MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
No company is reliant on just one man – particularly the biggest tech company in the world. But so iconic has Steve Jobs become that Apple saw around 10bn wiped off its value last night. The falls, of course, follow news of Steve Jobs’ resignation as CEO as he continues …
Read More »US games market tumbles to five year low
After showing some impressive resilience over the last few months, the US games market has been brought crashing back to earth. NPD reports that for the month of July the games market was down 26 per cent year-on-year with a value if just $797.7m. That’s the worst single month since …
Read More »Majority of Brits are now gamers
A new report from games market research firm Newzoo has revealed that the majority of UK nationals are now active gamers. In total it estimates the 31m of the 60m people in the UK population now spend money on games. 49m are active internet users. And while the console sector …
Read More »UK retail braced for summer of woe
The number of specialist games retailers is in free fall as the crisis on the High Street deepens. And the situation is only going to get worse over the summer, warn analysts, with many expecting a significant rise in the number of empty High Street units. MCV can reveal that …
Read More »Games credited for crime drop
In a rare bit of positive news coverage for the sector, a piece penned by BBC News Washington DC correspondent Tom Geoghegan has named games as one of the key reasons why crime has declined in the US. Recent FBI figures show a sharp drop in murder and robbery rates …
Read More »Signs of 3D struggles at cinema
There are indications in the US that the appetite for 3D movies is on the decline. This is of particular concern to content holders as, with the further establishment of 3D in the public consciousness, it would be usual to be expecting growth in the format at this stage in …
Read More »Can LA Noire arrest the markets decline?
UK retail hopes L.A. Noire can breathe new life into struggling software sales. The UK games market is down significantly year-on-year. But with Rockstar’s hyped new IP due today (Friday, May 20th), expectations are high for a May sales surge. The current levelling off in the games market hasn’t been helped …
Read More »Sega ‘staggered’ by UK games retail decline
The UK is losing ground internationally as retail struggles and slows, Sega has warned. Mike Hayes, the CEO of Sega’s Western publishing empire, this week revealed to MCV he was staggered” by how rapidly UK games retail is contracting. He said the UK is half as valuable to Sega as …
Read More »UK retail suffers worst March sales fall
March saw the worst decline in sales since 1996 across the High Street. Figures from the British Retail Consortium show that last month’s total sales were down by 1.9 per cent compared to last year, according to the BBC. Like-for-like sales were down by 3.5 per cent – their worst …
Read More »Racers back at pole position
The losing streak for racing games is definitely over, with Test Drive Unlimited 2 on top this week. Early last year a number of high-profile racers failed to meet sales expectations, including Activision’s Blur. But a string of No.1s have seen the racing genre get back on track. Codemasters’ F1 …
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