Virgin Media to sponsor Eurogamer Expo 2012

Consumer gaming show The Eurogamer Expo has partnered with Virgin Media, which becomes the official sponsor of the 2012 show, and will collaborate with the Eurogamer Network throughout the rest of the year.

"The show itself is excellent and I really believe that it's the best game event in the UK and arguably Europe," said Luke Southern, head of sponsorship and partnerships at Virgin Media.

He attended last year's show, and praised the support for UK developers and the opportunities for gamers to speak directly to those working within the industry.

"You've got a captive audience of gamers who are of course big influences from a tech point of view, but also because through the site and through GamesIndustry.biz you're reaching out to the gaming audience and talking to them about the stuff that they care about in a kind of relevant and real way. So it felt to us that partnering with Eurogamer was a natural fit."

This year's Eurogamer Expo will take place at Earls Court in London between September 27 and 30. Preparations are already well underway with a number of exciting titles and activities already secured.

"We're delighted to have Virgin Media on board for this year's show," added Eurogamer MD Rupert Loman.

"This partnership underlines how far the show has come and is ever more relevant with the industry moving increasingly towards digital, and Virgin Media's superfast broadband has long been a favourite with bandwidth-hungry gamers."

Southern couldn't talk too much about Virgin Media's plans for the four day show, but promised the expected crowd of 50,000 could look forward to more than a simple demonstration of the company's superfast broadband.

"It's not about us coming down there and trying to flog our broadband. We're hope they're already using it or by what we give them, they will in turn feel better about the brand. I think that's probably something that's at the core of Virgin, putting customers and consumers first, tapping into the insight of what people like to do and partnering with the right people at the right time to talk to the right audience at the right time."

Virgin Media customers will be the first to feel the benefits, with a discount on Expo tickets and the chance to get early access to the show, ahead of the general public.

"Eurogamer is kind of the best in breed in your business, and we know that we've got the best broadband product in the market."

More information on the Eurogamer Expo itself will be available on the official site from February 23.