Distinguished Guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning,

1.              The Games industry is an exciting and fast growing one, whose revenues have outstripped even the movie industry globally. Today’s launch of the Games Creation Community follows on the heels of recent news about the Digital Media scene.

2.                I’m sure you’ve heard about Lucasfilm and their plans for Singapore - which incidentally also carries a Games development component. You might also have read about Singapore winning the bid to host the 2005 Grand Finals of the World Cyber Games. Through EDB’s efforts, Japanese game companies Koei and Genki will start development studios by the end of this year. In addition, some of our country's top creative talents have already been sent to Sega and Capcom for training in games programming as well as graphic design and animation.

3.              These announcements have come in quick succession. They augur well for the fledging game industry in Singapore. But parallel efforts must also be directed towards helping the Singapore-based game development companies. And this is where the Games Creation Community can play a role.

4.              I am happy to announce the launch of the Games Creation Community - or the GCC in short. Initiated by the EDB, the GCC will be hosted by Nanyang Polytechnic. By providing access to state-of-the-art facilities and games expertise, NYP forms the backbone support of GCC.  But it doesn't end here.

5.              The GCC is a borderless one. It is also open to companies located elsewhere to also enjoy the benefits of membership. The intention is to foster a community, and assist the games industry across the 4 key areas of (i) creation (ii) production (iii) financing and (iv) distribution.

6.              In the creation and production aspects, members of the GCC will have access to game development tools (otherwise known as middleware tools). HI Corporation and Tapwave have agreed to provide their Software Development Kits or SDKs at no-cost to the members of the community. The EDB is also working to bring other game middleware providers to be part of the GCC. Nanyang Polytechnic, with its capabilities and state-of-the-art games development facilities, will act as a hub to assist the different players. Its experienced pool of creative talents in animation & games design, and track record of producing games for the industry will enable the polytechnic to add value and provide the necessary technical and creative support to members of the community.

7.              Venture capitalists and distribution partners in the form of telecom companies as well as mobile content aggregators have also come on board the Games Creation Community with value-added offerings.  I have also been informed that there is already a pipeline of activities lined up for the GCC, including a games pitching session every quarter. This will give the game developers the chance to pitch their game ideas and prototypes to distributors and publishers.

8.              We hope to see the GCC flourish into a full community, seeding collaboration amongst its constituent parties. After all, the GCC is already kicking off with partners ranging from games developers, publishers, distributors, middleware suppliers, console makers, industry associations and venture capitalists.

9.              I personally hope to see exciting cross-platform games produced. I also hope to see the GCC become a magnet for foreign game companies to find both a value-proposition and a home within Singapore. But most critically, I hope to see successful companies emerge from within this community to help shape and root the Games industry here. With that, I wish all the partners and members of the GCC every success.