IGDA Creates Special Interest Group for Casual Games
Group to Address Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Casual Games Marketplace
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - July 12, 2005 - A Casual Games Special Interest Group (Casual Games SIG) has formed within the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) in response to marked growth and opportunities in this evolving game sector. The Casual Games SIG will be dedicated to serving game developers worldwide by offering an independent and balanced resource for those interested in this emerging market force.
"The Casual Games SIG will serve as a meeting ground for discussing the unique opportunities facing casual game developers today," said Brian Robbins, Casual Games SIG Chair and Director of Online Games at Fuel Industries. "Having a special interest group committed to casual games is a great way to focus on consumer needs and emerging models for interacting with the end-user."
Casual, or mass market, games are usually smaller in scope and easier to play than their console counterparts. An explosion in the number of titles, distribution points and marketing investment is driving growth in this sector. Industry experts anticipate that the casual games market will reach over $2 billion by 2008. While the core PC gaming audience is male and aged 18-34, casual gamers tend to be both women and men between the ages of 35 and 65, with a slight demographic skew towards women.
Among its various activities, the Casual Games SIG plans to issue a quarterly online e-zine focusing on opportunities and challenges observed in the current casual games development environment as well as white papers studying issues in casual games. The Casual Games SIG will also host a mailing list to facilitate communication among casual game industry members.
The first publication coming from the Casual Games SIG will be the 2005 Casual Games White Paper, a follow-up to the 2004 Web and Downloadable Games White Paper released by the IGDA's Online Games SIG last year. This new paper features more in-depth information about the casual games market, and will be the most comprehensive source of information for developers. The paper will be released on July 20th, when the Casual Games SIG will formally launch during the Casual Games Conference in Seattle, Washington. For more information on the conference, visit www.casualgamesconference.com.
Casual game developers from around the world and those interested in this burgeoning market segment are invited to visit the Casual Games SIG website at www.igda.org/casual for related resources and information about the IGDA.
About the International Game Developers Association (IGDA)
The International Game Developers Association is a non-profit membership organization that advocates globally on issues related to digital game creation. The IGDA's mission is to strengthen the international game development community and effect change to benefit that community. For more information on the IGDA, please visit www.igda.org or e-mail info@igda.org.