Word broke a few days ago that Alberta, in Canada, was axing a 25% tax credit that covered salaries and bonuses for video game development companies. Other Provinces have reportedly not touched their massive tax break plans, but the Albertans have made this move very suddenly leaving many publishers and developers left feeling “betrayed.”
CBC carried the story interviewing a few companies on how the action would impact them. What emerges is talks of halting expansions and simply moving to another province that does offer significantly better tax credits rather than endure having to pay their own employees without compensation. Of halts to attempts to expand into the region by American companies.
Arguably the most relevant information to come of this announcement was the revelation companies received an additional 5% tax credit to diversity-hire. Commonly called “Work Opportunity Credits”, these tax breaks exist to reward the hiring of non-white male employees, by claiming there are hindrances towards non-white males in the job market preventing them from achieving employment.
For a lot of these companies that want to masquerade as righteous, the truth is vastly simpler. It has nothing to do with believing in a diverse background producing products that can serve a diverse range of people. No, it is because thanks to “Work Opportunity Tax Credits” in both the U.S., and Canada it is more economically beneficial to hire them over white male employees.
We cannot peer into the minds of these major corporations, but if you were racially discriminating against an entire group of people to save in taxes it would make pragmatic sense to jump on a social justice bandwagon. Hiding your overt greediness behind a righteous principle, as the rules of power dictate you should always do.
Again we cannot get into their minds, but we can test this hypothesis by looking at how many of these “diversity is our strength,” corporations willing do business and censor the same material meant for the west in China. Along with how many are willing to bend the knee to an authoritarian regime that actively persecutes the same groups whom they are advocating for.
If these companies believe in these principles then why are they doing business with a government who persecutes Muslims and Christians, who discriminates against blacks in their colonial efforts in Africa, and who openly discriminates against the LBGT of their nation? If diversity is our strength, if minorities are oppressed and this needs to stop, if colonialism is so horrible, then why do these companies have no qualms doing business with a nation that makes the West look like rank amateur oppressors by comparison?
Make no mistake; none of this is for developers who do not enjoy job security nor pleasant working conditions. Even with the tax credits in some of these provinces compensating for overtime payment and longer development times these corporate have no interest it creating acceptable work environments free of crunch. Nor do the consumers benefit from solid projects for even with having vast amounts of their costs reimbursed by tax credits that is not enough money for the executives of these companies.
Now one province in Canada has revoked their tax credit and companies are looking to move out of the region. Companies like Beamdog report feeling betrayed by the government as this action devastates their expansion plans following the console launch of their remasters. A few others chimed in on how it would negatively impact them, but their statements boil down to entitlement and whining. Rather than campaign against the high tax rates that make business under western nations difficult to maintain, they’re more interested in protesting their exclusive exception from said taxation.
It is rather amusing watching developers and publishers no longer getting free money from the government whine about it. All the while calling consumers entitled for expecting a propaganda-free, working, finished experience that they paid for. Really puts a new spin on who are the entitled ones.