State of Independence

Hull, UK / GameHorizon, the gaming network that represents the North East of England, are working collaboratively with regional development agencies from other areas of England to present the business focused one-day conference, State of Independence.

Development agencies representing at least 4 different regions of the UK have united to create an historic one-day business conference, State of Independence, which will help independent UK games developers understand the benefits and best routes to market with self-published games.

The one-day conference is being organized by GameHorizon and Game Republic, the trade association for the games sector in Yorkshire, but is being sponsored by NorthernNet. The NorthernNet project is helping games and creative companies collaborate through physical connections across the north. Over 50% of the companies attending the one-day conference will be representatives of the various northern regions of the UK.

GameHorizon and Game Republic have previous experience of working together on the precursor to the State of Independence conference, Northern Exposure (in 2007), as well as other joint initiatives and knowledge transfer schemes. Charles Cecil, MD of York-based Revolution Software where the one-day conference is being held, and founder member of Game Republic, will be chairing this important self-publishing conference. Charles has been heavily involved in the design of the programme and is leading the revolution in self-publishing.

North West Vision & Media, the regional development agency representing the North West of England, as well as fledgling games network for the West Midlands, Game Central have also thrown their muscle behind this must-attend one-day conference.

Carri Cunliffe, Head of Games, GameHorizon anticipates what will be an exciting conference, “It’s great to see so many of the independent developers coming together to explore the best ways to retain more of their IP and to market their online self-published games. The event will have some leading speakers and we are expecting over 200 delegates to attend. While the one-day conference might be titled 'State of Independence', we are united as regions in championing the needs of the UK games development industry. GameHorizon in particular welcomes the coordinated approach to events and company support”.

Enda Carey, Head of Games and Content at North West Vision added, “Through our NorthernNet programme, we provide support to a number of games development companies in the North West that have already made the transition to self-publishing. With the State of Independence conference we hope to provide the spark of inspiration that will lead to more companies taking the brave step into self-publishing, seizing creative control over their game ideas”.

Games Central, a new games network representing the West Midlands region and supported by regional screen agency, Screen West Midlands, are appropriately funding the session on finance at the one-day conference. With its creation, one of the key objectives of Games Central is to encourage local games companies to collaborate.

Jason Hall from Screen WM and Game Central acknowledged the anticipated outcomes of this coming together, “The West Midlands has a rich games development heritage and is home to a number of established global players, and our £5m Digital Media Fund offers significant opportunities for the sector. At the same time, emerging digital publishing channels are providing opportunities for a new breed of agile games development company to create something fantastic and take it to market directly. Game Central is delighted to support The State of Independence conference as it will empower this new breed of games development company”.

As well as giving developers a greater understanding of the brave new world of digital self-publishing and advice on how to succeed, State of Independence will be an ideal opportunity to network with other independents, investors and buyers, as well as unwind at the industry party.

Date: Thurs 8th April 2010

Location: York, Race course Gymcrack Suite (Ebor stand)

Start of Conference: 09.30am Thursday 8 April 2010

Finish of Conference: 5.30pm Thursday 8 April 2010

After Party: 6.30 – until late

Speakers already confirmed for the one-day conference include Charles Cecil (Revolution), Paul Farley (Tag Games), Patrick O’Lunaigh, (nDreams) and Ed Vaizey, MP (Shadow Minister for Culture) – with more big names to follow.

For more information about the conference and to book places, visit http://www.state-of-independence.net A Super Early Bird discount starting at £75 is available until 16 March 2010, with bigger discounts available to GameHorizon and Game Republic members.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled on www.thirteen1.com for further announcements to the speaker list and updates as the one-day conference comes into sight.

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About GameHorizon:

GameHorizon – www.gamehorizon.net is the leading business network for UK-based games companies – developers, publishers, middleware firms and other service providers.

Based in North East England, GameHorizon facilitate collaboration, improve knowledge and increase local and international trade for UK-based games companies, with the ultimate aim of strengthening the position of the UK’s games industry on the global scale.

Press Contact:

Carri Cunliffe

PR & Communications Manager

Codeworks GameHorizon

+44 (0) 191 556 1137

Carri.cunliffe@codeworks.net

About Game Republic:

Game Republic, the trade association for the games sector in Yorkshire and Humber, promotes and provides support to the industry through a range of initiatives, investing in games projects, creating better links with academia, developing relationships with international publishers and championing collaboration through hosting regular networking events. In 2007 Game Republic was fully integrated into Screen Yorkshire enabling the games sector in the region to access its strategic investment funds. www.gamerepublic.org

About North West Vision & Media:

Northwest Vision and Media works to grow a world-class digital and creative economy in the region.

About Northern Net:

NorthernNet is a high speed telecommunication network, symmetric network of 100Mbs (upgradeable to 1 Gbps) that connects the North of England and beyond.

It is available to businesses as a direct connection and, for the first time ever, as pay-as-you-go via NorthernNet Media Access Bureaux (MABs) located within 17 educational, cultural and business venues across the North, including within MediaCityUK in Salford.

About Games Central:

Screen West Midlands is the regional agency which supports, promotes and develops a sustainable and thriving screen media sector in the West Midlands.

Screen WM will:

promote the West Midlands region by raising the profile of its diverse locations

promote the West Midlands by highlighting the abundance of talent within the region’s screen media sector

support businesses through skills development and financial assistance

develop talent, from new entrants to professional freelancers and employees, within the West Midlands through skills development

support the region’s moving image heritage and develop access to it

develop and inspire audiences across a broad range of screen media

promote and develop the cultural diversity of the region through the moving image

Screen West Midlands is supported by the National Lottery through the UK Film Council, the European Regional Development Fund and Advantage West Midlands.

About Thirteen1:

Thirteen1 is an independent free-to-read web-based games magazine. Each new issue is released on the 13th of every month at 13.00 GMT. Thirteen1 have published 19 issues to date, as well as 2 supplements. The coverage of Thirteen1 is multi-platform.

Thirteen1 is read in 125 territories, with the majority of the readership coming from North America, UK and BENELUX region. Thirteen1 is currently pushed out to an audience of 18,000. The readership has previously experienced monthly growth of 12%.

Thirteen1 can be viewed in all browsers and is also available as a PDF.

For press enquiries please contact:

Craig Albeck

Communications Director

Thirteen1 magazine

c.albeck@thirteen1.com

www.thirteen1.com

+44 (0) 1482 214 714