MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Smash-hit game Angry Birds has been downloaded over half a billion times across various platforms, developer Rovio has announced. The entertainment media company said this made the title one of the most downloaded games in history. "This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we’re extremely delighted to see …
Read More »Kinect sales reach 10m
Microsoft has celebrated Kinect’s first birthday this week by announcing lifetime sales of 10m units for the device. There’s a flip-side to the news, however. Kinect sold a record-breaking 8m units in its first 60 days on sale. In the 10 months that have followed it has managed to shift …
Read More ȣ165m marketing bonanza to cheer up Christmas
The UK games industry is digging deep in a bid to turn around a difficult year for boxed sales. Publishers, retailers, developers and platform holders are splashing 165m on advertising over the next three months, MCV research has found. That amount will fund a deluge of TV ads, mall tours, …
Read More »EA’s The Sims Social reaches 50m players
EA is edging ever closer to usurping the Facebook games kingpin Zynga, with The Sims Social now reaching more than 50 million monthly active users. Zynga’s Cityville – the most popular game in Facebook’s short but dramatic history – stands atop the leaderboard with 74 million monthly users, according to …
Read More »iOS and Android apps total 1m
Should Tim Cook and Larry Page be getting together to clink glasses of champagne this week? Admittedly, it’s an unlikely prospect, but the CEOs of Apple and Google do have a joint milestone to celebrate. According to app-tracking startup Appsfire, more than one million apps have now been released across …
Read More »150m now signed up to Club Penguin
Club Penguin, the in-browser virtual world custom-made for children, has registered its 150 millionth user, owning company Disney has said. And Disney is using the registion landmark as a platform to promote the new Club Penguin app for iPhone and iPad. The smartphone game spin-off, called Puffle Launch, began life …
Read More »Angry Birds downloads reach 350m
The wheels (or wings) show no signs of falling off the Angry Birds juggernaut anytime soon. Developer Rovio Mobile says its franchise has now generated more than 350 million downloads across all platforms. Are people still playing? Just a bit. General manager Andrew Stalbowtold the TechCrunch Disrupt conferenceyesterday that mobile …
Read More »Sony UK splashes £3m on Resistance 3
Sony is pulling out all the stops to make Resistance 3 a September blockbuster, with a whopping 3m marketing spend. The PS3 exclusive hits shelves on September 9th, backed by a special outdoor event, as well as ads on TV, in cinemas, online and in print. TV ads have been …
Read More »Disc-based games sales fall in US
A new report from The Entertainment Merchants Association has revealed that sales of physical games on disc declined significantly in 2010. Gamasutra reports that in 2010 71 per cent of all video games sold in the US were on disc. In 2009 that figure stood at between 80 and 90 …
Read More »Analysts predict tight sales race between PS3 and Xbox 360
The PS3 could catch or even overtake the global install base of the Xbox 360 in 2011, analysts have predicted. While Microsoft’s machine remains the firm favourite of the pair in key territories such as the US, it’s a different story in other parts of the world. And it could …
Read More »