Every public funding route a French game studio can use in 2026
A French game studio has two serious routes to public money. The video game tax credit pays 30% of development spend, capped at 6 million euro of expenditure a year, so 1.8 million euro of credit. The research credit pays 30% of qualifying R&D up to 100 million euro. Both are claimed through the tax return, and both stop at the product.
Türkiye refunds half of what a software company or game studio spends on advertising, app store commissions and hosting when it sells to customers abroad, and up to 70% when those customers are in one of twenty target markets. It is paid in cash, against invoices you have already settled. Try it with your own numbers.
01What can a software company in France claim?
| Programme | Type | What it pays | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crédit d'Impôt Jeu Vidéo | Tax credit | 30% of development spend, up to 1.8 million euro a year | Two approvals, then it lands with the tax return |
| Crédit d'Impôt Recherche | Tax credit | 30% of qualifying R&D up to 100 million euro | Claimed with the tax return, refunded after three years if unused |
02Which grants can you apply for in France?
0 of the 2 are competitive. You apply, you wait, and you might not get it. The upside is that the money is not tied to your tax position.
03Which credits can you claim through your tax return?
These are not competitive. If the spend qualifies and the paperwork holds up, the money is yours.
Crédit d'Impôt Jeu Vidéo
Tax creditRun by The Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée
The dedicated games credit, and the largest single number available to a French studio.
| Rate | 30% of development expensessource |
|---|---|
| Cap on the base | 6 million euro per company per financial year Which puts the maximum credit at 1.8 million euro a year.source |
| Minimum budget | Development cost of at least 100,000 eurosource |
| Subcontracting | European subcontracting counts up to 2 million euro per financial yearsource |
| Approval | Provisional approval before the game is finished, then definitive approval within 36 months of completionsource |
Watch out. The game has to pass a cultural test and score on artistic criteria. Approval takes time and runs to a schedule, and the credit only reaches what it costs to build the game.
Crédit d'Impôt Recherche
Tax creditRun by The French tax authority
One of the most generous research credits in Europe, and open to any company doing qualifying work.
| Rate | 30% of qualifying R&D expenses up to 100 million euro, and 5% above thatsource |
|---|---|
| If you cannot use it | Carried forward for three years, then refundedsource |
| Collaborative research | 40%, or 50% for EU small and medium companies, on expenses invoiced, up to 6 million euro a yearsource |
Watch out. It rewards genuine technical uncertainty. Ordinary game development, however difficult, usually does not qualify on its own.
04What will none of them pay for?
All four schemes pay for work done on the product itself. None of them covers what you spend getting people to play it or buy it.
What the four routes pay for
- Building and producing the game
- Genuine research with technical uncertainty
- European subcontracting, within the cap
- Salaries of the people doing that work
What none of them touch
- Buying installs and everything else that finds players
- App store and platform commissions
- Hosting and servers once the game is live
- Trade shows and market entry
France is on the Turkish Ministry of Trade's target country list, which matters if you sell to French players: activity aimed at a target country is supported at the higher rate. If the commercial side of the business runs through a Turkish company, that spend comes back at 50% to 70%, paid in cash against invoices you have already settled.
| What you spend it on | Programme item | Paid back | Annual cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ads and player acquisition | Digital product promotion: ads & marketing (up to 10 products/yr) | 50% to 70% | 50 000 000 ₺ ≈ $1,043,841 |
| App store and platform commissions | App store & platform commissions (up to 10 products/yr) | 50% | 20 000 000 ₺ ≈ $417,537 |
| Hosting and servers | Hosting costs | 50% | 5 000 000 ₺ ≈ $104,384 |
Caps are revalued upward every year, so these figures grow with inflation rather than erode. Rates and caps come from the same file as our calculator, so the two can never disagree.
What Türkiye would pay back on your spending
Türkiye runs a government programme that refunds part of what a software company or game studio spends on reaching customers abroad. It covers advertising, app store and platform commissions, and hosting. The refund is paid in cash against invoices the company has already settled, so it does not depend on the company making a profit. The standard rate is 50%, and it rises to 70% when the customers being targeted are in one of the twenty countries on the Turkish Ministry of Trade's target list.
Put your own yearly figures in below. The rates and the annual caps come from the same file as our full calculator, and the total updates as you type.
05Questions we get asked
Can a studio claim both French credits?
Yes, but not on the same expenditure. The same cost cannot sit in two schemes, so studios doing genuine research usually split the project, with the game build under the games credit and the research strand under the research credit.
Does the video game credit cover marketing?
No. It is aimed at development expenses. Promotion and user acquisition sit outside it entirely, as they do under the research credit.
How long does approval take?
Plan in months, not weeks. Provisional approval comes before the game is finished and definitive approval within 36 months of completion, so the credit arrives well after the spending does.
Why we track other countries' schemes
CyberScope Solutions is an Istanbul consultancy that manages Türkiye's IT export incentive claims for software companies and game studios. Founders ask us what they would be giving up by moving activity here, so we read the schemes they already use. That is why this page exists and why the figures on it are dated.
- Every figure is sourced. Each number links to the page it came from and carries the date we last checked it.
- We do the filing. Claims run through DYS, the ministry's own system, and we handle the evidence pack, the deadlines and the follow-up questions.
- You find out early if it is not for you. The first call is thirty minutes and we will say plainly if your spend pattern does not suit the programme.
Turn that number into money
Send us the rough shape of your spend. You get back what it is worth, what setting it up involves, and how fast the first claim can go in. Companies already operating here treat this as routine, and the six month window means the clock is running on invoices you have already paid.
- A reply from a person within one working day
- No mailing list, no drip sequence
- Thirty minutes, and you keep the numbers either way
Got it.
We will read it properly and reply within a working day. If you would rather get it over with now, pick a time that suits you.
Book a 30 minute call