More United Kingdom (UK) based games businesses than ever have signed up to be part of the Ukie (Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment ) industry stand at gamescom, which will this year be featuring a Royal theme. It is also confirmed that the UK will be the official country partner for the whole gamescom 2015 expo in Cologne, further raising the profile of the UK’s games and interactive entertainment sector to a global games audience. This year’s Ukie-run stand follows the huge success of the UK seaside themed pavilion at last year’s event which saw over £25 million worth of business done and over 50 businesses exhibiting across the three days of the show.
The Royal themed Ukie stand will be bigger than ever, and offers the usual meeting facilities as well as on-site support to help UK companies do business. A new feature of the stand this year is the ‘Royal Box’ which gives companies a dedicated presentation area to launch their games and showcase their latest work to the press or investors.
The UK Game of the Show award will be returning once more with Green Man Gaming sponsoring this prestigious prize. The UK Game of the Show award is open to any UK developed, but as yet unreleased, game that is on display at the show.
Ukie are also working closely with UK Trade & Investment on key activities at gamescom which include an investment dinner, VIP networking drinks reception and high-level delegations from key markets visiting the UK stand.
Ukie CEO, Dr Jo Twist, said: “Gamescom is Europe’s premier stage for UK companies to meet business partners and investors from around the world. Our stand will be a right royal celebration of the UK’s games industry; it traditionally has a real buzz and community feel which speaks volumes about who we are as a proud sector. “With record numbers of UK businesses attending and the UK being confirmed as official country partner we’re making a real statement about the UK being one of the best places in the world to make and sell games.”
Commenting on the UK being official country partner the MD of German games trade body and co-organiser of gamescom, BIU, Dr. Maximilian Schenk, said: “The economic and cultural significance of video games was recognised much earlier in the United Kingdom than in Germany. The result is that the United Kingdom is not only one of the most important markets worldwide, but it is also one of the most important locations for the development of computer and video games. This is why we are striving to strengthen the relationships between the German and British industries.”
Companies signed up so far for the UKIE booth at gamescom are: Amiqus, Blazing Griffin,
Cubic Motion, Curve Digital, Datascope Recruitment, deltaDNA, Dovetail Games, Edge Case Games, Fat Pebble, Focus Multimedia (Bundlestars), Gamesparks, Green Man Gaming, Global Step, Hidden Armada, ICO Partners, Kiss, Koei Tecmo, Lab42, Level3, Localize Direct, Marmalade, Marvelous, Mastertronic, Mediatonic, Multiplay, Ndreams, NewBay Media, Ninja Theory, Northern Ireland Screen, OPM Jobs, Oysterworld, Pinewood Studios,
PlayFab, Pole To Win, Polystream, Purple Beard, Revolution, Ripstone, Rising Star, Robo Pixel, Sold Out, Steel Media, Tag Games, Tangentix/ Game Sessions, Target Media, Team 17, TSIT, UKTI, Universally Speaking, Unity Technologies, West Coast Software and Wired Productions.
Although already at record numbers, there are still places available for businesses as well as sponsorship packages available. The UK stand at gamescom is part of a wider global programme that promotes British games businesses at trade events around the world, including China Joy, GStar in Korea and GDC San Francisco.
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