France will be allowed to offer a tax break to video game developers for games with cultural content, the European Commission said Wednesday.
EU regulators gave their approval after France made changes to ensure the tax break would not be broadly applied to give its video games industry an unfair advantage over others in the European Union.
French officials say video games can be as artful as cinema. But EU officials had worried the French tax benefits were so broad they could have been claimed for car racing and other games with no cultural component.
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said the French government made significant changes to target games with cultural content.
The tax break will allow game developers to deduct up to 20 percent of production costs — including subcontracting — of certain games.
The EU allows member countries to offer subsidies for art and culture within a strict set of circumstances.