Following a fresh investment from an Indian MMO games giant, Codemasters' CEO Rod Cousens has gotten fresh on the rest of the publishing industry, calling the traditional business model "the model of the dinosaurs."
"A traditional games publisher with a distribution infrastructure is no longer the model," Cousens said in the latest issue of trade magazine MCV. "We have positioned ourselves well for the future."
So what's all the renewed enthusiasm all about, then? Cousens comments are on the back of a 50 per cent buyout of Codemasters by Reliance Big Entertainment - a firm with about $81m capital and an established player in the MMO, online casual and mobile businesses.
The share purchase means that the UK publisher is now better-equipped to tackle digital markets. We could well see mobile versions of Grid, Dirt, Cricket and other Codemasters franchises as it explores the online space. Cousens believes that his company has the edge over others.
"We've focused on franchises that are proven. We have an online infrastructure that companies far bigger than ours haven't got - which has been extremely beneficial in terms of our alignments with Reliance. And we are now addressing emerging markets. I think all of those aspects are points that other companies have yet to address."
The CEO then finishes by firing a warning to larger publishers looking to tackle the same digital markets as Codemasters. "Those that have sat in the fast lane to date, move over."
"A traditional games publisher with a distribution infrastructure is no longer the model," Cousens said in the latest issue of trade magazine MCV. "We have positioned ourselves well for the future."
So what's all the renewed enthusiasm all about, then? Cousens comments are on the back of a 50 per cent buyout of Codemasters by Reliance Big Entertainment - a firm with about $81m capital and an established player in the MMO, online casual and mobile businesses.
The share purchase means that the UK publisher is now better-equipped to tackle digital markets. We could well see mobile versions of Grid, Dirt, Cricket and other Codemasters franchises as it explores the online space. Cousens believes that his company has the edge over others.
"We've focused on franchises that are proven. We have an online infrastructure that companies far bigger than ours haven't got - which has been extremely beneficial in terms of our alignments with Reliance. And we are now addressing emerging markets. I think all of those aspects are points that other companies have yet to address."
The CEO then finishes by firing a warning to larger publishers looking to tackle the same digital markets as Codemasters. "Those that have sat in the fast lane to date, move over."
Comments
lord cthulhu 12 Apr 2010 11:30
1/1
ERROR DETECTED: there was no NEW investment, Reliance bought the horrible underperforming PIK loans from Goldman (probably at a discount) and converted them to equity, taking 50% of Codies for ... not much.
expect more bad news soon.
expect more bad news soon.