FACTFILE ISRAEL Sponsored by Wholesaler and distributor of video games, consoles and accessories INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: ISRAEL
Population: 8,146,300 Currency: Israeli new shekel GDP (Per Capita): $38,004 Capital City: Jerusalem
KEY RETAILERS BUG, Olsale, Hameir, MediaGame, Toys ‘R’ Us, VGS Games, K.S.P Group
KEY DISTRIBUTORS Edlee Entertainment, ISFAR, Hed Arzi Music, Oberon Media, Matomy Media Group, Benda Magnetic
ISRAEL continues to be one of the fastest growing video games markets in the world, despite a lack of physical outlets. The Middle Eastern country’s games industry made a profit of approximately $450 million in 2013, according to non-profit game development initiative Made in Jerusalem. Part of the focus on development, rather than retail, is reinforced by a lack of specialist chains, with games sold primarily by general stores.
TOP DEVELOPERS Funtactix, Side-Kick, Corbomite Games, Nitako, Nordau Creative, eMaginarium, SpikySnail, Plarium, Playful Shark, Playtika, Space Cowboys, We Create Stuff , Tabtale
gadgets and games on the fly. There has never been a specific trade company working on creating stores solely for games – it has always revolved around other stuff.”
Marmor added that the lack of
physical stores means there’s a buoyant digital download market. “I buy all of
No-one in Israel goes to a
store to buy games in a box.
Amichai Neve Marmor, GamesIS
Distribution is similarly limited to only a few companies, with EdLee Entertainment, SFAR and Hed Arzi distributing the majority of titles from big publishers. Amichai Neve Marmor, a member of the audit committee for the Israeli video game organisation GameIS, told MCV: “In Israel it was always chains that usually sold peripherals,
July 11th 2014
my games from Steam and Origin, and I know a lot of other people who do that. No-one goes to a store to buy games in a box,” he explained. There are
also a variety of new digital distribution services springing up in the region. Israeli firm Playcast allows
TV companies to offer games directly to consumers via a cloud-based ‘gaming on demand’ service, much like Western firm OnLive. The service was recently added to the Ouya micro-console.
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www.mcvuk.com
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