MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Far from protecting the games industry, DRM is actually damaging it according to the MD of download site Good Old Games Guillaume Rambourg. GoG.com offers a number of titles, all of which are completely free of any digital rights management restrictions. To beat piracy, our offer to gamers had to …
Read More »GAME enters the digital and streaming games space
The UK’s leading High Street games retailer GAME has this morning announced a significant foray into the digital games market. A beta version of a new initiative called GAMEwallet will go live today. It will allow customers to purchase a range of digital content using either their existing Reward Card …
Read More »Amazon drops PSN game codes
Two years on from their high-profile arrival on the American arm of retailer Amazon, digital codes for PSN games have been suddenly yanked from the website. At one stage over 500 pieces of content were being offered. Though the reason for the disappearance remains a mystery, an Amazon rep told …
Read More »F2P games green-lit for PlayStation Vita
The thriving free-to-play monetisation model is coming to PlayStation Vita, a Sony executive has said. Chris Norden, a senior developer at SCEA, yesterday met attendees at an industry event in Texas to explain Sony’s policy. "You are free to explore whatever business model you want,” he said during his speaker …
Read More »Sainsbury’s plots £1m digital retail push
Sainsbury’s has bought online entertainment company Global Media Vault for 1 million. The acquisition will facilitate its drive to beat supermarket rivals to the online and digital entertainment market, following the launch of the Sainsbury’s Entertainment website in November 2010. Global Media Vault’s digital database already includes over three million …
Read More »Vita software pricing confirms retail’s worst fear
PlayStation Vita owners will face a very stark choice when the system arrives in the UK next year – pay a premium price for boxed games or a discounted price to download the digital version. This will for the first time place Sony squarely up against retail as opponents, fighting …
Read More »GAME: ‘It’s foolhardy to fear digital’
GAME insists it has nothing to fear from digital retailers after backing Xbox Live, PSN and streamingservice OnLive. CEO Ian Shepherd dismissed the notion that he was giving away customers to these digital rivals by promoting them, and reiterated the firm’s strategy to become more than just a retailer. We’re …
Read More »New, boxed games lose out in US market
NPD’s Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend report has claimed new, boxed game sales in the US accounted for the minority of the market in Q2 2011. In total $1.44bn was spent by US consumers on new, physical console and PC games in the period. In contrast, the combined spend on …
Read More »THQ opens online store
Publisher THQ has opened an online store on its official website. The portal sells both boxed console releases and downloadable titles for PC. Note, however, the somewhat pricey postage charges applied to the former. For instance, a copy of WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 costs 18.71 but upon ordering British …
Read More »INTERVIEW: Ubisoft Digital
Every publisher is busy shaping up their digital offering. And Ubisoft is no different. In fact, it has been quietly but confidently prepping a beefed up digital offer, last year hiring a dedicated VP for digital games, Chris Early – the former head of Microsoft’s casual games business. His job …
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