MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Sony, HMV and THQ have hit back at the retailers calling for lower-priced video games. Key execs claim publishers risk devaluing their products if they were to give in to demands from companies such as Sainsbury’s. The supermarket chain told suppliers to slash the price of video games at its …
Read More »New Ignition to be Pixar of games
UTV Ignition will leave its sub-distribution days behind as it transforms into a triple-A digital games giant. The company has recently opened three studios in Tokyo, Florida and London, and has hired former IGN Europe chief Justin Keeling to head up its global digital strategy. This includes recruiting developers to …
Read More »OPINION: HMV’s game ambitions
Writing about HMV is a welcome change to all the doom and gloom surrounding retail at the moment. Their profits? Up. Their store count? Increasing. Whereas the rest of retail talks of consolidation and decline, HMV is enjoying expansion and growth. And the reason for this success? Well, the loss …
Read More »Games central to HMVs superbrand push
Video games will play a major part in HMV’s ambition to become an ‘entertainment superbrand.’ The firm wants to be seen as more than just a retailer, and already sells music tickets, owns music venues and cinemas. And during its entertainment conference last week, the retailer called upon the games …
Read More »Argos brings used games to all stores
All Argos stores will offer a video game trade-in service from Saturday July 24th. The pre-owned offer coincides with the launch of the firm’s 74th Argos catalogue. Customers will have the chance to trade in around 250 different titles for Argos gift cards that can be spent on any product …
Read More »UK video games – The June Report
Maybe it was the World Cup, the hot weather or increased economic uncertaintly, but it was a tough month for the UK video games market – with sales down around 23 per cent compared to June 2009. But it wasn’t all bad news. Red Dead Redemption enjoyed another month at …
Read More »GameStop dismisses pre-owned competition
Having been caught up in a minor controversy surrounding its pre-owned intentions last week, GameStop CEO Paul Raines has asserted the chain’s commitment to the pre-owned model – and issued a warning to the many retailers hoping to muscle in on the sector. Used games is a great business for …
Read More »Charity can boost games profile
UK charity GamesAid can help improve the perception of the entire games industry, says trustee Ian Livingstone.His claim comes as the UK organisation opens nominations for new charities. He told MCV: We need to raise a lot more money, give it to people who need it and represent an industry …
Read More »There will be failure in digital
Many of the video games companies rushing towards the digital markets will fail. That’s the warning from Digital River’s global gaming VP Jeff Hemenway, who is concerned by the sheer number of start-ups and major publishers looking to capitalise on free-to-play games and digital downloads. There is a goldrush, there’s …
Read More »New trade-in-site emerges
A new UK games trade site has launched, which offers consumers three ways to buy and sell titles. GaBoom.co.uk allows users to either contact other members on the site’s forum to agree on postage terms, use GaBoom’s own escrow service or ‘Secure Swap’ feature for a safer transaction. We have …
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