Majesco’s March

What has led Majesco to go direct?
We’ve got the best ever line-up of games in our current portfolio in terms of breadth, quality and potential.
We felt it was time for us to be completely responsible for those from day one – I think 100 per cent focus is the only way we can be sure we’re maximising the potential for each and every product.

Even though we’ve worked with a number of good partners in the past, we’ve always ultimately wanted to be in charge of our own destiny. Now we have the team in place, and the quality of games to allow us to do that.

In this economic climate is that not a risky move?
I think even in more pleasant economic times that making a move like this has some naturally associated risk. However with the right personnel, relationships and right products in place then the risk is far more manageable. It is tough out there at retail right now, but we can be assured by going direct ourselves that we have 100 per cent focus.

Do you have a distributor confirmed for the new releases?
We do – and we’ll be announcing that information shortly.

Are you looking to sign up developers for new games?
Absolutely. Signing the quality-infused Night At The Museum 2 was a huge coup for us and really does put a stake in the ground. Working with visionaries like Matsuura-San at Nana-On Sha on Major Minor’s Majestic March shows that the pedigree of people we are working with is very high. We’re always on the look out for great products across all platforms.

We’ve got healthy budgets and we’re happy to receive all kinds of submissions and actively encourage them. Our greenlight system is both transparent and efficient – something that should be attractive to potential partners.

What have you learnt from your previous relationships with other publishers that will inform how you’ll run the new publishing operation?
We’ve worked with a number of well known, reputable partners in the past – allowing us to work with some great personnel and understanding the constantly evolving market. But I think the emphasis should really be on how you learn from yourself.

Majesco had the foresight to be an early adopter to the games for mass market strategy, and it’s a shift that paid dividends through the likes of Cooking Mama. But you can never be too complacent, you always have to be ready to react and plan for the constantly evolving market.

Are you looking for other business partnerships – if so in what way?
We’re always looking for the best possible route to market and focus for our products in Europe.
For the same reasons as going direct in the UK, we are implementing a direct to market strategy throughout Europe – working with different distribution and publishing partners in each territory, rather than one pan-European partner.

We are currently talking to a number of interested parties and actively encourage other interested distributors to get in touch as soon as possible. We hope to announce something shortly.

A lot of your focus has been on casually oriented games – will that still be your focus?
Mainstream fun, quality and relative value should always be the focus – but we evaluate every single game on their own merits.

We recently announced Dawn of Heroes on Nintendo DS from developer Wicked Studios, a tactical RPG game that we realise has a specific audience, but we considered because it is high enough quality to appeal.
As time goes on and markets shift we are in a position to react to those movements and continually explore where our focus should be.

We do currently have a predominantly Nintendo focus, but we’ve also got 360 titles in the portfolio, iPhone games in development and we’re looking to shortly announce a few titles on the PSN/XBLA platforms.