MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The 1990s. The Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive. The Game Boy and the Gamegear (or the Atari Lynx, if you like). If you were one of the millions of people that owned one of former pair and one of the latter pair then congratulations, you still fit the bill …
Read More »OPINION: New Year’s Revolution – 2013 is the year where everyone is a retailer
Fresh data this week suggests the worst: selling video games in the UK during 2012 was a storm of recession and poor momentum. Total software sales were down 17.6 per cent overall. Modest gains in digital sales, up 7.7 per cent to 552m, was not enough to cover the 26.4 …
Read More »New Year, new start despite 2012 washout
The UK games industry is hoping for a brighter 2013 after last year’s software sales fell by almost 400m. 39.5m physical games were sold over the last 12 months, 15m fewer than in 2011. This generated 1bn, a drop of 26.4 per cent year-on-year. According to IHS?Screen Digest, UK?digital game …
Read More »Overall UK games market down 17.4% in 2012
The ERA has said that the UK video games market declined 17.4 per cent to 1.598bn in 2012. Those numbers include both physical and digital sales. By contrast, music was down just 5.5 per cent and video 10 per cent. The overall entertainment market decline was 12 per cent, with …
Read More »Toy sales expected to fall 1.8% in 2013 while games tumble 28.3% in 2012. Why?
Yes, we all know that retail is a tough environment at the moment. But video games are amongst the worst performers of 2012. Sister site Toy News reports that IBISWorld data predicts that the UK toy market will likely decline by just 1.8 per cent throughout 2013. The 2012 games …
Read More »How Far Cry 3 is staying sane amidst the mad Q4 rush
Call of Duty, Halo and Medal of Honor are now on shelves, but there is still one major shooter to watch out for. MCV asks the minds behind Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3 about standing out in the market’s most competitive genre… Far Cry 3 arrives shortly after two of the …
Read More »Supermarkets are now the UK’s biggest games retailers
Supermarkets have eclipsed specialists to become Britain’s No.1 games retailers. The likes of Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s have edged past GAME?and Amazon and made more money from games sales than any other retail sector, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel seen by MCV. The supermarket chains continue …
Read More »OPINION: Is the UK games market fighting fit or fighting fire?
Rationally, a decline in UK industry Christmas marketing spend makes sense at a time when there are fewer games coming out, and the ones remaining are getting most of the attention. Compare the year-on-year release schedules, however, and Q4 isn’t particularly quiet year-on-year. Ubi, EA and Activision have their favourites …
Read More »EA founder says consoles will become "a hobby market"
Predictions of gloom for the console sector aren’t exactly rare – and this morning you’ve got another one to add to the pile. EA founder Trip Hawkins predicts that the future of the console market is a hobbyist one, with the bulk of the sector to be claimed by PC …
Read More »Online firms to cash in as girls market grows
The number of gaming girls is on the rise, but firms expect this audience to seek out mobile and online titles over boxed ones. Peter Hofstede of free online portal Girls Go Games told MCV the site has seen the amount of time girls spend playing online games more than …
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