Texas Gov. Rick Perry: Make Games in Texas

Because there is no income tax! I think that is one of the best perks, but he made a case beyond just that. Texas Governor Rick Perry (an experienced politician who served in the air force) addressed a sparse crowd today at his keynote, which was essentially a friendly commercial about why Texas is the best place to make games.

Michael Gallagher, CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, kicked off the presentation with a short video featuring Warren Spector (Disney Interactive/Junction Point), Starr Long (NCSoft), plus Rich Vogel and Gordon Walton (Bioware, Austin). They all had some very nice things to say about doing game business in Texas (low cost of living, lots of talented people, lots of tech companies) ending with “You don’t have to take my word for it,” nodding to Gov. Perry’s enthusiasm.

Rick Perry seems to think game devs are tough cookies. “You’re on a field with energy drinks and take naps under your desks–you do that because you’re competitors.” He feels that this competitive spirit (a trait Texans share) can help fuel the economy and create jobs. His belief is that if someone simply gets a job that pays well, then all these government social programs wouldn’t be necessary.

The Texas job market went up 2.5% last year while the national increase was just .1%. Since Texas has decent incentive programs for game companies (up to $250,000 if you spend it in state and hire Texans), it’s not a bad place to set up shop, and you can get even more investment via the Texas Enterprise Fund if you’re bringing jobs.

Recognizing “serious negative trends in our national economy,” Gov. Perry suggests that perhaps the game industry can help solve the problem. He also puts a lot of stock in “serious games,” like using Guitar Hero to boost manual dexterity in recovering war veterans or creating new games to, say–taking one of his examples–help abusive parents deal with their issues in other ways.

He challenges the industry, “What can you do to unlock the power of your medium?” Apparently, game companies make the world a better place. I hope so! More entertaining, at least. “Will that game save someone’s life?” I guess it could happen.

Texas is already a state with the third highest concentration of game studios, but Gov. Rick Perry aims to make it number one. Maybe laying out the perks like this and expressing his continuing commitment to do so will work.