London To Host Inaugural Game Career Fair

6th September 2006, Brighton, UK - GamesIndustry.biz and Gamasutra.com, the leading videogames industry websites, today announced widespread support for their inaugural London Game Career Fair.

The fair will be held London's Café Royal on the 3rd and 4th of October 2006. As the arrival of the next-gen consoles draws nearer, the battle to attract the best talent has become ever more intense - and the cream of independent and in-house studios, together with recruitment agencies, have already booked space at the event.

The Game Career Fair will be attended by games industry professionals, recent graduates and individuals from related industries, such as film, computer graphics and animations. It will provide the ideal venue for attendees to speak with leading companies in the games industry about career opportunities.

"It's a fantastic time to be in the games industry right now, particularly with the impending launches of the PlayStation® 3 and Nintendo® Wii," commented GamesIndustry.biz Managing Director Rupert Loman.

"A wide range of companies have already committed to the career fair, and they're looking for new talent in all kinds of areas, including development, design, marketing and sales. It's set to be a highly successful event."

As developers continue to expand, creating ever more sophisticated and innovative games, the choice of career and benefits on offer are now as attractive to graduates as jobs in the music, TV and film industries.

With average development salaries now around £42k p.a*, it's evident that game development is no longer a hobby relegated to the back bedroom - but a serious rewarding career - both financially and creatively.

In a speech delivered recently at the BAFTA headquarters, Shaun Woodward, minister for creative industries and tourism, described the games industry as "one of our most important creative industries, and one at which the UK excels".

He went on to observe that the UK is the world's third largest market for games, and the third largest producer of them.

The British games industry is responsible for the creation of multi-million selling titles such as Grand Theft Auto, Championship Manager, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Project Gotham Racing. Blockbuster games set to come out of the UK in the near future include the highly anticipated MotorStorm and Heavenly Sword.

The Game Career Fair, which is the first event of its kind for the videogames industry, will highlight the wide variety of excellent career opportunities available.

Studios including Blitz Games, Evolution Studios, Lucas Arts and Real Time Worlds will be in attendance to talk to potential recruits about careers as artists, animators, programmers, designers, audio engineers and more.

For sponsorship opportunities or to book a stand at the Game Career Fair, please contact Richard Sturgess: +44 (0) 7920 061 984.

To sign-up free of charge to attend the event, please visit the event's website - www.gamecareerfair.com.

About The London Game Career Fair

The London Game Career Fair is part of the London Games Festival which will combine key events throughout the Capital the week of 2nd October, 2006. These events include the London Games Summit presented by ELSPA and TIGA, GDC London, the TIGA Content Market, and BAFTA's British Academy Video Games Awards. The London Game Career Fair is presented by Gamasutra.com and GamesIndustry.biz, the leading industry websites in the world. The event is produced in association with GDC London and the London Game Summit

About Gamesindustry.biz

GamesIndustry.biz is the world's leading source of business news and information for the videogames market, providing comprehensive and intelligent coverage of the sector to a worldwide audience of games industry professionals and investors. Learn more at www.GamesIndustry.biz.

About Gamasutra.com

Gamasutra.com is an internationally recognized and Webby Award winning online community. The site offers daily features, industry news, product news and reviews, job listings, and robust resume and contractor databases. Gamasutra addresses everything the developer needs to improve skills, interact with other developers, learn about products, find work, and locate services in their area. The site also enables vendors to reach over 324,000 registered industry professionals with product news and technical information. Learn more at www.gamasutra.com.

*average salary for UK games developers according to ITJobswatch.co.uk