UKIE ready for Whitehall reveal

ELSPA will be dead in a matter of days.

But don’t worry – new name UKIE will come into effect on Tuesday, September 7th, with the rebrand ushering in a new era for the long-running UK trade body.

UKIE (pronounced you-kee and standing for the association for UK Interactive Entertainment) will reach out to include developers and content creators as members.

Speaking ahead of next week’s full reveal at a special evening briefing in Westminster on September 7th, director general Michael Rawlinson told MCV that he wants UKIE members to be companies that are in the business of making and exploiting interactive entertainment products,” regardless of label.

The market is no longer fitting into the demarcation of publisher, developer, retailer, distributor – we are no longer in silos, but in a more homogenous market,” he said.

It’s no longer about just a single physical point of contact at retail, and not on just consoles or PCs. It’s MMOs, browser and mobile as well now. There’s a much bigger remit that we want to cover.

The launch on September 7th will hopefully be a great occasion and help us lay out what it is we want to do for our key stakeholders – our members, consumers, the press and politicos.”

UKIE aims to create a much more united organisation for the industry.

Added Rawlinson: We are often called upon to speak for the industry – but we can’t.

Neither trade association says they can represent the whole industry because their members do not completely represent it.

This is no longer an exclusive old boys’ club – it is welcoming to all, and requires participation from within to make it what our members want it to be, so come and join us.”