At a Leipziger Messe International press conference on 28 August 2008, the programme and highlights of this year’s Games Convention Asia and Games Convention Asia Conference were presented. Alongside Jörg Zeißig, Managing Director of LMI Asia, speakers included games-industry representatives Allan Simonsen, co-founder and Technical Director of Boomzap; Chris Soh, President of the Singapore Gaming & Gamer’s Association; and Aroon Tan, President of the Game Exchange Alliance and Managing Director and co-founder of Interactive Digital Dreams and Magma Studios.
Exhibitors
Numerous exhibitors from Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Malaysia and China have registered for GCA. Leipziger Messe International also announced a number of world premieres.
“Multicultural game development is a major topic in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Jörg Zeißig, Managing Director of LMI Asia. “Given the number of international companies represented here and several announced world premieres, we are confident that GCA and GCAC 2008 will surpass last year’s exhibition both in knowledge exchange and global significance.”
“For the Game Exchange Alliance, GCA is the most important platform and partner for the regional games industry,” added Aroon Tan, President of the Game Exchange Alliance and Managing Director and co-founder of Interactive Digital Dreams and Magma Studios. “Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding by several regional associations of game manufacturers at the previous GCA, the region’s games industry will experience a significant growth spurt this year.”
Chris Soh, President of the Singapore Gamers’ Association, described GCA 2008 as “an exciting event for the local and regional gaming community”. Visitors will not only encounter the latest games in the Asia-Pacific region, but also experience first-hand the importance of the video-game industry to Singapore and Asia.
Games Convention Asia Conference
The GC Asia Conference will take place alongside GCA on 18 and 19 September. Outstanding speakers and sponsors will again make GCAC a major success in 2008. More than 50 speakers have been announced, many of them participating for the first time, including Giordana Contestabile of PopCap, Yoav Tzurya of Exent, Jason Swearingen of Novaleaf, Theo Sanders of Razer and Henry Jenkins of MIT.
This year’s GCAC keynote speakers include Joonmo Kwon, Managing Director of Nexon Corporation and Nexon Mobile, and Cevat Yerli, Managing Director and President of Crytek and developer of Far Cry and Crysis. LMI will announce further keynote speakers shortly.
“This year’s GCAC brings together a genuinely strong group of speakers on development and commercial topics, with a number of exceptional presentations,” said Allan Simonsen, co-founder and Technical Director of Boomzap. “GCAC is Asia’s largest event for game developers, where they can learn, play and network with colleagues from around the world.”
Students’ Day
Students’ Day will take place for the first time on 20 September. Through a free special event for students featuring highlights from GCAC, the organisers want to give something back to the community. DigiPen Institute of Technology is the principal sponsor. Joonmo Kwon of Nexon, known for KartRider and MapleStory; MIT Professor Henry Jenkins; Ubisoft Singapore Technical Director Claude Langlais of Assassin’s Creed; and many others will give talks during Students’ Day to inspire and inform tomorrow’s game developers.
Allan Simonsen, co-founder and Technical Director of Boomzap, said: “We are delighted that some of the event’s best speakers will provide a complete day of programming specifically for game-development students.”
Games Convention Asia 2008 takes place at Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre in Singapore from 18 to 20 September and expects significantly more visitors from Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America this year.
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