Casual Games Association and IT Territory Announce $200,000 In Prizes for Innovative Casual Games

Kyiv, Ukraine, September 6, 2007 - The Casual Games Association in conjunction with IT Territory, a leading Russian publisher of online and casual games, today announced the Casual Games Association Innovate 2007 Contest. To be held in conjunction with Casual Connect Kyiv 2007 on October 17-19, 2007, the contest is open to all game developers and has over $200,000 USD in cash prizes which will be awarded to developers who represent the best in casual games.

Innovate 2007 is designed to publicly recognize and inspire game developers to create innovative casual game products. Developers and development studios will submit beta games and innovative game prototypes for judging by independent judges. To ensure that independent game developers are able to fulfill their dreams to complete their games for distribution, IT Territory will provide publishing arrangements for Main Category award winners.

The contest has two categories:

Main Category - Open to all independent development studios. Game will be privately presented by development studio to a panel of independent judges. Winners will receive cash funds to complete their games and have publishing support from IT Territory.

Special Nominations - Open to all professional developers, including those who are part of a larger studio. Game prototypes will be publicly displayed to a panel of independent judges and all conference attendees. Special nomination winners do not have to have their game published with IT Territory.

Main Category prizes are:

Grand Prize: $ 80,000 USD to complete game and publishing deal

2nd Prize: $ 60,000 USD to complete game and publishing deal

3rd Prize: $ 40,000 USD to complete game and publishing deal

All Entrants: Approved entries will receive a free Premium upgrade to Casual Connect Kyiv

"Innovation and fun drives the casual game industry," said Jessica Tams, managing director of the Casual Games Association. "IT Territory shares our dedication for bringing casual games to an ever increasing global audience and we are pleased to have their support. Working together we are awarding the very developers who have the drive, innovation, and creativity to move the industry forward."

"In evaluating the needs of developers, we have made the contest submission process as easy as possible," said Alisa Chumachenko, marketing director of IT Territory Casual. "IT Territory is committed to providing additional resources and services to ensure that the contest award winners are able to complete their games and secure distribution."

The application deadline is September 30, 2007. For more information on Casual Games Association Innovate 2007 please visit: http://innovate2007.casualgamesassociation.org/

About IT-Territory Casual

IT Territory is Russia's leading publisher of online and casual games. It was founded in 2004, and today it has two in-house game studios and the biggest distribution network in all of Eastern Europe. IT Territory has launched 13 successful massive multiplayer online games and created two game portals, one of which, Games.Mail.Ru, is the biggest in the .RU zone. IT Territory has a total of 3,000,000 registered users playing its games. The company deals with developing, producing, distributing and publishing games in Russia and the CIS. It also works with the top game studios in Eastern Europe and with some American publishers. More at http://www.it-territory.ru/

About the Casual Games Association

The Casual Games Association is an international organization with a membership of more than 4,000 gaming executives, publishers and developers. Dedicated to promoting casual games for general consumers and providing educational resources for game development, the association hosts annual conferences in Seattle, Kyiv and Amsterdam, publishes a magazine three times a year, and issues research reports on the industry. The association was founded in 2005 by members of the casual games industry. More at http://www.casualgamesassociation.org/

Media Contacts

David Oro

Casual Games Association

david@casualconnect.org

+1 707 558 8585

Alisa Chumachenko

Marketing Director - IT Territory

alisa@it-territory.ru

+7 495 952 4482 GMT +3