The video game industry in Britain is desperately trying to match international competition, according to representatives from Eidos and Codemasters who spoke at a recent Westminster eForum.

The meeting in Whitehall, saw Ian Livingstone of Eidos, Chris Deering of Codemasters and David Braben, the creator of Elite, come together to talk about the needs of the games industry and what the government needs to include in the pre budget report to address the issues here.

Broadband is a key factor affecting the prospects of the British games industry, since many of the most popular and commercially successful present day games depend heavily on online features. In this regard, the government’s 2Mb broadband by 2012 programme will simply not fit the bill, says Electronic Arts’ Vice-President for Northern Europe, Keith Ramsdale.

While the film industry in UK gets tax credits the gaming industry does not, even though it contributes more to the economy, according to most of the participants at the eforum. While UK is now the third largest producer in this sector this may not be true for much longer as France and Canada step up the competition. These countries offer tax cuts in the gaming industry and thus are able to attract the best talents here.

For information on your ISP and corresponding broadband speed, try using the broadband test from Broadband Genie to get a snapshot of your current download and upload speeds, it also has an independent guide to the broadband packages suitable for gamers.