1C: ‘We’re too big to be bought’

Dominant Russian games company 1C has told MCV that it would be too expensive for any potential suitor – and that it is ready to cement its stranglehold on its native market by upping its retail presence.

At the company’s second annual Prague ‘n’ Play event last week, 1C – believed to be worth as much as $1 billion – waxed lyrical about its increasingly powerful development, publishing, distribution and retail network which allows the company to operate as a ‘cradle to grave’ games company.

And with plans to ramp up its retail operation further, 1C’s international sales director Nikolay Baryshnikov is confident that the company can continue its dominance:

We’re trying to prove that it is possible to sell games without piracy and be successful,” he told MCV.

It is also a huge anti-piracy banner to the rest of the industry – we have 41 stores so far, and we are aiming to have opened 70 by the end of the year.”

When asked whether he’d consider a bid from a rival interested in sweeping into the Russian market, he added: I think we would be too expensive for anyone to buy.”