Scandinavia is still the only region in the EU where SONY entrusts the sales and marketing of SONY PlayStation to an external company. Nordisk Film, a division of Egmont, has just entered into an agreement between Nordisk Film Interactive and SONY’s European division, SCEE, to prolong the collaboration between the two companies.
PlayStation is among Egmont’s biggest brands. In addition to the consoles, Egmont now covers more than half of the electronic game titles on the Scandinavian market and also plays an important role in the development of games.
‘The expectation is for continued growth,’ states Nordisk Film’s Managing Director, Kenneth D. Plummer. He is proud of the continuing collaboration with SONY and will be launching new initiatives in game production this year.
Scandinavians value the combination of entertainment and new technology. Since starting to work together in 1995, Scandinavia has become one of the best per capita markets in the world for SONY PlayStation consoles and games. In the space of eight years, SONY PlayStation consoles have become part of over 20% of all Nordic households. Since Christmas 2000, the PS2 - the latest PlayStation console - has sold over 900,000 units. The PS2 now has a market share of 75% and it is expected that sales of this console will top 450,000 units this year alone.
On average, every sold Playstation results in the sale of five games. PlayStation is also strengthened by new opportunities – consumers can now play with a console mounted camera, via a broadband connection or using the upcoming portable version, PSP. PlayStation 2 can also play DVD films, another area in which Nordisk Film is the leading Nordic distributor and producer. Today, PlayStation 2, which has sold over fifty million examples world-wide, is the most sold DVD player in the Nordic region.
Kenneth D. Plummer again, ‘Our unique collaboration with SONY guarantees Nordisk Film a central role in the development of the market. Internationally, games are rapidly catching up with films in turnover, and we cover both media. Nordisk Film wants to strengthen this platform through continuing to develop our relationship with SONY as well as through our part ownership of Io Interactive, producers of the globally successful, ‘Hitman’ and the soon-to-be-released ‘Freedom Fighter’. A new element of our business plan is to invest in promising Nordic game developers.’
For further information please contact:
Kenneth D. Plummer, Managing Director, Nordisk Film, +45 33 26 67 01
Allan M. Hansen, General Manager, Nordisk Film Interactive, +45 33 26 67 30
Henrik Harring Jørgensen, Press Relations Manager, Nordisk Film, +45 23 33 02 65
NORDISK FILM is a part of Egmont and the leading developer, producer and distributor of the moving image in Scandinavia. Activities include film, animation, TV commercials, music videos, videos, DVD, TV and electronic games. NORDISK FILM is the official distributor of Sony PlayStation in Scandinavia and owns cinemas in Denmark and Norway. NORDISK FILM also owns companies working with post-production, film processing and broadcast facility rental. NORDISK FILM had a turnover of €432 million in 2002 and currently employs over 1100 people.
