WARD Hadaway has agreed a deal to become the first sponsor of a video games network in the region.

The law firm, which is based in Newcastle, will give the group financial backing and provide legal surgeries for the 20 member organisations.

GameHorizon has been set up by Codeworks, the region's centre of excellence for digital enterprise.

It provides networking opportunities for the North-East's video games industry.

During the past few years, the region has emerged as one of the UK's major centres of games development and is home to some of Europe's most innovative companies, with internationally successful titles and decades of development experience behind them.

GameHorizon supports and promotes the interests of this sector, building the competitiveness and value of games development for member organisations from across Teesside, Tyneside and County Durham.

Alex Shiel, head of IT and intellectual property at Ward Hadaway, said: "The computer games industry is one of the fastest growing and most exciting business sectors in the region, with North-East companies regularly making it into the top ten games chart.

"The speed of change in the computer games industry is immense and is reflected in changes in law to keep pace with these developments. Invariably, this requires those businesses who could potentially encounter intellectual property and IT law-related issues to have an understanding of the requirements."

Carri Cunliffe, project manager of GameHorizon, said: "We believe that this deal will bring a number of high-value business benefits to our members, such as discounted legal advice and support on issues such as intellectual property rights - a hugely important issue for games companies."

Herb Kim, chief executive of Codeworks, which was set up by regional development agency One NorthEast, said: "The North-East has a growing role to play in the games and digital media sector.

"With Teesside developing the prestigious Digital City project and the North-East hosting a number of major festivals, GameHorizon has a key role to play in this evolving sector. We at Codeworks look forward to GameHorizon and Ward Hadaway working together to support and nurture this incredibly important and valuable market."