IBM joins list of sponsors for inaugural Asian Game Developers Summit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KUALA LUMPUR - 12th September 2005 - IBM has joined the list of sponsors for the inaugural Asian Game Developers Summit (AGDS), highlighting the growing significance of Southeast Asia's game development industry.

IBM's presenter will discuss the benefits of an on demand computing model for game developers.

The Malaysian grassroots event, a first in the region, calls to all game developers in Southeast Asia to gather for two days of expertise sharing and networking at Cititel Hotel, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur from October 11 - 12, 2005, where they can also attend business and technical tracks featuring some of the biggest names in electronic entertainment in the world, such as Mike Dunkle, Director of Cafe Operations, Valve; Chris Avellone, Creative Director of Obsidian Entertaiment Inc and just in, Tak Ogawa, the sound engineer for the award-winning Konami game series, Metal Gear Solid, alongside many other Asian and Malaysian members of the game development and publishing community in the region.

"We are extremely honoured and excited that such established names in the industry, and not just in games, have agreed to support and speak at our event," says Terence Tan, the Event Producer of AGDS.

"This being our big debut makes such a solid show of support very encouraging for the infant game development industry in the region," he adds.

Organised by the Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia and the premier regional game publication GameAxis, the AGDS is also endorsed by the International Game Developers Association, of which Terence is a member and one of the founding members of the Malaysian chapter.

The AGDS will feature 'Tier One' topics, comprising novice to intermediate level technical and business for a fairly new industry. Some of the topics include Finetuning the Development Pipeline, Developing Cross-platform Games for Mobile Devices, Programming Stickiness in Games, Game development outsourcing to Asia and more.

"We are indeed very fortunate to have garnered such strong support for a first showing, from both the technology industry such as from ATI, IBM, Alias and Microsoft," says Kamil Othman, Vice President of Creative Multimedia Department, Industry Development Division, MDC.

"We hope that such support will continue in the following years when we hope to bring AGDS to other parts of the region," adds Othman.

The AGDS is open to game developers and those interested in the computer games business in the region. Registration for the conference is priced at US$60. There is a special early-bird 10 per cent discount (to US54) for those who register before September 30th 2005.

More details can be found at the AGDS website, at www.agdsummit.com.

About IGDA

www.igda.org

The International Game Developers Association is a non-profit membership organisation that advocates globally on issues related to digital game creation. The IGDA's mission is to strengthen the international game development community and effect change to benefit that community.

About MDC

www.mdc.com.my

As a one-stop agency, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC) has been established to facilitate the development of the MSC and to expedite the entry of investors into the MSC. MDC is also empowered to grant MSC Status to companies wishing to locate their operations in the MSC.

About GameAxis Unwired Malaysia

www.gameaxis.com

GameAxis Unwired Malaysia is published by Write On Media Sdn Bhd, and is a licenced game publication brand from media owners Hardware Zone Pte Ltd in Singapore.

Please contact media coordinator Jennifer Tai (jennifertai@gameaxis.com) for press enquiries.