MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Retail will not match 2009’s sales figures, despite a Q4 sales surge. Record-breaking sales for FIFA 11 and Black Ops have helped retail beat last year’s Q4 numbers. According to MCV calculations based on Chart-Track data, retail needs to sell more than 20m units and make 313m in three weeks …
Read More »Snow chaos costs retail billions
Retail is feeling the chill as Arctic weather threatens to bring the country to a standstill this week. Several big December releases – including World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – failed to hit stores in time for launch in recent weeks as icy weather disrupted key deliveries. Now games outlets are drawing …
Read More »SpecialEffect opens games room
The world’s first fully accessible video games suite has opened at Helen and Douglas House Children’s Hospice in Oxfordshire. The room was created and funded by gaming charity SpecialEffect, and allows all of the hospice’s guests to enjoy playing video games – no matter what physical disabilities they may have. …
Read More »Retail told to pass on VAT increase
Major UK distributors have advised games retailers of new SRPs to accommodate next month’s VAT increase, confirming that trade prices will not be lowered. Earlier this month retail pleaded with suppliers to lower their trade prices so as to remove pressure to lower margins. If this isn’t done, retailers may …
Read More »Games account for just 3.3% of piracy
A report from torrent blog TorrentFreak suggests that video game piracy accounts for just 3.3 per cent of all illegally available online content. The site gathered data from thousands of BitTorrent trackers to take s snapshot of what it estimated to be all publicly available torrents at the time. Out …
Read More »EA: One big hit can save music genre
The struggling music genre just needs one big hit to get it out of the doldrums, says EA’s worldwide music executive Steve Schnur. And he hinted to MCV that EA has a few titles on the way that could be just the answer. His comments came in response to questions …
Read More »Zool revival on the cards
A group of students at Sheffield Hallam University have formed their very own on-campus development team, a news report claims. The outfit, which in a Eurogamer article appeared to be without a name, is currently reviving the moth-eaten game franchise Zool. The students will provide a range of directions to …
Read More »Gaming taps into X Factor audience
Around 20m people tuned in to watch this weekend’s X Factor finals – but it’s not just Simon Cowell cashing in on the phenomenon. Games publishers have been riding 2010’s wave of X-hype, with every episode this year featuring more games ads than ever. For Ubisoft, the show has proven …
Read More »ITV promises fair games addiction investigation
A flood of angry emails has prompted ITV to assure the industry that any investigation into video games addiction will be fair. Yesterday, the broadcaster sent out invitations for gamers or their parents whose education or relationships have suffered because of video games – or have suffered from violence connected …
Read More »Lorraine Kelly investigates games addiction
Clearly, ITV has missed the widespread backlash against the BBC’s Panorama on games addiction as it’s now launching its own investigation. And who better to head up this initiative than long-time morning TV presenter, Lorraine Kelly? ITV has been issuing invitations to various specialist gaming media outlets, such as CVG, …
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