Game programmers are hard to find

According to a new survey published by the trade organisation TIGA more than 85 percent of those working in the games industry believe that the UK government needs to provide tax incentives to encourage further growth of the the game market throughout the United Kingdom.

And yes, we're just shocked that there was a 15 percent group who apparently thought that developers could make more money by not paying tax.

The survey launched by TIGA looked at a sample of 100 UK-based CEOs and managing directors for game developers and publishers and found that the UK market is also suffering from considerable skill shortages, possibly as a result of the tax situation. Countries such as Canada and the USA are increasingly offering tax incentives to game developers and as such many possible recruits for the UK market are moving overseas.

According to the survey (via Gamasutra), more than 63 percent of developers in the UK had faced skill shortages within the last year, with 74 percent struggling to find available programmers with the required skills.

TIGA CEO Richard Wilson reckons that in order for the UK market to compete with overseas then the government will need to provide a 20 percent tax break for developers based in the UK, which should allow companies to grow and provide more jobs. But if there's nobody out there to hire...

Do you work in the games industry, or do you think these developers are just whining for the sake of it? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.