ExPlay festival returns for second year
ExPlay 2012 organisers announce today that the gaming industry festival will take place again this year, this time in the historic Roman city of Bath. Building on the success of the inaugural ExPlay festival that took place in Plymouth in 2011 with keynotes from TIGA CEO Richard Wilson and Lara Croft creator Ian Livingstone, ExPlay 2012 is gearing up to deliver even more this year with an expanded programme of industry talks, games, festival parties and competitions that will take place at the Roman Baths and Bath Assembly Rooms in Bath on 31st October – 2nd November 2012.
This year’s festival will benefit from the support of exclusive media partner Edge ( www.edge-online.com), who will host the Edge games quiz on the closing night on 2 nd November. Richard Keith, Edge Publisher said, “we are immensely proud to be supporting ExPlay 2012, a unique festival that opens up the gaming industry, celebrating new talent and showcasing some of the most exciting work in the UK and beyond that our readers will no doubt take great interest in.”
TIGA has chosen the ExPlay festival to host the ceremony for the inaugural TIGA Games Industry Awards 2012 (http://awards.tiga.org), which will open for entries on 1 st August. Dr Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, said: “We feel it is important to celebrate the gaming industry and be inclusive which is why the TIGA awards are open to everyone who works in the sector, regardless of size. Categories will be wide-ranging and all-encompassing and they will be judged by a strong line-up of people pulled from the awards and media partners to ensure an open celebration taking place at this year’s ExPlay festival in Bath.”
ExPlay festival will continue to offer their bespoke training programme, Explay Boot Camp, providing guidance for start-ups and smaller studios on how to take an idea from concept through to an commercially viable game in only six months. Last year’s course has seen 12 companies benefit from the support provided by Eidos, Sony and Adobe, with a showcase of their achievements at this year’s festival being planned. Registration for 2012 Bootcmap is open to companies across the South West and the programme is supported by The Formation Zone ( http://www.formationzone.co.uk) and The Creative Industries iNet ( http://creativeindustriesi.net) managed by Creative England.
Festival Director Korash Sanjideh said, “We are proud to be organizing Explay for the second year running this time in the historically playful city of Bath. The festival will once again help raise the profile of the indie games industry across the UK, shining a light on indie development in the South West, and inviting everyone involved in creative, producing, publishing and playing games from across the UK and beyond to come and join us.
Landmark deal signed by Thumbstar Games
Thumbstar Games has signed a landmark deal with Viva Red Limited and China Telecom to provide developers and publishers access to a vast consumer base.
The TIGA member's deal with Viva Red Limited and the Chinese government's own mobile operator allows game producers to distribute games in China. It will do this via the Chinese government's own mobile operator which is one of the world’s largest mobile phone operators with over 130 million subscribers and a growth rate of three million users per month.
Thumbstar Games (thumbstar.com) has begun distribution negotiations with mobile games developers and publishers for back catalogue and future releases on Java and Smartphone platforms. The deal maintains copyright protection for valuable IPs.
CEO Gareth Edmondson said: “Our direct partnership with Viva Red Limited and China Telecom delivers a secure route to a previously unmapped and unprotected market
“The terms of this landmark deal will enable developers across the globe to leverage existing and future IPs to a content-hungry audience, with the peace of mind that this state-backed partnership can provide the necessary copyright protection to encourage further market growth.
COO Martin Kitney said: “We are actively securing gaming content for Viva Red Limited, and the process of localization and distribution will be through the unique platform of 189gameshop. The service of 189gameshop is jointly supported and maintained by Viva Red Limited and China Telecom, and we look forward to more detailed discussions with all interested parties.”
Beta testers wanted
Grindhead Games is looking for three to five people to Beta-test a new mobile and web game it is planning to release.
Craig Beswetherick says students would be ideal testers to play through the game and report any bugs found but they will need their own mobile device, and a laptop. He said: “Ideally I'm looking for a mix of Android and iOS users. I will be able to supply various use cases for users to follow during bug testing and the mobile and web versions of the game. They will be required to play through various scenarios, and try and break the game in any way possible.”
Contact Craig at craig@grindheadgames.com. Particiants will get a free copy of the game.#
TIGA Treasurer Launches Forensic Accounting Service
TIGA Treasurer Jeff Meek has launched a forensic accounting service to provide litigation support to lawyers throughout Scotland and companies in the UK Accountant Meek, a partner in leading independent accountancy firm French Duncan, recently graduated with a law degree.
As a member of the Society for Expert Witnesses, he has acted on numerous accounting and commercial matters at the Court of Session and Sheriff Courts for a variety of cases, including audit negligence, fraud, proceeds of crime and criminal investigations, business valuations and divorce and commercial disputes.
He also has experience of Royalty Auditing for developers, licence holders and funders.
Meek said: “Our forensic accounting service has been established in response to a growing demand for litigation support throughout the central belt,” he said.
“It has become evident over recent months that there is a demand for a forensic accounting service from a department able to bring the requisite commercial experience and financial expertise to bear on a range of legal cases.
“Litigation support deploys the full range of skills that I can offer as an accountant and auditor with many years commercial experience as a partner overseeing various fundraising initiatives, management buyouts and with extensive dot.com experience. And as it’s me who stands before the sheriff or judge in court to answer questions concerning financial matters in legal cases, I am directly involved in the delivery of all forensic work undertaken by the department.”
Contact Jeff Meek on 0131 225 6366.
Word from Jason Kingsley OBE
“It is becoming clear that the expected $12 billion value of the mobile games market in 2013 could be a major underestimate”
Welcome all to the newly revampednewsletterTheEye, which we hope you find informative and of great use. With the consultation period for games tax relief still ongoing, it is clearly a time of great hope for the industry.
The Nintendo Wii U is on its way, the Android console Ouya has attracted great interest (and lots of money) via Kickstarter, Sony has tied up a deal with cloud gaming service Gaikai and Microsoft is making waves with its SmartGlass technology
But we are also intrigued at the prospects offered by news that iPad sales have risen 84 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter ending June 30 and the fact Google had to halt new orders forthe16GBNexus7aftermajor demand.
It is becoming clear that the expected $12 billion value of the mobile games market in 2013 could be a major underestimate. And this is good news for UK developers. This country is at the forefront of mobile game development with 134 British games businesses making games for mobile, providing work for nearly 960 highly skilled development staff and contributing £98.5 million to UK GDP.
Last year, these studios released or updated 460 titles and we believe the scope for tablets and smartphones is extremely high, especially in light of the expectationoftheiPhone5and sales of the Samsung Galaxy III breaking 10 million units.
For years, we have seen the potential these devices offer for gaming.
More crucially, we have seen the fresh markets they open up, taking games to people who may otherwise not consider playing. Tablets and smartphones have the potential to widen the gaming market and turn millions more to gaming.
It is hard not to get excited. See you next month. Jason Kingsley, Chairman, TIGA