Computer gaming is the mot propulsive segment of the IT industry worldwide, and this trend is present in Croatia, too, where local gaming companies export all their products, but the biggest challenge they now face is double taxation, a local studio executive said at the Gamescon conference held in Germany.

The biggest challenge for gaming studios in doing business is the absence of a Croatia-USA double taxation avoidance agreement, which affects their revenues and negatively impacts their competitiveness, representatives of the Croatian exhibitors at the Gamescon fair in Cologne have said.

The fair in that German city is open to visitors from 21 to 24 August.

According to a press release from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Croatian exhibitors are participating in the fair for the sixth consecutive year.

A survey of Croatian creative and cultural industries, which was conducted by the Zagreb-based Institute of Economics, show that a score of Croatian gaming companies employ some 250 employees, and they export their products worldwide.

Gamepires/Pandora Studio executive Andrej Levenski was quoted as saying that companies specialised in the production of computer games practically export all what they produce.

This company has so far sold 1.5 million copies of its games. However, the biggest challenge affecting the financial results is that Croatia has no agreement with the USA on double taxation avoidance, according to Levenski.