The Cyprus IP Box for gaming & app studios
Game engines, titles and mobile apps are copyrighted software — a qualifying asset under the Cyprus IP Box. Studios that build and own their software can tax qualifying profit at an effective rate as low as ~3% in 2026.
Why game & app studios qualify
The Cyprus IP Box treats your engine, game code and app software as copyrighted software — a qualifying intangible asset in its own right, no patent required. Studios that develop their titles in-house reach a high nexus ratio, unlocking the full benefit. In-app purchases, licensing and revenue from software you own all qualify; only pure marketing IP (brand names, logos) is excluded.
- Game engines, titles and app code qualify as copyrighted software.
- Self-developed studios reach a ~100% nexus ratio.
- In-app purchases, licensing and subscription revenue qualify.
- Ideal for mobile, PC/console, web and iGaming software.
Effective tax rate for an owner-developed SaaS
~3%
15% corporate tax on just 20% of qualifying profit (2026).
Estimate your rate →Which studio income qualifies
Income from your qualifying game and app software, less the direct costs of earning it.
In-app purchases & subscriptions
Recurring and one-off revenue from software you own.
Licensing & royalties
Payments to license your engine, title or app.
IP embedded in the price
The share of price reflecting your proprietary software.
Pure resale or unrelated trading income does not qualify, and marketing IP (brands, trademarks) is always excluded.
Built for studios
Mobile & casual games
iOS/Android titles and live-ops platforms you own.
PC, console & web games
Engines and titles built in-house.
iGaming & platform software
Proprietary gaming platforms and RGS software.
App studios
SaaS and consumer apps protected by copyright.
What game and app assets qualify
Yes, the core software your studio builds qualifies. Under the Cyprus IP Box, the qualifying assets are copyrighted software: the code and technology that make your game or app work. This is the category that carries the vast majority of a modern studio's value, and it maps neatly onto how development actually happens.
Your proprietary game engine is qualifying software, whether you built it in-house or forked an open-source base and developed it substantially yourself. The per-title code and gameplay logic that sits on top of the engine also qualifies, so each individual game or title can be an asset in its own right. Mobile and app software (the client, the backend services and the tooling that ship your product) is copyrighted software and qualifies on the same basis.
For iGaming operators and B2B suppliers, the platform software qualifies too. A Remote Gaming Server (RGS), the game aggregation layer, the wallet and session logic, and the SaaS delivery platform are all copyrighted software eligible for the Cyprus IP Box, provided your Cyprus company owns the code and carried out the development. This is consistent with the OECD nexus approach, which ties the benefit to software you actually develop.
The important boundary is marketing IP. Your brand names, studio logos, character trademarks and other marketing intangibles do NOT qualify for the IP Box, regardless of how valuable they are commercially. Only the software and the technology behind it fall inside the regime.
- Proprietary game engine (built in-house or substantially developed by you) - qualifies
- Per-title game code and gameplay logic - qualifies as copyrighted software
- Mobile and app software: client, backend and tooling - qualifies
- iGaming platform software: RGS, aggregation, wallet, SaaS layer - qualifies
- Brand names, logos and character trademarks (marketing IP) - do NOT qualify
Which studio income qualifies
The income that qualifies is the revenue economically attributable to your qualifying software. For a game or app studio, that covers the money your code earns: in-app purchases, subscriptions, licensing and royalty streams, and the value of IP embedded in a wider product. This is exactly the revenue most studios generate, so the Cyprus IP Box reaches the heart of the business model.
In-app purchases and microtransactions qualify, because players are paying to use functionality delivered by your software. Subscription revenue (season passes, premium tiers, SaaS platform fees for an iGaming or RGS product) qualifies on the same logic. Licensing and royalties, where you license your engine, title or platform to another operator, are classic qualifying IP income. Where your software is embedded in a larger offering, the embedded-IP portion of the price also qualifies.
What does not qualify is income from marketing IP. Merchandise sold under your brand, sponsorship tied to your logo, or licensing of a character trademark rather than the underlying code sits outside the regime. If in doubt, ask whether the customer is paying for the software or for the brand.
Worked example: a studio makes €1,000,000 of qualifying profit from its game software in a year. With a nexus ratio of 100% (all development done in-house or via unrelated contractors), 80% of that profit is exempt, leaving €200,000 taxable. At the 2026 corporate income tax rate of 15%, the tax due is €30,000. That is an effective rate of 3% on the €1,000,000.
- In-app purchases and microtransactions - qualify
- Subscriptions and SaaS platform fees - qualify
- Licensing and royalties on your engine, title or platform - qualify
- Embedded-IP portion of a bundled product price - qualifies
- Merchandise, sponsorship and brand or character licensing (marketing IP) - do NOT qualify
Outsourced development and your nexus ratio
You can outsource development and still keep a strong nexus ratio, as long as you use the right kind of contractor. The nexus ratio, set by the OECD nexus approach, measures how much of the qualifying R&D your own company actually funded and controlled, and it directly scales the benefit you receive.
Development outsourced to unrelated third-party studios counts as your own qualifying expenditure, even when those studios are located abroad. So a Cyprus company that contracts an independent art house in one country and an independent engineering team in another can still reach a high nexus ratio. What lowers the ratio is related-party development: R&D carried out by group companies or connected entities does not count as qualifying expenditure in the nexus formula.
Two further rules matter for studios. Acquisition costs are excluded: if you buy in a finished engine, codebase or game asset rather than developing it, that cost sits in the denominator and drags the ratio down. To soften the impact of any related-party spend or acquisition, the regime allows a 30% uplift on your own qualifying expenditure, capped at total expenditure. The practical takeaway is to fund and direct development from your Cyprus company and to prefer unrelated contractors over related-party or bought-in IP.
Because the ratio is expenditure-driven, clean cost records are what protect it. Track development spend per title and by counterparty type so you can evidence the numerator and denominator if the tax authority asks.
- Unrelated third-party developers count towards your nexus, even abroad
- Related-party or group development lowers the nexus ratio
- Acquired engines, codebases and assets are excluded from qualifying expenditure
- A 30% uplift applies to your own qualifying spend, capped at total expenditure
Common mistakes game and app studios make
Most failed or reduced claims come from a handful of avoidable errors, and every one of them is fixable before you file. The theme is simple: claim only software income, own your code, and keep the numbers you will be asked to prove.
The first mistake is claiming brand and merchandise income. Revenue from logos, character merchandise and sponsorship is marketing IP and does not qualify; folding it into the IP Box base overstates the claim and invites challenge. The second is contractor IP that was never assigned: if a freelancer or studio built part of your code but the contract did not transfer ownership to your Cyprus company, that IP is not yours to claim. Fix this with proper IP assignment clauses.
The third mistake is having no per-title cost tracking. Without development costs recorded per title and per counterparty, you cannot compute a defensible nexus ratio or substantiate the qualifying profit, which is often the single point on which a claim collapses. The fourth is treating an acquired engine as qualifying without your own R&D: buying in technology and adding little development of your own means the acquisition cost is excluded and the nexus ratio falls sharply.
Avoiding these four is mostly administrative discipline. Separate marketing IP from software income, assign all contractor IP to the Cyprus company, keep per-title cost ledgers, and make sure there is genuine in-house or unrelated-party development behind any engine you rely on.
- Claiming brand, merchandise or sponsorship income as qualifying
- Contractor-built IP that was never assigned to your Cyprus company
- No per-title or per-counterparty development cost tracking
- Relying on an acquired engine without your own substantive R&D
Gaming & app studio FAQ
Talk to a Cyprus IP Box specialist.
Book a free, no-obligation assessment. We'll confirm whether you qualify, estimate your effective rate, and give you a fixed quote — confidentially, usually within one business day.
Reviewed by a Cyprus-admitted advocate · Last updated 21 June 2026.