MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The Develop Awards and a charity poker tournament raised 6,380 for GamesAid at Develop in Brighton this week. Last night’s Develop Awards raised 2,080 and you can still donate now by clicking here. A special envelope was placed on each table at the sell-out event, and guests were encouraged to …
Read More »Industry goes to war with Steam
Excitement for Battlefield 3 could see Steam dethroned from its leading place in digital distribution.MCV can reveal that the FPS will be available to download from pretty much every PC platform going – except Valve’s kingpin service. US retailer GameStop has already confirmed Battlefield 3 will be sold on its …
Read More »Amazons UK games download store ready for October launch
Online retail behemoth Amazon will launch its PC game download store in the UK this October, MCV can reveal. A US download store has existed since early 2009 but it only started selling downloadable versions of triple-A PC games in November last year.It’s been a much-delayed process for the retailer …
Read More »Ubisoft FY Q1 sales fall 36%
Publisher Ubisoft’s Q1 2011 sales have hit 90.7m, a drop of 36.3 per cent compared to the year before. But this is significantly up on the company’s expectations of just 79.2m. Last year the publisher generated 141.8m, but this was boosted by the release of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten …
Read More »Future focuses on digital as revenues fall
Future Publishing will continue to focus on digital as its print business declines in the US and UK. Group revenues for the nine months to June 30th, 2011 has dropped five per cent year-on-year. UK circulation revenues have fallen three per cent. It’s not all bad news, at UK digital …
Read More »UK games market tumbles to new low
Another month, another bleak story about the state of the UK games retail market. This time, 78.4m was spent on boxedgames last month. That’s a six per cent drop on the 83.5m generated during June 2010.In terms of the amount of video games sold, the number isn’t quite so bad. …
Read More »INTERVIEW: Craig Johnson, Focus Multimedia
Budget specialist Focus Multimedia has a clear vision for growing its business, with new international markets, accessories and clever retail initiatives all part of the plan. Christopher Dring finds out more from MD Craig Johnson What is Focus’ current position in the budget games market? What’s your market share? We’re …
Read More »EA in $750m swoop for PopCap
EA has moved to acquire social and casual games specialist PopCap for a deal that could eventually be worth $1.3bn. The publisher has bought the firm – best known for hit casual titles Plants vs Zombies, Peggle,Bejeweled and Zuma – for $650m in cash plus $100m in stock. PopCap’s owners …
Read More »HMV appoints new commercial director
HMV has recruited Michael Neil as its new commercial director. Neil was the recent commercial director at Waterstone’s, which HMV sold to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut for 53m. Neil replaced Gary Warren, who has decided to leave the retailer to pursue new interest. Warren has worked for the entertainment firm …
Read More »New downloadable PS3 show announced
Future Publishing has closed its on-console PS3 video magazine FirstPlay to make way for a new, free show. The new show – which is currently unnamed – will be free to eligible UK PSN account holders. It will be ‘aligned with SCE UK’s Access to PlayStation community strategy,’ and will …
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