Snowball Studios & 1C-Softclub merger
To localize and promote videogames.
Moscow, April 30, 2010. Snowball Studios, a Russian games publisher founded in 1996 with the aim to localize and promote videogames, and 1C-SoftClub, a full-range Russian distributor with country-wide reach, have announced their decision to merge operations.
As the result of the merger, the publishing portfolios of both companies will be consolidated. The team of Snowball will be fully integrated into 1C-SoftClub, making the company ready for imme¬di¬ate growth in the key areas of distribution and market approach expertise. No redundancies are expected, while the general head¬count of the group is expected to slightly rise in 2010 as more positions are created in the expanding marketing unit.
1C, SoftClub and Snowball, have a long-standing track record of cooperation on the Russian games market. Over the course of fifteen years of publishing, Snowball has released over 275 games for PC, Mac, PlayStation, PSP, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Wii platforms, including the world’s first Russian localization for Nintendo DS.
Snowball built its reputation on the basis of extensive expertise in localization and marketing, especially with products that require approach tailored to the needs of particular product. The team is well-known for a number of success stories where impressive commercial results were yielded due to close cooperation with international publishers, with Russian releases remaining part and parcel of the global launch campaigns while at the same time employing original ideas that effectively targeted local market.
“Snowball brings over fifteen years of professional experience in games marketing, and we are delighted to welcome to our group such a brilliant team, -- noted Dmitry Martynov, Managing Director of 1C-SoftClub, -- The integrated unit will offer the distribution capacity, and the level of dedication to products, that is absolutely unmatched on the Russian games market. Never before was there a distributor that could offer so much to its international partners.”
“The consolidation of our efforts through merger reflects our ambition to further develop the publishing process, -- added Sergei Klimov, Managing Director of Snowball Studios and, as of today, Director of Business Development of 1C-SoftClub, -- The increased capacity of the company will considerably rise the level of our service in how we present product to market, and how we cooperate with our partners who supply this product. This is great news to both our publishing partners, and our customers.”