MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The UK games retail market has suffered its worst month in history. Just over 1m boxed games were sold last month, 40.4 per cent lower than June and 33.3 per cent below July 2012. In total stores generated just over 23m from game sales, almost half the figure posted the …
Read More »The UK has 6m daily smartphone gamers – report
Six million Britons play smartphone games every day according to new research from ComScore. In addition a total of 20m play games every month. That places gaming ahead of instant messaging in the most popular mobile activities race and approximately on par with photo messaging, reading the news or weather …
Read More »Android app downloads overtake iOS
Sales of Android hardware have been ahead of Apple for some time now, but for the first time Android downloads have now overtaken iOS. App Annie‘s report, as spotted by The Guardian, covers Q2 2013. It’s important to note that despite this, Apple’s iOS App Store still generated 2.3x the …
Read More »Steam top ten sellers chart: July 21-27
The latest rendition of Steam’s weekly top ten product chart sees the return of a classic franchise and the conclusion of the Summer Sale’s influence. The just released Shadowrun Returns leads ahead of several discounted offerings including Skyrim’s Legendary Edition, BioShock Infinite and Borderlands 2. Civ V continues to make …
Read More »Average global broadband connection speed hits 3.1Mbps; UK hits 7.9Mbps
The average internet user from anywhere in the world enjoys a connection speed of 3.1Mbps. That’s according to a new report from Akamai entitled The State of the Internet. It’s the first time the global average has surpassed 3Mbps. The global peak speed averages out at 18.4Mbps. The UK misses …
Read More »Ouya devs reveal software sales numbers
A trio of devs behind some of the more recognisable games on Ouya have revealed their sales figures. TowerFall is arguably Ouya’s most recognised and acclaimed exclusive game to date (although it is relieving itself of its exclusive shackles). But creator Matt Thorson told Edge that it has to date …
Read More »New report says British video games workforce has halved – but it’s wrong
A damaging new report claims that the UK games industry employs just over 5,000 people – but it is massively inaccurate, MCV research has concluded. The new Skillset creative sector census was published earlier this month and it says that the number of games business employees in Britain is down …
Read More »Poll suggests little next-gen interest in Japan
Although there are indications that there’s a decent appetite for Xbox One and PS4 in the West, the same can’t necessarily be said of Japan. Kotaku reports the Japan.Internet.com poll found that only 2.5 per cent of respondents intended to purchase an Xbox One during its launch window, whenever that …
Read More »Steam top ten sellers chart: July 7-13
The Summer Sale has made first impact on the top ten selling products chart for Valve’s service, with Civilization V and Borderlands 2 offerings making up nearly half of the list. Civ V’s latest expansion Brave New world finished ahead of BioShock Infinite for the top spot on this week’s …
Read More »SingStar user numbers jump following free-to-play transition
Sony’s decision to make SingStar a free-to-play PS3 title has seen a dramatic increase in user numbers. Gamasutra reports that SingStar London studio director Dave Ranyard today told an audience at the Develop Conference that the game has added 1.5m new users since becoming free-to-play in October of last year. …
Read More »