GC Asia 2008

Over 92,000 punters turn out, with next year's event scheduled for September 17th-20th.

News by GamesIndustry International Contributor

Published on Sept. 22, 2008

GC Asia (GCA)

(September 18-20, 2008)

SINGAPORE and LEIPZIG, Germany – September 20, 2008 – The second GC Asia, held at the Suntec Singapore Exhibition & Convention Centre closed today and drew more than 92,000 game enthusiasts from the Asia-Pacific region. Attendees saw the latest products in gaming as well as a number of world-premiere product launches.

“GCA is the premiere event for the games industry in the Asia-Pacific region and this year’s show presented some of the hottest titles for the next 12 months,” said Wolfgang Marzin, president and CEO of the Leipziger Messe. “We’ve been extremely impressed with the turnout and look forward to continued success next year.”

Jorg Zeissig, Managing Director of Leipziger Messe International (LMI) says that three days of excitement, joy and new insights into the AsiaPacific gaming industry are successfully completed. Adding, “Combining the Business Center with the GC Asia Conference certainly enhanced the B2B section of the GCA providing the Asia-Pacific games industry a platform to make business.”

118 Exhibitors, including major industry players, from 13 countries presented themselves on approximately 7.500 square meters. The show presented games from all genres and platforms including online, PC games, mobile, and console

In addition to the exposition, the GC Asia Conference brought together more than 630 game industry experts for an exciting program of lectures and panels on key issues for the Asia-Pacific region. The topics of outsourcing, mobile games, online and casual games were covered in-depth while presenting business opportunities and perspectives from North America, Europe, and Asia.

The GC Asia 2009 will take place in Singapore from September 17-20.

Quotes from GCA exhibitors:

“We are proud to be unveiling EA’s biggest line up ever for Asia Pacific here at GCA where we have the best games in sports, action, casual, horror, simulation, and online. GCA is a great platform to showcase these offerings for the broad range of people that love to play them,” said Jon Niermann, President of EA Asia Pacific.

“Our Nintendo games have been well received at this show. The awareness for Games Convention Asia as a show for gamers to preview games has definitely grown from last year and the organizers have done a great job reaching out to a wide audience ranging from the hardcore gamer to families with children. We were able to promote many games that have not yet been launched, including the most anticipated Guitar Hero World Tour and Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party – which was only been previewed previously at Games Convention in Leipzig”, said Andrew Wong, Marketing Manager, Maxsoft Online Pte Ltd.

“GCA has been an excellent growing platform for MOL and we are pleased to enter into a partnership with Game Entertainment Europe which we strongly believe will become a precursor to more cross continent global deals that will emerge in the fast growing online games market”, said Ganesh Bangah, CEO, MOL AccessPortal.

It’s another great Cherry harvest @ GCA 2008 and I’m excited with the huge number of potential partners and new players we met and partnered with. Growing from 9 to over 50 titles this year, Cherry reaps huge from GCA, which I believe is now an integral part of the international gaming industry”, said Addison Kang, CEO, Cherry Credits.

“Games Convention Asia is definitely a good event for us to meet our partners from around the region and we will come back next year with a big public showcase”, said Luis K. Tanaka, Brand & Sales Manager, Konami Digital Entertainment Limited (Singapore Branch).

"GCA is a highly recommended platform for any European or American gaming company who would like to enter the video game market in Asia-Pacific. This is my second year attending GCA and first time participating with a booth in the business centre. GCA 2008 has been a tremendous success for us, especially since we have managed to seal a strategic business deal with a partner for Asia-Pacific", said Jurriaan van Rijswijk, General Manager, Games Factory Online.

“Public turnout was great. GCA 2008 has more engaging events this year and the gamers really responded well”, said Chris Soh, President, Singapore Gamers’ Association.

“This is our first participation in GCA. It has been a very good opportunity for us. We managed to seal several business partnerships from around the region and we look forward to grow our game industry”, said Wendy Chandra, Founder, Angels Indonesia (Association of Gaming and Electronic Sports).

“GCA is a good opportunity to showcase our students’ games and to meet people from international gaming scene”, said Teo Chor Guan, Program director, GAMBIT.

About Games Convention Asia / GC Asia Conference

Games Convention Asia (GCA) is the "Digital Media Gateway of Asia." Described as the only event in the Asia-Pacific region enabling the interactive entertainment and digital media industries to network and interact with publishers, developers, distributors and corporate clients while showcasing their latest products and services to the public, GCA serves as the platform for Asian publishers, developers and distributors to present their work on an international level. The conference also acts as an entryway for companies seeking to enter the Asian interactive entertainment market. GC Asia and GC Asia Conference on the internet: www.gc-asia.sg.

Media Contacts:

Europe

Leipziger Messe

Nancy Pfaff, Press Officer

+49 (0) 341 678 8186

n.pfaff@leipziger-messe.de

Asia-Pacific

Red Dawn Communications

Angelika Quadt / Ian Purnomo

+65 6222 4704

press@reddawncommunications.com

North America