Edge Magazine: region specific feature on the Netherlands

The Netherlands is a wonderfully contradictory nation. Stereotypically, it’s an arty, flowery enclave between the more steely and dominant Germany and staid, respectable Belgium. It’s a country of laid-back liberals, loafing about in coffee shops. But this is also the land that’s spent 400 years trading with the rest of the planet, a vital cultural, geographic and technological hub at the gateway to continental Europe. The Dutch consider themselves entrepreneurs and risk-takers, and just as the nation’s seafarers led global exploration in the 17th century, its media innovators are now key experimenters in the field of interactive entertainment.

Here, you’ll find myriad independent studios pushing the boundaries of what we define as games, from the stylish virtual worlds crafted by Little Chicken to the snappy Flash-based advergames of WeirdBeard and the entertaining medical simulations built in a prison building by Grendel Games. And, of course, there’s the giant that is Guerrilla, the developer that has proved intrinsic to Sony’s selling of PlayStation 3 as a technical leader in this generation.

But the focus of the industry is changing. The model is shifting from triple-A megagames to digitally distributed, socially connected crossplatform experiences, and the smart money may well be on the Netherlands to dominate this emerging sector. Of course, technological mastery might not fit with the popular stereotype, but there you go. Asked what he’d like Edge readers to know about Dutch developers, Ivo Wubbels, co-founder of veteran studio Engine Software, replies: “We don’t wear wooden shoes.”

Access the online feature in Edge Magazine