Game industry business news

Pac-Man 256 reaches 5m downloads

Mobile title Pac-Man 256 has been downloaded over five million times. That’s according to publisher Bandai Namco, who has also revealed that it is the most-downloaded game in 98 countries in all categories, while in 104 regions for games sections. The firm has also announced that Pac-Man will be coming …

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VIDEO: Bleszinski shows off first LawBreakers gameplay footage

Former Epic and Gears of War developer Cliff Bleszinski has shown off the first in-game footage of his studio’s free-to-play FPS LawBreakers. The game, developed by Boss Key and published by Nexon – which acquired a minority stake in the developer last summer – continues the theme of gravity-defying action …

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Kickstarter for Rollcage successor Grip abandoned

Developer Caged Element have abandoned their attempt to Kickstart a successor to 1999 PlayStation racer Rollcage. Grip had been seeking CAD $657k ($500k/320k) but the studio decided to call it a day after raising just CAD $154k. We apologise for the lack of updates on our Kickstarter page; it’s hard …

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Until Dawn Twitch archiving block was unintentional

Sony has said that it did not deliberately disable player’s ability to archive their Until Dawn gameplay streams. Twitch users are normally able to archive their streamed footage for those who missed the live broadcast. However, Twitch confirmed earlier this week that the game’s publisher, Sony, had disabled the functionality …

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Toys-to-life war: Skylanders Superchargers

Last year, MCV predicted that Skylanders would struggle in the face of Disney Infinity 2.0. We were quite critical, but although Disney’s game did outsell Skylanders in the UK, the Activision franchise still performed well overall. In fact, it is still the No.1 toys-to-life game globally. We’re thrilled to have …

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Toys-to-life war: What should you stock?

There is an onslaught of toys-to-life products about to hit retail. In total, there are almost 30 different software SKUs between Amiibo, Skylanders Superchargers, LEGO Dimensions and Disney Infinity 3.0. In terms of figures, playsets and level packs, there are more than 95 extra products for retailers to stock associated …

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Toys-to-life war: Disney Infinity 3.0

Disney Infinity is currently the most popular toys-to-life game in the UK. And this year’s title is generating a lot of attention due to the inclusion of one major brand – Star Wars. Disney Infinity 3.0 will feature three Star Wars ‘Play Sets’: one inspired by the prequel movies, another …

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Toys-to-life war: LEGO Dimensions

LEGO Dimensions may be the new player in the toy box, but it’s by no means an unproven competitor. TT Games’ range of LEGO games are hugely popular – in fact it’s the fourth-biggest games brand in the UK behind GTA, Call of Duty and FIFA. Even so, this type …

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Why Dishonored allows players to kill but doesn’t want them to

Can a killer be called a hero? That’s the interesting question posed by the co-director and co-writer of Dishonored, the Definitive Edition of which is now out. In an interview with Kotaku, Harvey Smith revealed that his team came under pressure to cut what they felt was a key moment …

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Digital data is essential, says UKIE

UK games industry trade body UKIE has joined the call for more sharing of digital and download sales figures. The firm has long tried to push forward the debate around digital data, and even attempted its own digital chart in partnership with members. UKIE tried to circumvent reluctance from Xbox, …

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