Too early to determine economic impact - Ramsdale

Talking in the opening speech at the Games 3.0 conference in London, part of the first day's activities at the London Games Festival, Keith Ramsdale has stated his belief that it's too early to tell if the global economic crisis will impact the videogames industry - but that crucially its foundations are strong enough to give it a good chance at resisting downturn.

"So a big question - are we in an economic crisis?" the LGF chairman asked the audience. "If you look at where we are today, the trends in gaming are typically driven by new technology in consoles and PCs, and not by the economy.

"Some say that when the economy gets tight consumers spend less money on large ticket items and look more towards the home for entertainment and videogames.

"Games represent a heavy value proposition - a GBP 50 game can deliver between 60 and 100 hours of entertainment. It's too early to predict how the global economic crisis will impact the game industry, but the fundamentals of this industry remain very strong."

Games 3.0 is an event organised by Skep Media, and is taking place all day at the Congress Centre in the middle of London.