UK game industry trade group TIGA has revealed the first details on its upcoming Casual Games Event scheduled for May 13 in London. The one-day event for casual and social game developers will feature speakers from BBC, BBC Worldwide Games, Autodesk, Channel 4 Education, Microsoft, Mo Pay, Disney, RIM, UKTI, Zylom and key members of the team who created ‘Tomb Raider’, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Adrian Smith.

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA's CEO, says that the group's vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to make games and that casual games are a crucial part of the UK industry. TIGA’s new Casual Games Committee will support casual game developer members by raising their profile and by generating new business opportunities for them, he added.

UK trade group Tiga has announced that it has established a new division to support the growing legions of casual and social game developers in the region. The group that represents the UK's game development industry says that the new division can help studios network, develop strategic partnerships, identify trends in the market and offer discounts on software and tools when possible.

The group has also opened a ‘Casual Games Committee’, designed to "support companies creating games of all formats with production budgets between £10,000 and £300,000." Tiga added that this move is a response to “exponential growth in casual gaming platforms" in the region. Tiga members working on a casual game can apply to join, as long as their game's budget is within the previously stated guidelines.

UK games industry trade group TIGA says that it plans to bring a "record number" of delegates from the United Kingdom to the Game Developers Conference this year. TIGA, in partnership with the UKT&I’s Trade Access Programme, has allocated 19 grants of £1400 ($2,250 USD) to assist companies with their exhibitor costs at GDC and Game Connection @ GDC.

"The UK game development sector is an export success story. A typical game developer generates 62 per cent of their turnover through the export of games," said Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO. "Attending overseas trade shows helps game developers to maximise their export potential. TIGA is delighted to be an accredited trade association, working with UKT&I, to enable UK developers to achieve success at GDC."

Relic Entertainment announced via the Company of Heroes web site that it is shutting down Company of Heroes Online. The game never made it out of the beta testing phase. The World War II-themed real-time strategy / action game hybrid will officially close on March 31.

Relic also announced that it is no longer selling COHO Cash (the game's currency), and are urging players to spend cash they have now. Refunds for cash are not likely. While Relic describes the six month-long beta test as "successful" the future of the online game is in doubt:

"We are still working on our plans for the Company of Heroes franchise and are not ready to discuss details yet. We will be leveraging all the data and feedback the Company of Heroes Online Beta generated."

While TIGA and UKIE applauded the Livingstone-Hope Skills Review report released earlier this week, the trade groups representing in the interests of publishers and developers says that they have no plans to merge the organization into one entity - as the report suggested they do.

TIGA applauded recommendations that it has been seeking doe a very long time including using video games to promote the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, and support for "Knowledge Transfer Partnerships." TIGA CEO Richard Wilson said he welcomes the proposal "requiring higher education institutions to provide good quality data about the employment destination of graduates from games courses and other disciplines relevant to the video games industry."

A new report calls for UK trade groups TIGA and UKIE to work together to better support the industry in the region. The recommendation is part of the UK video games education review revealed today (the Livingstone-Hope report).

"Progress is all about simplification not complication," reads the report. "In order to be clearly heard, it is important to speak with a single voice. To be taken seriously the video games industry and its trade bodies must be united to raise awareness of the opportunities it offers and the issues it faces. Only then will it be able to effect change."

The report goes on to say that the UK games industry would be better served by one organization - possibly by combining the two groups.

UK video game industry trade group TIGA has re-released a revised 85-page document showing the positives of the government offering tax relief to the industry. The report, a revision of a document that was released to Labour Party government in 2008, was put together by TIGA, Osborne Clarke, games research firm Games Investor Consulting. The thrust of the report is that, if the government were to approve tax relief for the video game industry, it could create 3,366 industry jobs and create £431 million in investments.

TIGA says that this tax relief should be calculated in the same way that existing tax relief for British films is calculated.

He failed to buy out The Pirate Bay. In fact, he has failed at a lot of things in the last few years. Now Hans Pandeya, and his company Global Gaming Factory X, face creditors that want some of their investment back. Two creditors, collectively owed more than $220,000, have asked the courts put the company into bankruptcy.

Kennicott AB and Hercora Trading Technology say they are owed 1.5 million kronor ($220,000). The amounts, 906,200 kronor and 567,600 kronor respectively, were loaned to the company in August 2008. In an application to the Sweden's district court, the companies demand that GGF "is immediately placed in bankruptcy."

Pandeya blames much of his company's failure on not being able to purchase The Pirate Bay. TorrentFreak reports that Pandeya has been making offers left and right to buy various BitTorrent sites, but no one is accepting his offer.

Got design skillz?

The Entertainment Consumers Association is running a T-shirt design contest. How do you get involved? Just download this .pdf file. Here are some rules:

• By entering the competition, you agree to give ECA exclusive rights to publish your work on our website and/or use your design on our T-shirt.
• Jurying will be done anonymously and designs will be selected on the basis of merit and
  feasibility.
• All finalists will receive a copy of the T-shirt design, and the winning designer will also receive a
  gift certificate for $100 to GameStop and a prize package valued at at least another hundred dollars.
• The competition is open to U.S. and Canada residents only and is void where prohibited by law.
• You can not infringe on anyone’s copyright with your design, and by entering the competition,
  you agree that your work is your own.
• ECA will announce the winner on October 3rd at the E for All in LA. You do not have to be present.
• Must be 18 years or older to enter the contest
   

The deadline for submission is September 30th. All entries should be e-mailed to the ECA at: info@theeca.com.

FULL DISCLOSURE DEPT: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics.