Stay connected! Game Connection Online, the first online marketplace for the videogames industry, has opened
Lyon, April 27th 2004 – Lyon Game, a non-profit professional organization based in France that brings together companies in the videogames industry, has launched Game Connection Online, the first online marketplace for the videogames industry, giving developers and publishers access to a unique professional network and allowing them to meet each other during industry-related events (www.game-connection.com).
Game Connection Online (GCO) is actually the “brainchild” of the Game Connection, a business convention taking place every year in Lyon, France between all video game developers and publishers, and, for the first time this year, in San Jose during the Game Developer Conference. The Game Connection aims to make developers and publishers comfortable and go all out to create the best possible atmosphere for doing business.
“The Game Connection web site was built up to make the event as efficient as possible. It includes several tools for developers and publishers such as a directory, a personal page where projects can be presented, a meeting system to optimize their schedule for the event and a message system to keep in touch each other,” says Pierre Carde, Director of Lyon Game. “Regarding the success of the event, we realized that this tool was a real asset for the industry, which is why we decided to launch a permanent version of this tool, Game Connection Online. People can now virtually meet each other, allowing developers to permanently show other companies in the industry what they are currently developing and enabling publishers to state what they are looking for. This marketplace is the only one of its kind in the industry!”
From now on, through Game Connection Online, a range of tools will be permanently available for the videogames industry and for every event in the industry:
– A permanent directory for the videogames industry, constantly updated by the community itself, referencing all companies registered in the GCO (the name of the company, its activity and place of business…). This directory already includes more than 80 publishers (Atari, Codemasters, Eidos, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega, Sony…) and 120 developers (Argonaut, Blitz, Guerilla Games, Headgate, Kuju, Rebellion, Saffire, Widescreen Games…),
– A window on the industry where each company can describe its activity, find new companies to work with and be found via an accurate search engine,
– An Online Marketplace where developers have the opportunity to present their projects (in text, pictures and files) to publishers on confidential pages, with different levels of confidentiality (and with the ability to decide whether or not to grant access to a publisher who would like to find out more about it),
– A place where publishers can have an overview of what is currently being developed in the video games world, and also find the most qualified studio possible to develop their own project.
– A matchmaking tool for professional conventions and trade shows, allowing developers and publishers to communicate with each other and even set up meetings for the major events of the industry (such as E3 and TGS).
> E3 2004: a brand-new tool for companies planning to attend the show
E3 2004 (The Electronic Entertainment Expo), one of the most important annual shows in the videogames industry, will be held from May 11th to 14th 2004 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Starting now, companies planning to attend E3 can get access to Game Connection Online and to its “E3 Meeting System Mode”.
“Like every year, the whole industry will be in L.A. But as everybody knows, it is very difficult for companies to set up meetings once they are on the show floor, as it is quite hard to find the right persons in the crowd!” explains Pierre Carde, Director of Lyon Game. “Now, through Game Connection Online site, each registered company planning to attend E3 can know which other ones will be there, contact them and, even better, schedule meetings via our meeting system before traveling there!”
> About Lyon Game (www.lyongame.com)
Created in 2000, Lyon Game is the largest non-profit professional organization in Europe bringing together companies in the French videogames industry. Lyon Game aims to help these companies develop their business and gives them effective tools to promote their know-how at the regional, national and international levels.
Lyon Game takes a number of concrete actions and offers various services such as:
– Game Connection, a business convention gathering all the professionals in the industry,
– Game Connection Online, a permanent Online Marketplace where companies can keep in touch with the industry,
– Gamagora, which offers in-house professional training adapted to companies’ needs, through well-known training institutions, helps companies and their employees to acquire specific, cutting-edge skills and to get an overview of competencies and jobs that will be essential in the future,
– Advice in financing – such as how to raise funds or get subsidies – and in finding solutions to diversify a company’s activities,
– Gathering and swapping technology between game development studios and building partnerships with research laboratories.
As part of this initiative, Lyon Game also supports companies at international trade shows, including GDC in San Jose, E3 in Los Angeles and TGS in Tokyo.
Lyon Game brings together more than 50 companies in the videogames industry, such as Widescreen Games, Krysalide, Nobilis, Atari, Eden Games, Etranges Libellules, Ubi Soft and Eugen Systems to name but a few.
> About the Game Connection (www.game-connection.com)
Organized by Lyon Game in Lyon for the third consecutive year, Game Connection is a business convention for creation and financing in the videogames industry.
Game Connection aims to help developers and publishers to meet each other at the same place and at the same time, allowing developers to present their projects, to meet publishers looking for original products or to obtain a license within a professional, confidential framework.
Following the success of the convention’s 2002 edition, which led to the signing of contracts worth more than euros10 million, Game Connection 2003 brought together 75 development studios (including Argonaut, Darkworks, Dôki Denki, Etranges Libellules, Eutechnyx, Guérilla Games, Nikitova Games, Rébellion, Playstos, Visse Interactive, WideScreen Games and others) and 36 publishers (including Activision, Atari, Codemasters, Eidos, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Namco, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Take 2 and Ubisoft among others) for more than 2,200 business meetings.
As the last three editions in Lyon have met a growing success each year, Game Connection “hit the road” for the first time this year and was on hand during the Game Developer Conference in San Jose. 55 developers and 32 publishers registered and then met on March 22nd & 23rd during more than 600 one-to-one meetings. This particular edition was very important, as it was the first outside France.
The Game Connection concept will now be adapted to most of the events in the videogames industry.
Press Contacts
ACTUS
Julie Barbaras
Phone: 33 4 90 15 43 34 / + 33 6 77 02 15 41
E-mail: jbarbaras@actus.fr
LYON GAME
Claire Batissat
Phone: 33 4 37 64 69 53
E-mail: cbatissat@lyongame.com
LYON GAME
Villa créatis / 2, rue des mûriers – CP 601 – 69 258 Lyon cedex 09 – Tel : 04 37 64 69 53 – Fax : 04 26 68 91 56
Site: www.lyongame.com – E-mail: info@lyongame.com
Association loi 1901 déclarée le 24/06/96 à la Préfecture du Rhône sous le N° 0691039256 – Siret 419 758 529 00020
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