computer game software developed by a North-East company is being showcased in the US next month.

Middlesbrough's Chattering Pixels is heading to the US, on March 20, to meet major games producers at the Game Developers Conference.

Already, three top development houses and about 20 other companies have arranged meetings with Chattering Pixels, which specialises in middleware, the core code used by developers to create computer and video games.

Chattering Pixels says it is hoping to revolutionise the way computer games are created and has its sights set on cracking the £24.5bn industry.

Neil Holmes, director of Chattering Pixels, said: "Our products can shave months off development time, which means a saving of tens of thousands of pounds in costs for games studios.

"We only set up ten months ago, but have already received serious interest in our work from around the world. We are looking forward to our US trip, which promises to be a real step forward in terms of business development and gathering market intelligence."

He said that new technology created by Chattering Pixels could make developing games simpler, faster and cheaper.

"We see a huge market for our products.

"Development costs are growing all the time as games get increasingly complex and realistic.

"The fact that many developers are struggling to make a profit, means that time and cash-saving products such as this are of huge interest to developers."

Chattering Pixels is a member of Codeworks GameHorizon, a network for the games industry in the North-East.

Carri Cunliffe, project manager of GameHorizon, said: "Chattering Pixels' products are a timely and exciting development and could be an ideal solution for many developers, who usually have to risk significant investment in developing their new games, which may fail to be published."