in the largest group of funded indie studios since the UK Games Fund launched in 2015. The fund provides grants of up to £250,000.
However, Poole notes there is "a gap in support for studios looking to move beyond early-stage funding."
"A Games Scale-Up Fund would provide growth capital to help promising studios expand, retain ownership of their IP, and attract further private investment, creating the conditions for more British success stories like Hello Games, Rebellion, and Team 17."
Rebellion co-founder and CEO Jason Kingsley…