MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
US game sales are up eight per cent in November compared to the year before, NPD has revealed. The industry made $2.99 billion last month, up from $2.7bn the year before. This includes $1.08bn in hardware, $1.46bn in software and $413.3m in accessories. All up from the year before. The …
Read More »HMV sales plummet 15.3%
HMV UK and Ireland sales have fallen 15.3 per cent for the 26 weeks ending October 23rd, 2010. The overall group sales – which includes book retailer Waterstones – are down 6 per cent to 749m, compared to the 797m posted in 2009. The loss after tax is at 30.5m, …
Read More »UK console installed base exceeds 32m
32.4m current generation game consoles are now in circulation in the UK, according to Gfk Chart-Track. That means retail has sold 5.2m DS, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 and PSP consoles this year. However, that’s a 26 per cent slowdown in hardware sales compared to 2009. For the same year-to-date period …
Read More »Pre-owned claims 25% of GAMEs sales
Retailer GAME has stated that second-hand will account for 25 per cent of its sales this financial year. That’s up from 21 per cent in 2009. The news comes as part of the firm’s interim statement, which revealed that GAME’s sales are down 8.8 per cent for the 44 weeks …
Read More »Price war hits GAME profits
GAME has warned that its profit margins will fall more than expected this financial year as it cuts prices in the face of increased retail competition. The firm also revealed that for the 44 weeks ending December 4th, 2010, like-for-like group sales were down 8.8 per cent, while UK sales …
Read More »UK Xmas shoppers spend £17.4bn online
Online retail group IMRG expects UK consumers to spend 17.4bn online this Christmas, up from the 15bn spent in 2009. The company made its estimates ahead of ‘Mega Monday,’ which takes place on December 6th. The day is typically the busiest online shopping day of the year, with Play.com expected …
Read More »Analyst: GTA V will come in 2012
Grand Theft Auto V will arrive in Take-Two’s financial year 2012 (April 2012 to March 2013) At least that’s according to Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey, who goes on to predict the game will sell 16m units and generate $750m. According to GameSpot, the analyst also expects BioShock: Infinite to …
Read More »New Daily Mirror games section revealed
A new eight-page gaming section will appear in the Daily Mirror next month, following a deal with Future Publishing. Entitled The Ticket – powered by GamesMaster, the new section will debut in the paper’s entertainment guide on Friday, December 10th with a Sonic the Hedgehog themed edition. The section is …
Read More »GameStop reveals first ever DLC pre-order campaign
North American gamers can pre-order the Halo: Reach DLC from GameStop, and get some free extras to boot. The US giant claims it is the first firm to do a pre-order campaign for downloadable content, and forms part of the companys drive into digital markets. Players who pre-order the upcoming …
Read More ȣ50m target for BBCs games plan
BBC Worldwide says its move back into video games is like ‘growing a new limb’ and that it could become a 50m business for the firm. The statement comes as the company reveals its first self-published games for iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad, which are Doctor Who: The Mazes of …
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