TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry,today announced that in the autumn it will be launching a number of new services to help UK developers looking to self publish games.

The new services include:

• More dedicated events, seminars and mentoring sessions on self publishing from industry experts
• A new Corporate Members’ only area on the TIGA website dedicated to self publishing. Corporate members will be able to access information on all aspects of self publishing including case studies and advice from other members as well as practical information on areas such as trademarks, age ratings (PEGI), marketing, sales, community management and more
• The formation of a Self Publishing group where senior people in the industry meet quarterly to and share information and key learnings

Dr. Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO explained the reasons for the new service: “The decision to ramp up our self publishing services is born out of the incredible diversity that now exists within the UK interactive sector in terms of size, location and scope of business. Developers now have access to more options in terms of platforms, genres, distribution and funding. The old work-for-hire model is still alive but is now accompanied by a range of other opportunities and routes to market that do not involve traditional publishing. TIGA is committed to helping our members navigate these changes by providing access to expert advice and support.”

Patrick O'Luanaigh, CEO at UK developer and publisher nDreams said: “Self publishing is a vital new skill that developers around the world are rapidly embracing. While of course there is competition, we are essentially all in this together, and there is a great opportunity for UK companies to help push each other forward. We want to share our experiences as a community and learn from each other successes (and mistakes) to help continue the growth of an exciting new wave of UK developer-publishers. The TIGA community is extremely diverse and talented and by pulling together we can benefit the UK industry as a whole. This is an extremely important and useful new initiative from TIGA.”

TIGA will be announcing further details on the new Self Publishing Service in the coming weeks. The full service will launch this Autumn.

Ends

About Self Publishing:

• TIGA recent survey of 78 games developers in the UK found that 64 per cent of UK game developers surveyed self-publish games [note 96 per cent of developers surveyed are independent].
• The preferred platforms for self-publishing: 52 per cent of developers surveyed publish games on the iPhone, 38 per cent on PC, 36 per cent on PlayStation Network/PS3, and 16 per cent on XBLA.
• Of the 27 game developers in the survey that do not currently self-publish, 70 per cent plan to do so in the future.
• 26 per cent of the 27 game developers in our survey that do not currently self-publish games cited a lack of finance as the reason behind this situation. 22 per cent said that self-publishing was not a core business activity and 11 per cent said that they lacked the knowledge to go about self-publishing.
• All figures are from ‘State of the UK Development Sector’ a survey of 78 UK games development studios, TIGA August 2010.

About TIGA:

TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have games publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. TIGA was awarded ‘Trade Association of the Year’ and the ‘Member Recruitment Award’ at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards 2010.

TIGA's vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation, generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the competitiveness of our members. This means that TIGA members are effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.

For further information, please contact Eva Field, TIGA PR Manager on: 07814 039 983, or email eva@tiga.org.