Description
SEATTLE, WA – June 26, 2012 – The Casual Games Association, the international trade organization of the casual games industry, today announced that Casual Connect, the world’s largest mass market games conference series, will take place July 24-26, 2012, in Seattle, Washington.
Captivating more than 300 million consumers, the casual games industry continues to amplify with a legion of entertaining experiences for mainstream audiences. This evolution is occurring because of continuous hard work by people who love games as much as gamers themselves amidst the expanding reach of mobile technology. At Casual Connect Seattle we will address the latest trends in the game industry, push the creative and technical barriers, continue to foster innovation and connect our industry globally.
Innovation Showcase
First featured at Casual Connect events in Hamburg, Germany and Singapore earlier this year, the Innovation Showcase, an exhibit dedicated to excellence in gaming, will be hosted by the Casual Games Association at Casual Connect Seattle 2012.
Explains Juan Gril, industry advisor for Casual Connect and organizer of the showcase:
“We started with a top-notch team of judges. We put them in a room together and told them only 12 games could emerge! There you have it. An art gallery-like exhibition of 12 of the most innovative games for PC and mobile platforms will be showcased at Casual Connect Seattle.”
The showcase has proven to be a successful launch pad for indie game developers. In an industry rapidly becoming overwhelmed with content, the showcase provides an opportunity for publishers to discover great games being developed around the world. The games herald from Philippines, UK, New Zealand, France, USA, and Australia.
For information about the games, please visit: seattle.casualconnect.org
Sessions
Content for the 2012 event will focus on emerging trends for the casual games industry and outline opportunities on online, social and mobile platforms. (A full listing of content can be found online: seattle.casualconnect.org)
Featured Speakers
Casual Connect Seattle 2012 provides attendees with the opportunity to explore cutting-edge casual games topics with local and international leaders in the space. Selected speakers include:
Paul Thelen, Founder and CEO, Big Fish Games
Riccardo Zacconi, CEO and Co-founder, King.com
Sara Brooks, Games Partnerships, Facebook
Alexander Seropian, CEO, Industrial Toys
Colleen McCreary, CPO, Zynga
Mike Peronto CEO, WildTangent
Corey Weiner, CEO, Jun Group
Heiko Hubertz, CEO, Bigpoint
Matt Hulett, SVP & President, GameHouse
Neeraj Roy, Managing Director, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment
Manish Agarwal, CEO, Reliance Entertainment Digital
Haden Blackman, GM, Kabam
Anil Darhni, SVP Market & Developer Relations, GREE
Glen Walcott President, DoubleDown Interactive
Michael Witz, CEO, Mob Science
Hans Yang, Director of Product, Zynga
Amer Ajami, Executive Producer, Zynga
Michael Kalkowski, Co-Founder & Managing and Creative Director, GameDuell
Giordano Contestibile, Business Director—“Bejeweled” Franchise, PopCap Games
Matt Wyndowe, Product Manager, Facebook
Ricardo Carvalho, Co-founder & Managing Partner, TIMWE
Lloyd Melnick, CEO, FiveOneNineGames
Josh Grant, SVP & GM of Studio Partners, Rock You
Josh Williams, President, Kontagent
Randall Lloyd, Managing Director North America, Brighter Option
Stephanie Kaiser, Product Lead, wooga
Jesse Hull, GSN Digital
David Edry, Co-founder, Spry Fox
Alan Avidan, Executive Director, Bees & Pollen
Dan Chao, Lead Designer, Funzio
Phil Larsen, CMO, Halfbrick Studios
Samir El Agili, Studio Manager, Gameloft
Vikas Gupta, CEO, TransGaming
Ed Lee, VP of Content Acquisition, Roku
Dan Cook, CCO, Spry Fox
Duncan Curtis, Executive Producer, Halfbrick Studios
Mike Sego, CEO, Gaia Interactive
Joe Graf, Sr. Online Architect, Epic Games
Greg Harper, General Manager-North, Supercell
Betrand Schmitt, CEO, App Annie
Steve Meretzky, VP of Game Design, Playdom
Dave Rohrl, VP of Game Production, Goko
Featured Lectures
Lectures at Casual Connect have been programmed to focus on cutting edge topics in the casual games space. Topics this year include:
Social Games 2015
Transitioning from Games-as Products to Games-as-Services
The Inside Scoop on Multiplatform Play
Social Games and Hollywood IP: How and Why Hollywood is Entering Social
Acquisition, Retention, Monetization: Understanding & Optimizing Player Behavior on Any Platform
From Social to Mobile: The Game has Changed but so can You
The New Look of Game Publishing: How Games Get Published in Today’s Dynamic Market
India: An Emerging Game Market
Co-located Events
Flash Gaming Summit at Casual Connect l July 23, 2012
Held at the Triple Door, FGS is a one-day primer on the Flash games industry the day before Casual Connect begins.
IGDA Summit at Casual Connect l July 23 – 24, 2012
Located in the Fairmont Hotel, the IGDA Summit will cover topics including: Entrepreneurship, Game Development Community, Quality Assurance, User Testing, Monetization, Indie Boot Camp, Writing about Games, Writing in Games, Quality of Life and Legal Insights.
Venue
Casual Connect Seattle 2012 will once again call Benaroya Hall its home for the 3-day conference. Benaroya Hall is a state-of-the-art modern facility located in the core of downtown Seattle.
About Casual Connect
Marking its 7th anniversary in 2012, Casual Connect, hosted by the Casual Games Association, brings together the most talented and knowledgeable experts in the casual gaming field to further the industry with the best learning and networking opportunities for casual games professionals. In addition to Casual Connect Seattle, the CGA will host Casual Connect Kyiv in October 2012, Casual Connect Europe in Hamburg, Germany in February 2013, and the 2nd Casual Connect Asia in Singapore in May 2013.
About the Casual Games Association
The Casual Games Association is an international trade organization dedicated to promoting casual games and providing educational resources for the game development community. The association hosts annual conferences in Seattle, Kyiv, Western Europe and now Asia; publishes a trade magazine and issues research reports on the casual games industry. For more information about the association, visit www.casualgamesassociation.org. Watch for our fall conference in Kyiv October 24-26, 2012.
# # #
Press Contact:
Tennille Forsberg
tennille@casualconnect.org
+1 801 663-4006 GMT-8
What: Casual Connect Seattle 2012
When: July 24-26, 2012
Where: Benaroya Hall, Downtown Seattle
About the show: seattle.casualconnect.org
How to register: seattle.casualconnect.org