Nordisk Film, a massive entertainment company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, announced today that it has acquired more shares in Star Stable Entertainment, bringing its ownership up to 40%. This is actually Nordisk’s second major investment in the Swedish developer of the online horseback-riding game Star Stable; just seven months ago, it acquired a “substantial minority” of the company after a $15 million investment.
In a press release, Nordisk Senior Partner Martin Malfisz said, “We really like the company. The team is performing very well and after being onboard for six months we had no doubt that we wanted to make an even stronger commitment to Star Stable’s continued journey. We believe that Star Stable Online has the potential of reaching new markets and of giving even more children and young people all over the world a great and adventurous horseback experience.”
Aimed specifically at a young female audience, Star Stable Online reportedly has a player base of over 14 million registered users in 182 countries. The company’s CEO Johan Sjöberg was also quoted in this morning’s press release, stating, “After having worked with Nordisk Film Games as owners over the last six months we are very happy to see them increase their ownership in the company. We see that as a vote of confidence that we are on the right track with in our mission of bringing high quality entertainment to girls and young women.”
As its name implies, Nordisk Film was founded as a film studio over a century ago, and since then has spent decades cultivating its business in various facets of the entertainment industry. This year in particular, Nordisk has focused on gaming, investing $5.5m in Swedish indie publisher Raw Fury and wholly acquiring Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios, also based in Sweden.
Like Annapurna Interactive in the United States, Nordisk Film has used its standing in the movie industry as leverage to expand its reach into gaming. This is reflective of the market in Scandinavia overall; the industry is booming in that part of the world, with Nordic studios creating everything from mobile hits like Candy Crush Saga to AAA franchises like EA’s Battlefield. With companies like Nordisk investing in the future of gaming, it’s a sign that the film industry is taking video games more seriously than they have in the past, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see more studios — Hollywood or foreign — follow this path in the future.
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