Casual Games Conference Planned For July

Representatives from event organizers The Game Initiative have announced that they are organizing a Casual Games Conference (CGC), to be held on July 19th and 20th in Seattle, Washington. The conference is intended to provide insight into the business opportunities and design considerations required for developers, publishers and distributors to appeal to the so-called casual gaming market. The conference will look in particular at Web and downloadable games, which tend to be particularly popular with non-hardcore gamers. They are attractive to developers too, as they can be produced with smaller teams, shorter development cycles and at a lower cost than normal console and PC games. "The Casual Games Conference offers a unique opportunity for casual game developers to participate in an event specifically focused on their needs," said Jessica Tams, CGC Advisory Board Chair. "Casual game developers will benefit from the direct interaction with industry leaders and will have the opportunity to tap into their expertise." The Casual Games Conference Advisory Board is dedicated to providing an independent, informative and relevant conference experience for all casual game developers, publishers and distributors. CGC advisory board members include Chris Early of MSN Games, Dan Prig of RealNetworks, Inc., James Gwertzman of Sprout Games, Juan Gril of Yahoo Games, Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade, and Kristina Erickson of the Washington State Film Office. Further information on the Casual Games Conference can be found at the official CGC website.