VIDEO game makers from throughout the UK will converge on York for a major conference next week.

More than 200 leading figures from the industry's most influential companies are attending the inaugural Northern Exposure event at York Racecourse on Thursday, May 10, to discuss emerging opportunities.

The get-together, which establishes the city's credentials as a world centre for video game making, has been organised jointly by the York-born Game Republic and Codeworks GameHorizon, both support agencies for the industry in northern England.

One of the world's leading publishers, Eidos; casual games specialist MumboJumbo; Introversion; and award-winning driving games firm Eutechnyx are just four of the high profile companies providing speakers.

Delegates will explore how the latest developments can enable firms to exploit more flexible business models, launch games directly to market, and put creativity back at the heart of their work.

These include the emergence of new technologies, web distribution methods, and the growth of the casual games market - games that are easy for a new player to pick up within a few minutes.

Charles Cecil, founder of York-based Revolution Software, the company behind some of the world's top serial hits such as Broken Sword, and co-founder of Game Republic, will be one of the driving forces at the conference.

Mr Cecil, who recently received the European Industry Legend Award, said: "There is a thriving games industry throughout Yorkshire, and York is a very natural focus for companies in Sheffield, Leeds and Doncaster, as well as the whole of the north-east. We hope that this will be the start of an annual conference in the city.

He predicted: "As the games market becomes ever more hit-driven and the budgets needed to develop these hits escalate, the market will split between epic' games that sell at full price to hardcore gamers, and lower price games that appeal to a much broader and potentially much larger audience.

"The wider audience, made up of both core and casual gamers, is growing rapidly due to a widening age demographic, digital distribution opportunities and a lower price point.

"Northern Exposure 07 concentrates on these emerging opportunities."