Video-game developers, manufacturers, publishers and players from around the world will gather in Singapore in September for a convention expected to be the region's largest.
Games Convention Asia, which starts Sept. 6, will address the development needs of Asia's rapidly growing digital interactive gaming industry, which is expected to triple in value to $7.5 billion by 2008, according to the convention's organizers.
Western companies must adapt to differences in the Asian market to take advantage of the potential business here, said Chris Thompson, Asia vice president of Electronic Arts Inc., one of the advisers to the convention. Thompson said Asian gamers tend to value being online and being mobile — the social aspects of gaming.
Several other heavyweight game developers — including Xbox maker Microsoft Corp., Atari Inc. and Nokia Corp. — have also endorsed the event.
Games Convention Asia is a sister event of the Leipzig Games Convention held in Germany. The Asian event will also consist of an international cyber-games tournament.
