MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
A consumer backlash to the freemium business model implemented in Real Racing 3 has forced a change to the game. Earlier this week the game was dated for February 28th, although it is currently available as part of a soft launch” in some territories (not including the UK). However, what …
Read More »Epic says games market is "inefficient", is "looking forward to digital future"
There are plenty of industry execs who remain fully committed to retail. Clearly Epic Games founder Tim Sweeny is not one of them. In fact, he believes the entire chain – games on discs, discs in shops, ads on TV, people on the High Street – is very much destined …
Read More »Bleszinski: Digital transition will lead to rebirth of horror genre
EA isn’t to blame for the decreased focus on horror in Dead Space 3, the market is. That’s according to former Epic and Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski, who argues in an extensive blog post that out-and-out horror is simply not compatible with modern gaming business models. What will …
Read More »EA on the fence about pre-owned; Next-gen not backwards compatible; Market will never be 100% digital
Publisher EA has admitted that it would in some ways like to see an end to pre-owned games, but has also admitted that the market could suffer were they to vanish. That’s according to chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen, who Gamasutra reports told an audience at the Goldman Sachs Technology …
Read More »GameStop’s digital ventures chief Petrovic resigns
Chris Petrovic, the head of GameStop’s digital ventures division, has resigned from his role at the retailer. VentureBeat reports that his job was to invest in startups and help make acquisitions that could assist GameStop in making the transition from physical retailer to digital gaming company”. He held the post …
Read More »Digital Distribution: Dealing with discoverability
Variety is the spice of life, but there’s precious little to be had at games retail at the moment. A cursory glance at the charts in any given week will show the usual franchises scuffling over positions in the Top 10: FIFA, Call of Duty, Just Dance, Need For Speed …
Read More »GameStop: Why retail will play a key role in the digital revolution
Whenever a big entertainment retailer goes bust, it prompts the same analysis: They didn’t adapt to the rise of digital”. Such troubled chains are trying, of course. Since coming back from the brink last year, GAME has begun to transform its business, as did HMV and Blockbuster before bankruptcy. Websites …
Read More »Origin approaches 40m users as Mac client goes live
EA’s digital download service Origin is approaching 40m registered users across PC and iOS. A decent jump, that, from the 30m registered users it reported in October 2012. Around 500 titles are currently available on Origin including key EA exclusives such as Battlefield 3 and the upcoming Crysis 3. Interestingly, …
Read More »US video games market slips 9% in 2012
The total value of the US video games market declined nine per cent in 2012. NPD estimates that the overall the sector was worth $14.8bn, down from $16.34bn in 2011. The number includes sales of physical and digital games (the latter presumably with a bit of guesswork) as well as …
Read More »Digital revenues rocket as Take-Two downplays next-gen GTA V talk
Take-Two has reported a near doubling of revenue of $415.8m for the quarter ending December 31st 2012. Digital revenues climbed by an impressive 244 per cent, accounting for 23 per cent of the company’s overall non-GAAP revenue. Net income for the period climbed from $14.2m last year to $70.9m. Borderlands …
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