Sony DADC speeds in as new distribution choice

A major new option in games distribution has emerged, and you already know its name: Sony DADC.

The company best known for manufacturing PC and PlayStation games this week told MCV it is now offering primary distribution services to publishers and developers.

DADC will flex the muscle of its already-established disc duplication, storage and shipping operation to make the move work.

In the UK, Sony DADC has a large distribution and special packaging facility in Enfield, North London. It also runs a PC disc manufacturing plant in Sussex, and is famous in games for a massive PlayStation manufacturing plant in Austria.

The firm has hired Rob Gross as head of business development for games to start building its offer to supply titles on all formats.

The former Midway and Trilogy man, now head of games business development for DADC, told us: We’re the only media firm that has manufacturing and distribution in the UK so we can save significant revenues for publishers looking to grow their business here.

We also offer an added value and special packaging service for those assembling their games over here.”

To complete the offer Sony DADC has also added a sales element, by founding a new label with Mastertronic to support smaller firms hoping to reach UK retailers.
Sales VP Sigi Obermayr commented: Mastertronic is a strong independent partner that can concentrate on sales while we focus on what we do best. We can be very creative in this space.”

The two say in the long-term they hope to challenge distribution stalwarts such as Centresoft, Koch and Gem.

Roger Twynham, UK sales boss for audio and games, at Sony DADC, added: We’ve always had a strong presence in manufacturing, but we haven’t made as many in-roads in distribution.

We’re now addressing that, with a compelling end-to-end solution for games.”

MASTERTRONIC DEAL IS ‘STRONG UK SOLUTION’

The new Mastertronic label that Sony DADC is supporting could provide a big boost for smaller publishers.

Dubbed ‘Mastertronic – powered by Sony DADC’, this will aid the already-effective relationships the firm has with clients such as Rising Star, City Interactive, DTP and PopCap.

It will also help tempt smaller firms to release physical content in the UK – plus the 72 countries Sony DADC serves across Europe.

Working with Sony means we lessen the risks in what is still a challenging trading environment,” said James Cato, group sales director.

We pride ourselves on good relationships with retail. We can make those single-title-phenomena like Sniper a much more regular thing. We’re both nimble and powerful now.”