MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The decline of Call of Duty is a well documented phenomenon. The only problem is, it looks like sales are back on the up. Activision has revealed that retail sales of Black Ops III are up both on last year’s Advanced Warfare and 2013’s commercially disappointing Ghosts. Digital sales of …
Read More »Destiny microtransactions selling strong on PSN
Their announcement may have been greeted with criticism, but players seem to be voting with their wallets and backing the content. VentureBeat reports that the game’s Silver currency, which is purchased with real cash, has hit the top five of the Paid Add-Ons sales charts for PSN in the US. …
Read More »Call of Duty pre-orders UP year-on-year
Video game pre-orders are on the decline, but Activision says that Call of Duty: Black Ops III pre-orders are bucking the trend. Specifically, it says that pre-orders for its upcoming shooter – which comes out this Friday (November 6th) are better than those placed for its predecessor Advanced Warfare. We …
Read More »Activision Blizzard stops reporting World of Warcraft subscriber numbers
This month’s financial report will be the last time that Activision Blizzard confides subscriber numbers for World of Warcraft. The company has said it has made the decision as there are other metrics that are better indicators of the overall Blizzard business performance”. Which essentially means it doesn’t want to …
Read More »Activision stock price closes 7.5% up following King purchase
Activision Blizzard’s share price reached a record high following the announcement it will be acquiring Candy Crush company King. The publisher’s stock price reached $37 at lunch yesterday (Tuesday November 3rd), and closed at $35.82 at the end of trading. That is 7.5 per cent higher than its opening price …
Read More »300 GAME stores to open at midnight for Black Ops 3
GAME’s latest midnight launch will be for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, with a special tournament taking place at its Westfield Stratford store. More than 300 of the retailer’s outlets will open in time for Activision’s latest shooter. They will be joined by flagship venues in Stratford, Birmingham Bullring …
Read More »Pachter: ‘King deal is a refreshing move by Activision’
Games industry analyst Michael Pachter has praised Activison Blizzard’s purchase of King as a solid strategy for breaking into the mobile market. The major acquisition was revealed earlier today, and will finalise in Spring of next year. The deal is a good one if you believe that King has a …
Read More »IHS: Activision-King deal provides short-term boost, less beneficial in the long run
Market analyst IHS Technology has questioned the long-term benefits of Activision Blizzard’s acquisition of Candy Crush firm King. The Call of Duty, Warcraft and Destiny publisher announced its plans to purchase the mobile giant for $5.9 billion earlier today. IHS director and head of gamesPiers Harding-Rollssuggested that the move was …
Read More »Amazon will deliver Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 at midnight
Online retail is trying to muscle its way into the midnight launch market. Traditionally gamers who feel they must get their hands on a game the very moment it’s released instead of nine hours later when the shops open can either queue up in the dark and cold for a …
Read More »Activision Blizzard to buy King for $5.9bn
Acqusition expected to be completed by spring 2016
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