MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Dixons Retail says its like-for-like sales fell three per cent for the 52 weeks ending April 28th, while overall sales remained flat. The group – which owns PC World, Currys, Dixons and other retail chains worldwide – ‘enjoyed good performances in the UK and Ireland and Northern Europe, trading ahead …
Read More »Rumour: GameStop to start selling Steam vouchers
Claims emerging from the US suggest that retailer GameStop is to start selling gift vouchers for Valve’s digital PC games portal Steam. Kotaku claims to have word of the move from a GameStop source”. It also claims that the decision to stock such cards is a direct result of its …
Read More »Blockbuster: Games retail would not survive without pre-owned
Specialist games retailers cannot survive without second-hand, says Blockbuster. The firm’s UK commercial director Gerry Butler has hit back at trade-in critics, and told MCV that the current new release business model is broken and in need of a radical overhaul. If you’re a specialist you need certain margins to …
Read More »Starhawk release delayed in India
Starhawk, the PS3 exclusive from Lightbox Interactive, which was originally set for release in India today, will now be delayed by up to two weeks, Sony has confirmed. A Sony representative told MCV that the delay was forced by logistical issues, adding that the game will be in stores within …
Read More »Retail sales fall in wettest April on record
UK retailers saw a year-on-year decline in sales as excessive rain deterred shoppers from venturing to the High Street. Like-for-like sales across all sectors fell by 3.3 per cent when compared to the same period last year, according to data from the British Retail Consortium. The BBC reports that the …
Read More »INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: India
According to the FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2012, the Indian games business was valued at 13bn Rupees ($259m) in 2011 – up 30 per cent. The market is expected to grow by 38 per cent to 18bn Rupees ($359m) in 2012 and to a staggering 46bn Rupees …
Read More »Legal concerns decimate DeNA and Gree share price
Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency has announced an investigation into how social games firms sell their microtransactions in Japan, causing shares in the country’s two major players to nosedive. Nikkei.com reports that shares in both DeNA and Gree – the two major players in Japan’s social gaming scene – plunged to …
Read More »Warner Bros revs up summer campaign for Lollipop Chainsaw
Warner is cutting through to core gamers with ads for its zombie cheerleader action title Lollipop Chainsaw. The 360 and PS3 game – due on June 15th – is one of the few eye-catching releases in a relatively quiet summer. A?large-scale TV campaign will advertise the title during during Family …
Read More »E-Xpress expands low-price PC games catalogue
Indian games distributor E-Xpress Interactive has expanded its E-play range of low priced PC games to over 120 titles. The E-play catalogue contains games priced between Rs 199 ($4) and Rs 299 ($6) from publishers such as Ubisoft, Square Enix, THQ, Sega and Take-Two. While console gaming remains the highest …
Read More »UK games retail generated £10.45m last week
The launch of Prototype 2 helped the boxed market rise slightly over the prior week, with overall unit sales up five per cent to 441,401 games sold. It’s Activision’s first No.1 of the year. UK games retail generated 10.45m overall from sales last week – an increase of eight per …
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