Endemol opens games division

The UK arm of Big Brother and Deal or No Deal creator Endemol has announced the formation of Endemol Games, a new division tasked with taking the company’s many properties into the games space.

The unit will be headed by former head of products and brand exploitation Jurian Van der Meer, who becomes the managing director of Endemol Games. He will also retain his international role at Endemol’s global worldwide brands division.

As well as transferring the firm’s existing properties to the online games space, it will also seek to do the same with third party properties.

Endemol UK has already established a strong position in the gaming space and the launch of Endemol Games underlines the importance of this significant growth area to our business,” UK CEO Lucas Church stated.

Jurian has an exemplary track record in delivering games around our TV properties across all platforms and I’m extremely pleased to have him in this role.”

Van der Meer added: Endemol’s entertainment properties attract a huge fan base and seamlessly cross over into branded gaming. Our aim with Endemol Games is to further build on this, creating fresh and original concepts that will further invigorate the online gaming market.”

Endemol has previously partnered with a range of publishers to bring its licenses to the console and online space. How quickly these operations will now be brought in house is yet to be seen.