Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 18, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
‘We are very pleased about this commitment from the industry,’ says Wolfgang Marzin, Chairman of the Management Board of Leipziger Messe GmbH. ‘Everything points to another record year for the Games Convention.’ Project Director Peggy Schönbeck points to the exceptionally strong take-up of the early-booking discount, which expired on February 15. Compared with the previous year, significantly more companies had registered at this early stage. ‘International demand has also continued to rise,’ says Schönbeck. Bookings are arriving from all over the world, including Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the USA.
There is also very high demand for exhibition space in the GC Business Center, which for the first time extends across the entire Congress Center Leipzig (CCL), exhibition hall 1 and part of exhibition hall 2. This time, the Business Center comprises 35,000 square metres of gross exhibition space (2007: 30,000 square metres). Six months before the fair begins, more than 80 percent more space has already been booked than at the same time in the previous year.
Numerous highlights and innovations are once again in prospect at the Games Convention. For the first time, the German final of the World Cyber Games will take place in Leipzig. More than 200 participants will compete for the title of Germany’s best esports player.
The presentation of GAME STARS 2007 in Leipzig marks the opening of the 2008 Games Convention year. On March 27, IDG Entertainment Media GmbH, together with the City of Leipzig, will crown the best computer and video games of the past year.
Also new is that, for Games Convention 2008, the trade-fair city of Leipzig is connected to the international air network by numerous charter flights. In addition to the airlines’ scheduled services, these aircraft will head for the European hubs of London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Helsinki and Munich.
Cooperation agreements were concluded with Leipzig hotels well in advance of the Games Convention in order to keep sufficient capacity available for the fair’s customers and guests.
Negotiations with industry association BIU
‘It is already clear that the Games Convention will continue its extremely successful development,’ says trade-fair director Wolfgang Marzin. Beyond 2008, Leipziger Messe also intends to continue developing the leading European trade fair together with the industry. Negotiations are under way with the Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware e.V. (BIU). Leipziger Messe’s aim is to continue staging the Games Convention jointly in the coming years. Marzin once again stated that Leipziger Messe would always keep the Games Convention available to the entire national and international industry.
The current contract with the industry association BIU, which supports the Leipzig games fair as its conceptual sponsor, expires as scheduled at the end of 2008. Leipziger Messe (which owns and organises the Games Convention) repeatedly stresses that it wants to continue the cooperation.
Further information:
- Games Convention
