GDAA Announces Game Connect: Asia Pacific Conference

Australian games industry body the GDAA (Game Developers’ Association of Australia) have announced Game Connect: Asia Pacific, a new business-focused conference to replace the Australian Game Developer’s Conference. The conference will be held in Brisbane, Australia, from November 30th to December 2nd of this year, providing "local developers with networking opportunities and to share knowledge and best practice," and focusing on production, design and outsourcing/partnering. The conference is slated to include masterclasses, a corporate dinner, a half day careers market, an investment dinner, and the Adam Lancman Memorial Lecture, and is backed by game companies such as Sony and Autodesk. The conference's announcement follows a successful E3 effort, with deals worth $A7.2m ($5.4m) having been signed since the tradeshow, and an estimated $A95m ($71.5m) worth of deals expected over the next two years. Following conferences will rotate each year amongst key game cities following Brisbane's 2006 show. “This is about embracing the Asia Pacific and recognizing it as a powerful business environment from which Australian companies can leverage for global growth, building strategic alliances and growing our core skills base,” Richardson said. "The Conference will provide delegates with powerful information, tools and contacts designed to support them during this period of unprecedented transition with the shift to Next-Gen, global consolidation, and escalating development costs.” More information and information can be seen at the Game Connect: Asia Pacific web site.