INTERNATIONAL GAMES INDUSTRY LEADERS FOCUS ON DEVLEOPING NEW UK TALENT

GAMES:EDU:07, the international conference for games education announces speakers from the leaders of the next generation gaming industry, including Microsoft, Epic Games, Evolution Studios, SCEE, Autodesk, Rare and Disney. Organised by Pixel-Lab and Tandem Events, it takes place as part of the Develop Conference in Brighton on Tuesday 24 July.

The conference - now in its second year - focuses on the current and future education needs of the computer games industry, bringing industry experts and educators together to encourage debate and the sharing of best practice. Last year saw over 120 delegates from across the globe networking, participating in workshops and engaging with the world's top developers and publishers.

Confirmed speakers for GAMES:EDU:07 include Epic Studios, Chris Satchell (Microsoft), Matt Southern (Evolution Studious), Michel Kripalani (Autodesk), Nick Burton (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios, Mike Gamble (Instinct Technologies) Jason Avent (Disney Interactive Studios) Chris Chilton (Skillset) and Rob Catto (FullSail).

Supporting GAMES:EDU are some of the UK's foremost educators, and this year workshops will be led by the University of Abertay, the University of Glamorgan and Full Sail from the States.

"Abertay has been a leader in industry relevant game technology and design courses for some time. GAMES:EDU will become a key event in the Abertay calendar as a place where academics and industry can discuss, share, and develop best practise in all areas of game development and production ," says Dr Henry S Fortuna, division leader, School of Computing and Creative Technologies, Abertay.

Andy Sithers, Microsoft Academic Alliance, who will be speaking on the technology panel as well as supporting the event comments: "Microsoft is fully committed to helping develop academic work in games in the UK. GAMES:EDU is an excellent opportunity for academics and games developers to begin a conversation which will help keep the UK as a growing centre of excellence in the gaming industry to ensure graduates have the right skills and knowledge to enter into the industry and contribute to that success."

Skillset, the sector skills council for the audiovisual industries, is fully supporting the one-day conference and will be discussing its future plans to develop the computer games industry accreditation programme. GAMES:EDU:07 features a series of case studies entitled 'The Skillset Sessions'. This year they focus on how education can work better with the games industry, the overall aim being to develop the UK as the world's source of creative and innovative talent in the future for all forms of computer gaming.

Kate O'Conner, Skillset's executive director Policy and Development and deputy chief executive comments: "Skillset strongly believes industry engagement is key to developing relevant and effective training and education. Skillset's accredited network of courses represents best practice in this area and offers targeted provision ideal for entrance to the games industry. GAMES:EDU will help the academic community understand why engagement is important and how industry involvement and industry focused tuition benefits students, employers and universities alike. By providing an open space for discussion GAMES:EDU will help develop the quality of this accreditation program and encourage further interaction between education institutions and industry."

GAMES:EDU is an essential date for educators from across Europe in the field of gaming and games development. GAMES:EDU is the first conference worldwide that brings together the UK's foremost educators from across all disciplines to connect directly with developers, publishers and games producers. For more information see www.gamesedu.co.uk.

The GAMES:EDU:07 Day Pass is £120 or £95 if booked before July 1 2007. For registration information see www.gamesedu.co.uk.

GAMES:EDU:07 is part of the Develop Conference, which takes place in Brighton from Tuesday 24 to Friday 27 July. See www.developconference.com.

GAMES:EDU is supported by Microsoft, Autodesk, Skillset, Evolution Studios and Disney Interactive Studios.

NOTES TO EDITORS

· GAMES:EDU is co-ordinated by Pixel-Lab and Tandem Events.

· Pixel-Lab is a computer games and digital media development agency working across the UK's computer game and digital media industries. Pixel-Lab advises, develops and delivers strategies to support growth in the games industry from skills development to support infrastructure. Pixel-Lab also works with organisations outside the industry, enabling them to harness the power of games. www.pixel-lab.co.uk

· Tandem Events organises the Develop Conference & Expo in Brighton. With over 20 years experience across a number of market sectors, they are the UK's leading organiser of specialist exhibitions and conferences for the computer games and interactive entertainment industry. Its focus is on bringing business communities together, to offer unique, face-to-face commercial and networking opportunities. Other events include Games Grads and GAMES:EDU, a partnership with Pixel-Lab. www.tandemevents.co.uk

www.developconference.com

· Skillset's key actions and initiatives are set out in Creating the Future the UK Skills Action Plan for interactive media and computer games industries. This plan sets out the issues facing the games industry as it continues to grow and mature. Importantly the plan outlines activity, which Skillset, guided by the Computer Games Skills Forum, will undertake to support the UK workforce's development and help ensure that the UK continues to be one of the best places to make games in the world. The first key initiative from this plan to get underway is for the games industry to take an active role in the assessment and accreditation of degree level courses in games. Extensive industry consultation was undertaken resulting in a series of recommended criteria. See www.skillset.org/games.