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Michael Rawlinson announces decision to leave
UKIE
Michael Rawlinson, UKIE’s Director General, has today announced
that he has decided to leave the organisation and will step down at
the end of the month.
Chairman of UKIE, Andy Payne has said, 'Michael has been a loyal
servant of UKIE (formerly ELSPA) for over ten years and has led the
organisation as Director General for the last two years. The board
of UKIE would like to thank Michael on behalf of the members and
the wider industry in general, for all the hard work that he has
put in on our behalf particularly with the Government.
Michael was a key member of the team that created the first
pan-European age rating content classification
system (PEGI) and worked to ensure that this was legally adopted
for the UK as the sole system of classification for computer and
video games. We recognise that Michael wants to seek fresh
challenges and wish him the very best with his next challenge'.
UKIE will be actively recruiting for a successor and interim
leadership will be via a triumvirate of Chair, Vice Chair and
Treasurer until the position is filled.
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NEW “EPISODIC” GAME AND WEB TV SERIES RACES INTO THE MIDDLE
EAST!
New York, New York, April 4, 2011---- Sibak al Fursan (Race of the
Horsemen) -- a free video game series which is entwined with an
animated web TV show, was released online by episodic game maker,
KUMA Games. In this breakthrough interactive entertainment product,
players watch video shows online, and then race super powered race
cars to discover what happens next in the series.
The game has generated tremendous buzz during its test period, with
more than 20,000 friends on its Arabic language Facebook page
(
http://www.facebook.com/SibakAlFursan),
and more than 250,000 Middle Eastern gamers playing and watching
the first episode: The City of the Horsemen. Sibak Al Fursan was
developed specifically for Middle Eastern gamers and is currently
available in Arabic, English, Farsi, French, and Urdu. The series
features a compelling story line set in the Middle East of 2025.
Players will race in futuristic cars equipped with fun and powerful
attachments while role-playing as the characters who strive to save
their world following a period of chaos. The United States and
Latin American versions of Sibak Al Fursan will be released later
this year and will feature new story lines within the same
universe, that highlight the cultures of characters from around the
world.
In all cases, gamers will be able to actively participate in the
storyline through social media -- for instance, by joining with
friends in “racing clans” with original back-stories, cars and
characters they create. Concepts will be reviewed by the game’s
creators and potentially used by the company in creating future
episodes. “We’re thrilled to welcome our fans as partners in
building our game world,” states Keith Halper, CEO of KUMA Games.
“There are 160 million gamers in the Middle East, and we’re intend
to capture their imagination by making them part of the game
creation process.”
The game features 12 game “episodes” each created in
console-quality 3D and available in single- and multiplayer modes.
Each episode will be released with animated web videos set in the
near future, and tell of a young racing clan leader (and his
computer holog, Karim) racing across the Middle East in a
thorium-powered supercar to save his love, the princess Dima.
Players can generate points by winning races, which they can
exchange for custom modifications and equipment upgrades for their
cars.
Gamers are eager to participate in the story line and race to save
the kidnapped Princess Dima. A student from Egypt wrote on the
game’s Facebook page “I love this game! I will join the race to
save you Dima!” .
Sibak al Fursan is available for free download at
http://www.Sibakalfursan.com, or
is available at hundreds of LAN cafes throughout the region, (see
list of cafes here) LAN Cafes who are interested in hosting Sibak
Al Fursan in their cafe or would like to receive a free merchandise
package can contact marketing@sibakalfursan.com. Sibak Al Fursan:
Grab your helmets and head on over to the starting line at
www.sibakalfursan.com
# # #
Sibak Al Fursan is the 11th title in KUMA’s line up of episodic
video games and the first, first-person driver in their arsenal of
free games. KUMA, LLC. is the world leader in the new market for
Episodic Video Games - intense, 3D game experiences delivered to
PCs in weekly episodes. Kuma's network of free, ad-supported game
series makes high-end console-quality game play accessible to mass
market consumers. Each week, players' PCs are updated with the
latest "game-isode" from their favorite series inspired by
just-released TV shows, real world news events and pop culture
happenings.
With over 150 game-isodes currently available in seven titles, Kuma
has an excess of 19 million users, with an additional 250,000 new
players signing on each month. Kuma’s synergy with traditional TV
programmers such as THE HISTORY CHANNEL®, and ANIMAL PLANET® makes
television more dynamic and more relevant to a media and tech-savvy
generation while presenting distinct marketing advantages for TV
partners, advertisers, content owners and distributors. With an
unprecedented level of user interactivity, Kuma represents a direct
analog for television within video games. Kuma Reality Games,
headquartered in New York, is a privately held company.
To date, 20 million gamers have played KUMA’s games world-wide,
including 3 million in the Middle East.
http://www.kumagames.com
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Important Advisory about Amazon's
Appstore Distribution Terms
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To all members of the game development
community:
Two weeks ago, Amazon launched its own Android Appstore. We
know that many developers have been eagerly looking forward to that
launch in hopes that it would represent a great new revenue
opportunity and a fresh take on downloadable game merchandising.
The IGDA applauds Amazon's efforts to build a more dynamic app
marketplace. However, the IGDA has significant
concerns about Amazon's current Appstore distribution
terms and the negative impact they may have
on the game development community, and we urge
developers to educate themselves on the pros and cons of submitting
content to Amazon.
Many journalists have noted the unusual nature of Amazon's
current store terms, but little has been said about the potential
implications of those terms. In brief: Amazon reserves the right to
control the price of your games, as well as the
right to pay you "the greater of 70% of the purchase price or 20%
of the List Price." While many other retailers, both physical and
digital, also exert control over the price of products in their
markets, we are not aware of any
otherretailer having a formal policy of
paying a supplier just 20% of the supplier's minimum
list price without the supplier's permission.
Furthermore, Amazon dictates that developers cannot set their
list price above the lowest list price "available or previously
available on any Similar Service." In other words, if you want to
sell your content anywhere else, you cannot prevent Amazon from
slashing the price of your game by setting a high list price.
And if you ever conduct even a temporary price promotion in
another market, you must permanently lower your list price in
Amazon's market.
These Amazon policies could have far reaching effects on game
developers. The IGDA has identified
five potentially problematic scenarios
in particular:
1) Amazon steeply discounts a large chunk of its Appstore
catalog (imagine: "our top 100-rated games are all 75% off!"). Some
developers will probably win in this scenario, but some developers
-- most likely, those near the bottom of the list -- will lose, not
gaining enough sales to offset the loss in revenue per sale. Amazon
benefits the most, because it captures all the customer goodwill
generated by such a promotion.
2) By requiring all developers to guarantee Amazon a minimum
list price that matches the lowest price on any other market,
Amazon has presented developers with a stark choice: abandon
Amazon's market or agree never to give another
distributor an exclusive promotional window.
3) Other digital markets that compete with Amazon (both
existing markets and markets yet-to-be-created) may feel compelled
to duplicate Amazon's terms, and perhaps even adopt more severe
terms in an effort to compete effectively with Amazon. In essence,
we're looking at a slippery slope in which a developer's "minimum
list price" ceases to be a meaningful thing.
4) Amazon steeply discounts (or makes entirely free) a
game that has a well-defined, well-connected niche audience. The
members of that niche audience snap up the game during the
promotional period, robbing the game's developer of a significant
percentage of its total potential revenue from its core
audience.
5) Amazon steeply discounts (or makes entirely free) a hit
game at a time when the game is already selling extremely well.
This sort of promotional activity may attract consumers away from
competing markets and into Amazon's arms. But it might actually
represent a net loss for the developer, which was already doing
quite well and didn't need to firesale its game at that moment in
time.
The IGDA's bottom line is simple: under Amazon's
current terms, Amazon has little incentive not to use a developer's
content as a weapon with which to capture marketshare from
competing app stores.
The IGDA does not have the power or inclination to dictate
how others conduct their business. However, the IGDA is permitted
to express its views on business practices that affect the
developer community, and it is the firm opinion of the IGDA
that:
1) A developer's
permission should be required by any retailer seeking to
pay less than the standard percentage of a developer's
minimum list price. This could be automated
and even "opt-out" with a reasonable period of notice, but
ultimately, a developer's permission should still be
required.
2) Developers should have the freedom to set a minimum
list price of whatever amount they see fit, without regard to
pricing in other app stores.
The IGDA has formally communicated its views to Amazon,
and while Amazon has been very willing to engage with the IGDA, it
has thus far expressed zero willingness to adjust its distribution
terms. We believe that the people currently
running Amazon's Appstore may have the best of intentions and a
desire to make their development partners successful, in general.
The problem, as history has repeatedly demonstrated, is
that things tend to change when a marketplace achieves any
degree of dominance. The terms of Amazon's distribution
agreement give it significant flexibility to behave in a manner
that may harmful to individual developers in the long run. Any
goodwill that Amazon shows developers today may evaporate the
minute Amazon's Appstore becomes so big that Android developers
have no choice but to distribute their content via the
store. It would be foolish to assume that because Amazon's
Appstore is small today, it will not become the Walmart of the
Android ecosystem tomorrow.
If Amazon responds to this open letter, it will likely
invoke the success of games that have already been promoted in its
Appstore; for example, games that have been featured as Amazon's
free app of the day. The company may claim that the success of
those games is proof that Amazon's model works. The IGDA believes
that this argument is a red herring. Amazon does not need
the terms it has established for itself in order to give away a
free app every day. Nor does it need the powers it has granted
itself to execute a wide variety of price promotions. Other
digital games platforms, such as Xbox LIVE Arcade and Steam, manage
to run effective promotions very frequently without employing these
terms.
Amazon may further argue that its success depends on the
success of its development partners, and therefore, that it would
never abuse the terms of its distribution agreement. Given that
Amazon can (and currently does) function perfectly well without
these terms in other markets, it is unclear why game developers
should take a leap of faith on Amazon's behalf. Such leaps are
rarely rewarded once a retailer achieves dominance.
We respect Amazon's right to stay the course, but as part
of our mission to educate developers, we feel that it is imperative
to inform the community of the significant potential downside to
Amazon's current Appstore terms. If you feel similarly, we urge you
to communicate your feelings on this matter directly with
Amazon.
Sincerely,
The IGDA Board of Directors
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www.ukie.info
Press Release
14 April 2011 - London, United Kingdom – Video games and
interactive entertainment trade body, UKIE today
uses its submission to the government’s National Curriculum Review
to call for the UK’s children to be taught computer science as a
standalone subject in schools.
The recent Livingstone Hope review of the skills needed in the
video games and visual effects industries highlighted that children
were not being taught the skills that Britain’s hi-tech industries
need. Although digital devices and software are an intrinsic part
of modern life, computer science, the most important skill required
to create the devices and software of the future, is not currently
on the National Curriculum.
Therefore, UKIE is using its submission to the government’s
National Curriculum review to support the Livingstone Hope review’s
recommendation that children should have the choice to study
computer science as part of the National Curriculum, from GCSE age
onwards.
UKIE believes that computer science will provide essential
knowledge alongside other STEM subject such as maths and physics,
of huge benefit to wider industry.
UKIE believes that this skills gap is a threat not just to the
future of the video games industry but also to any business that
has computer technology at its core – anything from shopping online
or creating a major engineering project, to producing the latest
video game or designing a jet engine. The potential impact of not
having the right skills can be seen when considering that
technology and content industries industries alone contribute over
£100 billion to the UK’s economy (source: CIHE – The Fuse).
Not having computer science as part of the National Curriculum
will mean that the UK will become a passive user of technology,
falling behind the rest of the world.
Including computer science in the revised National Curriculum
would also be a strong statement to the rest of the world that the
UK views technical understanding of computing as essential
knowledge for the high-tech economy of the 21st century.
The current ICT curriculum is not computer science. It focuses
on simply using existing software packages and not creating them.
This means that there is a generation of British children who lack
the maths, physics and computer programming skills required to
actually create the apps, games and digital technology that most of
us already use every day and that form part of an ever growing,
multi-billion pound global market.
Ian Livingstone OBE, UKIE Board Member,
co-author of the Livingstone Hope Skills Review and Life President,
of video games publisher Eidos said: “Our children are surrounded
by computers at school, in the playground and at home. You would be
forgiven for thinking that computers are the one thing that no
modern pupil is missing out on.”
“But you couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, the narrowness of how
we teach children about computers risks creating a generation of
digital illiterates, and starving some of the UK’s most successful
industries of the talent they need to thrive.”
“Putting computer science in the National Curriculum will have a
powerful effect: it will end the isolation of computers - the
defining technological force of the new century - in a strange
quasi-vocational educational ghetto, and instead will prepare our
pupils for some of the UK’s most successful growth industries,
especially the digital and creative industries.”
“Michael Gove recently highlighted the importance of Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg’s schooldays, in which he studied Greek and
Latin alongside maths and sciences. What went unreported was that
his school also taught computer science, a subject which not only
gave him practical skills but provided the intellectual
underpinnings of his blockbuster business. Faced with a world in
which they will be surrounded by computers and the opportunities
they create, Britain’s schoolchildren deserve the same chance.”
Michael Rawlinson, Director General of video
games trade body, UKIE said: “The UK has a heritage in developing
video games that we can be very proud of. However, if we are to
continue to produce world-class interactive entertainment we need
to ensure that we have a world-class work force to produce it.”
“One of UKIE’s key goals is to promote a skills and education
agenda that will ensure that the right people have the right skills
to succeed in the games industry. Having computer science
introduced onto the National Curriculum would be big step towards
achieving this goal and will have a positive impact on the many
other industries that have computer technology at their core.”
- ENDS -
Contacts:
For all press enquiries, please contact the UKIE press office on T:
+44 (0)20 7534 0582 or E:press@ukie.org.uk
About UKIE
The Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment or
UKIE is a trade body that represents the whole of the UK’s video
games and wider interactive entertainment industry. Founded in 1989
(and formerly known as ELSPA), UKIE’s membership includes games
publishers, developers and the academic institutions that support
the industry.
UKIE works with government to champion a range of issues
including age ratings, education and skills, tax incentives and
protecting intellectual property rights. It also works with the
media to ensure true and accurate representation of the sector by
raising awareness of the industry’s positive economic contribution
and the societal benefits of gaming to policy makers, regulators
and consumers.
One of UKIE’s key roles is to support its members by providing
them with key market information, promoting careers and offering
the business support services, training and best-practice knowledge
to enable them to operate most effectively.
In addition, UKIE works with GfK Chart-Track to compile weekly,
monthly and annual retail charts and sales reports for the UK
market.
