Ireland's first gaming industry conference - Nexus - takes place in Dublin today.

Nexus aims to bring together developers, publishers, investors and others in the industry to discuss the current opportunities in the sector here, and its potential for growth.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, event organiser Stuart Dempsey said the industry here was still in its early stages, but he was optimistic about its prospects.

"I think the gaming industry in Ireland is still in its infancy to a large extent - but really we're here to talk about the potential," he said.

"What a lot of people don't realise is that the global games industry is worth more than the movie and music industries combined. It's a huge opportunity over the next five, 10, 20 years to drive significant economic growth and job creation," he said.

Speakers at Nexus today will include Nikki Lanne, CEO of Dublin-based War Ducks - which in 2020 hosted a visit by Apple CEO Tim Cook.

It will also hear from John Romero - who helped to create iconic games like Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein 3D.

In 2015 he and his wife Brenda Romero established Romero Games in Galway.

A number of larger studios also have a presence in Ireland - though their operations here largely focus on support services like localisation and testing.

Mr Dempsey said growing the sector here will be about getting more big studios to make games here - while also supporting indigenous developers to grow.

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"We are seeing multinational game publishers locating in Ireland, there's a lot of things going on in the background... which is attracting them here." he said. "From that you hope to see, and we are seeing, indigenous spin-off companies developing from that.

"So I think it's going to be a combination of both - but the potential is huge. We see the talent and the passion that's within the gaming industry here."

Ireland will face stiff competition in trying to draw in big-name developers - given the amount of countries and cities around the world that also vie for this business.

San Francisco is one of the world's biggest gaming hubs, but there is also significant development taking place in Montreal, London, Stockholm and Tokyo.

But Mr Dempsey argues that Ireland has a proven track record of drawing in big businesses, which it can build on in the world of gaming.

"As a country we've demonstrated in the past that, when we identify a sector to target, we're very good at doing that - whether that's pharmaceuticals, medical technology or tech," he said.

"We're beginning to see the alignment of all stakeholders now - IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, and groups like Imirt and Ardán doing great work in the background."

In Budget 2022 the Government introduced a tax credit for games development, which has proven helpful to the sector.

Mr Dempsey said the key now is to tweak and broaden those kinds of supports so they can assist more types of companies in the sector.

"It's been a really welcome first step, a really positive move," he said. "At the moment a one-size-fits-all doesn't necessarily capture all of the games development companies in Ireland, or the multinational companies that are looking to set up in Ireland," he stated.

"But there is work going on in the background to make those changes, so that's going to be a work in progress," he added.