MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Publishers and platform holders no longer have to ignore one of the world’s biggest video games markets. China is open for business. Government officials have lifted the 14-year ban on consoles and production of the devices has begun in Shanghai’s free trade zone to be sold in China. In doing …
Read More »TERRITORY REPORT: Southern Europe
Southern Europe has some of the most valuable gaming markets on the continent. But it’s a territory that’s also home to a handful of countries battling to overcome issues hindering their growth. Most countries in the region are still recovering from the recent recession that gripped Europe. Greece and Portugal …
Read More »Japanese hardware market up 179.1% as PS4 arrives
The games console hardware market enjoyed a sharp year-on-year increase in Japan thanks to the launch of PS4, Famitsu has revealed. Data supplied to MCV shows that for February hardware sales were up 179.1 per cent year-on-year at 189.5m (1.11m). The software market climbed 113.8 per cent to 192.5m (1.12m). …
Read More »German and Austrian delay for South Park: The Stick of Truth
South Park: The Stick of Truth will miss its March 7th release date in Germany and Austria. Videogamer reports that numerous users on Steam and NeoGaf have received messages from Ubisoft apologising for the delay. "The German and Austrian version of South Park: The Stick of Truth contains an unconstitutional …
Read More »‘PS4 defied expectations in Japan’
PS4 launched in Japan, but just how big was it? Marketing and consulting chief Ricky Tanimoto of video game giant Famitsu and Enterbrain explains all to MCV. PS4 has enjoyed a good start in Japan. Previous PlayStation consoles usually launch earlier in the Japanese market compared with other countries. But …
Read More »EC questions use of ‘free’ in ‘free-to-play’
The ability to advertise free-to-play titles as ‘free’ is under threat thanks to a new European Commission initiative. The EC is meeting with consumer groups in the UK, France and Italy and major market players such as Apple and Google to discuss consumer concerns regarding the F2P market. Chief amongst …
Read More »Wii U finally overtakes Xbox 360 in Japan
Almost 15 months after it was released in the territory, Nintendo’s Wii U has finally overtaken Xbox 360 in Japan. Wii U arrived in Japan on December 8th 2012 and as of last week has sold 1,643,095 units, according to Eurogamer. Xbox 360 has since its release in the territory …
Read More »Around the World with MCV: Your free international games guide
This year’s guide to the international games market is now available to download. MCV has published a comprehensive – and free – booklet that acts as a guide to a number of territories around the world. Around the World with MCV, in association with Click Entertainment, is a compilation of …
Read More »INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: Cyprus
Cyprus was hit hard by the Eurocrisis, and this has hurt the region’s video games market. The high price of games in the territory is impacting both the customer and the retailers. Games retail is struggling but generally at this time, it’s not good in any markets. Games are coming …
Read More »INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: Luxembourg
Tastes in Luxembourg match those in the UK and popular games in the region currently include blockbusters like FIFA 13 and Call of Duty. Local games retailers also report strong demand for more recent releases such as Tomb Raider, Injustice: Gods?Among Us and Dead Island Riptide. One retailer was also …
Read More »