Mayor of London Backs London Games Week

Ken Livingstone praises the games industry

Posted by Staff
Mayor of London Backs London Games Week
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has sent a goodwill message to London Games Week and has praised the creativity of the games industry in general. His message comes in a week when nearly every major company has confirmed their participation in the event, set to take place in Earls Court in four weeks time.

The Mayor says in his message: "Trade shows and conferences like London Games Week have a major role to play in developing industry, creating an environment where deals can be done and new ideas are generated.

"Creative industries like the games sector contribute enormously to the buzz that attracts people to our city, and are also London's second biggest earner after financial services. The computer games and software sector alone employs around 64,000 people in challenging and stimulating jobs. The industry has been through some difficult times recently, but there is huge potential for growth and the Creative Industries Commission at the London Development Agency will report to me soon on the ways that the public and private sector can work together to support the creative industries as a whole. I hope London Games Week will be a fruitful and enjoyable event."

With Nintendo now signed up to ECTS the trade show is offering retailers and trade visitors a comprehensive snapshot of the state of the industry, all prior to the all important Q4 selling season. Current names currently signed include, Atari, Konami, Eidos, Big Ben, Capcom, Sammy, Codemasters, Ubi Soft, Activision, Midway, THQ, Intel, NVIDIA, ATI, Vivendi, Microsoft Xbox and Direct X, AMD and Acclaim.

"We're seeing real world interest in London Games Week with both television and radio programmes actively getting involved in planning coverage. It's also great to get support from the Mayor's office. It's further proof that, by combining the many events that take place during the week under one banner, we're able to achieve greater presence for the industry as a whole," commented CMP Information Portfolio Director, Andy Lane.

The game developers conference, GDCE, opens on August 26th, followed by ECTS on Wednesday 27th.

London Games Week also includes the Develop Awards, the Game Charity Ball and PlayStation Experience.