Hugo the troll is ready to play in Asia.
Denmark's ITE, the 10-year-old company behind interactive TV gameshow phenom Hugo, is set to open its first Asian office in Tokyo on Feb. 1.
Heading the Tokyo office will be Nathalie Delin, a French national who has lived and worked in the region for several years and is fluent in Japanese.
"The Tokyo office will enable a more direct and constant contact between ITE and our current and potential new clients in Asia," said ITE managing director Jasper Helbrandt.
"Despite the present financial crisis in the region, ITE has chosen to focus on a long-term strategy, by committing itself to staying in Asia, rather than pulling out," he added.
"Hugo the Troll," an interactive TV gameshow produced several years ago by ITE, has already had a successful three-year airing in Thailand, per ITE.
The expansion to Asia follows last year's opening of a bureau in L.A., headed by company president Ivan Solvason, to better focus on ITE's U.S. activities.
Within Europe, ITE is reaching new countries; programs featuring Hugo launched at Christmas in Russia, Portugal and Switzerland.
In another development, Claus Hansen has been named to the newly created post of PC games area manager at ITE's Copenhagen headquarters. Hugo has already sparked a number of spinoff products, with two Hugo games for PlayStation skedded for release this spring.
Hansen will be responsible for developing sales and marketing strategies for the games area.
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