New Games President Shares Plans to Make Australia "One of the Best Locations for Making Games...

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Tom Crago, the new President of the Game Developers' Association of Australia (GDAA), the peak body for the Australian electronic game industry, today announced on the back of a record growth year in 2006, that it

Crago made the announcement as many Australian companies descended on GDC in San Francisco [March 5-9, 2007] for one of the most important games meetings of the year globally.

Crago said the Australian industry was already mixing it with the best developers internationally. "The great majority of our companies are primarily export oriented. Overall export revenues account for over 90% of total industry revenues," Crago said.

"Right now around Australia we have in development most genres of game on every major platform, from high-end MMOG, through PlayStation3, Wii, handheld and mobile," he said.

"Our diversity is actually one of the reasons we're increasingly becoming recognized as a game development hub."

"There are close to 2000 people employed by game development studios in Australia at present, and most of us are hiring."

Crago said: "We've been doing this for a long time and 2007 will be an important year, with the first suite of Australian-developed titles coming out for the new generation consoles."

"In 2007 we will see some of our newer companies release their first games, and some of our bigger companies making a serious splash with both new IP and big, established licenses."

"By selling our strengths internationally we'll attract the best possible projects and in doing so start to see some genre-leading new IP making its way from Australia to the rest of the world."

A recent study commissioned by the GDAA, the Queensland Government and Victorian Government shows the electronic game development industry is highly growth-oriented in outlook. Over 90% of companies expect to grow during the next three years. Central to this growth outlook is the expectation by over 70% of companies that they will increase their level of investment in intellectual property development over the next three years.

The report shows the Australian electronic game industry now generates revenues of approximately $110 million per annum and directly employs over 1600 people; a 60% increase on 3 years ago.

For interviews: Sarah Duckett at sarah@datelinemedia.com, or via phone: 650-798-5238.

About the Game Developers' Association of Australia

The Game Developers' Association of Australia (GDAA) was established in December 1999 and comprises Corporate Members from game development companies and educational institutions, Associate Corporate Members (in service sectors that support the industry), individuals, and students. Current membership includes companies and institutions from all over Australia and the United States. The main purpose of the GDAA is to increase the profile of the Australian interactive game industry both domestically and internationally in order to represent the interests of GDAA members, attract capital and publishers from offshore, retain and grow talent in our local industry, and promote a sense of community within the industry. For more information about the GDAA, visit their website at: www.gdaa.com.au.