Game development studios located in the United Kingdom won’t be getting tax breaks after all.

In a speech at Westminster, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne confirmed that the tax relief had been canceled (via GamesIndustry.biz), saying that the original plans were “poorly targeted.”

Some of the studios affected by the decision include Codemasters (Bodycount), Rare (Kinect Sports) and Traveller’s Tales (Lego Star Wars).

Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association director general Michael Rawlinson responded, “Our industry will be rightly puzzled as to how tax breaks can be lauded before an election, only to be seen as ’poorly targeted’ and scrapped just 6 weeks later.”

The decision was also condemned by industry trade association TIGA’s Richard Wilson, who said that the government had broken “pre-election pledges.”

UK developers expressed concern that Canada now has the advantage thanks to similar industry tax breaks enacted in that country. Montreal in particular has seen rapid growth over the past few years.

Plans for the UK tax cuts were originally spearheaded by Conservative MP Ed Vaizey, who is a vocal supporter of the industry. He had promised that they would be introduced in the “Conservatives’ first budget” if they were brought to power.

Vaizey is slated to speak on the issue at the Develop Conference next month. For now though, it looks like any tax breaks for video game developers in the UK are a dead letter.