Following the hit success of The Darkside Detective, a game developed by a team working in their spare time between Galway and Dublin, the Social Democrats have called upon the government to support the games industry in a similar way to the Irish film industry which has been built into a global hub.
Niall Ó Tuathail, Social Democrats candidate for Galway West, said:
“I would like to congratulate Paul Conway, Christopher Colston and the Spooky Doorway team on their hit success with The Darkside Detective. People might not realise this but the games industry is worth $100bn per year globally – that’s almost double that of the film industry.
“I believe Ireland can be a major global hub for the games industry, building on world-leading games developers living here, talented new graduates, and the beginnings of great communities that foster innovative games like The Darkside Detective.”
Paul Conway, CEO of Spooky Doorway said: “Funding game development is almost impossible in Ireland as it stands. The Darkside Detective had to be made in our spare time over two years, because we had zero funding for most of the development cycle. Having financial supports in place early could have helped us get our game to our audience a year earlier.”
Mr Ó Tuathail said government enterprise supports aren’t looking at the gaming sector in the right way.
“From a business perspective, games are like films where practically all the investment costs are upfront before they get any revenues. This makes them hard to finance, especially when government supports like Enterprise Ireland treat them more like technology companies that bring in sales revenues while they grow, ” he said.
“In our budget submission last year, the Social Democrats advocated piloting supports to the games sector similar to those that turned Ireland into a major hub for the film industry. We could be supporting home-made games like The Darkside Detective and also attracting big-budget games to use Ireland for their development. We are calling on the government to meet with industry leaders, take this sector seriously and invest in government supports that will pay back in the same way that our film industry supports do.”
Notes to Editors:
The Darkside Detective was released last week by Spooky Doorway, quickly rising up the global charts of game sales. A press kit, including images is available here: http://darksidedetective.com/presskit/.
The Social Democrats have a track record in supporting the games industry. In October 2016, The Social Democrats included a provision for enterprise supports for the games industry in our Alternative Budget 2017.
ENDS
3 August 2017