Tiga CEO to open GCDC

Fred Hasson, Tiga CEO, will make opening remarks at the GCDC in Leipzig on Monday, August 20th.

As chairman of the European Games Development Forum, Hasson will outline the challenges facing the European development community in remaining competitive in a global market.

"The sector is experiencing a boom time with the recent proliferation of consoles and platforms and with other media and non-traditional investors wanting to get in on the action," Hasson said. "However, there are underlying trends that need to be addressed.

"First, the independent sector that is currently thriving needs investment in order to specialise and to expand their operations, and secondly we need to find solutions to the major problem facing publisher and independent owned studios which is the increasing relative costs of labour and levels of skill in Europe."

EGDF members include APOM (France), GAME (German speaking territories in Europe), Producerne (Denmark), Spelplan (Sweden), Neo Games (Finland), and Tiga (UK).

Together, these organisations represent 17,000 developers working in almost 500 companies.