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United nations: UKTI leads the charge as British developers hit South Korea

13 firms flying the flag

United nations: UKTI leads the charge as British developers hit South Korea

13 developers from across the UK recently hit South Korea on a mission to improve working relations between the two markets and encourage growth.

Led by UK Trade & Investment – better known as UKTI – the trip saw Mike Hawyard of trade association TIGA give a presentation to a Korean delegation designed to illustrate the strength and vibrancy of the UK development scene.

Indeed, of note was the subtle switch by Hawyard of UKTI's 'Creativity is GREAT' mantra to 'Gaming is GREAT' for the benefit of the audience, with studios on the trip stressing the important of a strong relationship between the development scenes in the UK and South Korea looking ahead.

The great and the good

"This was a business changing opportunity," detailed one such developer, Ewan Lamont of Legendary Games.

"We got to see the inside track on to the Asian gaming market whilst being ably and actively supported by UKTI, the embassy staff and the Britain is GREAT Campaign."

The timing of the trip was, of course, no coincidence, with developers and publishers alike from the across the globe having hit South Korea for G-Star in Busan.

However, even taken on its own, the developers who attended the trip said it proved to be an invaluable experience in terms of getting to grips with the Korean market.

"As a fact-finding exercise the trip was an excellent, well-organised introduction to the Korean mobile gaming market," concluded Kuju's Gary Bracey.

"My personal agenda was to gain a clearer understanding of the Asian market and the types of games they were looking for, in addition to creating a network of contacts to nurture over the forthcoming months.

"However, my expectations were exceeded in all cases and I found the entire week to have been highly successful."

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.