MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
A study by US analyst Cowen & Company has said that fear of buying a scratched disk, missing out on the in-game manual or simply the urge to own new goods is the key motivation behind those who dislike buying pre-owned games. In total 54 per cent of those who …
Read More »Japanese dev industry ‘like a zombie’
One of Japan’s most popular game developers has launched an imaginative and damning analysis of his native development nation. Katamari Damacy maestro Keita Takahashi described the Japanese sector as a zombie” that needs to die, but won’t. In an interview with consumer magazine GamesTM, Takashashi said: I think the Japanese …
Read More »Perry warns of Steam danger
Industry veteran and Gaikai founder Dave Perry has warned that while Valve’s Steam network is obviously a very appealing proposition for publishers, companies should be careful about handing over their digital futures to the digital retail powerhouse. When you outsource your digital strategy you are giving away your customers,” he …
Read More »Music genre plummets by 75% in two years
The value of the console music genre has decreased by a massive 75 per cent in the last two years, according to a new study. Gamasutra reckons the genre – which includes titles such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band – was worth over $16bn in 2008. In 2010 that …
Read More »PC market impossible for smaller publishers
French publisher Focus Home Interactive has declared it ‘impossible’ for smaller publishers to sell PC titles at UK retail. The firm is best known for a number of niche PC hits, including the Cities XL series – a gaming franchise that has been forced to depend on digital distribution this …
Read More »ShopTo gets first TV ad
Online retailer ShopTo.Net has run its first ever TV advertisement. The firm teamed up with Ubisoft for the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood TV ad, promoting the fact consumers can buy it from the retailer for 32.85. The ads ran in the week running up to the release of the game (Friday …
Read More »OPINION: The big media
UK games retail’s boom week of 113m wasn’t just serendipitously timed to blow rival entertainment launches out of the water. It coincided with a clear change in direction for ‘Big Media’ when it comes to games. As Call of Duty flew of shelves, Viacom waved the white flag on games, …
Read More »Retailers hail £113m Black Ops boom week
The Black Ops boom has put UK games retail back on track after months of facing year-on-year market decline. The FPS made over 80m in the UK last week, and sold over 2m units in five days – helping the High Street towards its biggest week for games ever: 113m …
Read More »Black Ops crushes music and movie markets
It was the week Take That reformed. The week a new Harry Potter movie premiered.But the real winner in the entertainment war? It was a video game. Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops led a software market boom last week. Day one sales stood at 1.4m units, generating 58m in …
Read More »Vaz brings another anti-gaming Early Day Motion
Labour MP Keith Vaz has raised his second anti-games Early Day Motion of the year, this time linking video games to a spate of shootings in Sweden last month. Earlier this month Swedish police arrested a 38-year-old man, whose motivation was thought to be racial. That is, unless you’re Keith …
Read More »