MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The market for new triple-A titles would be diminished were it not for the pre-owned sector, GAME Group CEO Ian Shepherd has claimed. "The existence of pre-owned makes the new market bigger," he said at today’s strategy briefing. "It makes it more affordable, reduces the total cost of ownership. However, …
Read More »GAME Bafta nominations announced
The nominations list for the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards has been revealed. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops lead the charge with six nominations each. Other names of note include Sony’s Heavy Rain, Microsoft’s Alan Wake, EA’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and indie …
Read More »Will a Russian billionaire change the face of HMV?
HMV’s bosses are focused on transforming its business, despite widespread reports that billionaire shareholder Alexander Mamut wants to break-up the retailer. The Russian business oligarch has reportedly consulted with financial specialists Credit Suisse to discuss the future of the retailer. The suggestion is that Mamut wants to buy the Waterstones …
Read More »UK games market suffers January dip
Over half a million fewer games were sold in the UK last month compared with January 2010. It marks a 13.4 per cent dip year-on-year in unit sales for UK games retail, while the market value has fallen 7.9 per cent to 84.6m. Chart-Track director Dorian Bloch pointed to a …
Read More »UK CHARTS: Test Drive 2 goes top
Test Drive Unlimited 2 has topped the GfK All Formats Top 40 this week ahead of EA’s Dead Space 2. The multiformat driving game is Atari’s first No.1 of the year. It is distributed by Namco Bandai in the UK. Nintendo’s new Mario games continued to rise up the charts …
Read More »Mary Portas in GAME Twitter row
TV celebrity and retail specialist Mary ‘Queen of Shops’ Portas directed her attentions at retailer GAME this weekend, and highlighted her lack of respect for the ratings system in the process. Speaking on Twitter, Portas was seemingly outraged that the Oxford Street brand of the retailer was unwilling to sell …
Read More »PlayStation-based ‘Play’ phone out in March
It’s one of the worst kept secrets in games – and thankfully, it’s not a secret any more, and it hits shelves in just a matter of days. Sony Ericsson this evening finally took the wrappers off its new PlayStation-oriented games smartphone, the Xperia Play. It is a slide-open device …
Read More »Tesco reveals new games boss
Sarah Kaye will be Tesco’s new senior buying manager for video games, the retailer has announced. She will take the role from Monday, February 28th.Kaye joined the supermarket giant in June last year as buying manager for games. The sales exec was recruited from Call of Duty publisher Activision, where …
Read More »Sony DADC speeds in as new distribution choice
A major new option in games distribution has emerged, and you already know its name: Sony DADC. The company best known for manufacturing PC and PlayStation games this week told MCV it is now offering primary distribution services to publishers and developers. DADC will flex the muscle of its already-established disc …
Read More »Australian games sales drop by 16%
Video games sales in Australia have fallen year-on-year by 16 per cent. The figures were compiled by GfK Retail and Technology Australia and announced by the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, which reported the Australian market generated total revenues of AUS $1.7 billion. Hardware took the biggest hit, with a …
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