Dates, venue confirmed for Casuality Seattle conference

Organisers of the casual games conference in Seattle have confirmed a venue and dates for the event, announcing that the first keynote speech will be given by Electronic Arts' chief creative officer, Bing Gordon.

The Casual Games Association, in partnership with various casual games publishers, developers and experts, will host the event at the Benaroya Hall in Downtown Seattle on the 27th and 28th of June 2006.

A full day of workshops for independent developers, publishers and marketing executives, together with networking and business relationship meetings will be provided at the same location on the 29th June.

Gordon's keynote speech will discuss the lessons learned in development, publishing and distribution of casual games. With a wealth of industry knowledge and experience, Gordon will draw example and insight from EA's own casual games services Pogo.com and Club Pogo.

"There is nothing casual about casual games! Casual game players are just as intense as 'core gamers', but like shorter, more social experiences," Gordon commented.

"Casual game designers are just as creative as the 'core game' designers, without the burden of big staffs and expensive expectations. Casuality Seattle will bring together some of the most innovative and thoughtful people in the entire games business."

The Seattle event, which already includes confirmed speakers such as AOL's Greg Mills, PopCap Games' James Gwertzman and gameLab's Nick Fortugno, follows the first ever Casuality conference in Amsterdam on the 7th-8th February. Further information and booking details for both events can be found by visiting the Casuality website.