The Gaming world
It has grown into a multi-billion dollar business that has matured over the last few decades. Millions of copies of games such as Grand Theft Auto, Battlefield, and The Witcher are flying over the counter. However, many do not know that a growing group of art and game enthusiasts are also interested in visual design for video games.
Cook and Becker
Utrecht-based Dutch web player Cook and Becker is a world leader in this field. The company was founded eight years ago by Marten Brands and his younger brother Ruben. Both have a history of game development and tend to prefer visual arts. From their interest, they were looking for a high-quality printed matter of construction drawings, research, and conceptual drawings for video games.
However, this offer turned out to be so limited that it was founded by the Cook and Becker brothers. They work with illustrators, graphic designers, and artists around the world, as well as creative teams from large game studios such as Blizzard Entertainment, Guerrilla Games, and Bethesda Softworks.
Customers
Cook and Becker do not have many Dutch customers, with about 98% of its sales coming from abroad. France, Germany, and Japan are good markets, but 60% of sales come from the United States.
As a result, the Cook and Becker range consist primarily of products that may be offered for thousands of euros. And that’s probably also why Dutch consumers aren’t enthusiastic about it yet. The Netherlands is a little behind in this regard. For example, Dutch consumers have a much longer sales cycle than American consumers. They spend more money without looking at the product, like when salespersons sell CSGO skins for PayPal. Dutch people often want to check before buying anything.
Digitization
Utrecht also has a top-class location. Only the physical gallery model is obsolete, and up to certain price levels, e-commerce works much better, especially for international viewers. The gaming industry is experiencing rapid digitization. Many consumers choose to buy games digitally and download them directly to the console or computer. As a result, the number of physical copies is declining rapidly.
Movies
The company is also seeing expansion opportunities in the movie world, which, according to the brand, has become more and more similar to the game world in recent years. “The best game designers and artists are also working on, for example, Marvel and Star Wars blockbusters. It’s a kind of the same process. Today, 80% of blockbusters are computer-generated images.” The brand finds many opportunities for Cook and Becker. But he definitely likes one combination in the art of cinema. They have more to do with product rights, publishers, and portrait rights.
Game Revenue
In recent years, the game industry has grown exponentially. According to a report by market research firm SuperData, the gaming industry “and related industries” had sales of approximately US $ 120 billion in 2018. This makes the sport bigger than the film and music industries combined. Games like Fortnite have become particularly large in recent years. There, revenue is mainly generated by microtransactions, that is, in-game purchases. Sales of the game itself continue to grow.
