Tax, Tech, and Jet-Lag: What an Accountant Learned from a Visit to China International Games Developer Conference

Alliotts accountant joined UKIE and the UK Government in Shanghai to connect with China’s thriving games industry, to explore new opportunities for UK businesses.

There I was, on stage in front of over 60 Chinese and UK games industry delegates discovering that jet lag and the acronyms of the UK tax system do not mix well! Unfortunately, my jet-lagged brain briefly refused to supply “Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme”. Oops! At least it got a chuckle from the crowd.

In total I covered VAT, PAYE, NIC, VGTR, VGEC, EIS, SEIS, EMI and CSOP – so I felt I had earned a little forgiveness.

In July, UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), together with the UK Government and China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association (CADPA) collaborated on a trade mission to the China International Games Developer Conference in Shanghai, China. Alliotts decided to join the group, and I was fortunate enough to be selected to represent the firm alongside my colleague Qi.

I can’t imagine the work behind pulling such a trip together, but then we found out the DBT (Department for Business and Trade) even managed to rebrand to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) just days before we arrived!

A firm of accountants might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you picture the games industry, but if it was not before, it is ever clearer to me that games studios sit within a much wider network of services and support, including publishers, distributors, investors, and other advisers of various kinds.

As demonstrated by my small moment during my presentation, the UK tax system can be complex, and our role is to help studios navigate that complexity, particularly growing businesses without an in-house finance team, so their founders can spend more time building games and less time deciphering rules.

So, my aim for the trip was to provide some education on the UK tax environment, update my understanding of the industry, and get our name out to potential partners. The programme really supported this with the opportunity to present, visit studios, and, of course, network, network, network.

Alongside my own aims, it was so interesting to hear about different approaches to localisation, as well as publishing and distribution – and how it has developed over the past few years. From platform marketing to influencer marketing and how to get games in front of people who can help.

We had a fascinating visit to discuss a wuxia game under development and the differences in approach between Chinese audiences and Western audiences. One particularly interesting challenge was the amount of cultural knowledge a game can assume of its player. Some characters in the game are based on familiar figures from Chinese mythology, allowing the developers interesting opportunities to undermine the player’s preconceptions. This could be lost on, say, a UK player without that background knowledge. What a fascinating challenge for any localisation, and for the wider entertainment industry – it left me wondering whether the next international breakout from Chinese entertainment may come from its rich mythology.

Unsurprisingly, AI was a recurring topic. My impression was:

• a cautious acceptance in certain areas of development,
• a rather resigned acceptance that it was here to stay, and
• some discussion on disclosure, intellectual property, and how the regulatory environment may evolve.

I haven’t even mentioned ChinaJoy, known as Asia’s largest games convention, and it certainly lived up to that with around a dozen enormous halls of stands and presenters, merchandise and demos, and people in costume amid Shanghai’s stifling summer heat. It was overwhelming and wonderful, and I was very grateful for the two shuttle bus lines helping ferry the attendees around. As well as gaming, the robotics displays were another highlight, from dancing humanoid robots to electronic pets — a reminder that gaming increasingly overlaps with a much broader world of interactive technology.

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