Paris - France has announced plans to offer tax credits to local video game developers, Reuters reported.

The country's Ministry of Culture announced the plan last week, as Parliament approved a plan to provide 20% of production costs for games "with a cultural dimension," or up to $3.91 million a year.

The European Commission has launched a formal examination of the proposed tax credits that is expected to conclude within several weeks.

The Ministry of Culture said it "recognizes the cultural character of the video game, which involves several branches of artistic talent: writers, directors, graphic artists, musical and sound creators."

France-based video game developers include Vivendi Games, Atari parent company Infogrames, Ubisoft and Arkane Studios.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/24kz4x (Ministry statement: translated by Google)
http://tinyurl.com/2le7v5 (Reuters)