Registration opens for 2006 London Games Summit

Industry leaders from around the world are set to gather in London in early October this year to discuss the future of the market at the London Games Summit - with registration for the ELSPA, TIGA and CMP organised event now open.

The Summit, which will run on October 4th and 5th as part of London Games Festival, is the fourth annual Game Summit to be held in the British capital, and will take place in the headquarters of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) on Piccadilly.

In previous years, the Game Summit has attracted top speakers from the world's publishers and platform holders, as well as business leaders from developing markets and innovators who are driving forward the videogames industry's business models.

Last year's keynotes from Xbox boss Peter Moore and SCEE president David Reeves set out both firm's divergent goals, with Moore revealing for the first time his company's plan to be the first to reach a 10 million unit installed base in the next generation, while Reeves urged the industry to remain focused on current-generation platforms.

Other speakers last year included NCSoft North America CEO Robert Garriott, who talked about his firm's efforts to redefine the market's perception of online games, Intel's Arne Peters, who discussed the company's plans to bring the PC into the living room, and Beijing New Synergy Consulting's Sunray Zhaohui Liu, who provided delegates with insight into the structure and form of the enormous and growing Chinese games market.

While no list of speakers for this year's event has been revealed as yet, the organisers have promised that yet another line-up of industry business leaders will be supported by keynote addresses from UK government ministers.

The Summit, which was in previous years organised by ELSPA, has this year been created by the publisher trade body in partnership with developer trade body TIGA and the CMP Game Group, organisers of the Game Developers Conference.

"The game industry is going through a series of transitions, regarding models of distribution and financing, emerging industry-broadening and next-generation development, as well as heightening political impact," explained CMP Game Group executive director Jamil Moledina. "As leading publisher, developer, and game conference organizations, it was incumbent upon us to pool our resources and deliver an event that would present those leaders with articulate visions for succeeding through these transitions."

Delegates can register for the London Games Summit by visiting www.londongamessummit.co.uk, with a 20 per cent discount applying to registrations before the 15th of September.