Tiga/Game Republic deal

Immediate release

March 19th 2009

Tiga, the UK’s games developers’ trade association and Game Republic (GR), an industry-led network for the Yorkshire and Humber games industry, have renewed and strengthened their alliance to serve the games development industry.

Game Republic’s support allows all existing members of GR - including successful Yorkshire companies such as Team 17, Sumo Digital, Revolution Software and Tuna - to continue their membership of Tiga. The two associations will continue to work together on national issues such as tax breaks for games companies and a broader understanding of the importance of games sector, an industry which supports over 28,000 jobs (10,000 in games development), contributes over a billion pounds per annum to the UK’s Gross Domestic Product, and which generates £420 million per annum for the Exchequer in tax revenues.

Richard Wilson, CEO of Tiga, said:

“Tiga’s vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. I believe that Tiga will be better able to achieve this vision by continuing our collaborative work with Game Republic. Tiga will concentrate on political engagement, providing a voice for the games industry in the media and developing services that make a financial difference to members’ businesses.

“Game Republic already supplies, through the regional screen agency Screen Yorkshire, local networking events, investment in games projects, links between games and other industries and various promotional activities to raise the profile of the Yorkshire region. Both Tiga and GR will also continue to assist companies travelling to international events and strengthen links between academia and industry.”

Jamie Sefton, Sector Manager of Game Republic, said:

“We’ve been a proud supporter of Tiga ever since the initial founding of Game Republic as one of the UK’s first regional games networks back in 2003. The continuing partnership is important for Yorkshire and we recognise the important work that Richard and his team are doing regarding the lobbying of Parliament on vital games industry issues, and in supporting our games companies on a local and international level.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Tiga is the national trade association that represents games developers in the UK and in Europe. We have 150 members, the majority of whom are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have outsourcing companies, technology businesses and university departments that are members.

2. Tiga’s vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation, generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the competitiveness of our members. This means that Tiga members are effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.

3. For further information about the economic importance of the games industry, see The Economic Contribution of the UK Games Development Industry (Oxford Economics, October 2008).

4. For further information about Tiga, please contact: Dr Richard Wilson, Tiga CEO on:

Email: richard.wilson@tiga.org

Web: www.tiga.org

Mobile: 07875 939643

5. Game Republic is an organisation that works to develop and promote the Yorkshire games industry. As well as being a great place to live and work, this north of England county boasts one of the world's top-performing regions for games development, with such talented companies as Rockstar Leeds, Sumo Digital, Team 17, Tuna and Revolution Software within its borders.

6. In 2007, Game Republic was fully integrated into Screen Yorkshire, allowing the games sector in the region access to Screen Yorkshire's strategic investment funds which has lead to a number of significant investments in independent game development in the region. For more information, please contact: Jamie Sefton, Sector Manager, Game Republic on:

Email: jamie@screenyorkshire.co.uk

Direct Line: 0113 236 8239

Web: www.gamerepublic.org