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TERRITORY REPORT: RUSSIA Mother Russia on the mend
The world’s geographically biggest nation has been through some tough times but with its economy on the rise, the games industry is confident of a strong year. James Batchelor learns more about the main challenges in the region
THE RUSSIAN games industry has entered 2011 with plenty of optimism. After a challenging couple of years during the recession, the nation’s economy is recovering – and games distributors and retailers are keen to take advantage of the resultant growth opportunities this provides. “2009 and 2010 were not the easiest years for the Russian games industry,” says publisher 1C Company’s
international PR and marketing director Anatoly Subbotin.
“The sector has suffered a lot during the
economic crisis.
2010 became the year of recovery and consolidation.”
As such, 1C joined forces with SoftClub in 2009 to form – wait for it – 1C SoftClub. The firm is now Russia’s biggest distributor and publisher with a whopping 75 per cent share of the market. However, the recent explosive growth has created new problems, as Boris Romanov – who oversees business development and marketing at distributor Gametec – explains. “The industry grew way too fast prior to the start of the economic recession, then shrank rapidly by as
“
www.mcvuk.com After the
recession, 2010 became the year of recovery and consolidation. Anatoly Subbotin, 1C
much as 40 to 50 per cent and now it’s growing as rapid as before to regain all that it’s lost,” he says. “The double-digit growth we’re experiencing right now requires huge investments from retail and distributors alike. That brings us to the biggest challenge: extremely high operational costs.” To minimise the impact of this, companies are looking into other ways to drive revenue. Successful ventures so far include attracting new audiences through the likes of Kinect and PlayStation Move, digital distribution and the rise of online games. “One of the main challenges that the
Russian development sector is currently facing is the growing necessity of making games aimed not only at local audiences, but interesting to people all across the globe,” says Subbotin.
“Our aim as a publisher is to bring out titles to as many people as possible and digital distribution helps us a lot to achieve this goal.” With the economy on the rise, the Russian games industry is confident that 2011 could be a strong year and hopes to continue this in 2012 and beyond.
THE FACTS
Population: 142,905,200 Currency: Ruble GDP: $10,522 Capital City: Moscow Language: Russian
Key retailers: Eldorado, Evrosety, Game Park, Gamezone, Hitzone, Media Markt, M Video, Svyaznoy, White Wings
Distributors: 1C SoftClub, Akella, Gametec, Noviydisk
May 6th 2011
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