Press Release

SECOND ANNUAL CASUAL GAMES CONFERENCE RETURNS TO SEATTLE JULY 13-14, 2006

Seattle, Washington - November 14, 2005 - The Game Initiative, the leading producer of conferences and events for professionals in the computer and video game industry, today announced the 2nd annual Casual Games Conference taking place July 13-14, 2006, in Seattle, Washington. The Casual Games Conference provides developers, publishers and distributors insight into the current business and design considerations required to succeed in this rapidly growing game industry segment. Conference details and registration information are available at http://www.CasualGamesConference.com.

The 2005 Casual Games Conference was attended by nearly 500 industry professionals responsible for many of today's top web, downloadable and mobile games, with executives coming from as far away as the United Kingdom, Norway, India, Korea, China and Australia. Sponsorship was provided by industry leaders Microsoft Casual Games Group, Real Networks, Nokia, Sandlot Games, Game Trust, shockwave.com, Trymedia, Game Instinct and DigiPen.

"We are extremely proud that the Casual Games Conference has increased the attention on, and the exposure of developers, publishers and distributors of casual games," said Christopher V. Sherman, executive director of the Game Initiative. "Working together with well respected industry leaders, the Game Initiative's Casual Games Conference will continue to promote the growth of the entire industry segment."

Casual Games are platform agnostic and can be easy to learn but hard to master. With their small size, casual games provide a fantastic venue for explorative gameplay, according to the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), the leading game industry professional organization. Casual games can be produced with smaller development teams, shorter development cycles and with lower development costs than console and PC games. As a revenue-producing section of the industry, web and downloadable games are increasing in popularity. According to research firm IDC, the U.S. market for casual downloadable games will grow to more than US $760 million in 2007.

About the Game Initiative

Game Initiative is the leading producer of conferences and events for professionals in the computer and video game industry. Game Initiative is chartered with the growth of the industry through events, public awareness, information and supporting programs and serves the needs of companies and people involved in producing interactive entertainment software and hardware for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. Game Initiative events include the Austin Game Conference, the Mobile Game Conference, the Women's Game Conference, the Game Writers Conference, the Advertising In Games Forum, the Casual Games Conference, Game Technology Association Meetings and the How to Break into the Game Industry national conference series. More information about The Game Initiative can be found at http://www.GameConferences.com