Priming the pump for the upcoming Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Hamburg, Germany based Gamigo AG (an Axel Springer AG company) dropped two major announcements yesterday. First and foremost, a leading publisher of MMORPGs in Europe, will be opening a North American office to be based in New York, indicating their intent to become a global leader in online games publishing. Gamingo plans to have North American operations up and running by Q2 of 2010.
Patrick Streppel, executive member of the board, said “This New York office is a continuation of our international expansion. Thanks to the experience we have gained over the past few years in Europe, we are very well-equipped to tackle the North American market. Top-quality products planned for global publication will be announced and presented at the GDC.”
Gamigo’s 2009 success is a clear contributor to this expansion. Over the course of 2009, the company has tripled it’s employees, and driven sales up by 233 percent. These impressive numbers place Gamigo among the top 3 in it’s market segment, and makes them one of the fastest growing companies in the online games market.
Gamigo’s second announcement is there entry to the social gaming market. Their first foray into the social media waters has commenced with the release of Jade Tales, a fantasy RPG developed by Crafty, which can be played on Facebook.
In conjunction with Gamigo’s opening of a North American office they are firmly committed to the social gaming space. “With more than 6.7 million users in Germany alone, Facebook is of course also extremely important for the gaming industry. Naturally, it is only logical for gamigo, as one of the most successful gaming brands in Europe, to enter the realm of social media networks. The first step has been made successfully with Jade Tales; more games will follow in the near future,” comments Streppel.
Now, with Gamigo’s entry to the US/North American market, we’re presented with an interesting query: as European publishers of Fiesta, Project Powder, and NeoSteam, what’s the deal? Currently, in the North American market, Outspark holds the publishing rights to Fiesta and Project Powder, and ijji.com NeoSteam. Obviously, Gamigo does not hold these rights, so these three titles are off their plate, at least for a North American market. So with the full might of their European operations behind them, it should be interesting to see how Gamigo’s entry into an already highly competitive market shakes out….
