RALEIGH - Video gaming enthusiasts gathered in the Triangle for one of the largest industry conferences on the east coast.
The Triangle Game Conference is a showcase for the industry, which has continued to grow in the last few years despite the recession.
Paul Ash, 24, is attending the conference as an exhibitor for Chapel Hill-based Emergent Game Technologies, http://www.emergent.net/. He just started working with them three weeks ago, even though he moved to North Carolina three years ago to get into the gaming industry here.
"I really enjoy games overall," he said. "What really got me to want to be in the game industry is that I like to create."
Emergent is one of about 45 gaming companies in North Carolina that are clustered in hubs like the Triad, the Triangle and the Wilmington area.
"The gaming industry is only going to get bigger," said Alexander Macris, the president of the Triangle Game Initiative and director of the conference. "It's the fastest growing entertainment industry in the world."
Macris said the industry employs about 1,400 people and has continued to grow, even in tough economic times.
"It's a growth sector for technology and as we start to see things like social network games on Facebook, immersive learning that uses game technology, training programs for doctors and soldiers, all these technologies are all being powered by video games," he said.
Macris expected another 500 to 600 jobs to be added this year alone. That's good news for the hundreds of job seekers attending the conference.
"This area is just starting to boom," said Sylvia Talley. "There's already so much here and there's still people trying to get into it."
Talley and her friend Alexa Riley are both getting ready to graduate with degrees that are suited for the gaming industry.
"I'm very happy that North Carolina is becoming one of the biggest places to be for the industry and film," Riley said. She said it was better than having to move to the West Coast for the same options.
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