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The western wings and central hall of the new Leipziger Messe Fairgrounds. The east wings and business centre are off-camera to the right. The central hall alone has been described as being large enough to enclose a World Cup Soccer pitch.

The Games Convention (sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention, and abbreviated as GC) is an annual video game event in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides videogames, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware and Edutainment. Its concept was created by the Bundesverband für Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (German Federal Association for Entertainment Software) amongst others.

With 183,000 visitors, 2,600 journalists and 368 exhibitors from 25 countries in 2006, the Games Convention rivals the Tokyo Game Show as the biggest games event in the world. By comparison, both the Leipzig and Tokyo shows, where gamers of all ages can visit the show floor, are three times the size of the trade-only 2006 E3 show in Los Angeles. The Business Centre at Leipzig is reserved for professional visitors.

The conference takes place in a sprawling modern complex of exhibition halls in Leipzig, Germany.

To help identify younger visitors, coloured bracelets are handed out to attendees, indicating their age: "12 years and older" (green), "16 years and older" (blue) and "18 years and older" (red). These colours correspond to the age indicators the USK, the German version of PEGI or ESRB, uses.

The Leipzig Games Convention was first held in 2002. In 2005 the convention achieved visitor numbers of 134,000, which had risen to 185,000 by 2007.

The Games Convention is usually held in the last week of August. The Games Convention 2007 took place from August 23 to August 26, 2007. It started one day earlier for press members, exhibitors and professionals.

An Asian edition of the Games Convention has been announced for 2007. It will be held in Singapore starting September 6, 2007. [1]. The current title of the expo is Games Convention Asia 2007.

The Games Convention is facing a rising demand in Asia. [2]

The Games Convention Developers Conference (GCDC) is the largest game design and development conference in Europe [3], with 600 attendees in 2006.

The GCDC is held in a building in the same complex in Leipzig where the GC takes place, typically just before the opening of the main show. During the conference attendees gain ideas and inspiration from the presentation of new tools and methods, and from a variety of sessions discussing both the craft and the business of game design and development. The conference is open to both game professionals and students.

As the major European conference, GCDC draws top speakers from all over the world. Presenters in recent years include Bob Bates, Louis Castle, Don Daglow, Peter Molyneux, Bill Roper, Bruce Shelley and Will Wright.

The Games Convention opens for professional visitors, such as developers and members of the press, one day before the event opens to the public. Many developers and publishers hold official press conferences on this day.

As part of the Games Convention, on the evening of the first day of the Games Convention, a grand Symphonic Game Music Concert is held in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Well-known game music composers such as Nobuo Uematsu, Michiru Yamane, Akira Yamaoka, Jason Hayes, Rob Hubbard, Chris Huelsbeck and Yuzo Koshiro are among those who have attended.

• Symphonic Game Music Concert
• Leipziger Messe

• Official website of the Games Convention
• Games Convention Developer Conference
• Site of the Symphonic Game Music Concerts
• Leipziger Messe
• Games Convention Asia official website

• Roads lead to Singapore in September for videogame industry
• Suggested CICC events
• Gamasutra.com: Games Convention Asia 2007 Details Revealed
• Heise.de: Facts about the Games Convention 2007 (german)