Nintendo beats EA to top of UK Develop list
Nintendo's beaten EA Canada to the top of the Developer 100 report, publisher Intent Media's announced. The book - released today - lists the world's developers on the amount of revenue their products have generated in the UK in the past year.
Nintendo's top of the list for the first time in the book's four years, EA Canada winning every other year so far. Games from Nintendo's internal studios generated £129.83m in revenue in 2007 – up almost 200 per cent year-on-year.
Press release after the link.
NINTENDO TOPPLES EA WHILE EUROPE POWERS AHEAD IN THE ONLY RANKING OF GAME DEVELOPERS’ COMMERCIAL PROWESS
Annual Develop 100 Report Names And Numbers The World’s Most Successful Studios
Thursday 10th April/... Today sees the release of the fourth annual Develop 100, which ranks the world’s games development studios according to the sales of their games at UK retail.
The book is published, in association with Sheridans and amBX, by the editorial team behind Develop magazine (www.developmag.com) – the leading international publication for games developers.
Nintendo takes the number one spot in the 2008 edition of the Develop 100, knocking down EA Canada, which held the top place in the previous three editions of the list. Games made by the firm’s Kyoto and Tokyo-based development teams, which include Brain Training and Super Mario Galaxy, generated £129.83m in revenue – up almost 200 per cent year-on-year.
But despite the increased success of Nintendo and other Japanese studios – and the widely reported pressures from low-cost development centres in Canada – the Develop 100 shows
European studios in good health. Development teams in the UK and mainland Europe claim 36 places in the list between them, having generated £284m at UK retail in 2007 – higher than Canada’s 12 studios and £221m revenues.
The Develop 100 is an invaluable guide that throws light on the real winners in one of the world’s fastest-growing creative industries, tracking the sales of every game released and sold in 2007 at UK retail, the world’s third-largest software market.
"A must-read book for everyone in the games industry, whether studio manager or contract worker, the Develop 100 provides an invaluable barometer of trends and data backed by our incisive analysis," commented Develop editor Michael French.
"While the success of the Wii and DS has helped a number of Japanese firms triumph, it’s good to also see developers in the UK and mainland Europe punching above their weight to claim a huge chunk of the credit for some of last year’s best-selling games."