2006 Leipzig Games Convention Shows Record Attendance2006 Leipzig Games Convention Shows Record Attendance

Officials from the 2006 Leipzig Games Convention are reporting record breaking attendance at the close of this year's European consumer/trade convention, with an increase of nearly 27% over the 2005 attendance levels. A total of nearly 183,000 people are reported to have attended the Leipzig Fair's exhibition center this year, up from 134,000 in 2005, including 2,600 journalists from 38 countries, up from 2,000 latest year. This year, the 5th Games Convention's annual consumer and business oriented exhibitions also drew positive response from its newly established focus on art, with its "Digital Beauties/Character Design," "Machinima," and "Pong.Mythos" (a travelling exhibit compiled by Berlin's Computer Game Museum). The convention's accompanying developer conference, GCDC, also saw 600 attendees from developers worldwide convening to discuss issues of the business and science of games, several of which were covered by Gamasutra last week by on-site reporters. Next year's Games Convention has been slated to take place August 23rd to 26th, with the 2007 GCDC held on the 20th to 22nd of August.