MCV 885 July 8th 2016 by Biz Media Ltd

ISSUE 885 FRIDAY JULY 8TH 2016

CORRE BLIMEY

International Media Partner

ISSUE 885 FRIDAY JULY 8TH 2016

EMEA BOSS ON UBISOFT’S BIGGEST LINE-UP YET P16

Investors shrug off Brexit video game fears Free movement of workers is ‘No.1 concern’ Q UKIE meets with Government this week by Christopher Dring BREXIT will be ‘totally irrelevant’ when it comes to UK games investment, insist leading venture capitalists. London Venture Partners and Mercia Fund Management say that the digital nature of the games business means that the Brexit result, although unfortunate, will leave UK games firms largely untroubled. It comes as UK trade body UKIE increases its activity with the Government, to ensure continued support for games and to reaffirm the importance of the tax relief currently offered to UK studios. The firm held its planned Westminster reception this week. Meanwhile, newly-formed Games London will take a delegation of foreign investors on a tour of Britain from next week. “There is negligible immediate impact and it is unlikely to get much worse or indeed better as a result of Brexit,” says Mercia’s Mike Hayes. “Most content is now digital and it has a free trade passage in any case. Most companies sell more in dollars and Euros than pounds, so at the moment revenues are growing. The opportunity for digital content whether in games, VR, serious gaming and so on remains, and there is a global market for it so investment remains keen and available. The UK is one of the world’s powerhouses of digital and creativity, we are in demand. I cannot see that changing. “Possibly the only longer term negative will be the free movement of personnel around Europe. Due

London Venture Partners’ Gardner (right) and Mercia’s Hayes (far right) play down Brexit worries

to successive governments not understanding how to educate its people in the skills relating to the digital economy, we have a nationwide skills shortage. Thus the proportion of EU staﬀ hired by UK-based developers is relatively high. In the short term EU nationals may be reluctant to come to the UK due to uncertainties. “I wonder how much of the current instability is caused by the media rather then reality.” London Venture Partners’ David Gardner continued: “The Brexit vote is pretty much irrelevant from our perspective because we are looking for the best teams and talent in Europe, and that’s a geographical thing and not a political thing. The UK is great and will continue to be, and it doesn’t matter if it is in a political union with other countries, because everything is digital. “The focus is on talent. If a studio is starting in the UK and

Brexit will be frankly totally irrelevant for games. David Gardner, London Venture Partners

they need a French artist that is absolutely the perfect solution... will it be complicated to get that person? The answer to that is we don’t know. But I seriously doubt it. “I am very sanguine about the whole thing, I think Brexit will be frankly totally irrelevant for games.” He added: “We move so fast in games. This negotiation is going to take years, and we will have gone through two or three versions of a product by then. The worse thing that could happen is that you wouldn’t be able to hire who you want from other European countries which seems inconceivable to me - but even if that did happen and we used this Australian -style points-based system... that might actually make it easier to hire talent from the US and from Commonwealth countries.”

PLUS EGX VS INSOMNIA VS LEGENDS OF GAMING TECHLAND’S TRANSFORMATION

NEWS

OlliOlli studio Roll7 signs with 505 Games for new ‘much bigger’ project Publisher says it is paying closer attention to UK games scene O New Roll7 project will be 3D, built in Unreal Engine by Alex Calvin THE next title from OlliOlli and Not a Hero developer Roll7 will be launching with the help of 505 Games, MCV can reveal. Details are scarce about this upcoming project save that it is an online multiplayer experience. The indie studio says that this new game is a departure from the 2D pixel-art style it is known for. It is going to be 3D, built in Unreal Engine, and coming to consoles and PC in 2017. The initial pre-production phase was funded by UK Games Fund. “The ambition for our new project far outclasses our previous ones,” Roll7 director Simon Bennett said. “We needed a publisher with

Roll7’s Bennett (left) and 505 Games’ Woodley (above)

not looking to do another OlliOlli – this is much bigger.” For 505 Games, this is part of a larger move to pay more attention to the UK games development scene. “In 2015, I injected myself back in to the UK games scene – it opened

ﬁnancial clout and international ties in order to take it forwards. 505 represents a middle ground between top tier triple-A ﬁrms and smaller, boutique indie labels who may not have the budget to achieve what we want to do. We’re

my eyes to the amount of content in the UK. That led us and Roll7 to the same door,” SVP of marketing Tim Woodley said. “We want to work with people who have a track record of great games – Roll7 has already taken some of that risk away in a very basic prototype. We saw the opportunity to spend a few years with people that we like and trust and who have a great concept.” He continued: ‘I’m pretty buoyant about the UK games development scene and see a lot of potential. It’s certainly a sector that 505 will be keeping a close eye on and trying to ﬁnd some more nuggets as we head into our second decade as a company.”

Ubisoft: ‘Our movies are not about making money’ by Christopher Dring THE Assassin’s Creed movie is not going to earn a lot of money, says Ubisoft. The publisher has launched its own motion pictures division and is making ﬁlms based on a number of its biggest brands, including Watch Dogs, The Division and Splinter Cell. The Assassin’s Creed movie hits cinemas this Christmas staring Michael Fassbender. Ubisoft’s European boss Alain Corre says the decision to make ﬁlms comes from a desire to put the brand in front of more

Geometry Wars: Dimensions Evolved was published by Sierra in 2014

Activision denies Sierra closure by Alex Calvin ACTIVISION has denied speculation that it has closed its Sierra indie publishing label. Multiple development sources told MCV last week that the Activision division – responsible for King’s Quest, Geometry Wars: Dimensions Evolved, Shiftlings and Velocity 2K – no longer

July 8th 2016

existed, with just one title still in production. Activision has refuted the story, insisting that the project remains alive. Sierra was resurrected at Gamescom 2014, where the ﬁrm announced it would be releasing indie games. It also announced that indie studios would be able to work on Sierra’s own IP, as well as new titles and HD remakes.

people, and isn’t a means to simply make money. “We are not going to earn a lot of money from it,” He told us. “It is a lot more a marketing thing, it is also good for the image of the brand. Although we will make some money, it is not the purpose of this movie. The purpose is to bring Assassin’s Creed to more people. We have our core fans, but what we would like is to put this franchise in front of a lot more people who, maybe, will then pick up future Assassin’s Creed games.” For more from Alain Corre, turn to page 16.

www.mcvuk.com

NEWS

Dying Light dev: There is room for more zombie games by Alex Calvin THINK the games market is overrun with the undead? Not at all, insist Dead Island and Dying Light developer Techland. Speaking to MCV, global marketing director Pawel Kopinski said that the sheer number of zombie titles in the market is an indication of their popularity, and that there’s room for more competitors – as long as the game is good. “I think the wealth of zombie games out there actually helps to prove that there is a healthy market for them,” Kopinski said.

THE EDITOR

“Naysayers frequently talk of over-saturation, yet players are showing their support time and time again for these games. I think a big reason for this is that ‘zombie game’ isn’t a strict genre. It’s a setting or a theme that you can adapt to various game genres. “You can have a zombie theme built around an open world title, around shooters, linear narrative driven games, survival games and so on. We saw that the key is to do something unique and wellpolished with the setting so you stand out from the crowd.” You can read more from Techland on page 22

LIFE AFTER BREXIT

am not even going to try to write an impartial piece on the whole EU referendum. I was very much in the Remain camp. I’m a proud European that has worked with some great people from the continent. In fact, take our very own Marie. She hails from France, and has had a brilliant impact on MCV since she joined us back in January. It was because of the EU that we could bring her on-board without any fuss. Bart the Polish jazz musician, Loreto the Spanish video game translator, Aiko the German toy maker... these former colleagues are some of the best people I know, and so it broke my heart to wake up on that Friday to ﬁnd that we were to walk away from the Union. Yet, despite my dismay, I’m not one of those people on social media that is in a state of blind, fearful panic. I did agree with the Leave campaigners when they said that Britain is a strong country capable of standing on its own. We don’t suddenly become a helpless nation incapable of great feats of engineering and creativity just because we’re not part of a collective union. That’s also true of our games industry, which had been going through a renaissance that I’m convinced (and it appears I’m not the only one) will continue even in the face of Brexit. In fact, the global games industry has a surprising habit of ﬂourishing during hard times. The golden era for UK games development in the 1980s occurred during one of

State of Decay 2 was one of many zombie games at E3

SPONSORED BY

PRE-ORDER TOP 10

BIOSHOCK: THE COLLECTION (PS4)

BioShock: The Collection (XO)

Monster Hunter Generations (3DS)

FIFA 17 inc. FUT pre-order bonus (PS4)

Battleﬁeld 1 inc. Hellﬁghter Pack (PS4)

South Park The Fractured But Whole inc. Stick of Truth (PS4)

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (PS4)

FIFA 17 inc. FUT pre-order bonus (XO)

Final Fantasy XV inc. Masamune, Saber & Gourmand DLC (PS4)

No Man’s Sky (PS4)

www.mcvuk.com

2K GAMES

2K Games Nintendo EA EA Ubisoft Bethesda EA Square Enix Sony

Our games industry has been going through a renaissance that I’m convinced will continue even in the face of Brexit. our hardest recessions. Even the financial crisis of 2008 coincided with a period when millions of people were buying Wiis and copies of Guitar Hero. I am not sure what the social or psychological reasons were for that, but perhaps we will see a similar thing again. It’s been a sad and, at times, frightening few weeks living in the UK. We’ve had the England football team continue its 50-year tradition of failure, racial abuse targeted at immigrants, economic uncertainty, duplicitous Government ministers betray one another, the opposition party crumble from within... and that’s without looking at the horrors in the rest of the world. Video games won’t fix any of that. That’s not what we do. Instead, what we offer is somewhere to escape to, a medium that rarely fails to bring a smile to people’s faces. And right now, people need that more than ever. So, back to it. We’ve got work to do. cdring@nbmedia.com

July 8th 2016

INSIGHT JO TWIST ON BREXIT

We are leaving the European Union – so now what? UKIE boss Dr Jo Twist writes for MCV about the uncertainty that Brexit presents UK games businesses, the questions that need answering, and what we can do in the mean time

he uncertainty that the referendum result has created is palpable. Brexit poses many questions for which as yet there are no clear and definitive answers. My message at this time is that the UK games sector is a highly dynamic, global success story. The games industry blends the best of British technology, creating successful games exported around the world. Policy makers must share our vision to make Britain the best place to make and sell games and work with us to maintain our ambitions for the industry. THE RESULT During the campaign in the run up to the Referendum, in line with many other organisations representing individual businesses, UKIE decided not to take a position itself. But we committed to supporting members with as much information as they needed. We did two anonymous sentiment surveys of our membership in the run up, both of which returned identical results. From those who responded, the signal was clear: remain meant less uncertainty and Brexit most definitely meant more uncertainty. It also told us that recruiting highly skilled and diverse talent was of crucial importance in the short to mid-term. This talent is needed to fuel our innovative and creative sector at a critical time. We knew that more than half of those respondents felt strongly that the free movement of people within Europe was vital. Only 24

July 8th 2016

Free movement within the EU was seen as ‘vital’ by a majority of UKIE members

per cent believed we currently have the volume of home grown talent we need. I have received a lot of questions from businesses since Friday that I have done my best to reassure and answer. MARKET ACCESS From our perspective, the crucial question for the next government is what its position towards the single market will be and how world-leading industries like ours will be consulted. If the government decides to ‘go it alone’ we should be much clearer than during the Referendum campaign about what the benefits and consequences are. If we can design attractive new incentives and rules for UK based-firms previously unavailable to us because of EU rules, then what extra measures do we want as an industry to maintain competitiveness? And will those

We need frictionless access to a market in Europe of 500m consumers. Dr Jo Twist, UKIE

measures be permitted when we try to enter the single market? Alternatively, will a Brexit government pragmatically align itself more closely with the EU, even without the powerful negotiating rights we once had, in order to secure access to this huge and important market? We need to understand what our new relationship with lawmakers in Europe will be, given that we now have no formal voice to the Commission or Parliament. In the immediate aftermath, I went to a Creative Industries Council meeting, which was also attended by Secretary of State for Business Sajid Javid MP and the Secretary of State for Culture John Whittingdale MP, and I also had a personal conversation with London Mayor Sadiq Khan. They are all keen to reassure businesses - especially those in the middle of international deals and those who have non UK residents in their employ - and to temper immediate concerns. Aside from talent, our foreign direct investment story, regional growth and funding, other funding streams (such as Creative Europe and Horizon 2020) and projects already in the works which have received these benefits, are all key concerns for many in the industry. Perhaps the most interesting question is around the status and future of the Video Games Tax Relief [VGTR], which was hard fought for, had cross party support, and has reaped huge benefits financially for businesses across the UK. It has also unlocked further financing routes

www.mcvuk.com

JO TWIST ON BREXIT INSIGHT

We can continue to provide confidence that we are a hotbed of creativity, a games powerhouse, a sector and a country worth investing in. Dr Jo Twist, UKIE

and has been a critical element in our attractiveness for overseas companies. The VGTR was granted by the UK government in 2014, but we had to wait a year before it was implemented because State Aid rules compliant with EU regulations meant we needed to make a case and seek permission from Europe. Being outside of Europe means that lifting State Aid rules could be a benefit to businesses should government adopt a more activist approach to industrial policy. However, this also risks more difficult negotiations around trade agreements with other trading blocks. We know there is clear precedent from EU agreements with 12 Mediterranean countries

www.mcvuk.com

and South Africa that the EU will insist on its State Aid rules being respected in any free trade agreement. Any trade agreement the UK seeks post-Brexit, including joining the European Economic Area, would require keeping to the existing rules under which Video Games Tax Relief has been secured. Another complex set of issues is around access to the Digital Single Market. We need frictionless access to a market in Europe of 500m consumers. The fact is the government is unable to answer these questions that we, and a good deal of others, have â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at least not yet. For now, we can continue to provide insight and information, as well as evidence, for members and for the sector

at large in our conversations with parliamentarians and civil servants. We can continue to provide confidence that we are a hotbed of creativity, a games powerhouse, a sector and a country worth investing in. We can continue the dialogue with our sister trade association in Europe (ISFE) which was set up by the trade associations of UK, France and Germany to be our voice in Europe. HOME-GROWN We can redouble our efforts to develop talent in the medium and long term by ensuring STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) is driven through the school system so that our home-grown talent is nurtured. We must also continue that

support right through further education, higher education, and for people in jobs already. We can act together as a sector which has, to use the oftused phrase, punched above its weight for many years without the benefits that other markets receive. We can continue to articulate and advocate a clear blueprint for growth, which works at a local and global level. We will prevail if we act together as a powerful single voice. Now more than ever, we need to rally together as a sector which is overwhelmingly exporting into digital markets, and ensure no hasty decisions based on inaccurate information are made that could damage our sector and businesses unnecessarily.

July 8th 2016

CHEAT SHEET

UP & DOWN

Market Data Software revenue is up 68 per cent as a new LEGO Star Wars game hits shelves

£10m £15m

£30m £5m

DOOM FALLS three places from No.1 to No.4 as sales dip 17 per cent week-on-week

£8.4m 278,597 units

£5.6m 205,584 units

£4.8m 182,070 units

Week Ending June 18th

Week Ending June 25th

SALES OF Rocket League’s boxed version rose 20 per cent in its second week

Week Ending July 2nd

EVENT CALENDAR JULY 2016 ........................................................................... DEVELOP: BRIGHTON CONFERENCE Hilton Metropole, Brighton Tuesday, July 12th – Thursday, July 14th Q The development community will gather in Brighton for 2016’s Develop: Brighton Q This year’s event will focus on seven ﬁelds: Design, Art, Coding, Business, Marketing, Audio and, for the ﬁrst time, VR. DEVELOP INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2016 Hilton Metropole, Brighton Wednesday, July 13th Q Over 500 people from 170 companies are coming to this year’s Develop Awards Q 21 prizes are split into three segments: creativity, studios and tech RESONATE - TOTAL GAMING Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow Friday, July 29th - Sunday, July 31st Q A new games festival launches in Glasgow this summer Q Organised by QD events, this show will focus on eSports and gaming

July 8th 2016

Q eSports ﬁrm Gﬁnity is in attendance, holding a FIFA tournament

AUGUST 2016 ........................................................................... GAMESCOM 2016 Koelnmesse, Cologne Wednesday, August 17th – Sunday, August 12st Q The biggest trade fair for video games in Europe is coming back this summer Q Organiser Koelnmesse predicts over 800 companies from more than 40 countries at this year’s show Q Ticket registrations 60 per cent higher than those for Gamescom 2015 INSOMNIA58 NEC Birmingham Friday, August 26th – Monday, August 29th Q As well as a main stage, Insomnia features 24-hour LAN areas, panel talks, retro and indie zones, console tournaments and a massive retail zone Q For the ﬁrst time, High Street retailer will be holding GAMEFest at this iteration of Insomnia Q Multiply is also holding a League of Legends event, League Fest, at the event

www.mcvuk.com

CHEAT SHEET

PRESENTS

5 SECOND FACTS

THE NEWS IN 140 CHARACTERS The Tweets you might have missed in the last seven days

Your shortcut to sounding clever in the pub, we take you around the industry in under 30 seconds

UK GAMES INDUSTRY REPONDS TO BREXIT

On Friday, June 24th the UK woke up to the news that the nation had voted to leave the European Union. This was disappointing for the UK games industry, 80 per cent of which had said it was in favour of staying in the EU. Many lamented the UK’s decision, yet some pointed out a few positives about the new freedoms this allows.

Film producer Larry Kasanoﬀ has said that there are three Tetris ﬁlms coming up as the story is too big for just one

1m @MrPhilHarrison Small positive of the Brexit: UK government can now be more progressive about tax credits for creative industries. EU rules constrain this today. Phil Harrison, Alloy Platform Industries Friday, June 24th

@Ian_livingstone UK video games industry needs unrestricted access to EU talent pool and market of 560m people. So, goodbye to that. Thanks Brexit. Ian Livingstone Sunday, June 26th

2K ANNOUNCES BIOSHOCK COLLECTION

G2A TRIES TO APPEASE GAME COMPANIES

After a number of rumours and leaks, 2K has oﬃcially announced the BioShock Collection. This features spruced up versions of all three entries in the series, and is set for a September 16th release.

Following a war of words with publisher TinyBuild over selling allegedly stolen keys, reseller site G2A has announced new features to keep games ﬁrms happy, including royalty splits and access to its key database.

@Danielleri Excited for all the ‘BioShock 2 was the best in the series’ thinkpieces slated for the BioShock collection release.

Microsoft has announced it has shipped 1m Xbox One Elite Controllers

2m Shigeru Miyamoto has said that the upcoming Zelda game Breath of the Wild has to sell 2m units to be proﬁtable

@TheKevinDent You would have to deprive me of oxygen for extended periods to convince me that doing a deal with G2A was smart.

Danielle Riendeau, Zam Thursday, June 30th

Kevin Dent, UMG Gaming Tuesday, June 28th

@Just_Ge0 Quite up for a HD BioShock collection, but not sure I fancy Inﬁnite again, it wasn’t as good as 2.

@MikeBithell So, to be clear, for 10 per cent of royalties, I take on responsibility for checking for credit card fraud? Not sure that’s a great deal.

George Morgan, Sold Out Thursday, June 30th

Mike Bithell, indie developer Tuesday, June 28th

2019 Mojang has revealed that the Minecraft ﬁlm is going to be launching on May 24th, 2019

7 A Final Fantasy VII-themed Monopoly set is launching in 2017 ANKA Headset - PDP Design and manufacture the Oﬃcially licensed Microsoft – fully Wireless Headset for Xbox ONE

europesales@pdp.com

www.pdp.com

GAMESAID THIS WEEK .................................................... PLAY YOUR PART BECOME A MEMBER AMBASSADOR TRUSTEE WWW.GAMESAID.ORG

www.mcvuk.com

MCGARRIGAN AND KEITH CYCLE FOR GAMESAID

GAMESAID CHARITY NOMINATIONS OPEN

..................

Last weekend, Rich Keith and Tracey McGarrigan cycled the Maratona Dles Dolomites in Italy for GamesAid. You can donate here: www.justgiving. com/fundraising/cycletam and www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/Rich-Keith2

GamesAid is now accepting suggestions for which charities will be receiving this year’s money. Members have until July 31st to put forward charities, and can do so here: www.gamesaid.org/joinus/charities/

GAMESAID GOLF DAY ..................

The annual GamesAid golf and spa day returns on July 14th. Since its debut in 2008 the event has raised more than £375,000. Tickets can be booked on golfandspaday.com or by contacting Keeley Munden at keeley2703@hotmail.com.

July 8th 2016

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

nDreams bolsters its teams Six new hires at VR ﬁrm’s publishing arm O Let’s Play Video Games emerges from Destructoid UK’s ashes

Clockwise from top left: Oehmcke, Lowry, Brammall, Brooks, BancroftJones and Stewart

NDREAMS | The British VR developer and publisher has announced a big round of hiring, with 13 new members joining its development and publishing teams. The publishing arm now includes NADINE OEHMCKE,

July 8th 2016

our capabilities both for our own self-publishing efforts, as well as the partnerships we’re pursuing with external VR development teams.”

who joins from Dovetail Games as digital distribution manager. IT manager ANDREW LOWRY also joins the team after six years at Lionhead. Meanwhile, former commercial services coordinator at UKIE JENNY BRAMMALL has been hired as associate community manager. NATALIE STEWART is the company’s new marketing assistant, while NEIL BANCROFT-JONES has been appointed as finance manager. Lastly, MEGAN BROOKS is the new finance & office assistant. VP of publishing DAVID CORLESS stated: “Growing our publishing department is integral to the overall growth of nDreams and will bolster

DESTRUCTOID | The team behind Destructoid UK has been disbanded, with editor LAURA DALE (top, left) and writers JOE PARLOCK (not pictured) and VIKKI BLAKE (above) departing the website. Dale explained the situation on her Patreon page: “Our team being dismantled is apparently nothing to do with content

quality or viewership of content, and due to seasonal financials and our team of three being the most recent additions to the salary payroll.” Since the announcement, Dale has successfully launched a funding campaign in order to keep working with her team on a new website, named Let’s Play Video Games. ”The aim with LetsPlayVideoGames.com is to as effectively as possible transfer the work we were doing at Destructoid UK, add in more collaborative content, and have more room for expansion in areas we are personally interested in,” she told MCV. The website is currently under development.

www.mcvuk.com

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

WEEKLY CHARTS WARNER BROS’ LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens shoots straight to No.1 in this week’s charts. It’s the ninth LEGO game to debut at the top spot and the fourth biggest launch in the franchise, behind Indiana Jones, Marvel Super Heroes and Batman. Bethesda’s Doom has been pushed down to No.4 after being at the top for two weeks. The shooter’s sales have decreased by 17 per cent. Meanwhile, FIFA 16 (No.2) and Overwatch (No.3) have seen their sales rise by 17 per cent and nine per cent respectively. There are also two new entries in the Top Ten this week. Square Enix’s Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness debuts at No.6, while Telltale’s 7

Days to Die enters the rankings at No.9. Amongst the good sellers this week, we should also mention The Division, with sales up 72 per cent, and EA Sports UFC 2, which saw a 93 per cent increase in sales. This is due to retail promotions. Elsewhere, Maximum Games’ The Technomancer debuts at No.13 and Minecraft: Wii U Edition enters the listings at No.18. 3DS title Tomodachi Life also makes a surprising comeback in the charts at No.35. Thanks to sales, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V tops the Steam listings, followed by last week’s No.1, Doom, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which gained three spots.

GLOBAL STEAM CHARTS (UNITS)

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 01 06 07 03 05 04 RE 09 08

GRAND THEFT AUTO V DEVELOPER: ROCKSTAR NORTH PUBLISHER: ROCKSTAR GAMES

TITLE Doom The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ARK: Survival Evolved Dead by Daylight Counter-Strike: Global Oﬀensive Fallout 4 Rocket League Rise of the Tomb Raider Arma 3

PUBLISHER Bethesda CD Projekt Red Studio Wildcard Starbreeze Valve Bethesda Psyonix Square Enix Bohemia Interactive

TOP 40 UK PHYSICAL RETAIL 02

TW 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

LW NEW 02 04 01 03 NEW 06 05 NEW 12 09 07 NEW 20 08 14 13 NEW 10 16 15 17 26 40 11 30 33 31 21 25 19 29 28 22 RE 35 27 RE RE 36

Title LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens FIFA 16 Overwatch Doom Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness Rocket League Grand Theft Auto V 7 Days to Die Tom Clancy’s The Division Ratchet & Clank Call of Duty: Black Ops III The Technomancer EA Sports UFC 2 Star Wars Battlefront Minecraft: Xbox Edition LEGO Marvel’s Avengers Minecraft: Wii U Edition UEFA Euro 2016 Pro Evolution Soccer Destiny: The Taken King Fallout 4 Halo 5: Guardians Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Far Cry Primal Mirror’s Edge Catalyst Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympics Homefront: The Revolution Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 WWE 2K16 LEGO Jurassic World Minecraft: Story Mode Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Deadpool Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Tomodachi Life Forza Motorsport 6 Dead Island: Deﬁnitive Edition Rise of the Tomb Raider LEGO Dimensions Battleborn

Source: Steam, Period: June 27th to July 3rd July 8th 2016

Format Publisher PS4, XO, PS3, 360, 3DS, PC Warner Bros PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA PS4, XO, PC Activision Blizzard PS4, XO, PC Bethesda PS4 Sony PS4 Square Enix PS4, XO, PC 505 Games PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Rockstar PS4, XO Telltale PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft PS4 Sony PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard PS4, XO, PC Maximum Games PS4, XO EA PS4, XO, PC EA XO, 360 Microsoft PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, PC Warner Bros Wii U Nintendo PS4, PS3 Konami PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard PS4, XO, PC Bethesda XO Microsoft PS4, PS3, Vita Sony PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO, PC EA Wii U, 3DS Nintendo PS4, XO, PC Deep Silver PS4, XO, PC EA PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC 2K Games PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Telltale Games/Avanquest PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard PS4 Sony 3DS Nintendo XO Microsoft PS4, XO Deep Silver XO, 360 Square Enix PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Warner Bros PS4, XO, PC 2K Games

Source: UKIE/GfK Entertainment, Period: Week ending July 2nd 12

www.mcvuk.com

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

UK IPAD PAID

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 02 03 NEW 05 NEW 07 RE 09 RE

UK IPHONE PAID

(UNITS)

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Minecraft: Story Mode Goat Simulator: Waste of Space Teeny Titans - A Teen Titans Go! Figure Battling Game Terraria Mystery Trackers: Paxton Creek Avengers Soccer Physics The Sims 3 Bloons TD 5 HD Plague Inc.

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Telltale Coﬀee Stain Studios Cartoon Network 505 Games Big Fish Otto-Ville Ojala EA Ninja Kiwi Ndemic Creations

LW 02 05 04 03 RE 08 07 06 09

(UNITS)

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Heads Up! Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Plague Inc. Football Manager Mobile 2016 Alto’s Adventure Bloons TD 5 Monopoly Game Angry Birds Storage Hunters UK: The Game

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: June 20th to June 26th

UK IPAD GROSSING (REVENUE)

UK IPHONE GROSSING (REVENUE)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 03 04 02 05 07 10 06 09 RE

CANDY CRUSH SAGA DEVELOPER: KING

Title Mobile Strike Game of War - Fire Age Clash of Clans Candy Crush Soda Saga Hay Day Gummy Drop! Minecraft: Pocket Edition The Sims FreePlay Fishdom

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Epic War Machine Zone Supercell King Supercell Big Fish Mojang EA Playrix

LW 01 04 03 05 06 07 08 RE 09

MOBILE STRIKE DEVELOPER: EPIC WAR

Title Clash of Clans Game of War - Fire Age Candy Crush Saga Clash Royale Candy Crush Soda Saga 8 Ball Pool Episode - Choose Your Story, feat. Mean Girls: Senior Year Clash of Kings Marvel Contest of Champions

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: June 20th to June 26th

UK IPHONE FREE (UNITS)

LW NEW RE NEW 07 09 08 03 NEW RE

SLITHER.IO DEVELOPER: STEVE HOWSE

Title Rodeo Stampede - Sky Zoo Safari Online Head Ball The Sandbox Evolution - Craft a 2D Pixel Universe! Hand of God Roblox Traﬃc Rider Kingdom Hearts Unchained Football Stadium Sports Car & Bus Parking Simulator Color Switch

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Featherweight Games Masomo Pixowl Playgendary Roblox Corporation Soner Kara Square Enix Play With Games Fortafy Games

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: June 20th to June 26th www.mcvuk.com

Developer Supercell Machine Zone King Supercell King Miniclip.com Episode Interactive Elex Wireless Kabam

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: June 20th to June 26th

UK IPAD FREE (UNITS)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Warner Bros Rockstar Ndemic Creations Sega Snowman Ninja Kiwi EA Rovio UKTV Interactive

LW 02 01 08 10 RE 07 05 NEW NEW

ONLINE HEAD BALL DEVELOPER: MASOMO

Title Slither.io Would You Rather? Color Switch Hand of God Ketchapp Football Traﬃc Rider Ketchapp Basketball Rodeo Stampede - Sky Zoo Safari The Sandbox Evolution - Craft a 2D Pixel Universe!

Developer Steve Howse Idan Kessel Marc Lejeune Playgendary Ketchapp Soner Kara Ketchapp Featherweight Games Pixowl

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: June 20th to June 26th 13

July 8th 2016

INTERNATIONAL DAILY 2016

17th, 18th and 19th of August

Return of the hugely successful MCV @ Gamescom Daily The daily print & online resource for visitors to Gamescom Championing and promoting the international video games companies at Gamescom 2016 Latest games business news, insight from the trade show and company spotlights Delivered to 35,000+ games industry professionals at Gamescom Promoted to a global audience of 450,000+ via MCVuk.com

To be involved please contact Conor Tallon ctallon@nbmedia.com or Lesley McDiarmid lmcdiarmid@nbmedia.com

0207 354 6000 Deadline for inclusion: July 20th

OPINION

INSIGHT

Video games for the masses: Changes in demographics and players UK and South Korea, there are 1.7 smartphones and respectively 0.4 and 0.2 tablets per household. In Brazil, these numbers are 1.3 and 0.2. Fuelled by increasing disposable income and lower prices, smartphones in Brazil are projected to grow by 10 per cent in volume terms between 2015 and 2020. Once a household owns a mobile device, there is only a small step to take to download and play a game. Given the number of phones around, this trend is only expected to increase. Next to this, the increased number of internet users has facilitated the ability of many gamers to easily access and play games. In a mid-income country like Brazil, for instance, 56 per

Euromonitor Internationalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research analyst SANDER DE BOER discusses how mobile and internet penetration has changed video game demographics around the world

PHONING IT IN The rising availability of tablets and smartphones in an average household has increased access to devices on which games can be played. Mobile devices are around in most households, even if they are not mainly used for gaming. These devices are selling fast, and developed markets are reaching a point of saturation, with almost the entire population having access to a mobile device. In the

www.mcvuk.com

Companies should keep in mind that there is no stereotypical gamer anymore. Sander de Boer, Euromonitor

50 40 30 20 10 MEA

Asia America

Latin America

World

Australasia

Eastern Europe

0 Western Europe

% Growth 2014 - 2019

Percentage Growth in Number of Internet Users (2014 - 2019)

Video Gaming Population 2015 100 % of population

he gamer archetype is dead. As games increase in popularity, the variety of demographic groups who play them is changing. They no longer fit a single profile, or even a limited number of profiles. As you would expect, pre-teens and teenagers play more and more games. We should not forget about young children and adults, however, who often use mobile devices to play. Adult gamers are increasing in countries as diverse as South Korea, Brazil and the UK. At the same time, the number of young gamers has risen significantly as well. The UK and Brazil saw a 13 per cent rise in the number of kids playing games. In South Korea this increased from 19 per cent to 33 per cent between 2010 and 2015. Two changes have led to increased interest in gaming in these groups: mobile devices and internet access.

80 60 40 20 0 UK

South Korea

Q Young Children Q Pre-Teens Q Teenagers

Q Adults Q Total Population

Brazil

cent of the population are internet users, a number that is expected to increase to 66 per cent in 2020. As a result, although computer and console games show some growth, mobile games is by far the fastest growing category in many countries. In Brazil and South Korea, mobile game sales already outperform console and PC video games sales combined. Meanwhile, even the highly-established console games market in the UK is expected to be overtaken by mobile games sales by 2020. As such, it is expected that young children and adults will be increasingly interested to play games over the next few years. ON TARGET As the gaming population becomes more diverse and demanding, it is critical for companies to target specific demographics. Adults, for instance, are mostly casual gamers who like to play games in idle moments and when they are on the move, but would generally not devote considerable amounts of time to gaming, as they are time poor. Kids are likely to be less critical than adults, so it is often their parents who need to be targeted. Most parents would probably prefer them to stimulate the development of their child, although mainly want their child to be kept busy whilst they are fixing dinner. Companies should keep in mind there is no such thing as a stereotypical gamer anymore and that both young and old consumers are turning to a mobile device to play. They need to determine which demographic a game is targeting and in what way every aspect of that is tailored and marketed to this, as their preferences can differ. It is only then that a game will stand a chance of being noticed.

July 8th 2016

INTERVIEW ALAIN CORRE, UBISOFT

Life begins at 30 – Ubisoft’s biggest ever year In the wake of hostile takeover activity from Vivendi, Ubisoft went to E3 to reveal the strongest slate of games it has ever put together. Christopher Dring speaks to European boss Alain Corre to discuss Steep, Watch Dogs 2, South Park and the Assassin’s Creed movie

bisoft really doesn’t want Vivendi to buy it. CEO Yves Guillemot has no desire to give up the business he has spent 30 years building. But more than that, he can’t face losing it to a large media conglomerate that is unlikely to honour what makes the firm so unique. Because it is unique. Ubisoft has never played by conventional business rules. Take E3 last month. As its rivals adopt the ‘wait and see’ approach to VR, Ubisoft said it would have four full virtual reality games out by Christmas. It was the only publisher to pledge support to Nintendo’s NX at E3. It showcased a new South Park game – an RPG based on an IP that is well past its peak – at a time when the rest of the games business is moving beyond licensed games. It revealed some of its biggest studios have been making quirky,

small-scale indie projects like Grow Up and Trials of the Blood Dragon. It also ended its E3 conference with an ambitious extreme sports game called Steep, which is a genre that has largely died out. Ubisoft has legitimate business reasons for these gambles (it has shareholders, after all), but the real reason for its fearless attitude towards new IP and tech is because its studios just like making new stuff. “We have teams that want variety,” Ubisoft’s EMEA Boss Alain Corre tells MCV. “So we give them freedom, to a certain extent, to do games that are different. South Park is one, also Grow Up, which proves we can also give incentives to some of our smaller teams to express themselves. “Also, these small creations can lead to bigger games. [Upcoming action combat game] For Honor started like that. It was a small prototype a few years ago, and when the producer saw it, he

thought there was more to it, so he got more money, and we ended up with For Honor - which is a new IP that will please a lot of people. “That’s the Ubisoft way, to find talent and give them freedom and independence to try things.” BRAVE, NOT RECKLESS That’s not to say Ubisoft is reckless with its decision-making. Take Steep, for instance. The extreme sports game is being created by Ubisoft Annecy, a studio based in a part of the world famed for its outdoor pursuits and filled with employees that love snowboarding, skiing and paragliding. “The team in Annecy wanted to do a skiing game for a long time,” explains Corre. “But we couldn’t find the right angle.” Indeed, the extreme sports genre had been dormant for years, so Ubisoft didn’t just bow to the whims of the developers. If Annecy wanted to create an extreme

sports game, it needed to do something brand new. The team came up with the concept of an open-world extreme sports game whilst working on [upcoming action game] Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and it was an idea that impressed Ubisoft’s management team. “Extreme sports is a genre that has disappeared. It was super strong 20 years ago, it went away, it then returned with SSX and our own Shaun White Snowboarding, and then it vanished again,” Corre says. “It was because there wasn’t enough innovation in the genre. Now, with new tech, open world and social features, it is the right time to start again.” In the minds of Ubisoft’s management, Steep ticks both boxes – it is something Annecy was desperate to make, and it has commercial potential. It’s the same with the new South Park game. It may not be the biggest licence in the world,

THE BIGGEST YEAR IN UBISOFT HISTORY UBISOFT EXPECTS ITS NEXT 12 MONTHS TO BE THE BIGGEST IN ITS HISTORY. HERE’S WHY

July 8th 2016

GROW UP. Out: August Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

JUST DANCE 2017 Out: October Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, PC

WATCH DOGS 2 Out: November 15th Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

This sequel to Grow Home is created by Ubisoft Reflections.

An NX version of Just Dance is also due next year.

This follow-up to Watch Dogs fills the gap left behind by Assassin’s Creed.

www.mcvuk.com

ALAIN CORRE, UBISOFT INTERVIEW but the first title was a moderate success (so it justifies the financial outlay) and the opportunity to work with [South Park creators] Matt Stone and Trey Parker was too good to pass up. “The first game, The Stick of Truth, was a big success,” Corre recalls. “We took it [from defunct THQ] when it was in nowhere land, we put it back on the map and worked with the guys to make it happen. Matt and Trey were brilliant, they have been completely involved in creating it. Matt and Trey do everything on the TV series, and it’s similar with the game, they are creating all the artwork, all the animation, the dialogue and so on. They are super invested. We like that, because it is their spirit and their humour that is translated 100 per cent into the game. It is a completely unique game, completely controversial, but we like being able to work with these sort of creators, the ones you can’t control. They’re second to none.”

BREAKING THE BOX OFFICE THERE may be no Assassin’s Creed game this year, but 2016 will see the arrival of the Assassin’s Creed movie – which will hit cinemas over Christmas. Ubisoft is directly leading the project to ensure it will be ‘very close to the value of the games’. “We want to go in different areas of entertainment, but it needs to be coherent always with the video game side,” says European boss Alain Corre. “With our Watch Dogs film, we are going to work in exactly the same way.” However, Corre says, Ubisoft doesn’t really view its cinematic endeavors as a huge revenue generator. “We are not going to earn a lot of money from [Assassin’s Creed],” he tells us. “Although we will make some money, it is not the purpose of this movie. The purpose is to bring Assassin’s Creed to more people. We have our core fans, but what we would like is to put this franchise in front of a lot more people who, maybe, will end up playing the next Assassin’s Creed game.”

THE BIG RISK: VR The most significant gamble for Ubisoft is VR. The publisher is fully committed to the headsets, with four games due this year: Eagle Flight, Werewolves Within, Trackmania and (our personal favourite) Star Trek: Bridge Crew.

Ubisoft’s Corre insists that the ﬁrm’s current management is the best for its business

SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE Out: December 6th Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

STEEP Out: December Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

EAGLE FLIGHT Out: Q4 2016 Platforms: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR

WEREWOLVES WITHIN Out: Q4 2016 Platforms: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR

The irreverent comedy RPG pokes fun at superhero movies.

A new open-world extreme sports IP with social functionality.

Soar over Paris in this unique virtual reality experience.

A virtual take on the popular party game.

www.mcvuk.com

July 8th 2016

INTERVIEW ALAIN CORRE, UBISOFT

Yet VR is a big unknown. Firms like Bethesda, EA and Warner Bros are making tentative steps in the world of virtual reality, but they remain cautious. HTC and Oculus have got off to solid starts, but the expensive hardware and the need for high-end PCs have restricted the opportunity somewhat. The industry now looks to the launch of the cheaper and more accessible PlayStation VR in October to gauge just how interested people really are in the technology. “In the mid-run, VR will be very big and change the way we play games,” Corre insists. “This is Year One and all of the devices will be out this year. It will ramp up progressively. The more you sell, the more you have economies of scale and the price goes down. And then it will go mass market. “What is important are the games. There are a lot of experiences on VR already that are really refreshing. We feel that the spark is there, and that the fire will propagate progressively.” He adds that the arrival of VR is like hitting the reset button on the sort of games being made: “Each time you have a breaking revolution like this, it is a redistribution of cards. It gives new tools and possibilities to the vast array of creators. We are at the beginning of a new cycle. That is the beauty of it. Everything is possible because you don’t know which games will win. So you can bet, and there will be different genres that will be very successful that we were not anticipating.

“More than 80 per cent of the original Watch Dogs players say they want to explore Watch Dogs 2, plus we will appeal to new fans.”

At E3, Ubisoft announced Just Dance for NX

“If you look at the console market, that’s very established with the big brands. Those games are coming every year, iterated every year, selling many millions... and people are used to buying them each time. So that space is a bit locked. But with VR, everything is open again.”

We like working with creators you can’t control. They’re second to none. Alain Corre, Ubisoft

WATCH THE FORUMS The freedom Ubisoft gives its teams and its desire to be first on the ‘next big thing’ makes the company entertaining to write about. Yet this almost scattergun approach to development does bring about its issues, and the company isn’t above criticism. In recent years, Ubisoft has angered some fans with bugs in Assassin’s Creed, or cheaters in The Division. One game that received a bit of criticism was 2014’s Watch Dogs. The eagerly anticipated open world game was a success, but fans and critics had issues with the protagonist, the hacking mechanics

and they were disappointed that the graphics had been downgraded from its original reveal. It led to discontent online, and it’s something Corre says the team was acutely aware of when creating Watch Dogs 2. “We’ve heard what our fans were saying, and we think we have ticked all the boxes to improve everything they wanted, plus we have brought some new innovation,” Corre says. “The new character Marcus is very charismatic. You can hack anything you want and it is now twice as big as the previous one. It is also super colourful and nice to look at.

THE NEXT 30 YEARS Ubisoft is 30 years old this year. In an industry as young as ours, that’s practically old age, although Alain Corre insists: “We are still super young when you consider what we can do in the future.” That gets to the heart of Ubisoft’s reluctance to entertain any offer from Vivendi. Would Vivendi react to the Watch Dogs criticism in the same way? Would it embrace VR like the current team does? Would it take as many risks and offer its employees as much freedom? Alain Corre, Yves Guillemot and the rest of Ubisoft’s management team certainly don’t think so. “We are a gaming company. We are all gamers. We share this passion, but we also try to create value for our shareholders, which is something we have been doing for 30 years,” Corre concludes. “Our decisions are ones that are good for the games and the fans. When we decided to postpone The Division, for example... twice... it was a very painful decision in terms of financial implications. But we felt it was a necessity for the game to be really polished and for it to make a big strike and put a smile on the faces of fans who bought it day one. Our creative teams know we will do that, they know the games will not be ruined by short-term obligations. “That is a uniqueness of Ubisoft and its culture.”

THE BIGGEST YEAR IN UBISOFT HISTORY STAR TREK: BRIDGE CREW Out: Q4 2016 Platforms: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR

FOR HONOR Out: February 14th, 2017 Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS Out: March 7th, 2017 Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Star Trek fans can command their very own starship in virtual reality.

This new IP hopes to resurrect the medieval combat genre.

The biggest open world action game Ubisoft has ever made.

July 8th 2016

www.mcvuk.com

P R E S E N T E D

WE’RE BACK AT INDIGO2! Book early and SAVE 10%

B Y

THE ONLY GAMING AWARDS VOTED FOR BY GAMERS

The Golden Joystick Awards are BACK and will be broadcast live online

Friday 18th November 2016 A table for 12 people is just £4,320 which includes: – Champagne reception – Three course meal – Awards ceremony – Entry to awards afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl within the O2 Book before 31st August and receive 10% off with our Early Bird discount

34TH GOLDEN JOYSTICK AWARDS

To book tables or enquire about sponsorship opportunities please contact Andrew.Church@futurenet.com

As always, gamescom was fantastic and a big success for us! (Category Manager, TEKNOSA, Turkey) gamescom presents worldwide entertainment trends and is the gateway to the European market. (CEO, Koch Media, Germany) Perfect, wonderful, highly educational â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I can hardly wait for gamescom 2016. (Purchasing Director, Gaming, Maxitoys, Belgium)

17-21.08.2016, Cologne Secure your tickets now! gamescom-cologne.com

TURKEY

European

High

Score

International Business Media Services 42 Christchurch Road Ringwood BH24 1DN United Kingdom Tel. +44 1425 48 68 30 Fax +44 1425 48 68 31 info@koelnmesse.co.uk

Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware

INTERVIEW PAWEL KOPINSKI, TECHLAND

Raising the dead The smash hit success of 2015’s Dying Light has transformed Polish developer Techland into its own publisher. Alex Calvin speaks to global marketing boss, Pawel Kopinski, about what comes next for the 25-year-old studio

efore its launch, you’d be forgiven for having muted expectations for Dying Light. The title, made by Polish studio Techland, was delayed, its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 SKUs scrapped, while the boxed release was delayed until a month after its digital version. Yet the title was a surprise hit for the Dead Island and Call of Juarez developer, shooting straight to the top of the UK physical charts upon launch and receiving positive reviews from critics. “As a whole, Dying Light did incredibly well for us,” marketing boss Pawel Kopinski says. “So far we’ve had over 8.5m registered players and that number is rising. A big part of this continual growth was thanks to the release of Dying Light: The Following Enhanced Edition. It wasn’t just the standard game and all DLC tacked on. We had the base game and added a massive expansion pack, all our updates, additional end-game content and a lot more. “We turned Dying Light into a very high value proposition with all that content packed into one copy and so a lot of new players got on board that way.”

LIGHT SHOW In fact, Dying Light has been so successful that Kopinski says it has helped Techland achieve some of its lofty dreams. “It’s difficult to say exactly how many units it has sold,” Kopinski says. “But the success of Dying Light has helped us secure our creative independence for many, many years to come.”

July 8th 2016

Marketing boss Kopinski says Dying Light has 8.5m registered players

He continues: “Since Techland’s inception in 1991, we’ve always been moving forward one or two steps with each project. “Dying Light‘s successes feels like we’ve taken ten steps forward. We’re now in an amazing position where we have creative and financial freedom secured for a very long time. It’s why we can readily develop two triple-A projects simultaneously while at the same time bring in other developers via Techland Publishing. “Since we now have a lot more influence with distributors and retailers around the globe and we’ve seen the value of a fan-centric development and post-launch support system, we can now carry both of these traits over into our own game and those we bring on through Techland Publishing.”

Dying Light helped us secure our creative independence for many years to come. Pawel Kopinski, Techland

Yes, the developer is looking to make its mark on the global publishing scene. “We want to use our 25 years of knowledge and experience to help other developers flourish globally,” Kopinski explains. “Over and above game development, we’ve already got extensive experience publishing other developers’ games for the Eastern European market. Titles like Payday 2, Sniper Elite, Telltale’s Game of Thrones series and Minecraft: Story Mode, and recently we secured the distribution for Rocket League’s physical release. “It’s thanks to this level of experience that one of the first titles we are taking globally is inXile’s Torment: Tides of Numenera. We’ve admired Brian

www.mcvuk.com

PAWEL KOPINSKI, TECHLAND INTERVIEW EXTRAGAVENT EDITIONS AHEAD of the releases of both the original Dying Light and add-on The Following, Techland unveiled some unusual special editions. The ‘My Apocalypse Edition’ for Dying Light had a price of £250,000 and included zombie survival parkour lessons and a zombieproof shelter. Techland then upped its offering for The Following, with a $10m ‘Spotlight Edition’. For this price, consumers received a supporting role in Dying Light: The Movie, professional acting lessons, a personal trailer on set, stuntman training, screening test... the list goes on. “They were quirky marketing ideas that our fans and press thought were funny so they did the job in our opinion,” global marketing boss Pawel Kopinski says. “However we were totally prepared to bring them to life had someone decided to actually buy it. Nobody did though, so our ambitions of becoming interior decorators for zombie-proof houses is on hold for now.”

Fargo’s work for ages so we’re really excited about this.” DEAD RINGER One of the assumptions surrounding Dying Light was that it was originally intended to be a sequel to Techland’s previous zombie title, Dead Island – but IP owners Deep Silver picked a different studio. That’s not quite the case, although Dead Island certainly played its part. “Sequels often force you to stick to what has already been put in place quite stringently,” he says. “Since we were able to start fresh with Dying Light, it was easier to try out new ideas without compromise. So things like our entire parkour movement system, our character design, the backstory, the world design... these are all things that we created solely for Dying Light.

www.mcvuk.com

Techland is now using its industry experience to publish games

“That said, some ideas in Dying Light are from the seeds of our Dead Island days. Things like the dynamic day and night cycle or some of the weapon designs for example. These were just some things that we never got the chance to really try out until Dying Light.” Though Techland is clearly going to be busy launching its publishing label, the firm is also looking into how to continue the Dying Light IP. “We’ve got a lot of ideas and things that we’re testing out at the moment,” Kopinski says. “Since the IP belongs to us, there is no external pressure to rush out another instalment. Our main obligation is to the fans and to ourselves to create and release something amazing when it’s ready. We want to ensure that the next big thing in Dying Light is built around ideas and concepts that really push the game to the next level.”

ZOMBIE PLAGUE ONE criticism of the current video game market is the over abundance of zombie titles. Techland itself has been behind two of the biggest zombie games in recent memory – Dead Island and Dying Light. The walking dead are also central to Bohemia’s DayZ, H1Z1 by Daybreak, 7 Ways to Die from Telltale, Ubisoft’s Zombi, The Evil Within by Shinji Mikami and Call of Duty’s zombie mode, to name just a few. On-stage at E3 last week, Sony also unveiled new IP Days Gone, featuring the undead horde and a new Resident Evil release, while a sequel to zombie game State of Decay was revealed at Microsoft’s conference.

But Techland global marketing head Pawel Kopinski says there’s still room for more. “The wealth of zombie games out there actually helps to prove that there is a healthy market for them,” he says. “Naysayers frequently talk of over-saturation, yet players are showing their support time and time again for these games. I think a big reason for this is that ‘zombie game’ isn’t a strict genre. It’s a setting or a theme that you can adapt to various game genres. “You can have a zombie theme built around an open world title, around shooters, linear narrative driven games, survival games and so on. We saw that the key is to do something unique and wellpolished so you can stand out from the crowd.”

July 8th 2016

VIDEO GAMES EVENTS

Show business There is a huge number of consumer games events happening in the UK alone this year. Marie Dealessandri speaks to Multiplay, Gamer Network and Endemol about this golden age for games shows and what it means for the industry and the players

he video games events market is a crammed one to say the least. The end of August and the beginning of September, particularly, will be packed with events in the UK – and the spotlight will be focused on Birmingham. Within four weeks, the city’s NEC will host two of the biggest events of the year: Multiplay’s Insomnia58 and Gamer Network’s EGX 2016. Multiplay is expanding rapidly: of course there’s Insomnia, with the spring edition already behind us and the summer one, Insomnia58, scheduled for August. Insomnia also made a detour in Scotland and Ireland for the first time this year. Insomnia58 will also host a League of Legends festival alongside the return of GAMEFest, a consumer show similar to EGX’s offering. Gamer Network boss Rupert Loman previously told MCV that Multiplay’s move with GAMEFest was ‘disappointing’. But he now appears as confident as ever concerning his own EGX and is convinced there’s enough space for everyone. “There’s definitely room for a variety of events in the UK catering for different gaming tastes,” he says.

July 8th 2016

consumers. In fact, quite the opposite. “Each gaming event offers something unique to their audience and whilst there is overlap, we are seeing this as minimal. For example, in our recent survey, we identified that this overlap is less than seven per cent between EGX and Insomnia. Those seven per cent are probably going to everything.” He continues: “We’ve certainly hit an age where people value experiences more than ever. It’s a key difference with millennials to previous generations, and we’re seeing a voracious appetite from consumers for more shows. In the UK, we have a varied number of events offering different gaming experiences. This can be from eSports, YouTube stars, exclusive looks at new games, cosplay, bring your own computer/console and much more.”

“As long as each event has a clear proposition and audience then there’s no reason why they can’t be successful as there’s clearly a big consumer demand for live gaming experiences. “But historically there tends to only be one successful major expo event per territory as there’s only

We’ve hit an age where people value experiences more than ever. It’s a key difference with millennials. Craig Fletcher, Multiplay

so many events that publishers and platform holders can support with their time and money. In the UK, that show is EGX. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t place for other successful events.” Multiplay founder and CEO Craig Fletcher agrees that the multiplication of video games events is not a threat: “We have seen no reduction in appetite from

DIVIDE AND CONQUER Not only have video games events become more and more important, but they have also become more diverse in their offerings. EGX, Gamermania, Legends of Gaming, GAMEFest, Insomnia, Gadget Show Live: all of them

try to have a unique selling point. Legends of Gaming Live, for example, focuses on YouTubers. The event made a difficult debut last year (more about that in Legends of Gaming Reborn), but since then organiser Endemol dropped its partner Upper Street Events and moved forwards. Legends of Gaming is taking place this September in London - two weeks after Insomnia, and two weeks before EGX. But senior commercial manager Tom Greenwood-Mears is not afraid of the challenge and hopes to capitalise on gamers’ increasing appetite for live events. “Obviously, it’s a busy time of the year. But it’s busy for a reason. There are a lot of new titles coming out ahead of Christmas. Legends of Gaming has moved by a week so there’s now a clear weekend between GAMEFest on one side and EGX on the other side. That would give us a little more breathing space.” He continues: “EGX and Insomnia are amazing events but our offering is something slightly different, with entertainment at its heart. We’re trying to take what’s happening on YouTube and bring

www.mcvuk.com

VIDEO GAMES EVENTS

LEGENDS OF GAMING REBORN LAST year, Legends of Gaming Live made its debut – and things did not go to plan for co-organisers Upper Street Events and Endemol. The show was cut from three days to one, as tickets sales were behind target. Endemol has taken full control of the event this year. About 7,500 people went in 2015 and the organiser has great expectations. “Last year was a rehearsal really and we learnt a lot from it, so it should be bigger and better this year,” Endemol senior commercial manager Tom Greenwood-Mears tells MCV. “We’re looking at about 20,000 people across the two days. We’ve got lot more YouTubers coming. We had approximately 250,000 people watching our livestream last year, so we’re expecting about half a million

(Top to bottom) Endemol’s GreenwoodMears, Gamer Network’s Loman and Multiplay’s Fletcher

it to life for fans in that sort of live event experience.” While organisers all try to set their events apart from competitors, Greenwood-Mears believes that they also all share a common goal. “EGX has been around for a very long time and Insomnia is in its 58th edition now and they give fans the opportunity to access what they really love,” he states. “Fans can play at home with their friends, but going to events and doing it with a big group of people is a different experience. The opportunity to come to Legends of Gaming and meet YouTube superstars, see them battling it out on stage and to be part of that world in a closer way... that’s something that is very important to a fan. I think the more that happens, the better.” And that’s definitely something both Loman and Fletcher agree with. “No matter how much technology seems to push us apart, we want to come together and share an atmosphere and sense of belonging,” Fletcher says. “I believe that games bring people together and events are the literal realisation of that. We love to see people

www.mcvuk.com

and sales are of course key, but creating direct interaction between developers and the community is also very valuable when it comes to receiving feedback on games and understanding what the community wants.” This important benefit for the industry is also why there’s no such thing as ‘too many events’, Greenwood-Mears says. “We can look at the full calendar year for a publisher and touch various points throughout that year, in lots of different environments. I think that offering is pretty unique and quite valuable as well.” But Loman casts a shadow on the seemingly perfect world of video games events and is fearful of the impact of low quality shows. “I think gaming events will continue to evolve along with the industry and the community. Right now is clearly an exciting time as new events are popping up catering for different tastes. My concern is that with so many companies rushing to do events, there’s the risk of not always delivering a great experience for the community that are placing their trust in the organisers, and giving up their time and money in good faith.”

having the time of their lives and celebrating their passion with likeminded people. The more people we can bring into this, the better.” Loman adds: “Games are an increasingly social activity and events provide a unique opportunity to bring the gaming community together. As games continue to broaden in appeal and offer new experiences, so will live gaming events.” ENGAGING CONSUMERS All of these events offer a significant marketing opportunity for publishers, developers and merchandise firms, of course. “The importance of gaming events is that they keep consumers engaged in person across the numerous pillars within the gaming industry,” Fletcher emphases. “What better place to engage consumers and get direct feedback than in person? In this way, we help publishers and developers keep in touch with the community.” Loman adds: “Events are a great guide to how our industry is developing and where it’s heading in the future. For games companies the benefits are numerous. Driving purchase intent, pre-orders

watching it at home this year.” But when asked about what went wrong last year, Greenwood-Mears remains evasive. “One thing I really like about live events is that they’re a sort of constantly changing beast and sometimes things come unstuck,” he explains. “And in last year’s case, our event partner wasn’t able to continue with us so we had to quickly reorganise it, we reduced the number of days and we focused on producing one amazing day for our fans - which we did.” However, he doesn’t blame Upper Street Events: “It’s just one of those things you can’t control and you need to deal with it as best as you can. So, no, I wouldn’t say it was their fault at all, it’s just unfortunate, it’s one of those things.”

UK VIDEO GAMES EVENTS SCHEDULE Gamermania July 29th - 31st (London) Resonate July 29th - 31st (Glasgow) Insomnia58 August 26th - 29th (Birmingham) GAMEFest August 26th - 29th (Birmingham) League Fest August 26th - 29th (Birmingham) Legends of Gaming Live September 10th - 11th (London) EGX 2016 September 22nd – 25th (Birmingham) MCM Comic Con October 28th – 30th (London) Insomnia59 December 9th – 12th (Birmingham)

July 8th 2016

INTERVIEW NORDIC GAMES

Nordic’s spending spree After buying the likes of Darksiders, Red Faction and MX vs ATV from THQ in 2013, Nordic Games made another round of IP purchases at the start of 2016. This time, the company bought the likes of Sine Mora, Imperium Galactica and Bang Bang Racing from Digital Reality. Alex Calvin speaks to Nordic to find out more

How would you assess the last year for Nordic Games? Lars Wingefors, CEO: Overall, Nordic Games is doing just fine. We had a good year in 2015, we have proven that our business model work – which is making IP acquisitions. The day-to-day business is taking care of our IP and bringing them out on various platforms and making some technical upgrades, but in the long-term the model is to make new developments – and it takes a long time to bring out new products. 2016 is the first year where we actually have a few new games coming out on the basis of our own IP, such as Spellforce 3 and The Guild. And that is a big thing for us. Why is acquiring other IP such a big part of your business? Wingefors: It’s many things. Financially you actually control the IP and it’s easier to invest into your own franchises on a long-term basis rather than invest in some other company’s property. However, we do have distribution deals and we are always looking for the right deal to help other developers bring out their content. The main focus is our own catalogue of 52 properties. What matters is that they are relevant and have a dedicated fanbase that would like to buy new versions and would love to rebuy games that they have played previously. Are you still looking for further acquisitions? Wingefors: We always are. We have a long list of IPs that we want and companies that might need our help. We are always working on several acquisitions. But it takes time. We have a very good set-up to handle that situations where people either have financial difficulties or where there are legal issues. But

July 8th 2016

Sine Mora was one of the properties Nordic purchased from Digital Reality in February

you need to realise you can’t make these kinds of deals quickly. Well, you can, but they normally take up to a year.

means you have to make a totally different kind of experience than what we are used to making on PC and console. So we’d rather stay passive for the time being. The hardcore segment will gain some traction in mobile eventually.

What kind of properties are you looking for? Reinhard Pollice, business and product development director: Our key is that an IP is well-known and has a good fan base. We also think strategically: we try to have at least one good IP in every core gaming genre. As part of our recent acquisitions from Digital Reality we bought well-known space IP Imperium Galactica. Before that we didn’t have any good sci-fi IP.

Is VR an area you are interested in exploring? Wingefors: I like VR and we are very open minded. We have a few IPs that are well-suited to virtual reality. But it isn’t financially viable to make full-blown VR games. I hope we can do some smaller short games or demos this year. There is some work going on. But normally we are not the first guys to try something like this. We would like to see how the first launches do and see if there’s a viable long-term business model for it.

You say you are focused on core gaming, but you do have some mobile titles. This market is historically more casual. What is your ambition in this sector? Pollice: The mobile market is fast-developing and it hasn’t fully matured just yet. There are still big changes happening. We want to bring our properties to that market and we have some great products coming out for mobile. It’s not our core focus. The mobile sector is also largely free-to-play, which

Nordic’s boss Wingefors (top) and business development director Pollice (above)

What is your ambition going forward? Wingefors: We are bullish for the future. We have about 12 games in development. We hope to acquire more IP during 2016 and we will announce some big things this year. So I am bullish. I am happy.

www.mcvuk.com

SPLENDY INTERVIEW

INDIE INTERVIEW Live from The Bunker The Bunker is the latest game to use live action video over computer graphics. Alex Calvin talks to developer Splendy about its decision to use real footage and the influence of indie darling Her Story

s a part of this section of the magazine, we’re used to talking to people taking a different approach to games development. But what Hertfordshire-based Splendy is up to with its upcoming game The Bunker is one of the more unusual concepts we have seen. Rather than build a ‘traditional’ computer animated title, the studio spent 15 days filming in an abandoned nuclear bunker in Essex. That footage is what the game is made from, with fellow indie studio Wales Interactive helping piece it together into a point and click adventure title. The title has some rather big names attached to it, too. Writers who had worked on The Witcher 3, Broken Sword and SOMA helped pen the script. Meanwhile Adam Brown (right) – Ori from The Hobbit films – plays the leading role of John, a man trapped in a nuclear bunker and trying to uncover its secrets. While the concept of a game using live action footage was in the works long before the launch of 2015 smash hit and indie darling Her Story, it was that title which helped Splendy seal the deal with publisher Green Man Gaming. “We talked about how best to test the game,” CEO Simon Sparks says. “If you are making a regular CG game, you do a crude animatic of how it might work and just go ‘here’s the gameplay I’m thinking of,’ and you can explain it. The Bunker, however, was all in the execution and visuals. We decided to do a trailer and presented it to Green Man Gaming. The idea was to eventually show it to their community and see what they thought. But it never got to that stage because Her Story came out and proved there was an audience for this kind of game – Green Man Gaming signed it.” Director Allan Plenderleith adds: “It showed that there was an appetite for something that does have real actors in it, has a narrative that’s a bit different and told in a non-linear way. Her Story helped us in a big way.” WE’LL DO IT LIVE Of course, relying on live action footage throws up a number of problems. For one, Splendy

www.mcvuk.com

Splendy’s Plenderleith (top right) and Sparks (right) brought in Adam Brown from The Hobbit as their main character for The Bunker

Her Story showed that people had an appetite for something with real actors, a narrative that’s different and told in a different way. Allan Plenderleith, Splendy

needed to ensure that captured footage was perfect to start with – they couldn’t just edit code to make changes to game like in a ‘regular’ project. And that wasn’t the only challenge. “You are limited by reality,” Plenderleith says. “So your location is your game level. When we did [Splendy’s previous live-action game] The Hunting, there’s a point where you’re on a bike and you fall off and wake up ten miles away. But the players doesn’t know that – it goes black and you wake up. Everything has to link up in a way so that players don’t realise we are filming it like a movie.” He continues: “We did have to do reshoots and we are going to have to do some pick ups on this where we think: ‘oh, we should have

filmed that’. The only way to do that is to go back and film it. You can’t just say ‘please make a cupboard to go over there Mr Coder’.” Sparks adds: “One of the big differences is that Allan, as the director, had to have an almost complete view of the final product in his head before he committed to photography. “In terms of development cycles, for this we effectively have to make all the assets at the start and make sure they’re polished and finished before you start making the game. We knew from a storytelling perspective that we needed a location, story map and a flow chart that had to fit in the physical location. Once we were at a point where we were happy and ready to burn a load of cash, we got everyone in to film. It was 15 straight days and that’s pretty much all your assets done. Then you just have to cut it all together.” The Bunker is obviously a very different game and as a result, Splendy isn’t entirely sure how it is going to perform upon launch. But the team remains committed to this live-action style of game. “Commercially, we just want to make our money back,” Sparks says. “That’s it. We just want to make another one. We’re onto something. Whether this is the right execution for it is something we won’t know until it’s out and people are playing it.”

July 8th 2016

MARKETPLACE

SHELF LIFE Julian Slater from Bits ‘n’ Pieces in Macclesﬁeld tells MCV about the challenge of summer time, why the new Xbox One S is just a ‘shot in the dark’ and why he isn’t looking forward to virtual reality How has business been lately? In June, terrible. It’s just very quiet. The hot weather doesn’t help but the lack of releases doesn’t help either. What challenges are you facing? It’s still price competition at the moment with the supermarkets. And also people doing silly Day One DLC, which is really annoying. Is there any recent title that still sells pretty well? Overwatch and Doom are still

PRE-ORDER CHARTS

more PS4 than we do Xbox One. And honestly, I really don’t know why. In terms of exclusive games I don’t think PlayStation is that much better and in terms of graphics and features the basics are the same. It baﬄes me to be honest.

selling quite well. Other than that, no, not really. And are you selling a lot of hardware? Hardware has slowed down, again because of the summer; people would rather be outside than playing games.

Do you think the new Xbox One S will help Microsoft to perform better with its consoles? Probably not. Honestly, I think it’s just a shot in the dark. In the short

Do you sell more PS4, Xbox One or even Wii U maybe? Certainly not Nintendo! Hardwarewise I would probably say we sell

PRICE CHECK: KENDAL

TOP 10 PRE-ORDERS 1. THE LAST GUARDIAN COLLECTOR’S EDITION Sony, PS4 2. Horizon: Zero Dawn Collector’s Edition Sony.........................................................................PS4 3. South Park The Fractured But Whole inc. Stick of Truth Ubisoft ....................................................................PS4

LEGO JURASSIC WORLD

LEGO MARVEL’S AVENGERS

4. FIFA 17 inc. FUT pre-order bonus EA .............................................................................PS4

Warner Bros, PS4

LEGO DIMENSIONS: STARTER PACK

LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM Warner Bros, Wii U

Warner Bros, XO

6. Final Fantasy XV inc. Masamune, Saber & Gourmand DLC Square Enix..........................................................PS4

£21.99

£24.99

N/A

£19.99

£21.99

£24.99

£64.99

£17.99

8. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness Ltd Ed Square Enix..........................................................PS4

£19.99

£24.99

£59.99

£14.99

9. Battleﬁeld 1 inc. Hellﬁghter Pack Square Enix.............................................................XO

£19.97

£23.90

£58

£14.70

10. Forza Horizon 3 inc. 2016 Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7 DLC Microsoft ..................................................................XO

£18.12

£66.20

£18.12

7. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Bethesda ...............................................................PS4

UPLOADING The latest digital releases coming to market

WE HAPPY FEW

LOST SEA

BOXBOXBOY!

The E3 sensation will launch on Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview

Eastasiasoft’s exploration title is coming to PS4 and Steam

This sequel to 2015’s BoxBoy! has arrived on Nintendo 3DS

OUT: JULY 26TH

July 8th 2016

IN STORE

Warner Bros, 3DS

ONLINE

5. Battleﬁeld 1 inc. Hellﬁghter Pack EA .............................................................................PS4

OUT: JULY 5TH

OUT: NOW

www.mcvuk.com

MARKETPLACE

Bits ‘n’ Pieces 21 Chestergate, Macclesﬁeld, Cheshire, SK11 6BX

Phone: 01625 615 616 Website: www.bitsandpieces-macclesﬁeld.co.uk Email: bitsnpiecesmacclesﬁeld@hotmail.co.uk

term, probably, yes. People that don’t understand the 4K capabilities of it will buy it. Microsoft has written 4K all over it, but people don’t understand it won’t do 4K games, so people will adopt it for that. But, again, they don’t really understand it, in my opinion. What did you think of E3? I think it was a bit boring, apart from Zelda. There were not a lot of big announcements that we did not already know about.

What games are you looking forward to? Gears of War 4 looks amazing, The Last Guardian, I think, will do quite well. And the new God of War looks stunning. Are your looking forward to virtual reality? No. I think VR will sell really well to early adopters but it’s going to go the same way as 3D did. It will come out, people will chant about it and then it will all vanish very quickly.

INCOMING TITLE

WANT TO FEATURE YOUR OUTLET IN MCV? Contact mdealessandri@nbmedia.com or call 01992 515 303

Carmageddon: Max Damage is coming to retail today, thanks to Sold Out, as well as Koei Tecmo’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII and UIG’s Airport Architect FORMAT

GENRE

PUBLISHER

TELEPHONE

DISTRIBUTOR

Airport Architect

PS4/XO/Wii U

Simulation

UIG Entertainment

01902 861 527

Pavillion

Carmageddon: Max Damage

PS4/XO

Racing

Sold Out

01215 069 590

Advantage

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII

PS4/XO

Strategy

Koei Tecmo

01462 476130

Open

Disney Art Academy

3DS

Kids

Nintendo

01753 483700

Open

Ghostbusters

PS4/XO/PC

Action

Activision

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

July 8th

July 15h

Monster Hunter Generations

3DS

RPG

Nintendo

01753 483700

Open

MX vs ATV Supercross Encore

Sports

Nordic Games

+431 236 54 870

Open

PS4

Sports

Badland Games

01934 611877

Badland Games

PS4/PC

Survival adventure

Sony

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

PS4/XO/PC

FPS

Square Enix

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

PS4/XO/PS3/360

Sports

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

July 29h OlliOlli: Epic Combo Edition

August 10h No Man’s Sky

August 23rd Deus Ex Mankind Divided

August 25th Madden NFL 17

August 26th A.O.T. Wings of Freedom

PS4/XO/PS3/360/Vita/PC

Action

Koei Tecmo

01462 476130

Open

Assetto Corsa

PS4/XO/PC

Sports

505 Games

01215 069 590

Advantage

The King of Fighters XIV

PS4

Fighting

Deep Silver

01256 385 200

Koch Media

www.mcvuk.com

July 8th 2016

OVERWATCH

OVERWATCH Blizzard’s shooter is one of the most popular titles of the year so far. And as always with successful games, it came with loads of merchandise. Marie Dealessandri has selected the best Overwatch products

OVERWATCH just reached a new milestone, hitting 10 million players in just over a month. The week following its release, 7m people had already played Blizzard’s shooter – representing over 119m hours of gameplay time. This also follows a very successful beta during which 9.7m gamers confronted each other. The title’s sales have surpassed everyone’s expectations and it has become Blizzard’s fastest-selling console game to date.

Overwatch has just reached 10 million players, in just over a month.

So needless to say that Overwatch and its 21 heroes represent a very profitable opportunity for retailers. Since the game launched, an endless number of T-shirts have invaded shelves – and that’s without mentioning the figurines, key rings, comics, posters, accessories and the rest of the wealth of merchandise that has launched alongside the shooter. Overwatch has also already begun its invasion of the eSports

OVERWATCH COLLECTOR’S EDITION A collector’s edition of Overwatch is still available for those who didn’t have the chance to buy it yet, or those who love it so much they want to treat themselves. It features a 30cm Soldier statue, the soundtrack, a ‘sourcebook’ including artwork and backstories, 12 postcards, 5 skins for the title’s heroes, as well as the Origins Edition of the game presented in a Steelbook case. SRP: £99.99 Manufacturer: Blizzard Distributor: CentreSoft Contact: 01216 253 388

HANZO & MEI KEY RINGS

OVERWATCH RAZER BLACKWIDOW CHROMA

TRACER STATUE

Characters Mei and Hanzo are popular enough to have their own key rings. A version featuring the Overwatch logo is also available.

This branded keyboard has been manufactured to resist up to 60 million keystrokes - many of which should be used to play Overwatch.

Probably the most recognisable character from Overwatch, Tracer is now available in statue form, made in high quality polystone.

SRP: £7.99 Manufacturer: Gaya Distributor: Gaming Merchandise UK Contact: hello@gamingmerchandiseuk.com

SRP: £159.99 Manufacturer: Razer Distributor: VIP Computers Contact: 01925 286 900

SRP: £150 (£104) Manufacturer: Blizzard Gear Distributor: Blizzard Entertainment Contact: 020 3060 1081

July 8th 2016

www.mcvuk.com

OVERWATCH Sponsored by

gaming merchandise uk

scene, with a $100.000 tournament due to take place at Gamescom. In South Korea, one of the top countries for eSports, the title has nearly surpassed League of Legends as the most played game at PC Bangs (Korean LAN gaming centers). This should please Blizzard, as senior game designer Michael Chu told MCV earlier this year that the publisher was ready to support Overwatch as an eSport title. “When we started Overwatch we focused on getting the feeling

of playing and competing as great as possible,” Chu said. “Blizzard has a long history in eSports. What we have seen is there’s a desire for some sort of Overwatch eSport. I don’t have any particular concrete plans that I can share but it’s definitely something we are looking into supporting in the future.” Overwatch is Blizzard’s first new IP since 1998’s StarCraft and it seems that the gamble is paying off for the publisher.

OVERWATCH RAZER MANO’WAR TOURNAMENT EDITION Razer launched a new line of products following the release of Overwatch, including this special edition of its ManO’war headset. It includes a retractable mic with inline volume controls and has been designed to ensure a good sound isolation. Its wide headband and large ear cushions also aim to oﬀer maximum comfort to gamers.

SRP: £94.99 Manufacturer: Razer Distributor: VIP Computers Contact: 01925 286 900

WIDOWMAKER T-SHIRT

OVERWATCH BACKPACK

OVERWATCH PHARAH LONG SLEEVE SHIRT - WOMEN’S

Widowmaker’s tattoo, a stylised spider located on her back, has moved to T-shirts.

This Overwatch-themed backpack displays a big logo of the game and features a lot of useful pockets.

There’s a Blizzard T-shirt for almost every Overwatch character, including this Pharah one.

SRP: £16.99 Manufacturer: Gaya Distributor: Gaming Merchandise UK Contact: hello@gamingmerchandiseuk.com

SRP: $40 (£27) Manufacturer: Blizzard Gear Distributor: Blizzard Entertainment Contact: 020 3060 1081

SRP: $24 (£16) Manufacturer: Blizzard Gear Distributor: Blizzard Entertainment Contact: 020 3060 1081

www.mcvuk.com

July 8th 2016

MCV DIRECTO MARKETING, PR & CREATIVE AGENCIES

LEGAL

AUDIO IN

GERARD FOX LAW

Tel: 0044 7985678437 www.audioin.co.uk ........................................................................................................

charne@sprintmail.com www.gerardfoxlaw.com ........................................................................................................

BIG TOP PR Tel: 07784 778197 www.bigtop-pr.co.uk ........................................................................................................

TRADE BODY UKIE

DEAD GOOD MEDIA Tel: +44 (0)7780 600 728 www.deadgoodmedia.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: +44 (0) 207 534 0580 www.ukie.org.uk ........................................................................................................

STUDIO DIVA

PUBLISHING

Tel: 0117 214 0404 www.studiodiva.co.uk ........................................................................................................

FUNBOX MEDIA LTD

FLUID Tel: +44 (0)121 212 0121 www.ﬂ uidesign.co.uk ........................................................................................................

KENNEDY MONK Tel: 0207 636 9142 www.kennedymonk.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: +44 (0) 114 278 7100 www.uberagency.com/ ........................................................................................................

info@funboxmedia.co.uk www.funboxmedia.co.uk ........................................................................................................

DEVELOPMENT SERVICES & RECRUITMENT

Tel: +44 (0) 208 664 3456 www.creativedistribution.co.uk/ ........................................................................................................

DC GAMES GROUP Tel: +971-50-9287220 www.Doostan-Co.com ........................................................................................................

INCOMM Tel: 01489 588 200 www.incomm.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: 0207 688 6789 www.oklogistics.de ........................................................................................................

PLAY DISTRIBUTION Tel: +64-9-815-3852 www.playdistribution.com ........................................................................................................

WHOLESGAME info@wholesgame.com www.wholesgame.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: + 44 (0) 8701 600 504 www.audiomotion.com ........................................................................................................

OPM RECRUITMENT

QA & LOCALISATION, PAYMENT & SOLUTION

CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION

OK MEDIA LTD

AUDIOMOTION

UBER

RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION & MANUFACTURING

Tel: +44 [0] 1206 214421 http://opmjobs.com/ ........................................................................................................

PERIPHERALS, ACCESSORIES & MERCHANDISE

RAGTAG DEVELOPMENTS LTD

GAMING MERCHANDISE UK LTD

Tel: +44 (0)1295 817617 www.ragtagdev.com ........................................................................................................

hello@gamingmerchandiseuk.com www.gamingmerchandiseuk.com ........................................................................................................

REMOTE CONTROL PRODUCTS

LIME DISTRIBUTION

LA MARQUE ROSE Tel: +33 1 43 14 88 00 info@lamarquerose.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 210 205 70 http://www.r-control.de/ ........................................................................................................

UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING

SOUNDING SWEET LTD.

PERFORMANCE DESIGNED PRODUCTS LTD

Tel: +44 (0) 1480210621 www.usspeaking.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: +44 (0) 1789 297453 www.soundingsweet.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: 01628 509 047 www.pdp.com ........................................................................................................

EXEQUO Tel: +1 425 279 7855 sbonﬁ ls@exequo.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: 01622 845 161 www.limedistribution.co.uk ........................................................................................................

TO LIST YOUR COMPANY HERE AND ONLINE EVERY WEEK PLEASE CONTACT CNANGLE@NBMEDIA.COM OR CALL 020 7354 6000

ORY 2016

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AGENCIES AND SERVICE COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE / AUDIOMOTION KEY CONTACTS: Brian Mitchell, MD

Stacey Biosselle, Producer

brian@audiomotion.com

stacey@audiomotion.com

ADDRESS: London Road, Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1JG United Kingdom

AUDIOMOTION Studios are Europe’s leading performance capture service provider. We are a multiaward winning, multi stage studio specialising in the provision of motion capture services to Video Game developers and publishers, as well as the Film and TV industries. With premises based in Wheatley Oxford we have a mo-cap stage of 24 metres long and 12 metres wide, which means that we provide the largest capture volume available in Europe. Equipped with over 150 Vicon cameras, location shoots of 400sq meters are achievable. We offer robust real-time pre-viz, head mounted cameras and virtual cameras, we can provide everything a developer, production house or producer would need. Our most recent projects that we can talk about include our involvement with ICC Pro Cricket 2015, Ridley Scott’s epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings, Doctor Who for the BBC, Maleficent and Codemasters F1. Audiomotion are the current holders of Develops’ ‘Best Services Provider’ award which they have now won on 5 separate occasions. Audiomotion are conveniently located just off Junction 8 of the M40 motorway 50 minutes from London and approximately 80 minutes south of Birmingham. Audiomotion also offer 3D scanning, green screen, motion control and tracking vehicles as part of their extended VFX services.

ISSUE 859 FRIDAY DECEMBER

GAMES

4TH 2015

INDIE THICK OF IT ISSUE 860 FRIDAY DECEMBER 11TH

2015

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS COMPANY AND MANY MORE ONLINE NOW AT:

THE A TEAM

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO

N SHAHID AHMAD ON 10 YEARS PLAYSTATION’S DEV CHAMPIO

BESTWICK TAKES US THROUGH 25 YEARS SONY P16 ATDEBBIE OF TEAM17

P18

UK RETAIL SPEAKS OUT 55%

70%

believe PS4 will rule next year (above top),

Twist think virtual reality is doomedUKIE’s SuperData’s van Dreunen

(above middle) and Reﬂection’s Leksell (above)

ack are bdig Charts ital e y’r the time, And this

19%

for mobile and digital console

data Q MCV re-launches charts

section

41%

picked Uncharted 4 as their most anticipated game of 2016