First Developers' Conference in Singapore AddressesKey Industry Topics: Outsourcing, Online and Casual Games

GC Asia Conference (GCAC)

(September 6-7, 2007)

Singapore - September 9, 2007 - With the first GC Asia Conference (GCAC) closing on Friday, September 7th, the organizers of GCAC announced that 300 international experts from the game industry attended the two-day long conference in Singapore. Attendees came from over 20 nations, most of them from the Asia-Pacific region. 65 renowned speakers discussed the prominent topics of today's game industry, focusing on online and casual games, as well as outsourcing.

Wolfgang Marzin, president and CEO of the Leipziger Messe, said, "With GCAC, we have created a platform which clearly fills a market niche in the Asia-Pacific region. The industry uses the exhibition and conference for cross-national business contacts. Feedback was positive throughout."

Frank Sliwka, GCAC project director, added, "The concept of creating a conference 'by developers for developers' was well established in Leipzig and is now in Singapore. Together with the industry, we will further enhance the conference for 2008."

Speakers at GCAC 2007 included Steve Schnur (Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing, Electronic Arts, USA), Alexander Fernández (CEO, Streamline Studios, Netherlands), Gilles Langourieux (CEO, Virtuos, China), Bob Bates (Freelancer, USA), James Miller (Director of Game Developer Relations, Microsoft, USA), Jawahar Kanjilal (Director of Multimedia Experiences in Asia Pacific, Nokia, India),

Desmond Lu Guangyuan (Director of International BD, Shanda, China), Arne Peters (CDV Entertainment, Germany), Rajesh Rao (CEO, Dhruva Interactive, India), and others.

Steve Schnur spoke in his keynote on the last conference day on a silent revolution of game development. Schnur asserted that videogames have influenced how young people are listening to music today. He suggested that based on distribution, games are outselling music, thanks to new advances in hardware and software.

Questions on casual gaming were answered in a panel with Arne Peters (CDV Entertainment, Germany) and Brad Edelmann (CTO, Co-founder, Playfirst, USA). Edelman and Peters agreed that at heart, everyone is a casual gamer, and their numbers are increasing daily. In order to win casual gamers as persistent customers, the quality of the games becomes key, said Edelmann, as do easy access and frequent updates. James Miller (Microsoft, USA) also added that recent developments have been vital for the booming casual games market. As an example of a new form of distribution, Miller spoke about Microsoft's collaboration with Burger King in which games were bundled with value meals. The Burger King-branded games went on to sell over 3.2 million copies. To introduce innovations into the casual gaming space, Microsoft also became involved with smaller studios and developers. To reach potential casual gamers, games must always be accessible.

The next GCAC will take place in Singapore from 9th - 10th October, 2008.

James Miller (Director of Game Developer Relations,

Microsoft Corporation, USA)

"I am honored to be a part of GCAC, which provides a unique opportunity to connect with the ever-growing local developer community."

Aroon Tan (CEO Asia-Pacific,

10Tacle, Singapore)

"10TACLE STUDIOS is a longtime veteran of the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. 10T has established its Asian HQ in Singapore, and we are happy to see the GC also doing the same. Singapore offers a unique gateway between the Eastern and Western markets. We hope to see new business relationships being forged through this conference. The very real challenges of conducting business across cultures can only be made possible through understanding and international exchanges. We welcome this new platform to promote the opportunities of the game industry."

Gilles Langourieux (CEO,

Virtuos Ltd, China)

"I'm honored to have the opportunity to share Virtuos' experience and vision with game publishers and developers gathered at the first GCAC. GCAC taking place in Singapore is another strong signal of the renewed game market potential waiting to be tapped in the region."

Charles Speyer (Co-Founder,

Glass Egg Digital Media, Vietnam)

"I was very impressed by the convention. The conference was very interesting for me personally as well as professionally."

Bob Bates (Freelancer, USA)

"GCAC has a tremendous position as the crossroad of game development in the Asia-Pacific region."

Mario Wynands (MD and Co-Founder,

Sid He Interactive, New Zealand)

"It was good as a first event. I really like the format of Games Convention as a meeting point for industry people, publishers, and consumers."

Rob Walsh (CEO & Co-Founder,

Krome, Australia)

"I was pleasantly surprised: GCAC had the perfect size, a great program, and was very well organized. For a first-year event, it was an incredible achievement."

Alexander Fernandez (CEO,

Streamline Studios, Netherlands)

"We view GC Asia as a key forum for addressing both the opportunities and challenges of the emerging content creation sector in Asia. With game development becoming an increasingly global phenomenon, it's the perfect time to address the implications for all parties involved, creators and publishers alike."

For media enquiries, please contact:

Leipziger Messe

Stephan Reiss, Press Officer

+49 (0) 341 - 678 8186

s.reiss@leipziger-messe.de

Asia Pacific

Nalini Naidu, Integrated Marketing Solutions Group

+65 96333198

nalini.naidu@imsg.sg

North America

Sean Kauppinen, Kohnke Communications

+1 415-777-4000

sean@kohnkecomm.com

About GC Asia/GC Asia Conference

The Games Convention Asia (GCA) is the only Convention in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region for interactive entertainment, infotainment, edutainment, hardware and technology. The fair is organized with the LMI (Leipziger Messe International GmbH), a subsidiary of the Leipziger Messe GmbH, and CEMS

(Conference & Exhibition management services Pte Ltd. Singapore). It is accompanied by the GCA Business Centre, which will be utilized as a business platform equipped with internet access points, presentation technology and catering. The concept of the Games Convention Asia Conference (GCAC) is, "Developing & Development," and in producing the "GCA 2007 Competition". The organizer's goal is to firmly establish what will be the Asia-Pacific region's largest convention devoted to digital media, computer games, entertainment and educational software as well as hardware.

www.gc-asia.sg