Backers of a bill introduced in the Iowa House say it could make Iowa an attractive home for video game developers.
Douglas Cloven, a manager of social media strategy for PlayStation’s MLB the Show, testified during a House subcommittee hearing on the bill. “If you think about movie, music and film, the video game industry makes more revenue a year than all of those combined,” Cloven said. “We’re talking about over $200 billion a year.”
Cloven, a native of Marion, was hired to work in California on the PlayStation team seven years ago, but he and his family moved back his hometown during the pandemic. He’s been talking with a former classmate who’s still in California, working for Electronic Arts — one of the world’s largest game developers. “I was coaching basketball at our old high school, you know, for the freshman basketball team and talking to him about it and he was saying about how jealous he is,” Cloven said. “He wishes he could move back. He has two young kids. He wants to raise his family here.”
The bill would set up state grant and loan programs for Iowa-based gaming companies and it would make up to $20 million in state tax credits available to companies that set up game development studios in Iowa if at least 75% of the people on the payroll are Iowa residents. Cloven said Atlanta became an e-sports hub after Georgia set up state programs for the industry and he believes Iowa could become an attractive site for gaming developers if the incentives outlined in the bill become reality.
“When I lived in San Diego I loved it, it was wonderful, the weather was great, but I didn’t have a community around me and that’s where I want to be is where my family is and my community is,” Cloven says. “And I think there’s a lot of people like me and I’ve talked to several of them who would love an opportunity to move back with their families and their communities, but they want to also be at the top of their field and it’s tough to do both and be in Iowa.” The bill cleared a House subcommittee last week. It would establish two-year fellowships — worth up to $200,000 each — for gaming industry veterans who move to Iowa to teach, be a consultant or work on projects like gaming jams or conferences that boost the gaming industry.
A recent survey found 64% of Americans play video games for more than a hour per week.
