What the United States actually gives a game studio
American studios get less public support than almost any country in this directory. There is a federal research credit, computed at 20% of qualifying spend over a base or 14% under the simplified method, and a patchwork of state incentives. There is no games programme, no development grant scheme, and nothing at all for user acquisition.
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 the United States claim?
| Programme | Type | What it pays | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The federal research credit | Tax credit | 20% over a base, or 14% under the simplified method | Claimed with the federal return |
| State and local incentives | State credit | A patchwork, with digital media credits in a handful of states | Varies by state |
02Which grants can you apply for in the United States?
1 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.
State and local incentives
State creditRun by State and local governments
Where American support actually lives, and it depends entirely on where the company sits.
| Coverage | Federal, state and local governments provide numerous incentives, with terms varying by jurisdictionsource |
|---|
Watch out. These vary so much between states that no general statement is useful. Check the specific state, and remember that where you incorporate and where you operate are different questions.
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.
The federal research credit
Tax creditRun by The Internal Revenue Service
The only federal route worth the work, and it is aimed at research rather than at making games.
| Regular method | 20% of qualifying research expenses for the tax year over a base amountsource |
|---|---|
| Simplified method | 14% of qualifying research expenses over 50% of the average annual qualifying expenses of the prior three yearssource |
| Interaction with the deduction | Either the research expenditure deduction under Section 174 is reduced by the Section 41 credit, or the credit is reduced, for tax years beginning after 31 December 2024source |
Watch out. Section 174 requires research expenditure to be capitalised and amortised over five years, and fifteen years if the research is carried out abroad. For a software company that turns a normal cost into a multi-year drag on taxable income.
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
- Research with genuine technical uncertainty
- Some engineering salaries, through the research credit
- Whatever a particular state chooses to support
- Nothing else, at federal level
What none of them touch
- User acquisition and paid media
- App store and platform commissions
- Hosting and infrastructure
- Ordinary game development without research content
The United States is on the Turkish Ministry of Trade's target country list, which is the single biggest lever in the programme for a studio buying American installs. 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
Is there any US equivalent to a games tax credit?
Not federally. A few states run digital media or film credits that games can sometimes access, Georgia and Louisiana among them, but there is no national scheme.
What did Section 174 change?
It stopped software development costs being deducted in the year they are incurred and required them to be spread over five years, or fifteen if the work is done abroad. For a studio spending heavily on engineering, that raises taxable income sharply in the early years.
Does a Turkish company help a US studio?
It reaches the spend the US system ignores entirely. The American entity carries on as it is, and a Turkish company holds the contracts and pays the invoices being claimed.
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.
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