MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid swansong sold almost half a million copies across PS3 and PS4 in its debut week. That’s according to the latest data from Famitsu, which shows that the PS4 SKU of open-world stealth game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain shifted over 315,000 units last …
Read More »Until Dawn has been censored in Japan
A particularly gory scene in new PS4 title Until Dawn has been omitted from the Japanese version of the game. The grizzly demise of the game’s cast is hardly a rare occurrence in the slash-flick spoof, but the death of Josh in particular has proved too much for Japanese authorities, …
Read More »Super Robots overthrow animals as Animal Crossing slips to second place in the Japanese charts
A menagerie of robots, animals, ghosts and squid battled it out at the top of the Japanese games charts last week. Bandai Namco’s next instalment in its long-running Super Robot Taisen turn-based strategy series blasted to the number one spot in the software rankings, knocking Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: Happy Home …
Read More »HTML5 game engine PlayCanvas launches in Japan
Tech has been used by more than 55,000 developers
Read More »Animal Crossing stays strong at top of Japanese charts, sells over 170,000 units in third week
Zoological lifestyle simulator Animal Crossing has held strong at the top of the Japanese charts in a week dominated by Nintendo. The latest entry in the casual franchise, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, sold more than 172,000 units in its third week on sale – nearly triple the 60,832total of …
Read More »Platform holders pick up Japanese Call of Duty publishing duties
Square Enix is no longer the publisher of Call of Duty in Japan. This year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will be published by Sony on PlayStation. For Xbox, Activision will serve as publisher and Microsoft and distributor, according to Siliconera. Sony has also published previous Activision titles in …
Read More »Square Enix to shut down its game streaming service after less than a year
Square Enix’s Dive In game streaming service is to come to an end before its first birthday. The platform was launched in Japan last October, and allowed gamers to play titles such as Final Fantasy XIII and VII on their iOS and Android devices. Players were even able to control …
Read More »Yokai Watch Busters retains Japanese charts top spot for a third week as Batman falls
Four new releases in the Japanese software Top Ten last week wasn’t enough to dethrone continued phenomenon and chart success Yokai Watch. The Busters spin-off of the massively popular franchise was number one for a third consecutive week, shifting over 118,500 units. That was despite new competition from Capcom’s Sengoku …
Read More »Margin Makers: Guide to Japanese games merchandise
They might not be as big as Call of Duty or FIFA, but cult Japanese franchises boast a highly passionate audience with a fondness for merchandise. MCV heads East to check out the biggest imports Japan is the land where video games matured. Now, three decades after the release of …
Read More »PlayStation 4 tops Japanese hardware charts as Batman swoops into stores
Japanese PlayStation 4 sales shot up this week as Batman: Arkham Knight launched in the country. That’s according to Famitsu market data that shows that sales of Sony’s latest hardware rose 73 per cent week-on-week. Batman: Arkham Knight debuted in second place, shifting 48,330 units in its first week on …
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