MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The biggest game of Christmas was released on just one platform, had no marketing and it isn’t even finished yet. While the official charts claim FIFA 14 and Cut The Rope 2 were the biggest games of Christmas, Dean Hall’s PC-only DayZ shifted nearly 1m units and made over 20m …
Read More »William Hill slashes odds on Call of Duty: Ghosts for Christmas No.1
Call of Duty: Ghosts has been installed as the odds-on favourite to be this year’s UKIE GfK Chart-Track UK Christmas No.1. William Hill is offering 1/5 on the game, which arrives in the UK today but will be boosted by next-gen launches on Xbox One and PS4 on November 22nd …
Read More »UK games industry spending £128m on Christmas advertising
There may be fewer games on shelves from fewer publishers, but the UK boxed games industry will spend 128m on advertising this Q4 – 30m more than last year. The majority of that – 68m – will be spent promoting PS4 and Xbox One hardware and software, despite the fact …
Read More »GameStop recruiting 17,000 extra staff for Christmas in US
17,000 additional workers will be hired by GameStop in the US for work over the Christmas period. The games retailer is currently on the hunt for in-store game advisors, consumer electronic technicians for its refurbishment operation centre and warehouse personnel to work at the company’s two distribution centres. The majority …
Read More »William Hill makes Call of Duty: Ghosts Xmas No.1 favourite
Call of Duty: Ghosts has been installed as the favourite to claim the UK Christmas No.1 title by William Hill. It’s currently offering 6/4 on the game with FIFA 14 second at 2/1 and next week’s release Grand Theft Auto V in third at 4/1. There is no doubting that …
Read More »Angry Birds downloaded 30m times over Xmas
The global success that is Angry Birds enjoyed a blockbuster Christmas. Rovio’s game was downloaded an eye-watering 30m times between December 22nd and December 29th. On Christmas Day alone the game as purchased 8m times. With Flurry data suggesting that 17.4m new Android and iOS devices – that means there …
Read More »Digital vs Physical – the REAL Christmas No.1
Think this year’s Xmas No.1 in games will be Call of Duty or FIFA? It is more likely to be Angry Birds or Minecraft. Xbox Live, Steam, iOS, PSN and the rest are expecting a surge in downloads on December 25th, as gamers receive consoles, tablets, PCs and points cards …
Read More »Asda criticised over "sexist" Christmas TV ad
UK supermarket chain Asda has come in for criticism over its Christmas TV campaign. Running under the slogan ‘Behind every great Christmas, there’s Mum’, the short sees a mother seemingly struggling alone to prepare the Christmas Day festivities as the rest of the family wait on. Both women’s and men’s …
Read More »GAME kicks off Christmas marketing campaign
New owner Game Retail Limited has kicked off its first major GAME marketing initiative since taking ownership of the retailer earlier this year. It’s Christmas campaign revolved around the tagline It’s Never Just A Game” and will place specific focus on weekly promotions based on the latest releases. The creative …
Read More »The 20 games that will save Xmas 2012
UK games buyers have chosen the 20 games they think will be the biggest blockbusters this Christmas. These are the releases that are crucial in retail’s bid to reduce the 33 per cent drop in sales that the boxed market has suffered so far this year. In fact, these 20 …
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