THIS SMALL European nation may not be where you’d expect to find a growing games market, but there is a solid community of retailers and distributors in the region. Many companies that operate in Serbia also supply or are supplied by the neighbouring nations of Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania. Local distributors represent most publishers and platform holders as the market is not big enough to warrant Serbian offices. However, local retailer GameS stresses that global games firms should not overlook its homeland. “Serbia is a small market at the moment,” says CEO Branko Dangubic. “It has the potential to develop, but this depends on global political and economic tendencies. “The best option at the moment for any business coming to Serbia is to find a local partner and work step-by-step.”
Igor Jeremic, purchasing and sales manger at distributor Computerland adds: “Serbia is mostly PC- orientated, but in the past few years
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Serbia is a small market at the
moment, but has the potential to develop. Branko Dangubic, GameS
the console market has grown very quickly – especially for PlayStation.” “We expect Sony’s market share will continue to grow. Microsoft has a strong presence too, but it’s not supporting the Xbox market so local distributors are forced to supply the market through their own channels. “There is no Nintendo office but its sales are not impressive, especially for handheld consoles.” PC remains the dominant platform, but the downloads market has yet to achieve the same penetration it has in Western European nations. “The digital market is still in its early days,” explains Marcus Whitney, sales and business director at European digital distributor Triple A Codes. “There are some core internet cafés in the region which are very popular with gamers.”
These cafés also cater to the growing culture of online gambling. In November a new law was passed to reduce the number of illegal gaming sites.