MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
UK development legend Ian Livingstone has raised concerns over the growth in pre-owned sales on the High Street – suggesting the practice may force publishers and studios to bypass traditional retail. Speaking exclusively to MCV, Eidos life president Livingstone predicted that IP owners will begin looking to online activation codes …
Read More ȣ1.8bn second-hand games in UK
Britons are sitting on a 1.8 billion-worth of unused computer games – the equivalent of one game per person in the UK. That’s according to a new national survey, which revealed one in five consumers (22 per cent) have ten or more computer games at home they haven’t played in …
Read More »Black Wii sparks price war
Whilst we’re used to aggressive price battles in the software market, hardware prices are typically resilient – which makes the current price war surrounding the upcoming Black Wii all the more surprising. A number of leading online retailers – such as Amazon, Play, ShopTo and GAME – are offering the …
Read More »Mass Effect 2 dated
Publisher EA will release BioWare’s much-anticipated sci-fi RPG sequel Mass Effect 2 on Xbox 360 and PC on January 29th in the UK. The game’s pre-order bonuses have also been outlined and will include in-game items such special armour and weapons. Retailers who have signed up to the incentive schemes …
Read More »GAME: Pre-owned will keep growing
Pre-owned sales could account for close to a third of GAME’s revenue in 12 months’ time – as the firm looks forward to another year of double-digit growth for its trade-in business. In alarming news for publishers, pre-owned generated 25.7 per cent of the firm’s revenues in a tough H1 …
Read More »US: Toys R Us backs pre-owned
Having embarked on a low-profile pre-owned video games trial in a couple” of its North American outlets earlier this year, Toys R Us is to press ahead with plans to introduce pre-owned games trading at all of its North American stores. Variety reports that Toys R Us claims to accept …
Read More »Guitar Hero pre-orders heat up
Activision Blizzard has underlined the importance of retail in the success of Guitar Hero 5. The publisher has arranged to have a strong in-store presence, as well as some appealing pre-order incentives to drive customers to retailers on September 11th. Retailers are absolutely crucial to every Guitar Hero launch,” senior …
Read More »Amazon predicts PS3 Slim shortages
Sony’s soon to be released PS3 Slim is already at the top of the Amazon pre-order charts in both the UK and North America – and the retailer is warning that shortages of the console are likely come its release next month. Gamasutra reports that Amazon has contacted those who …
Read More »US: Amazon ups pre-owned offer
The North American arm of Amazon has increased the momentum behind its controversial trade-in strategy by offering an extra cash incentive to those willing to send their old games to the online retailer. Joystiq reports that Amazon will until the end of August offer an additional $30 credit to punters …
Read More »MCV introduces online Pre-Order Chart
Retail Biz, MCV’s online hub for all things video games retail related, has launched a brand new Pre-Order Chart in conjunction with online retailer ShopTo.net. Updated weekly, the listings show which titles ShopTo‘s customers are most anticipating and is a hugely useful indicator of games that are destined for greatness …
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