Italy’s Senate approves bill extending support measures to video games
Regulation2 min read
Italy’s Senate gave final approval to a bill on cinema that extends existing economic support measures to the video game sector. Article 4 also provides for measures to strengthen the domestic video game industry and attract foreign investment; a senator said the bill does not include new funding.
Italy’s Senate has given final approval to the bill on cinema, which the Chamber of Deputies had already passed. The bill extends to video games specific support and economic assistance measures that already apply to cinema and the audiovisual sector.
Article 4 is where the change appears, in the part dealing with the Government's delegated power to overhaul the rules on cinema and the audiovisual sector. That article also calls for steps to strengthen the national video game industry and draw in investment from abroad. Video games are mentioned in Article 2 as well, which creates the Forum for cinema and the audiovisual sector. The body will have 16 members, eight of whom the culture minister appoints on the designation of sector associations. Representatives of the video game sector must be present in the Forum, alongside authors, independent producers, distributors and other parts of the supply chain.
In his voting statement, Versace said the bill provides no new funding and instead addresses the organisation of the sector. Marcheschi said the Forum is being established at no cost for the first time. Rosso said the video game sector can benefit from cultural promotion and economic support tools similar to those for cinema.
The Senate research service dossier draws on the annual report for 2025 on the cinema law, sent by the Government on 29 September 2026, which points to growing diversification in the kinds of production supported. Video games made up 6.5% of the production that received support in 2025. In 2025 the tax credit going to video games came to €10.9m, which is 2.7% of the total resources. Fiction absorbed the biggest portion of the resources, with €364.7m, or 90.5%. For video games, the average cost of works fell over 2022-2024 and then rose to about €1.5m in 2025.
The bill also addresses the role of the Fondazione Centro sperimentale di cinematografia. According to the parliamentary dossier, the foundation’s areas of activity include interactions between film language and video game storytelling.