Despite the fact that games developed in the are now a more significant export than the home-grown film (there's only so many flicks Hugh Grant can be charming in), developers have in the past spoken of a lack of support and respect for the UK games industry, despite its significance to exchequer. The latest luminary to voice his concern on this front is David Braben, veteran game designer and boss of Frontier Developments.

"There have been changes that have made being in Britain harder, in a sense. Of the people I knew back in the early '80s, how many of those are now in the States or Canada," Braben told GamesIndustry.biz. "The problem is we're operating on a world stage. We've got the Canadian Government making it very attractive for developers to relocate or open an office over there. It's not just Canada - and the Far East as well."

Braben reckons that high taxes are one issue on which the situation has got worse for UK developers, the boss speaking of the difficulties of predicting profits and success as one stumbling block. He also said that the situation seemed to be getting worse all the time, although the lack of maturity in the games business is also partly responsible, he adds.

Braben concludes: "We've got a very, very difficult task. Making something that's interactive and yet compelling to everybody is a real Holy Grail... It takes a big change of mindset, and I think that's coming."

More on this as we get it.

By Luke Guttridge