by Romain Poirot-Lellig, joined government representatives led by the Direction du Trésor in this task force from late August to mid-October 2004. The resulting confidential document was submitted to the executive branch of government and, in November 2004, the Prime minister ratified in favor of a Tax credit on game production expenses. In 2005, a changed of government resulted in Dominique de Villepin succeeding Jean-Pierre Raffarin as Prime Minister. Although not its first priority, video game issues, delayed by concerns related to other tax credits under scrutiny in Brussels, were still on the government's agenda. On October 11, 2005, Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and Minister of Industry François Loos visited the Montreuil studio of Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. Their visit is shortly followed by the one of Dominique de Villepin on December 9, 2005. During his visit, de Villepin announced that the government would notify the video game tax credit to the European Commission within the next two weeks. On November 23, 2007 French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a speech where he expressed strong support for the video game industry, underlining the potential for video games to become a major art form in the 21st century. He also expressed his wish that the video game tax credit be approved by the EU Commission and made functional very soon. On December 12, the European Commission approved the tax credit. In 2013, the French Parliament voted to include all types of video games in the tax credit, and not only the ones below the PEGI 18 rating system. The cultural criteria remain fully in place and enforced. On November 17, 2016, the French Parliament voted to increase the rate of the tax credit to 30% (previously 20%), and to increase the ceiling of receivable tax credit to 6 million, up from 3 million, per company per year. French video game companies Adeline Software International - Lyon 1993 - 1999 . Became No Cliché. Kalisto - Bordeaux 1990-2001 Infogrames - Lyon 1983. Buy and Became Atari Ubisoft - Montreuil-sous-Bois 1986 Arkane Studios - Lyon 2001 Darkworks - Paris 1998 Atari Quantic Dream Cyanide Novaquark References External links Archives du Premier ministre: Speech of Prime minister Jean-Pierre RAFFARIN on April 19, 2003 - Video game development as a strategic industry for France Open letter from Antoine VILLETTE, APOM cofounder and President from 2002 to 2005: APOM 2002-2005 : Chronologie d'une action Ceremony