The conference was opened by Information and Communication Technology Minister, Marsha Thomson, who had this to say about the Victorian sector of the local games industry.
"From humble beginnings two decades ago, the Victorian computer game industry currently exports an estimated $30 million annually and employs more than 300 full-time artists, designers, producers and game developers," she said.
As part of the Game On strategy, the Victorian government plans on:
?providing up to $375,000 over two years for the creation of local computer game content through Film Victoria's Digital Media Fund;
'securing the Australian Game Developers Conference in Melbourne for a further three years from 2003 to 2005;
?working with the computer game industry to extend the successful console developer kit program to include next generation consoles such as Microsoft Xbox; and
?investigating the establishment of an Australian Games Innovation Centre in Melbourne to bring together industry associations, a games incubator and leading companies.
Read more at Australian It, or visit the Graphite website for more details about the conference.
Download the Game On strategy on the Multimedia Victoria website.