CDV Software Entertainment AG was established in 1989 by Wolfgang Gäbler and Christina Oppermann. Initially a trading partnership, CDV is now engaged in publishing, developing, and distributing eTainment
products: entertainment, edutainment, and infotainment software. It also publishes inexpensive user software. The term "entertainment software" primarily covers computer games, which represent the largest proportion of sales because of their high unit volume and profitability. The company also develops and publishes tools and specialized software applications.
At its headquarters in Karlsruhe (southwestern Germany), London office, and wholly-owned CDV subsidiary in Cary, North Carolina (USA), CDV
currently employs more than 150 people*. The Managing Board consists of Wolfgang Gäbler (Chairman and CEO), Christina Oppermann, and Karl vom Bauer.
CDV - publishing, in-house production, and marketing
In its capacity as publisher, the company usually acquires the worldwide licence for products
produced by third parties and developed under CDV's guiding hand. It then assumes responsibility for duplication, marketing, and sales. Such products count as in-house productions because CDV takes command of project financing and
project management. Two strikingly successful examples of this process were the titles Sudden Strike and Cossacks.
The marketing activities that CDV undertakes here include the following: the design of the product and its packaging, ads in online and offline media, advertising e-mails to consumers and editorial staff, website designs, and even a wide variety of promotional campaigns and special events such as "LAN parties". PR activities include having cultivated relationships with the German and international trade presses over the years, which ensures regular editorial mention in the chief publications of the industry.
The company's own field sales force, which includes Key Account and Telesales teams, handles sales directly to retailers in German-speaking countries and by way of a close-knit network of first-class sales agents in other countries. This network boasts more than 300,000 registered final customers. Further, it includes a large number of highly desirable trade listings, the regular despatch of sales brochures and product information, and participation in international trade fairs and exhibitions. All of these contribute substantially to CDV's sales success.
Although CDV does still serve as a straight distributor of finished projects, this side of the business currently accounts for only a small portion of total sales.
One major reason for CDV's success is the large number of individual websites the company maintains for its entertainment products, which monthly attract hits in the double-digit million range. Moreover, CDV records a consistent increase in the number of such hits.
CDV - in the entertainment software market
Entertainment software is the fastest-growing
segment of the entertainment market. In Germany, sales of games on CD-ROM had outstripped the sales of music CD-ROMs by 1998. In the USA, entertainment software ranks as the type of PC user software most frequently purchased. In 1999, dollar sales of computer and video games had almost reached the same level as cinema box-office takings.
Entertainment software producers in the USA, Japan, Great Britain, and even in France have established themselves with sales running into triple-digit and quadruple-digit millions. Although Germany is the largest market for entertainment software in Europe and enjoys a huge pool of talented software developers, German producers have not yet been able to
measure up to the international "majors" in the business.
According to Media Control, CDV has been the biggest German publisher of PC games in the full-price segment several times since 2000. The company is currently utilizing the advantages of its base in Germany in order to rapidly move ahead and join the international "majors".
The two real-time strategy games Sudden Strike and Cossacks have made a tremendous contribution to the company's international success. With well over 800,000* copies of Sudden Strike and more than 1,000,000* copies of the Cossacks series sold, these titles have taken their place at the top of the international charts. Both of these top-sellers have been distinguished with a large number of awards nationally and internationally. For example, the journal ComputerBild Spiele awarded Cossacks the Golden Computer Award.
CDV is also a member of VUD and ELSPA, the main German associations for the industry.
(* = figures for 2002)
CDV - strategically positioned
In the past, CDV's top priority lay in distribution. This was the case, because in-house productions of entertainment software can only be successful if backed by large amounts of capital. Between Γé¼500,000 and Γé¼2,000,000 has to be invested over a period of 12 to 24 months if a top-selling title is to be developed in-house. This means that fixed costs dominate in-house production and that successful in-house products have a far greater margin leverage than distribution or publishing products.
Since CDV's successful IPO in April 2000 (on the Neuer Markt), the company has increasingly based its business success on in-house productions. A wide range of interactive products has thus emerged - and continues to emerge - that can be used across all international markets and all formats. he product range is just as widely diversified in terms of content, as this greatly helps to smooth out sales fluctuations and achieve a satisfactory profit level.
The advantages of a well-organized corporate structure, an outstanding degree of quality consciousness, and the comparative location advantages that Germany offers will continue to contribute to CDV's success and will enable the company to further reduce the distance to its foreign competitors. Not only do successful titles such as Sudden Strike and Cossacks strengthen the company's market position, but they also bring the company to the notice of renowned and talented developers. With their assistance, CDV can and will continue to score great hits.
CDV regards the challenge of the multi-media world as being less a question of technological implementation than of the production of high-quality interactive content. CDV's strategic position in the world market of entertainment is clarified and strengthened by its philosophy that games need to focus on providing attractive content and enduring enjoyment.
The product pipeline is outstandingly well-filled for the next few years with products of the highest quality, many of which have earned hearty praise from the press. The signs are favorable for further worldwide expansion, coupled with sensible implementation and a solid product portfolio.
.bin/data/menu.dxr/00007_UP.png){kind=link}