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"when I started this company 10 years ago, it was like a desert."

In 2022, the number of Italian game practitioners exceeded 2400, an increase of 50 per cent over the previous year.

These two figures accurately summarize the current situation of the Italian gaming industry. The Italian gaming industry has had little sense of existence over the past few decades, but things are slowly improving. Or in the words of Valerio Di Donato, chief executive of 34BigThings, a developer of Redout games: "when I started this company 10 years ago, it was like a desert. Today, Italy basically has its own gaming industry."

In a sense, the tax breaks introduced in 2021 have become a catalyst for the rapid growth of the Italian gaming industry.

"We spent a lot of time lobbying the Italian government to convince them that they had to support the gaming industry and put video games in the same position as movies or TV dramas." "in the past few years, local governments have also introduced policies aimed at supporting the development of the gaming industry," said Sherita Malaga, director-general of the Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association (IIDEA). For example, the city of Bologna and the Lazio region have invested public funds to accelerate the development of start-up teams and build product prototypes by providing financial assistance and professional guidance. "

Currently, the Italian government has opened up a 25 per cent tax cut to some developers, Luisa Bikshaw, chief executive of Milestone, the developer of Fire Wheel: outbreak, added: "this marks a crucial first step for us. Several Italian studios have signed up with external publishers this year, all as a result of the new policy."

In Italy, tax breaks are helpful for smaller studios, but not enough to attract additional investment from large multinationals. "considering that I used to be used to zero government support, this is a good thing." "however, there is room for improvement in this policy," said Antonio Canata, chief executive of Stormind Games. "if the Italian gaming industry wants to improve its competitiveness, it needs to prove what we can do if we have the same resources as the rest of Europe."

Under Italy's current tax cut for game companies, only companies with an average annual budget of no more than 1 million euros can apply for a tax credit equivalent to 25 per cent of the cost of game research and development. "this obviously hinders a lot of money from entering the country." "if the restrictions are lifted, I'm sure the parent company will invest more money in what we're doing, and a lot of other companies will do the same," Didonato said. "

Mr Bickshaw continued: "We are calling on the government to raise the annual budget ceiling to two or three million euros, or only for each product (not the company). The Italian government has been very open and is willing to discuss this issue with us."

"Abbey"Bartola: lost Paradise" developer Stormind Games has achieved explosive growth in the past five years, from the initial five people to hundreds of employees now, is one of the most successful gaming companies in Italy in recent years, director general Serita Malaga believes that in addition to optimizing policies, the government can also take other measures to promote the development of the gaming industry. " We hope to add additional funds to directly support game developers, especially those young teams who are building product prototypes and are in urgent need of financial support. We have made these requests to the government. "

In addition, many Italian developers want the government to simplify the process of running companies and reduce bureaucracy. In Italy, it is said that even simple applications such as "updating company details" can be time-consuming and laborious.

"if someone asks me the specific number of staff costs in my company, it's hard for me to answer." Peter Roeder Grandi, chief executive and co-founder of Strelka, the developer of the shooting game Hell Is Others, explained: "there are a lot of factors to consider every time you hire, the recruitment process is cumbersome, and there may be a lot of extra costs. In addition, the Italian government changes every few years, and the new government has to change the tax band, the way of paying taxes, etc., everything is changing."

"We are used to it as Italians, but foreign companies probably feel that investing in the Italian gaming industry is too risky and the taxes are high. I have a small company in the UK, where it is much easier to do business."

Mario Miliavaka, general manager of Ubisoft Milan Studio and developer of Mario + Crazy Rabbit, added: "tax administration is one of the most difficult things for bosses in various industries in Italy." and they still have to face the bureaucracy of some departments. "

Cristina Nava (first from left), producer of Ubisoft's Milan studio, has been awarded this year's Italian video game award "Outstanding individual contribution Award". In terms of government support, the Italian gaming industry is moving in the right direction, while in terms of education, there is also a lot of room for growth. "Today, we have many public universities and private schools that offer professional courses in various fields for game developers, such as programming, design and art." "Last year we held a conference to help game majors understand different job opportunities in the industry, attracting about 400 students and more than 1000 students remotely," Malaga said. this is our first attempt. "

In July this year, IIDEA held a First Playable event in Florence, and Safe Place Studios was one of the Italian game companies that attended the event. The company is co-founded by several graduates of the Turin Academy of Digital Arts (Event Horizon). Its first work, "Venice 2089" (Venice 2089), was sold on Steam in October last year and was selected as the best debut game by the Italian Electronic Game Awards (Italian Game Awards).

"We will take various courses such as game design, programming, conceptual art or 3D art." Game director Francesco Burton said, "Event Horizon often brings together students of the same grade but different majors to develop a project. In 2019, we made a prototype of Venice 2089 at school, then made Demo and uploaded it to Itch.io. We thought the game looked good and received positive feedback, so we decided to finish it."

However, schools like Event Horizon are rare in Italy. "some private schools offer some courses, but Italian students still have too little education when it comes to game design." "our infrastructure is still far behind," said Andre Leoni, co-founder of BitNine Studios, the developer of Terrorbane.

Event Horizon, which has academic bases in Turin, Milan and Florence, provides graduates with internships or jobs at gaming companies. A more serious challenge is that in Italy, game developers generally lack the expertise needed to run successful businesses.

"many young people have the ability to work in the gaming industry, but lack the skills to expand their business." "as an association, we should strive to help developers improve their business capabilities," Malaga said. if you want to turn your passion for games into a job or running a company, you have to learn how to do business in the game industry.... some acceleration project we are supporting clearly points in this direction. "

Di Donato added: "if young people want to learn how to make successful games, they must first find successful examples. In Italy, once two or three studios are successful, it will be easier for everyone. Although a few studios have achieved a little, it is not enough for Italian games to win worldwide attention."

In other words, Italy still lacks a breakthrough supermasterpiece. Although companies such as Milestone and Ubisoft Milan Studios have developed some popular games, most of them are based on existing IP. One developer complains that in the impression of many players, Italy is just the place where the story of Assassin Creed 2 takes place, or the birthplace of Malio.

The only major international game company to set up a studio in Italy is Ubisoft, and they obviously want more in the interview, and several interviewees frequently mentioned Polish game developer CD Projekt. They believe that famous studios like this will not only attract the interest of players around the world, but also train a large number of people who are proficient in game development and business, thus feeding the game industry throughout the country.

"We don't have many big companies yet, which doesn't help to train senior professionals who can push the industry forward." De Grandi said, "it is not difficult to find good young talent, but it is difficult to bring in experts who have a large factory background, experience, and can help the company climb to a higher floor."... so it might be okay to make some lightweight middleweight game products, but it's too hard to develop masterpieces. "

Although the Italian game industry faces many challenges, the country's long history and unique culture is also one of the advantages that local developers can take advantage of. "the name of our studio is Italian because we want to tell everyone that we are from Italy and are making typical Italian games." "having said that, we always make games for players around the world," said Pietro Rigliva, creative director of Santa Ragione, the developer of Saturnalia.

"as game developers, we have the opportunity to take full advantage of Italy's rich culture, not just the Renaissance or classical history of the Assassin's Creed. Making games around a culture we are familiar with is more enjoyable than repeatedly using fantasy themes that exist only in the imagination and have nothing to do with reality."

"Italy is a country that attaches great importance to tourism, fashion, film and art," Leoni concluded. "here, the artistic value of video games has not been universally recognized, and our goal is to change it."

This article is compiled from: https://www.eurogamer.net/what-happens-to-your-steam-account-when-you-die

The original title: "What happens to your Steam account when you die?"

Original author: Chris Bratt

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