INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: Denmark

The southernmost Nordic nation is home to a strong retail market, where games are sold in everything from specialists and hypermarts to bookstores and indie music chains.

But the high tax rate makes it a challenging market for companies without the capital to support them.

Denmark is just as complex as the other Nordic territories,” explains Koch Media’s Nordic general manager Martin Sric.It’s quite costly to operate in Nordic with high salaries, taxes and VATs at 25 per cent. Publishers like THQ have set up Nordic branches and pulled out again.

The best start is to find a local partner that fits with your own profile, has the financial strength and local sales resources.”

Denmark also has a healthy development community, ranging from Hitman creators IO Interactive to Playdead, the studio behind the critically acclaimed XBLA title Limbo. But then what would you expect from the home of creative building toy brand LEGO?

Denmark is one of the leading centres of creativity,” says Dave Mariner, board member of developer association IGDA.

However, since the introduction of the ‘Entrepreneur Tax’ in 2010, and despite repeated and unfulfilled promises by successive governments to rescind this tax, entrepreneurship is being stifled within the country. The tax makes it punitive to invest at early stages of a company lifecycle, which means that more and more talent is forced to move overseas to start otherwise perfectly viable businesses.

In short – if you’re looking for talent, you’ve come to the right place. If you’re looking for investment – look elsewhere.”

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

THE FACTS
Population: 5,671,050
Currency: Danish Krone
GDP (Per Capita): $60,961
Capital City: Copenhagen
Language: Danish

KEY RETAILERS
Bilka, CDON.dk, Coolshop.dk, Coop, El-Giganten, Expert, Fona, Ftex, GameStop, Stereo Studio, Top Toy

BEST DISTRIBUTORS
Bergsala, Elpa, Impulse, Koch Media, Nordisk Film Interactive, Nordic Game Supply, PAN Vision

PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION
Activision Blizzard, Disney, EA, Microsoft, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Warner

TOP DEVELOPERS
Art of Crime, Certus, Flux Studios, Frecle, Guppyworks, IO Interactive, Krea Media, Oddlabs, Playdead, Press Play, Serious Games Interactive, Tactile Entertainment, Underholdningsbranchen, Unity Technologies, Zero Point Software