Bigben Interactive

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Bigben Interactive Group SA

logo
legal form Société Anonyme
ISIN FR0000074072
founding 1981
Seat Lesquin , FranceFranceFrance 
management Alain Falc
Branch Software development
Website www.bigben.eu

The Bigben Interactive SA is a French company, computer games and sells game consoles accessories. The headquarters are in Lesquin , the German branch of Bigben Interactive is located in Bergheim .

history

Bigben was founded in France in 1981 . The team around Alain Falc and today's president Stefan Göhler initially sold quartz watches until the company expanded its business area to the distribution of video game software from 1993 due to increasing competition from Switzerland . Bigben soon rose in the development and production of consoles - Accessories . In 1996, the company also entered the console accessories market. In 2002 Bigben was the market leader in Europe with a market share of 40% .

Since 1999 the company has been a French stock corporation listed on the Paris stock exchange and is represented in the CAC Small . From 1999 Bigben expanded its distribution network with the takeover of Atoll Soft, the market leader in Benelux in the field of software distribution, and in April 2000 of Planet Distribution (Great Britain) in the European market. Also in 2000 the establishment of a branch in Hong Kong , which is responsible for monitoring all processes in Asia , and the German Bigben Interactive GmbH in Bergheim followed . To March 1, 2001 Planet Distribution took over the company THE GAMES, the former Nintendo - direct sales . The takeover of the entire infrastructure as well as many skilled workers in the company enabled Planet Distribution to increase its previous capacities fivefold. So one now had z. B. with the former Nintendo logistics center over 9500 pallet spaces. In 2001 the name was changed from Planet Distribution to Bigben Interactive UK. After the Japanese console and games manufacturer Sega announced in March 2001 that it would completely withdraw from the hardware business, Bigben Interactive was awarded the contract to sell the Dreamcast range in Europe. Bigben Interactive had not only taken over the entire existing inventory, but also launched the last 14 Dreamcast titles in Europe .

In 2003, the company increasingly began developing its own game software, initially primarily in combination with its own hardware products. In 2009 Atoll Soft's offices were renamed Bigben Interactive Belgium and Bigben Interactive Nederland. In 2016, Bigben acquired the trademark rights to the Test Drive racing game series from Atari, but Atari retained the distribution rights for the games already released.

In May 2018, Bigben took over the French computer game developer Cyanide Studios and its subsidiary studios (Rogue Factor, Big Bad Wolf) for 20 million euros . Bigben thus took over the traditional development partner of his competitor Focus Home Interactive , whose management is also trying to take over, but has not received approval from the board of directors. In June, Bigben and the French studio Eko Software ( How to Survive ) announced the development of the action role-playing game Warhammer: Chaosbane . In September the publisher announced the takeover of the studio for 8.5 million euros in order to further expand and diversify its own portfolio. The company said it intends to become the global leader in AA productions . In this environment it was primarily in competition with companies such as Paradox Interactive , 505 Games , Focus Home Interactive and - in perspective - THQ Nordic . Also in June Bigben released the racing game V-Rally 4 , which, like Test Drive, was based on an old racing game series by Atari (formerly Infogrames). In the following month, the developer of the game, the French racing game specialist Kylotonn Racing ( WRC ), was taken over. The company had grown to six development locations with 250 developers.

On July 26, 2019, Bigben announced on its own website that it had taken over the French development studio Spiders , which has become known through RPGs such as The Technomancer or Bound by Flame . This studio is currently developing the role-playing game Greedfall , which is still being sold through Bigben's competitor Focus Home Interactive . In September Bigben continued to be a minority shareholder in the Italian racing game developer Raceward. In February the group of companies announced that it would merge its computer game hardware (Nacon) and game development (Bigben Interactive) business and continue to operate under the name Nacon.

Development studios

  • Cyanide (Nanterre)
    • Big Bad Wolf (Bordeaux)
    • Rogue Factor (Montreal)
  • Eko Software (Paris)
  • Kylotonn (Paris & Lyon)
  • Racewards (Milan, minority share)
  • Spiders (Paris)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nicole Buyse: Bigben Interactive: de la montre au jeu vidéo. In: Les Echos. November 21, 2002, accessed January 9, 2019 (French).
  2. ^ Nicole Buyse: Bigben Interactive investit à Libercourt pour son développement européen. In: Les Echos. September 26, 2000, accessed January 9, 2019 (French).
  3. ^ Nicole Buyse: Bigben Interactive devient le distributeur exclusif de Dreamcast en Europe. In: Les Echos. April 10, 2001, accessed January 9, 2019 (French).
  4. ↑ Phil Elliott: Bigben's Benoît Clerc. In: Gamesindustry. November 10, 2010, accessed January 9, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Atoll Soft gaat verder onder de naam Bigben Interactive. In: Entertainment Business. November 23, 2009, accessed January 9, 2019 (Dutch).
  6. ↑ Damien Greffet: Bigben Interactive racheté la license Test Drive à Atari. In: Jeux Actu. December 15, 2016, accessed January 9, 2019 (French).
  7. ↑ Bigben Interactive: Took over the French studio Cyanide. In: 4Players. Retrieved January 9, 2019 .
  8. ↑ William Audureau: Le numéro du français 3 jeu vidéo, Focus, perd son studio historique. May 15, 2018, accessed January 9, 2019 (French).
  9. ↑ Marcel Kleffmann: Warhammer: Chaosbane: Action role-playing game in the Warhammer universe from the How-to-Survive makers. In: 4Players. June 2, 2018, accessed January 9, 2019 .
  10. ^ Rebekah Valentine: Bigben acquires Eko Software for € 8.5 million. In: Gamesindustry. September 26, 2018, accessed January 9, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Jason Wilson: Bigben's acquisition of Spiders weaves a web of Double-A ambition. In: VentureBeat. August 25, 2019, Retrieved May 18, 2020 (American English).
  12. ↑ Christopher Dring: Bigben spending spree continues with Kylotonn acquisition. In: Gamesindustry. Retrieved January 9, 2019 .
  13. ↑ GreedFall - A Game of Spiders; published by Focus Home Interactive. Retrieved August 10, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Bigben takes over the Spiders | Bigben DE | Bigben | Audio | Gaming, smartphone & tablet accessories | Games. Retrieved August 10, 2019 .
  15. ↑ BIGBEN prend une participation au capital du studio italy RaceWard. September 27, 2019, accessed on May 18, 2020 (French).
  16. ↑ Alissa McAloon: Bigben Interactive is now Nacon as publishing and accessories businesses merge. In: Gamasutra . Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Nacon: BigBen unites all departments under one name. February 12, 2020, accessed on May 18, 2020 (German).