What exactly was PlayStation up to in Paris? Find out in the latest issue of MCV

Whismical animal titles, make-it-yourself games, interactive movies, VR: PlayStation was certainly playing with fire at Paris Games Week. Will it pay off? Read this week’s MCV and find out.

We also speak with HTC as the phone maker prepares to release its Vive virtual reality headset in a potentially market-changing collaboration with Valve.

If that wasn’t enough, there are in-depth features with some of the biggest games of this Q4 and early 2016, including Rise of the Tomb Raider, Star Wars Battlefront, Street Fighter V and more.

Crystal Dynamics’ Michael Brinker talks Tomb Raider with us as the sequel to 2013’s acclaimed reboot of the franchise prepares to clamber onto Xbox One.

That’s not the only big release of the next month: Star Wars is back. We chat to EA and PlayStation about bringing one of the galaxy’s biggest brands to a brand new audience via revived shooter Battlefront.

Moving into 2016, Street Fighter V finally has a release date. That’s not all: it’s also a big shake-up for the series, as it drops its incremental new SKUs in favour of a service-based platform driven by micro-transactions. Capcom’s Brian Ayers tells us more.

And Koch Media has a new service for independent retailers dubbed ‘Superindie’.Northern Europe MD Craig McNicol and sales and marketing director Paul Nicholls reveal why UK stores should get involved with the offering and walk us through the distributor’s 2015 successes.

Here’s just a taste of this week’s magazine:

• Bleak Friday: Consumers hold off for Black Friday deals on this year’s biggest games
• UKIE details how to boost UK games industry by 1bn by 2020
• PS4 and Xbox One account for two thirds of physical games market
• Shooter audience transitioning to PS4, says Sony
• INTERVIEW: PlayStation in Paris: We speak to European boss Jim Ryan following the platform holder’s Paris Games Week conference and ask about its gamble on virtul reality with PlayStation VR
• THE BIG GAME: With Rise of the Tomb Raider headed to Xbox One, Crystal Dynamics’ Michael Brinker tells us about going back to basics and making the platform leap to Microsoft’s machine
• FEATURE: Valve and HTC area teaming up for the Vive VR headset. But does it really stand a chance against Oculus and PlayStation’s rival platforms? We ask HTC’ JB McRee
• INTERVIEW: With less than a month before Star Wars Battlefront arrives, EA and PlayStation reveal how they plan to make one of entertainment’s most successful brands even bigger
• INTERVIEW: Street Fighter is back with its first numbered entry in nearly a decade. Capcom’s Brian Ayers reveals what’s new for the storied brawler and why adopting micro-transactions is the right move
• INTERVIEW: Koch Media’s new Superindie offering is the distributor’s next big move for smaller retailers. Northern Europe MD Craig McNicol and sales and marketing director Paul Nicholls tell us more
• MARGIN MAKERS: The latest and greatest Call of Duty: Black Ops III merchandise ahead of the title’s massive launch
• INTERNATIONAL: Ukraine’s success on the global stage