“Play for Free” Announces its Line-up Featuring FanTrust President

Information wants to be free and so do games.

But where newspapers, music, and films are struggling to find a way to make money with free content, the games industry is just doing it. Online games have gone up by 22 per cent over the last year and the market is at a point where almost every other Internet user plays games online. Revenue for online games is forecast to hit $11 billion this year, a significant wedge of the $44 billion electronic game pie.

Just a few of the millions playing around in Sulake’s massive success: Habbo Hotel. © Sulake Corporation

Together with other game industry leaders, listen to FanTrust President Catherine Warren as she probes the fun-house relationship between the real game-of-life and the casual online game at “Play for Free” in Copenhagen November 19, 2009.

“When ‘Fans’ meet ‘Free’ all kinds of crazy stuff happens,” says Warren. “We are witnessing a time when virtual economics and real-world markets are at a crossroads, where social networks are the new digital playgrounds and where underground sweatshops with child labor mirror the activities of kids with unlimited cash to play.” The global economy may be collapsing, but the online game economy is exploding, notes Warren. “For winning companies, ‘free to play’ actually translates into billions in cash. So, I want to know: Will the next notorious white collar criminal be an in-game Bernie Madoff? Or will a future Nobel Prize go to a virtual economist?”

Experts in the field of free-to-play from Canada, the US, Sweden, Germany and Denmark will reveal transformations, anomalies and trends in this exciting global market at “Play for Free,” hosted by Denmark’s Media Desk and the National Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment.

Check out the Play for Free link for the complete speaker line-up and sessions

Download FanTrust’s whitepaper: Socialize Me – Tap Today’s Billion Dollar Social Games Sector with FanTrust

Read more about the FanTrust session: https://fantrust.com/talks-events/free-the-fans/