INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: Iceland

Iceland is only 40,000 square miles in size, and its population – and therefore its retail landscape – is even more consolidated.

Civilisation in this volcanic land is focused around the capital city, meaning that publishers, retailers and distributors alike can concentrate their business on this one area to efficiently service as many consumers as possible.

The Icelandic market is very small with the population just over 320,000,” explained lafur Jelsson, VP of distributor Sena’s computer games division.

The good news is however that over 200,000 of those live in the Rekyjavik area.

The retail environment consists of both big chains and smaller more specialised retailers.”

This range of retail outlets is similar to that of the UK, as are consumers’ genre tastes. The type of games that sell well over here also enjoy strong performances in Iceland, making it easy to judge what titles to bring to market.

But market leadership is slightly different: Iceland is yet another territory when Sony has an insurmountable lead over Microsoft and Nintendo.

The market is very console orientated,” said Jelsson. PS3 is the clear leader among the consoles, with 70 per cent market share.

The biggest genres are FPS and football – even though our national sport is handball.”

The development community in Iceland is much more sparse than other Nordic nations.

However, it does still have some big hitters: namely, EVE Online studio CCP Games. Most of the other developers are focused on mobile games.

MCV Nordic launches in mid-March. For more details, contact Christer.Engtrom@MCVnordic.com

THE FACTS
Population: 381,452
Currency: Icelandic Krna
GDP (Per Capita): $39,025
Capital City: Reykjavk
Language: Icelandic

KEY RETAILERS
Elko, BT, Gamestdin, Skfan, Max

MAIN DISTRIBUTORS
Sena, Myndform, Samfilm, Ormsson

TOP DEVELOPERS
CCP, Dexoris, Gogogic, MindGames, NARC, On The Rocks Productions, Ymir Mobile

PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Electronic Arts