MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Blizzard’s RPG Diablo III finally hit shelves last night and MCV was at the UK launch event to bring you over 50 images. Over 1,000 fans queued outside HMV Oxford Street before the game went on sale at 11pm. Press were invited to a pre-event gathering nearby before being led …
Read More »HMV: Diablo III our biggest ever product launch
The Diablo III launch event at HMV Oxford Street was the retailer’s biggest to date, says games boss Ewan Pinder. He estimates at least 1,000 fans queued up at the High Street chain’s flagship London store last night to purchase the game first. It went on sale at 11pm with …
Read More »Diablo III launches in 8,000 stores worldwide
Diablo III hit shelves at midnight at more than 8,000 stores across the world, including HMV’s Oxford Street branch. The long-awaited PC and Mac RPG arrived with more than 2m pre-orders, which includes both retail and digital purchases. Fans were queuing at HMV Oxford Street in London as early as …
Read More »Blizzard Entertainment skips E3 2012
World of Warcraft developer-publisher Blizzard will not have a floor presence at this year’s E3, a company rep has told MCV. This makes it’s the fifth consecutive year the company has bypassed the annual games trade show in Los Angeles. Additionally, Blizzard will not be holding one of its own …
Read More »Minecraft on 360 breaks XBLA sales records
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has smashed all previous Xbox Live Arcade sales records after selling the most units in just 24 hours. The downloadable title – priced at 1,600 Microsoft Points (around 15) – went on sale on Wednesday, May 9th. Within its first hour on sale it had become …
Read More »GameStop sales fall but chain ‘outperforms market’
Same-store sales at US retailer GameStop dropped 12.5 per cent year-on-year. These include sales at stores which have been open for at least one year, and exclude revenue generated at newer shops. The games chain blamed the decline on a lower demand for new games, but said it had outperformed …
Read More »Blockbuster partners with IGN to promote VIP Gamer scheme
High Street retailer Blockbuster has struck a deal with media giant IGN to promote its new customer reward scheme VIP Gamer. An IGN Recommends microsite will showcase the retailer’s latest game competitions and deals to an audience of more than three million. Blockbuster VIP Gamer was unveiled earlier this week. …
Read More »Dixons reports 3% like-for-like sales dip
Dixons Retail says its like-for-like sales fell three per cent for the 52 weeks ending April 28th, while overall sales remained flat. The group – which owns PC World, Currys, Dixons and other retail chains worldwide – ‘enjoyed good performances in the UK and Ireland and Northern Europe, trading ahead …
Read More »NPD says total US games market was over $1bn in April
The money generated from overall game sales in the US during April has been estimated at a whopping $1bn. This figure from The NPD Group includes sales of hardware, accessories, new and used physical games at retail, rentals, digital downloads, add-on content, subscriptions, mobile games and social network titles. It’s …
Read More »J’ACCUSE: There’s life in Vita
System 3 boss and industry veteran Mark Cale explains why PS Vita has the potential to be an iPad-beater and what Sony could do to help the handheld prosper in a tough market. PlayStation Vita launched just two months ago but today you’d never know it. Sony has some of …
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