GDAA newsletter: July 2007

President’s Message

Welcome to the first of our new format GDAA newsletters. We hope these newsletters will provide a unique insight into the video game development industry in Australia. Our aim is to share as much information as possible with our members, both in relation to GDAA initiatives, and in respect of member companies themselves.

I took on the role of GDAA President in January this year, and since then have been working closely with the Association’s new Executive Director Greg Bondar. Greg is the new driving force of the GDAA, and is your primary point of contact as a GDAA member. You can reach him via email at greg@gdaa.com.au

Each year GDAA members elect an Executive Committee. As a group, we meet regularly to determine our strategic priorities and to track the progress of the industry in Australia. In 2007, the Committee members, in addition to Greg and myself are:

Graham Edelsten (Auran)
Chris Mosely (Redtribe)
Ben Palmer (IR Gurus)
Shainiel Deo (Halfbrick Studios)
Neil Boyd (AIE)
John Moss (Qantm)

This year has seen the video game industry in the news more than at any stage in our history. Publicising and promoting our industry is an important priority for the GDAA, as we strive to see video gaming recognised as the mainstream activity we all know it is. We also continue to lobby both State and Federal Government for a better deal for our industry.

I was delighted earlier in the year to help launch a new Development Kit program. The Victorian Government, together with Microsoft and the GDAA have arranged for 8 Xbox 360 Dev Kits to loan to Victorian members. More details in relation to this initiative will be announced soon.

Let me remind you also about the most important event in our calendars in the video game industry here in Australia this year. Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) will be held in Melbourne from the 15th to the 17th of November 2007. You can find out more information at www.gameconnectap.com

2007 is poised to be the brightest year yet for our industry. Already we’ve seen a number of high profile releases that have garnered critical accolades, and enjoyed exceptional sales. Here’s hoping the year finishes even better than it has begun, and that we’re toasting some more success stories at GCAP in November.

Tom Crago
GDAA President & Tantalus CEO

GDAA Lobbies Federal Government for Rebate

A sub-committee comprising the President Tom Crago, CEO Greg Bondar and CEO IRGurus Mike Fegan recently spent a day in Canberra with a view to engaging key government and shadow ministers on the 40% investment rebate recently announced in the federal budget and granted to the film industry but not game developers.

GDAA held discussions with the following key government and shadow ministers

• Senator the Hon Helen Coonan – Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
• Senator Stephen Conroy – Shadow Minister for Communications and Information Technology
• Office of Wayne Swan MP Shadow Treasurer

Meetings were also held with departmental officials and other opposition parties. Both the government and opposition parties were advised that GDAA had three immediate critical issues of concern:

• Requirement for the 40% Investment Rebate for the film industry announced in the recent Budget to be also extended to Game Developers,

• Broadband Capability to be extended to assist game developers in terms of access to and pricing of broadband,

• Skills Shortage critical and linked to lack of investment in the industry.

The submission is available on the GDAA website which outlines the position of the game development industry. See http://www.gdaa.com.au/industryissues.html

GDAA made the point that the Australian game industry could be a significant player in the global industry reflecting its local creative talent and early adoption of new technology if investment rebates similar to the film industry were extended to the game developers.

GDAA Launches GCAP 07 at MCG

The GDAA recently launched its Game Connect: Asia Pacific (GCAP) Conference and Expo at the MCG over an industry luncheon. The Hon Tim Holding MP Minister for Information and Communication Technology officially launched GCAP 07 which will be held in Melbourne at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre from 15 – 17 November 2007.

GDAA was fortunate to have in attendance AFL players Matt McGuire from St Kilda and Russell Robertson from Melbourne and IR Gurus sports producer, Justin Halliday, playing the latest AFL sports title from Sony, AFL Premiership 2007, at the GCAP launch at the MCG.

Game Connect: Asia Pacific will include an Investors Forum and Education Skills Summit. GCAP is supported by the Victorian State Government and GDAA works closely with Multimedia Victoria.

Details from http://www.gameconnectap.com/index.html

GDAA Membership

If you're game studio is not a member yet, please give it some thought.  As the peak industry body for game developers GDAA needs your support and more importantly your input on issues of concern to our industry.

Members are entitled to discounts to attend our conferences and seminars. This alone justifies your membership fee. For more good reasons to join, and the application form, check out our website at http://www.gdaa.com.au/registration/

GDAA Launches PDP Workshops

In response to industry needs the GDAA has launched its Professional Development Program (PDP) or education and training workshops and seminars.

The PDP is aimed at members and industry and will feature short intensive workshops from ½ day to 2 days depending on the workshop.

The First workshop is the State of the Video Game Industry Opportunities for Australian Game Developers to be held on the 9 August 2007 in Melbourne which is an executive briefing organised by creative industry specialist Hal Josephson.

The second PDP workshop is the Tax and Visa (Immigration) Issues for Game Developers in Australia to be held Thursday 30 August 2007 in Brisbane by Michelle Boutin who is a Deloitte Senior Analyst in this area.

Details at http://www.gdaa.com.au/gdaaevents.html

Singapore – Games Convention Asia Conference

The GDAA is supporting the first ever GC Asia Conference (GCAC) in Singapore as a lead in to the GDAA GCAP 07 event. The platform for game developers is devoted to the Asian developer branch and will be taking place alongside the GC Asia (Games Convention Asia) from September 6th to 7th.

GDAA is organising an Australian section at the expo and members are encouraged to support the Australian stands. Further details from Ben Ng at ben@meetingchannels.com or their website at http://www.gc-asia.sg

Microsoft – Victorian Government Xbox 360 Development Kits Program

The State Government of Victoria in association with the Game Developers Association of Australia and Microsoft has put together a plan to encourage the development of new high tech enterprises in the computer entertainment industry in Victoria, by providing access to the latest Microsoft Xbox 360 development kits to Victorian game developers at no cost to the developer.

All Victorian game developers are encouraged to apply and further details from the GDAA CEO at greg@gdaa.com.au

Membership Fees

GDAA Members are reminded that membership subscriptions are now due and payable. It is critical that members attend to the subscriptions as soon as possible so as to enable the association to finalise its accounts and budget fro 2007-08.

International Game Shows

GDAA will have representation at the following game shows overseas and members are advised to contact GDAA for further details.The show are:

http://www.gc-germany.com
22nd – 26th Aug 2007 (5 days) Games Convention Leipzig, Germany

http://www.gc-asia.sg/
6 – 9 September 2007 The GCA (Games Convention Asia)

http://tgs.cesa.or.jp/
20th – 23rd Sep 2007 Tokyo Game Show 2007 Tokyo, Japan

http://www.game-connection.com/
4 – 8 December 2007 Lyon, France
http://www.gdconf.com
18 – 22 February 2008 San Francisco - CA, USA

New Games Section - Australian Games Titles Released

The following games are new Australian game titles released by GDAA members.

The IR Gurus (http://www.irgurus.com/) games Heatseeker, Equestrian Challenge and AFL
are all recent releases on PlayStation 2 with the AFL Premiership 2007 game being currently No.2 on the local charts.

The Tantalus released PONY FRIENDS (http://www.ponyfriends.com/) has already shipped out throughout Europe and the game has also being released in Australia and the US.

The much awaited Auran produced Fury game (http://www.unleashthefury.com/) is due for release on the 9th October 2007.

GDAA Supporters: