David 
31/07/2013Thanks to Marc Dupain and Ronald Meeus FLEGA is able to publish the gross margin for the biggest Belgian game developers. The gross margin is the gross profit (before taxes) divided by the total turnover of a company thus reflecting its profitability. Source for these numbers: The National Bank of Belgium which collects the information from all trading companies.
Larian is without a doubt the most profitable Belgian game developer comfortably beating the no. 2, AMA Studios in Gosselies, a developer that works exclusively on Xbox360 and Kinect titles for Ubisoft. But Larian combined much of its 2010 financial year with 2011, resulting in an exceptional gross margin.
Fishing Cactus in Mons, at no. 3 in the chart, focusses on smartphone games. Playlane, at no. 4, is sure to receive a boost thanks to Cartamundi, who bought the educational developer just recently.
Please note that fairly young companies such as LuGus Studios did not yet file their numbers at The National Bank and that Newfort now trades under the Bazookas name. PreviewLabs and Crazy Monkey Studios are part of the Cronos group based in Kontich.
Other sources indicate that total turnover in Belgium has quadrupled in the last 5 years and that the number of game developers has doubled in the same timeframe.
In The Netherlands the gaming business is much bigger representing around 330 companies employing more than 3.000 people and representing a total turnover of around 150 to 200 million euros. Around 70 companies in The Netherlands develop serious games. Source: The Utrecht Innovation Taskforce Gamesmonitor.
