First Ever European Advertising In Games Forum To Spotlight New Revenue Opportunities On November 17th

LONDON, England - October 18, 2005 - The Game Initiative, a leading producer of conferences and events for professionals in the computer and video game industry, today announced the European Advertising In Games Forum, an event taking place in London on November 17th at the Imperial College, Charing Cross. This event follows highly successful events in New York and San Francisco.

The agenda brings together all sides of the rapidly growing advertising in games market - technologists, developers, ad agencies, brands and publishers - to examine the emergence of video games as the next big advertising medium and discuss technologies in development to make rich, dynamic in-game advertising and branded content a reality. The Forum will feature high profile US and European speakers from the cutting edge of this new medium discussing their experiences and revealing the common denominators driving the market.

A Key element of the one day conference will reveal how companies manage sales generation, including advertising, sponsorships and demand for downloadable branded content. Shawn McMichael, Director of Advertising Sales, Microsoft Casual Games will address the audience in a keynote discussing strategic planning for revenue infrastructure - planning ad products and securing advertising partners.

The day-long conference will feature six sessions:

• Market Overview will lay the groundwork to give the numbers needed to understand how to take advantage of the game industry today and where it is going. The session will also look at how big the market for ads in games is currently, and what the growth projections are.

• New Platforms and Technologies will examine the current and forthcoming game platforms and third-party software that enables ads to be deployed into games dynamically. Speakers will discuss the alternatives that are available for the various platforms and why this technological innovation is critical to the growth of the medium.

• The Publisher Perspective will focus the pros and cons of different styles of in-game advertising formats and what value they bring to both the advertiser and the game environments. The panel will also address the different business models and technologies available.

• What do Advertisers and Agencies want? - This panel will draw attention to the needs and wants of both advertisers and agencies in order to fully establish in game advertising as a serious, long-term medium, including insight from companies already active in the game space.

• Campaign Tracking and ROI will look at measuring the effectiveness of campaigns. Participants will talk about what opportunities in-game advertising holds over other already established media formats.

• Developer View will acknowledge that while revenue from advertisers will be welcome, how can the process be managed to benefit all parties ? including the consumer. The panel will examine the role that advertising will play in developing and funding the next generation of games and how to manage the ad agency/game developer relationship.

The conference speaker lineup includes:

Alex Chapman, Partner, Briffa

Brandon Berger, Senior Strategist, Ogilvy One

Ed Bartlett, VP Publishing, IGA Partners

Guy Bendov, Founder, Double Fusion

Ian Bogost, Researcher and Developer, Georgia Institute of Technology, Persuasive Games

Jonathan Epstein, Agent, United Talent Agency

Justin Townsend, IGA Worldgroup, CEO

Julian Ireland, Communications Director, Hive Partners

Nick Parker, MD Parker Consulting

Sean Dromgoole, CEO, Gamevision

Shawn McMichael, Director of Advertising Sales, Microsoft Casual Games

Steve Schlenker, Managing Partner, DN Capital

The European Advertising In Games Forum is sponsored by Microsoft Casual games Group and IGA Partners.

Registration Information

Early-Bird Registration is now open and can be accessed by logging on to http://www.AdvertisingInGames.com . Early registration for professionals prior to November 10, 2005 is 195 British Pounds. After Novermber 10th the price is 250 and onsite registration is 295.

For more information please visit: http://www.AdvertisingInGames.com/

Advertising In Games Facts and Figures:

With 250 million computer and video game units sold in 2004, and over $25 billion in revenues, the electronic gaming sector is now the fastest growing sector in the entertainment industry.

The average age of a console game is now 29, with an above-average education and income. It?s no longer about kids in their bedrooms, games are taking media time and awareness directly from TV viewership.

In 2004, TV viewership declined by 12% in the target group of males 18-34 years old while, at the same time, this group spent 20% more time playing games. Nielsen

The fastest growing media segments in 2006 will be video game advertising (40%), online advertising (27%), movie screen advertising (25%), branded entertainment (18%), local/regional cable television (12.8%) and custom publishing (10%), whereas TV ad spend will actually decline. Jack Myers Media Business Report

3/4 of households with a male age 8-34 own at least one videogames console. Nielsen

Independent tests by companies such as Nielsen Entertainment show that recall of ads in games is as high as 60% thanks to the immersive and interactive game environments they are placed in.

About The Game Initiative

The Game Initiative is a leading producer of conferences and events for professionals in the computer and video game industry. The Initiative is chartered with the growth of the industry through events, public awareness, information and supporting programs and serves the needs of companies and people involved in producing interactive entertainment software and hardware for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. Game Initiative events include the Austin Game Conference, the Mobile Game Conference, the Women's Game Conference, the Game Writers Conference, the Advertising In Games Forum, the Casual Games Conference, Game Technology Association Meetings and the How to Break into the Game Industry national conference series. More information about The Game Initiative can be found at http://www.GameConferences.com

or contact:

Steve Farrer

+1 512-415-8300

steve@gameconference.com