What Nordisk Games does

Nordisk Games is a Copenhagen-headquartered (Valby, Denmark) private investment company founded in 2016 as the dedicated games investment vehicle of Nordisk Film, which sits within the Egmont Foundation. It provides equity financing, strategic guidance, and operational support to European game studios under a long-term ownership model, explicitly differentiated from venture capital by the absence of forced exit timelines. The firm typically takes 20-40% initial stakes and operates through board seats or direct governance, with demonstrated full-acquisition capability (Avalanche Studios Group, Flashbulb Games, Supermassive Games).

The company's deployable platform comprises >1 billion DKK (approximately EUR 240M) of invested capital across a portfolio of 9 studios employing 1,300+ developers, with flagship holdings in Avalanche Studios Group (Just Cause, theHunter, Rage 2), Supermassive Games (Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology), Star Stable Entertainment (~57%, Star Stable Online with 1.4M+ MAU across 180 countries) and MercurySteam (40%, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Metroid). Beyond capital, Nordisk Games runs proprietary portfolio-services including Monsterbrain (analytics/sentiment/KPI tool), a Copenhagen User Research Lab for playtesting, a Market Lab for audience and competitive research, and a playtester database, plus community initiatives like Bornholm Game Days and the PlayCreateGreen sustainability programme.

The revenue model is investment return-driven rather than product revenue: returns accrue through equity appreciation, dividends, and exits across a concentrated portfolio. The investment firm itself runs a 17-person team in Copenhagen led by an interim CEO (Allan Mathson Hansen) following the April 2023 departure of Mikkel Weider, with senior ex-Avalanche, ex-Paradox, ex-McKinsey and ex-Nordisk Film executives as Partners. There are no disclosed fees, fund structures, or external LPs, consistent with its role as a strategic balance-sheet investor inside the Egmont/Nordisk Film ecosystem.

Name

Nordisk Games

Legal name

Nordisk Games A/S

Website

https://nordiskgames.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Nordisk Games is a Copenhagen-based private investment company, owned by Nordisk Film and the Egmont Foundation, that provides long-term growth capital, strategic guidance, and operational support to European game studios, with a portfolio including Avalanche Studios Group, Supermassive Games, Star Stable Entertainment, and MercurySteam.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Game studio private equity

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Investment Arms (FSANAHAF)

Keywords

• Game studio investments
• Private equity gaming
• Strategic guidance studios
• Consumer insights games
• Game research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Valby

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: Nordisk Games generates returns through equity investments in game studios. They provide financing in exchange for ownership stakes, operating through boards or direct governance. Long-term ownership perspective with focus on supporting studios to achieve outstanding long-term success rather than quick exits.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Nordisk Games is an investment company that makes equity investments in European game studios (typically 20-40% stakes, increasing to majority or full ownership), while providing strategic guidance, operational support, and smart growth capital. The company operates through boards or direct governance of portfolio companies, and complements its investments with an in-house User Research Lab, Market Lab, and Monsterbrain analytics platform to help portfolio studios make data-driven decisions.

Product overview

Nordisk Games is an investment company that provides strategic guidance, operational support, and smart growth capital to European game studios, taking a long-term ownership perspective. The company offers internal support services including a Market Lab for consumer insights and market research, a User Research Lab for playtesting, and an analytics tool called Monsterbrain. Nordisk Games' portfolio includes wholly-owned studios (Avalanche Studios Group, Supermassive Games) and majority-owned studios (Star Stable Entertainment ~57%), as well as partially-owned studios (MercurySteam 40%). Former portfolio companies include Flashbulb Games, Raw Fury, Nitro Games, RETO MOTO, and Kogama.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nordisk Games Investment and Support Services Core offering that supplies equity investment plus strategic guidance, operational support, and board governance to European game studios with a long-term ownership perspective.
• Market Lab Market research services unit offering consumer insights, audience profiling, competitive analysis, revenue stream analysis, and IP analysis to help studios make data-informed decisions.
• User Research Lab A Games User Research Lab in Copenhagen where partner companies can test new and existing game content through playtesting sessions and user feedback collection.
• Playtesting Database A playtester database where members can participate in exclusive playtest sessions and research studies, with gift cards as rewards. Minimum age for participation is 16 years.
• Monsterbrain An internal analytics tool for sentiment and competitor analysis, KPI dashboards, and visualization used to help portfolio studios make data-driven decisions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 billion DKK invested in European game studios since 2016
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bornholm Game Days PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Nordisk Games initiated Bornholm Game Days (BGD) in 2017, gathering industry thought leaders with partners including Hazelight Games, Ghostship Games, Raw Power Games and Housemaque. BGD is an invite-only future session where games industry thought-leaders meet to discuss game creation and the role of interactive entertainment in society.
• PlayCreateGreen PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNordisk Games is the initiator and partner in PlayCreateGreen.org – A climate handbook for game companies, and member of United Nations Playing for the Planet Alliance, working continuously with climate issues.
• Diversity in Games Initiative PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNordisk Games actively supports diversity in the game industry by hosting or sponsoring events and participating in gatherings. Supported initiatives include Code Coven, Diversity in Games Breakfast, Valkyrie Jam and Wings.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• NetEase: Major Chinese gaming company with both internal studios and external investment activity. Comparable as a strategic capital partner to game developers, with a focus on both operating studios and minority investments, though primarily Asia-focused.
• Tencent: Chinese technology conglomerate that is the world's largest strategic investor in gaming, with minority and majority stakes in hundreds of studios. Comparable as a long-term capital provider to game developers, though vastly larger and globally diversified.

Direct peers

• Embracer Group: Swedish gaming holding company that acquires and operates multiple game studios under a long-term ownership model. Highly comparable to Nordisk Games given the Nordic origin, multi-studio portfolio approach, and operator-investor model, though significantly larger in scale.
• Savvy Games Group: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund-backed gaming holding company that invests in and publishes games globally. Comparable as a strategic capital vehicle deploying long-term sovereign capital into game studios, though focused on a different geographic footprint.
• Enad Global 7 (EG7): Swedish gaming holding company operating a portfolio of game developers and publishers. Directly comparable multi-studio gaming investment model, though EG7 has historically pursued more aggressive M&A and faced integration challenges.

Regional players

• Modern Times Group (MTG): Nordic-based esports and gaming digital entertainment company. Comparable as a Nordic strategic investor in gaming, with shared regional perspective and media-adjacent investment thesis, though MTG is a public operating company rather than a private investment arm.
• Paradox Interactive: Swedish game developer and publisher with a portfolio of internally developed and acquired studios. Comparable as a Nordic gaming company with a long-term IP-driven strategy, and notably a former CEO (Ebba Ljungerud) sits on Nordisk Games' board.

Emerging players

• Funcom: Norwegian game developer and publisher of online multiplayer and survival games, owned by Tencent. Comparable as a Nordic-headquartered game studio with international reach, though smaller and more focused on specific genres.

Others

• Keywords Studios: Irish gaming services company providing art, localization, QA, and game development services. Comparable as a gaming services provider adjacent to studio ownership, though operates in services rather than direct equity investment.
• CD Projekt: Polish video game developer and publisher of The Witcher and Cyberpunk franchises. Comparable as a European-headquartered gaming company focused on building global IP, though primarily a developer-publisher rather than a multi-studio investor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments8 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nordisk Games