European powerhouses King and Supercell have both joined the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) – a regional trade association that represents the industry towards the EU.

The ISFE was formed 16 years ago and comprises of a total of 12 major publishers and 17 national associations, including UKIE in the UK, MDTS in Sweden and FIGMA in Finland, amongst others.

In its own words, the body looks to "spread the word on its members' positions regarding the main political and legal initiatives of European and international institutions in fields such as intellectual property, e-commerce, trade negotiations and the protection of minors."

Digital days

"The interests of purely digital game companies and publishers from the traditional packaged industry are clearly converging," said ISFE MD Simon Little of the news.

"The games industry is developing rapidly; new games but also new platforms and business models are finding an expanding audience across the globe. King and Supercell are very successful players in the digital games business, and we are happy to have both companies as part of our federation."

The move is notable if only because of ISFE's previous prevalence to represent publishers, with developers having traditionally gravitated towards the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF).

For King's part, chief legal officer Rob Miller described the company's decision to join as one designed to aid the firm's ambition to help the wider industry.

"The games industry is growing rapidly and at King, we believe in helping to foster an active and healthy games industry," detailed Miller.

"We're looking forward to working with ISFE and with other members in the community."