FESTIVAL ARCADIA 07: a successful liftoff!

For Immediate Release

Montréal, November 12, 2007 - At Uniprix Stadium on November 9, 10, and 11, close to 25,000 visitors came out to Festival Arcadia, the largest celebration of video games Canada has ever seen. The Arcadia Space Station left Earth on Sunday evening after giving visitors a chance to discover the latest from the industry and games creators from inside and outside Quebec. At this third edition of the Festival, and the theme was a close encounter of the third time with Arcadians who had come back to Earth after an absence of millennia.

All the artistic disciplines that go into designing video games were brought together under one roof: digital arts, stage arts, and music. Patrice Désilet, Artistic Director at Ubisoft, took a packed room of festival goers through a mission in Assassin's Creed, a new release much-anticipated at the Festival. Other prestige speakers provided an insider look at the gaming world and shared their knowledge with Arcadians-people like Mark Baldwin, a psychology professor at McGill University, Hugh Hancock, co-founder of Strange Company and author of "Machinima for Dummies," as well as François Taddei of Beenox studios.

"Designed by Quebec creators, the immersive universe creates a real live video game, with multimedia projections and a soundtrack, which all comes together to highlight the cultural dimension of video games," said producer and Festival Arcadia co-founder François Décarie. "And how about the great musical performances, including Your Favorite Enemies and Mobile," he added.

Space Station Arcadia rocked the whole evening long to the sound of groups from the emerging alternative rock scene in Montréal and Toronto, including PL Mafia, Your Favorite Enemies, Crush Luther, Mission District, Mobile, and Ill Scarlet.

Entertainment on Hundreds of Stations

Festival-goers thoroughly enjoyed themselves on the 250 gaming stations installed in the Station, featuring the biggest names in the industry, such as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft, Beenox/Activision, and Eidos.

Given the great popularity of the Ubisoft booths, festival-goers were apparently extremely interested in Assassin's Creed, which was rolled out at the Festival. "The warm welcome most recent productions have received, especially Assassin's Creed, as well as its creative director, Patrice Désilets, confirms that video games enthusiasts go for an event like Arcadia in a big way. Ubisoft is proud to have taken part in the Festival for the third straight year," proclaimed Cédric Orvoine, Director, External Communication and Public Relations with Ubisoft in Montréal.»

Also present at Festival Arcadia was Beenox/Activision. "Because Arcadia was the number one public event in the video game industry in Quebec, Beenox was eager to be on board. We are proud to have been able to present our very first console production, Bee Movie Game, as well as Activision's most recent successes, such as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and of course, the unbeatable Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," noted Beenox Communication Director François Taddei.

Meanwhile, over in the Arcademic Zone, visitors had the opportunity to meet with various Quebec educational institutions, as well as recruiters from the video games industry, including international publisher international Eidos, which has just opened a studio in Québec. The General Manager of the Montréal Office, Stéphane D'Astous, was delighted to be able to mingle with video games enthusiasts. "For us, Festival Arcadia is a wonderful window that gives us a direct view into the world of game consumers. This insight is very important for our success," he emphasized.

About Festival Arcadia

Founded in 2005, Festival Arcadia is the first event for the general public in Canada devoted specifically to video games. Since three years, visitors have been invited to enter a world where the line between virtual and reality is blurred, and their senses and emotions are heightened.

About ARCADIA Production

Creator and producer of Festival Arcadia - the most significant public event celebrating the video gaming culture in Canada - Arcadia Production has vast knowledge in event planning, as well as the video game industry. The Montreal company has established a name for itself thanks in large part to its boldness and vivid imagination, in addition to its versatility.

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Source: ARCADIA Production

Information: Amély Tremblay / Mylène Bélanger

Morin Public Relations

514-289-8688, extension 226 / 231

Cell.: 514-774-8522 / 514-973-2310

amely@morinrp.com / mylene@morinrp.com