Registration Now Open For 2005 Christian Game Developers Conference

PORTLAND, OREGON (5 July, 2005) - The Christian Game Developers Conference announces their fourth annual conference and expo, to be held in Portland, Oregon, on July 28-30, 2005, at the Cascade College campus.

"We are seeing a stronger international interest this year!" says conference founder and organizer Tim Emmerich of GraceWorks Interactive (http://www.graceworksinteractive.com). Attendees from Australia and the United Kingdom will be returning with possible attendees from Egypt, China, Nigeria and even Cameroon."

Responding to feedback from last year's conference, the 2005 Christian Game Developers Conference will continue to feature discussion sessions and speeches but will also include more hands-on workshops, exhibit areas, and more time for networking. Indeed, a full day (Thursday the 28th) has been set aside for workshops.

The makeup of the conference continues to expand from young gamers with a dream of a game to developers and artists, who have developed games, are currently in development or are working for mainstream game studios and want to identify with other Christian game developers. With the formation of the International Christian Game Developers Association (ICGDA) at last year's conference, many of the attendees look forward to the annual gathering and the physical sense of community that exists beyond the virtual community at the association's portal (http://www.icgda-portal.org). "It is a great opportunity for everyone to get together and collaborate on what strategies are working in development and getting their games out into the market", said Bill Bean, president of the ICGDA. "What started as a labor of love with Tim Emmerich and his wife Jane has grown into a far reaching and effective alliance of Christian game developers."

The conference expo area is the premiere spot for developers to announce new projects, demonstrate their existing work and discuss issues important to the future of Christian gaming. Among this year's highlights will be a press conference showcasing "ChristianiGames", an on-line game portal developed by TLC Industries. Several other new Christian Console-based and PC-based game product announcements are expected and the announcement of the formation of new studios and companies that will be developing games for the growing Christian game category is anticipated.

The speaker lineup continues to be an important point of the Christian Game Developers Conference. This year, audiences will be able to learn from industry leaders including Clay Stevens of Keystone Interactive (http://www.KeystoneInteractive.com), Troy Lyndon of Left Behind Games (http://www.LeftBehindGames.com), Tom Bean of Digital Praise (http://www.digitalpraise.com), and Christian retail expert Bob Elder of E3 Solutions (http://www.E3Solutions.com). A complete listing of speakers will be appearing shortly at the Christian Game Developers Conference web site.

"The conference is open to any Christian that is involved with or mightily interested in game development," says Emmerich.

Registration is now open and information, including schedule and events as well as travel and lodging options, are available online at http://www.cgdc.org . Those wishing to present may still apply, times are limited. This year's sponsors include GarageGames, GraceWorks Interactive, Micro Forté, BigWorld, Boanerges Studios, DatoMana, Progress Systems, Inspired Idea and Digital Praise.