On the frontline of gaming
With the backing of its new Japanese-American parent company, game developers Rough Cookie hope to expand rapidly over the coming years. "The company can now fully focus on the development of successful new games for iPhones and other smart phones", explains co-founder Wouter ten Brink of the Amsterdam-based mobile game developer. This is certainly a luxury in a market characterised by ever-shorter payback periods and growing demand for more complex and visually attractive games.
In return for its acquisition of the new Dutch subsidiary, the Japan-based DeNA Company and US manufacturer Ngmoco have established a firm foothold in the rapidly expanding European gaming market. "The move offered them access to a market that still has huge growth potential", explains Ten Brink. "Our location also played a role in terms of added value. The region around Amsterdam is a European hotspot for gaming companies."
Japan 'game jam'
In 2008, a ‘game jam’ was organised as part of a commemorative event marking four hundred years of trade relations between Japan and the Netherlands.
Rough Cookie, and its winning game Waterways immediately achieved a profit. The founders of Rough Cookie attracted the attention of their later Japanese and American partners. Ten Brink recalls. "We realised we would both benefit from an intensive cooperation. As a minor player, you’ll have to find a partner that can offer sufficient scale and access to the various mobile platforms. The larger players, in turn, need the creative impulses and advantages of small scale."
Foothold
With Rough Cookie in the fold, the DeNA family has now gained a firm foothold on European soil and has access to the increasingly important gaming cluster in and around the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. A region that is home to almost one hundred companies directly or indirectly involved in designing and developing online, mobile or serious games.
Despite the effects of the recession, gaming will clearly remain an important growth centre in the burgeoning creative industry in and around Amsterdam for years to come. And this results in a growing number of foreign companies are setting up offices in Amsterdam or acquiring local players. Ilja Linnemeijer of business service provider PwC explains the foreign interest: "In the gaming sector, it’s all about the degree of connectivity. The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area has a highly dense and stable broadband network, one of the best-equipped airports in Europe, and a city that challenges people to broaden their horizons and exchange creative ideas."
Rough Cookie now feels it is in a position to look to the future with a sense of confidence. "Together, we’re working on the cutting edge of the gaming industry. That’s incredibly inspiring to us all."
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