Thunderful Group, a leading player in the gaming industry, has just announced an exciting extension to its distribution agreement with none other than gaming giant Nintendo. This move signifies a continued collaboration between two powerhouses, promising to amplify the reach of Nintendo’s beloved titles to an even wider audience. Let’s delve into the details of this thrilling collaboration and its implications for the gaming community.
Thunderful Distribution Agreement With Nintendo Extended
Thunderful Group has extended its long-term partnership with Nintendo, as stated in their press release. Under this agreement, Thunderful Group will continue to do business with Nintendo to distribute all of its products in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
The deal between Nintendo and Bergsala, a wholesaler held by Thunderful, was set to end on March 31, 2024. However, it has been extended for two more years with the same terms as the current deal.
Thunderful-owned Bergsala has been Nintendo's exclusive Nordics and Baltics distributor since 1981 – a deal now extended to March 31, 2026https://t.co/1YnluWQHto
— GamesIndustry (@GIBiz) March 19, 2024
Bergsala has been selling Nintendo products since 1981, and this relationship is a big part of how much money the Thunderful Group makes. The company said in its most recent report that its losses got worse because of falling sales in its retail businesses, with fewer Switch hardware sales being a major cause.
In 2022, the company made a profit of $11.8 million, but in 2023, it lost $59.2 million. Because of this, Thunderful announced earlier this year that it would be changing, which will likely mean the loss of jobs for about 20% of its staff.
Thunderful is “looking forward to the launch of Nintendo’s new console,” according to Group CEO Martin Walfisz. However, this is now said to be happening no earlier than 2025.
Walfisz said about the extension that was announced today, “Thunderful’s unique relationship with Nintendo stretches back to the early 1980s when our subsidiary Bergsala started distributing Nintendo’s fantastic products to consumers across the Nordics and the Baltics.”
“We’re exceedingly proud of this long-lasting partnership and look forward to many years of continued close collaboration with Nintendo.”
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Thunderful’s games section had record sales, but sales of SteamWorld Build “fell slightly short of expectation.”
Walfisz said this was because of the change in genre, but earlier this month at the Hamburg Games Conference, Brjánn Sigurgeirsson, head of the SteamWorld world and co-founder of Thunderful, talked about why the series’ ability to jump from genre to genre is one of its strengths.
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