COMMENT: The hard work pays off at MCV Awards

It is indicative of a changing market that no single company dominated this year’s MCV Awards.

Retailers and suppliers have been working extra hard over the past year to stave off some genuine softness in demand.

Modern Warfare 2 was a phenomenon, brilliantly executed, and was rightly rewarded last night. Our Retail Advisory Board selected Roy Stackhouse for special recognition and the wider judging panel picked out Activision as Publisher of the Year.

But the surprise hit of 2010, Just Dance, also brought home two awards for Ubisoft (Sales Triumph and New Games Brand).

Sega wrestled PR Team off Nintendo, but the big red one still held onto the Marketing Team and Trade Marketing prizes.

HMV, after a brilliant 12 months, also won a brace and ASDA edged out Tesco in the supermarket battle.

All the winners, including SCE, Mad Catz, Play, Grainger, Rocksteady and Centresoft, can look back with great pride on putting in a performance so good that it has been recognised by the entire trade.

The Xbox team should be applauded for winning two big awards despite the past year not having been the strongest for first party publishing.

The effort put in to keep hardware shifting at pace, despite the emergence of a more attractive PS3 proposition, is what will have edged out nearest rivals Ubisoft for the Sales Team accolade.

And it is the format owner’s persistent innovation, energy and attention to detail (especially when it comes to third party licensees) that made it such a popular choice for Grand Prix.

So as the hangovers kick in this morning, winners should thoroughly enjoy their moment.

It all starts again at E3…