MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Or DVDs, as they are otherwise known. Microsoft has announced that Minecraft will for the first time be made available in physical form thanks to a boxed release on Xbox 360. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will also ship with a free 48-hour Xbox Live Gold subscription allowing buyers to get …
Read More »Xtra-vision enters receivership
Irish entertainment rental and retail firm Xtra-vision has fallen into receivership after being "unable to meet its debts". The chain has 152 stores and 1,023 employees, according to Retail Week. It is unknown how many jobs will be lost. Xtra-vision cited steep declines in the movie rental business for its …
Read More »OPINION: Keep faith while the release schedule hibernates
That long wait for GTA V is going to seem quite painful. While it’s worth paying some lip service to the few tent-poles the games industry will offer up this summer – The Last of Us, Splinter Cell, and Nintendo’s 3DS range – there’s no denying that the months ahead …
Read More »Are we ready for the biggest video games drought ever?
Fewer video games were sold than ever last week, as the release schedule dries up. Retailers shifted just 332,338 games over the last seven days, generating 8m in revenue. But the worse is still to come, say analysts. In fact, UK retailers told MCV this week they don’t expect the …
Read More »Nintendo illustrates the growing importance of online to its business model
It was once mocked for its reluctance to embrace online, but Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has told investors that the company has well and truly embraced the internet revolution. Iwata confirmed that 80 per cent of Wii Us are now connected to the internet, making it the most connected Nintendo …
Read More »GAME launches UK retail’s first free-to-play platform
But isn’t free-to-play supposed to mean the death of retail? As recently as a year ago that’s what we were being told. But GAME’s announcement of a new free-to-play platform is further evidence that retail might just find a role to play in this brave new world of digital gaming. …
Read More »More Skylanders products head to retail
A huge array of new licensed Skylanders products will hit retail this summer. Mobile phone accessories, toys, stationary sets, balloons, shoes and stickers will launch in the coming weeks to complement the existing range of plush toys, calendars, birthday cards, cakes and toiletries. There are now well over 120 Skylanders …
Read More »Game4u opens new store in Chandigarh
Specialist games retailer Game4u has opened its first store in Chandigarh, making this its fifth store in northern India. The new store is located in Elante Mall, and Game4u is giving away various prizes to the first ten customers who walk into the store, take a picture with their purchase, …
Read More »Dixons sells Swedish retailer Webhallen
Swedish games retailer Webhallen has been sold by owner Dixons to Norwegian ecommerce company Komplett. The 14m deal comes as part of Dixons’ ongoing restructuring of electronics retailer Pixmania, which included the termination of its High Street presence earlier this year, CityAM reports. We continue to explore ways to put …
Read More »Amazon boosts its entertainment market share as GAME drops 3%
Supermarkets and Amazon have boosted their entertainment market share at the expense of GAME and HMV. Kantar Worldpanel’s Entertainment Retailer Barometer report states that Amazon made the biggest market share gains for the 12 weeks ending March 17th 2013. The numbers include sales of physical video games, games and digital …
Read More »