MCV 910 March 3rd 2017 by Biz Media Ltd

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES

NINDIES ARE GO!

ISSUE 910 FRIDAY MARCH 3RD 2017

INDIES GIVE THUMBS UP TO SWITCH ESHOP

PLAYGROUND GAMES

OVER THE BILLION DOLLAR HORIZON

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01/03/2017 18:44

NEWS NINTENDO SWITCH

Industry positive about Nindie Switch combo Nintendo’s latest indie showcase presentation showed a renewed focus from the platform holder in securing crucial third-party support for Switch

By Katharine Byrne AFTER facing weeks of criticism over the Switch’s software line-up, Nintendo unveiled a swathe of new indie games for the console on Tuesday, bolstering the platform’s 2017 line-up with 60 ‘Nindie’ titles to arrive by the end of the year. Among them are Image & Form’s SteamWorld Dig 2, Team17’s YookaLaylee, Overcooked: Special Edition and The Escapists 2, Chucklefish’s Stardew Valley, and the exclusive Runner 3 from Choice Provisions. The Switch will also have a number of timed exclusives in the form of Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine, TinyBuild’s Mr Shifty, and Vblank Entertainment’s spiritual successor to Retro City Rampage, Hawaii Shakedown. Chucklefish’s Pocket Rumble, meanwhile, will be a console exclusive on Switch, and Inti Create’s Blaster Master Zero will be exclusive to both Switch and 3DS. This is in addition to previously announced indie titles such as Rime, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove and Snake Pass, as well as bigger third-party games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Minecraft, Farming Simulator and FIFA. UP AND RUNNING With such a wide variety of games on the cards, it’s clear Nintendo’s pursuing a much more aggressive stance on securing third-party support than ever before, showing a marked change compared to its previous efforts to court indie developers with the Wii U. Indeed, Runner 3’s producer Dant Rambo (above, left) told MCV that “Nintendo’s focus on accessibility and creating a platform for the hardcore and non-hardcore alike were the biggest factors for [Choice Provisions]” in deciding to make Runner 3 a Switch exclusive. It also loved the idea of being able to play the game at home or on the go. He added: “As a smaller team, focusing all our efforts on one platform made a lot of sense to March 3rd 2017

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Nintendo will be bringing about 60 ‘Nindie’ titles to the Switch by the end of the year

us. It didn’t take us long to decide on the Switch. We feel like it’s a really great fit for the Runner series, which we’ve always tried to design in a way that allowed for long and short gaming sessions. “[Nintendo’s] approach to indies with the Switch is in many ways an evolution of their approach to indies with the Wii U. They’ve really made an effort in recent years to share the spotlight with smaller developers, which is something we’ve absolutely seen the effects of in terms of sales and coverage. “In our experience, Nintendo’s always made an effort to provide good placement to smaller titles in the eShop and in their marketing, and we feel this is why Runner 2 sold as well as it did on the Wii U.”

“Switch looks like an exciting machine to work with, and Nintendo appreciates good game mechanics, so they understood why we felt the time was right to bring back one of the legendary 2000 AD titles,” said Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley (above, right). “Nintendo has been super helpful, and if you count us as an indie, then they definitely support us in our ambitions.” During the run-up to Switch’s launch, Nintendo’s continually emphasized how simple it is for developers to make games for the platform, with Shigeru Miyamoto stating that the “ease of software development has also been felt by Nintendo’s internal developers.” Managing executive officer Shinya Takahashi also reassured

ROGUE’S GALLERY Sniper Elite 4’s Rebellion also announced it would be bringing 2000 AD’s Rogue Trooper to Switch this week in the form of Rogue Trooper Redux. 02

investors recently that Nintendo’s been aiming to create a console where many third-party developers can “easily develop compatible software” for Switch and that the console’s support for the Unity and Unreal engines should help prevent the console from falling into the same third-party pitfalls as the Wii U. Nintendo looks to be bringing more indie titles to retail as well, as last week it announced a limited edition Joy-Con bundle that comes with a download code for Snipperclips. The title, developed by UK studio SFB Games in partnership with Nintendo, arrives digitally on the eShop today, with the retail bundle following on March 10th.

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01/03/2017 18:36

THE EDITOR NEWS

THE EDITOR CONNECTING THE DOTS

NINDIE is a ridiculous portmanteau but sometimes a catchy term can turn a good idea into a big success - and a pot of cash to boot. Of course, the primary reason anyone is excited about Nintendo's new found love of indie developers, and smaller titles in general, is its woeful record in the past. Its efforts to sign and promote independent talent have been as poor as the storefronts it sold them upon - and that's more than a decade on from Microsoft's ground-breaking Xbox Live Arcade. But that was then and this is now, and with Switch, Nintendo finally looks to be taking indie games seriously. That makes a lot of sense, as a strong indie

showing will help fill in the gaps between the big releases, gaps that have often been dangerously long in the past. Once a consumer stops using a device regularly, when it gets put 'in the drawer', there's always the risk they may never return to that platform again. Nindie titles will provide Nintendo with the additional titles it needs to connect up its major releases. Such titles will also provide Switch owners with just the kind of games that they'll want to play on the move. Playing an epic Zelda title while you lie in bed, or sit on the toilet, is quite the selling point, but when you're out-and-about something a little more bitesized might appeal.

Once a consumer stop using a device regularly, there's always the risk they may never return to it again.

Now, we shouldn't forget that the Vita was a hotbed of innovation for indie titles. But the Switch is Nintendo's primary console for the foreseeable future, not a secondary device that never quite received the support it deserved. In fact, the Switch could easily spearhead a new, mass market appreciation for indie console titles, putting them into direct competition with the big mobile titles, in the hearts and minds of gamers at least. Better still, with Switch consoles being taken out into the world, quality indie titles will get to strut their stuff to anyone who happens to be within sneezing distance of you, and that's what I call viral marketing. sbarton@nbmedia.com

GameSeek to raise Switch price back up to RRP By Katharine Byrne AFTER honoring its Switch preorder price of £198.50, UK retailer GameSeek has told MCV that it will be raising the price of the console to match its RRP of £279.99. “We do everything we can for our customers, but keeping [Switch] at this price post-launch is impossible due to the amount we are losing on every unit,” said managing director Stephen Staley. “Post-launch the price will have to go back up to the Nintendo RRP sadly.” GameSeek was one of the first retailers in the UK to open preorders for Nintendo’s new console. However, while many of its rivals opted for a higher pre-order price, such as GAME whose initial online placeholder was priced at a whopping £999.99 (the difference of which would, of course, be refunded at launch), Staley says he www.mcvuk.com

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was convinced the console would launch for under £200 and decided to price his pre-orders accordingly. “The speculation at the time was that the console was going to be below £200 as per the Nintendo Wii launch,” he said. “I also believed that Nintendo wouldn’t make the same mistake as they did with the pricing on the Wii U. I hoped that it would be below £200 to give it the best possible chance of being a success.” When asked if GameSeek was making a loss on its pre-order sales, Staley replied, “Yes, of course.” The good news is that GameSeek has been able to deliver every last pre-order in time for launch day: “Every single unit will be sent on time to arrive with the customer on release,” said Staley. “This has already been confirmed to every customer.”

GameSeek’s Staley said he’ll be able to deliver every Switch pre-order on time

March 3rd 2017

01/03/2017 18:36

NEWS BIG STORIES

TWITCH TO ENTER DIGITAL RETAIL THIS SPRING

TWITCH has announced it will start selling games and in-game content directly through its own platform this spring, with each purchase accompanied by a free Twitch Crate of random items such as emotes, chat badges and Bits for Cheering. Developers will earn 70 per cent of the revenue, while partnered Twitch streamers will earn 5 per cent for sales that originate from their channel pages.

WHAT THE INDUSTRY SAID...

WHAT THE PRESS SAID...

...AND WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

TWITCH says that "many of our streamers want to make a living doing what they love. To help them, we're enabling game developers to sell game content at the exact time and place their communities are gathered to watch, which in turn lets streamers earn money from games sold on their channels." Several publishers have signed up already, including Ubisoft, Paradox Interactive, Vlambeer and Telltale Games. Chris Early, Ubisoft's VP of digital publishing, stated: "For years we have appreciated how supportive Twitch streamers and viewers have been of our games. This made it an easy decision to work with Twitch to better serve our passionate community with benefits for everyone."

MASHABLE said the service "raises loads of ethical questions" and that "[streamers] become, for all intents and purposes, salespeople." It's also a move that "stands in stark contrast [to Twitch's general mission statement] of letting streamers share games 'authentically with friends and fans.'" The Verge was more optimistic, saying the announcement is "an intriguing prospect for both big and small publishers alike" and that it "makes it one of the biggest challenges yet to Steam." Meanwhile, Gamasutra said it "marks a notable change in direction for the popular platform," and Game Informer was of a similar opinion, stating: "This could be big news for the digital sales landscape."

THE service doesn't start until the spring, so for now it's still business as usual. However, Twitch's VP of commerce Matt McCloskey told MCV the reception so far "has been very positive," stating: "We have streamers signing up and we've been fielding a lot of game developer interest this week at GDC, in addition to committed launch partners. We moved into the digital retail space because we had the right value proposition for developers, end users and streamers. It's been an opportunity for years, asked for by customers for a long time. It just took time to assemble a team. Growth will come from customer feedback, better serving streamers and game developers. We're eager to get to market and learn."

WHAT THE INDUSTRY SAID...

WHAT THE PRESS SAID...

...AND WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

EA CEO Andrew Wilson praised his former colleague in a blog post, saying: "If you’ve ever met Peter Moore, you know that he quite literally wears his passion for Liverpool FC on his sleeve. So it’s with great excitement that we congratulate Peter on following his dream to become the next CEO of his beloved Liverpool Football Club." He also made note of Moore's existing contribution to football of a more virtual variety, saying: "Peter led our sports business to some of its biggest moments as president of EA Sports." His new employer Fenway Sports Group was typically tight-lipped about the announcement, though it did note it was the final piece in a 10-month-long reshuffle.

JACK LUSBY on This is Anfield, said Moore was "beginning work in the summer, [and is] set to focus more heavily on business than football." He then detailed Moore's previous work in the game, working as a football coach in the US and then for French football boot company Patrick and then at Reebok, again on football boots, where he even tied up a deal between the company and the club back 1996. Martin Robinson, for Eurogamer, said: "I will miss his impromptu stand-up routines that used to precede EA's conferences as Moore, ever the showman, tried to heighten the atmosphere before the big show. You'll be missed Peter, and the best of luck in the next stage in your career."

MOORE will stay in his current job for a few more weeks before moving to LFC in June. There's no announcement yet on whether EA will be appointing a direct successor into Moore's eSports-leaning role, with Wilson simply saying: “With more exciting expansion plans on the horizon, Peter will be working with the teams to drive a leadership transition before he returns to the UK this summer.” The team at MCV wish Moore the best of luck in his new role unless you're playing West Ham.

PETER MOORE LEAVES EA FOR LFC

EA'S Peter Moore has decided to leave his role as chief competition officer at EA after 10 years with the company, which also brings to an end a stellar 30-year career in the games industry for the Liverpudlian. While the announcement was met with surprise, his new job made perfect sense to everyone who's met him. Moore will be the new CEO of Liverpool Football Club. March 3rd 2017

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www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 18:43

PLAYGROUND GAMES NEWS

Playground Games sees benefit in mobile Mobile development has many advantages, says CEO Gavin Raeburn, but it’s not the right fit for Playground By Katharine Byrne FORZA HORIZON 3 studio Playground Games said it considered making games for mobile, but that it won’t be racing to abandon consoles any time soon. Speaking to MCV as part of our in-depth cover feature (see page 16 for the full interview), CEO Gavin Raeburn stated that while mobile games have been “fantastic” at widening the gaming population, Playground’s been hesitant to enter mobile development because titles are so hard to monetise. “To us, console games are predictable,” he said. “We’d go to conferences, and we’d always be told, ‘console is dead. Everyone is going to be playing on mobile,’ and we just thought, ‘Well, I don’t think that’s gonna be the case,’ and it hasn’t been. But what it has done is pull a whole new audience of people into gaming. My daughter plays Minecraft on her iPad. I’m not sure ten years ago my daughter

would have necessarily played games, but everyone seems to be playing games, and that’s fantastic. “We would like to have created a game that was for gamers on mobile but they’re really, really hard to sell. Mobile is about ‘How do you make money quickly?’ and that just was not for us. There will always be breakout hits. You’ll always get a Crossy Road. But I wouldn’t want to bet my career and my team on it.” That said, Raeburn definitely sees the advantages of going into mobile development, adding that developers with mobile experience will become valuable assets when they re-enter triple-A development. “When we’ve seen larger teams go out of business, there’ve been people with redundancy money that have [started] their own small teams, and some of those will go on to be great, and some will not. But those people then come back onto the marketplace and will be going back into the triple-A teams with some good experience.”

Raeburn is optimistic about mobile’s contribution to console gaming

EVENTS CALENDAR MARCH 2017 ......................................................................... MCV AWARDS 2017 The Brewery, London Thursday, March 9th n The MCV Awards, now in their 15th successful year, are returning for 2017 to recognise the best and brightest the UK games industry has to offer in publishing, retail, distribution, marketing, PR, events and media. n This year’s ceremony will take place at The Brewery and you can book tables online. n The 21 main categories are judged by a panel of members of the games industry while Store Manager, Unsung Hero and Person of the Year are selected by the MCV team. n For more information on the ceremony and the 2017 finalists, simply head to the event’s website: www.mcvawards.com

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LONDON GAMES FESTIVAL 2017 Various events across London Thursday, March 30th - Sunday, April 9th n Games London expect 50,000 people to attend this year's edition, after 38,000 people gathered last year. n The festival will open with EGX Rezzed and, like last year, will include the British Academy Games Awards, on April 6th, and the Now Play This fest, from April 7th to 9th.

APRIL 2017 ......................................................................... INSOMNIA60 Birmingham’s NEC Friday, April 14th - Monday, April 17th n As always, all the latest games will be there, as well as zones dedicated to VR, board games, indie titles, retro gaming, Minecraft, cosplay and a drone arena. n You can buy tickets on the event's website: www.insomniagamingfestival.com

March 3rd 2017

01/03/2017 18:43

NEWS INTERNATIONAL IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Global digital games market grew 9.8% year-on-year in January THE global digital games market soared to $7.47bn (£6bn) in January 2017, showing a healthy growth of 9.8 per cent year-onyear, according to new data from SuperData Research. Digital console and premium PC showed the biggest rise worldwide, with increases of 32 and 34 per cent year-on-year respectively. In the US, the digital console market rose by 43 per cent year-on-year, as the shift to digital shows no signs of slowing down. The rise in spending was largely attributed to holiday season sales spilling over to the New Year, with EA’s FIFA 17 claiming the No.1 spot in SuperData’s best-selling digital console games worldwide ranking chart. Grand Theft Auto V, meanwhile, came in at No.2, with SuperData commenting that sales were up compared to January last year. The report didn’t state by how much sales had grown year-on-year, but given that publisher Take-Two recently stated that GTA V had sold more copies in 2016 than in 2015, it seems that Rockstar’s juggernaut still has plenty of life left in it. SuperData’s CEO Joost van Dreunen commented: “Its continued success has to do with the strength of the overall franchise and Rockstar’s emphasis on high

production values. As the current console generation moves into its second phase, the market attracts consumers that are more followers than early adopters. This particular audience segment generally abhors taking a risk on a new title or franchise, so GTA V is a perfect shoe-in. Rockstar continues to churn out regular content updates allowing retention, and spending, to stay at healthy levels.” Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, however, experienced another decline this January, with sales down 41 per cent compared to Black Ops III’s performance in January 2016. Indeed, Black Ops III was just two places behind Infinite Warfare in January’s best-selling console games, claiming the No.5 spot. It’s not all bad news for Infinite Warfare, though, as its Modern Warfare bundle actually helped offset its shrinking January sales thanks to its higher average price. The biggest surprise in the chart, however, is Ark: Survival Evolved, which charted at No.4. SuperData called it “an unusual standout on the triple-A-publisher-heavy Top Ten console list,” and said its rising popularity on the latest generation of platforms is what helped propel the title past other triple-A titles such as Battlefield 1 and Star Wars Battlefront.

Top Ten best-selling digital console titles in full, for the period starting January 1st and ending January 31st 2017

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FIFA 17 EA Title Publisher Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Activision Ark: Survival Evolved Studio Wildcard Call of Duty: Black Ops III Activision Battlefield 1 EA Star Wars Battlefront EA Destiny Activision NBA 2K17 2K Madden NFL 17 EA

Irrational Games morphs into new studio Ghost Story FORMER Irrational Games boss Ken Levine has formed a new development studio called Ghost Story Games. The Boston-based studio says its mission is “to create immersive, storydriven games for people who love games that ask something of them,” and that it’s been “concepting, prototyping and experimenting on a new game for some time now.”

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It further added: “While we believe our new games will have strong appeal to fans of BioShock, our new focus allows us to craft experiences where the gameplay is as challenging as the stories.” It’s not yet known what shape Ghost Story’s first game will take, but the studio

describes it as “a new immersive sci-fi game with RPG elements.” The studio currently has 25 members of staff in total, but was founded by 12 former Irrational Games employees, including art director Shawn Robertson and executive producer Don Roy. Levine, meanwhile, will be taking on the role of president and creative director.

www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 17:34

APPOINTMENTS NEWS

Koei Tecmo UK appoints new general manager Three new hires at Koei Tecmo n Big changes at Bandai Namco UK in the marketing and PR teams KOEI TECMO EUROPE | YUSUKE OKADA (pictured, left) has been appointed as the new general manager for Koei Tecmo Europe. He joins from the publisher’s Tokyo headquarters, where he’s worked for the last nine years. Okada stated: “I’m very excited to join our European office and work alongside our energetic and talented EMEA team. Having a strong background in finance and mobile development, I hope to use my extensive skillset to further nurture the growth of our company in the service of our loyal fanbase.” JOSHUA TEMBLETT (pictured, top right) has also joined as

digital content creator, while JAKE MACKEY (pictured, below left) has been hired as social media manager. Temblett said: “This is an exciting step for me, as it means that I can bring my extensive range of experience to a company whose titles I adore.” Mackey added: “After working at Capcom Europe as the Monster Hunter EMEA community manager for the past few years, the transition from being mainly dedicated to one IP to covering all of Koei Tecmo Europe’s IP is an enticing prospect.”

Clockwise from top left: Brannelly, Rumjen, Annable and Chuah

BANDAI NAMCO | The UK branch of Bandai Namco has a number of new appointments. PHIL BRANNELLY and EDWIN CHUAH have been promoted to marketing manager and community events manager respectively, while RUBY

RUMJEN and JACK ANNABLE have joined as UK PR manager and data analyst. Brannelly, Chuah and Rumjen now report to marketing and PR director LEE KIRTON, while Annable reports to sales director GARY COOTE. Kirton commented: “Both Phil and Edwin have demonstrated great commitment to the business and I’m happy that Ruby joins the team to push our PR coverage even further. Great titles on the horizon require a great team and I’m pleased to have these positions in place.” Coote added: “We are incredibly happy to have Jack join Bandai Namco Entertainment UK, and he will work within the sales team to develop strategic forecasting and planning for all our titles.”

Distributed by IT World Services TEL: +44 (0)17538 21122 EMAIL: sales@itworldservices.co.uk

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March 3rd 2017

01/03/2017 17:34

GAMES BIG RELEASES

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD

DEVELOPER Nintendo

WHAT THE PUBLISHER SAID...

WHAT THE PRESS SAID...

...AND HOW WELL WILL IT DO?

NINTENDO OF AMERICA boss Reggie Fils-Aimé described the game as follows: “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild breaks boundaries for the franchise and for games as a whole. Where you go, how you get there, the order in which you do it, and the items, weapons and approaches used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies are all up to you.”

EDGE is the only outlet to score the game as we go to press, giving it a very rare 10/10 - only the 19th game to ever get full marks from the publication. Preview comments have been stuffed with praise. Polygon’s Arthur Gies said: “Breath of the Wild respects your intelligence as a player more than any Legend of Zelda game before it.” He also dubbed the game as the “hardest Zelda game of the last 20 years,” adding that during his 20 hours of play, “Breath of the Wild has never stopped feeling like a Zelda game” Trusted Reviews’ Brett Phipps did mention “some notable performance issues” though, but they “don’t significantly interfere with what is set to be an utterly compelling adventure.”

TO no one’s surprise, Breath of the Wild should be a huge hit and, if all goes according to plan, the title is very likely to debut at No.1 in the UK – and beyond. Though Nintendo didn’t comment on Zelda’s pre-orders specifically, Nintendo UK general manager told MCV last week that pre-orders for the Switch were “very strong.” Since Breath of the Wild is the flagship game for Nintendo’s new console, it’s very likely that the game has been massively pre-ordered as well. What remains to be seen is whether or not this success will apply to the Wii U version as well. Breath of the Wild will also have a season pass - a first for a mainline Zelda game. Priced at £17.99, it’ll give access to two new sets of content later this year.

PUBLISHER Nintendo DISTRIBUTOR Open PLATFORM(S) NS, Wii U PRICE £59.99 RELEASE DATE March 3rd

DIGITAL RELEASES ZOMBIE VIKINGS

FAST RMX

SNAKE PASS

DEVELOPER: Zoink Games PUBLISHER: Zoink Games PLATFORM(S): Xbox One PRICE: £8.99 RELEASE DATE: Out now

DEVELOPER: Shin’en Multimedia PUBLISHER: Shin’en Multimedia PLATFORM(S): Switch PRICE: £16.99 RELEASE DATE: March 3rd

DEVELOPER: Sumo Digital PUBLISHER: Sumo Digital PLATFORM(S): PS4, XO, NS, PC PRICE: £16.99 RELEASE DATE: March 28th

OVER a year after its launch on PS4 and PC, Zombie Vikings has now made its way to Xbox One. This self-labelled “pizza-andbeer game” is a co-op brawler that can be enjoyed by up to four players. The goal is to get Odin’s eye back and apparently you encounter cats with cute little bows on the way. Which is another reason to love vikings, really.

THIS sci-fi anti-gravity racing title is coming to the Switch today. It offers 15 racing machines, 30 tracks and various modes such as local splitscreenmultiplayer for up to four players and online multiplayer for up to eight gamers. Developer Shin’en also confirmed that Fast RMX will be making use of the Switch’s HD Rumble feature.

SUMO DIGITAL’S 3D puzzle-platformer will land on all platforms at the end of March and will support PS4 Pro, with enhanced, HDR visuals, a higher resolution and frame rate. Snake Pass initially started as an internal game jam project. In this physicsbased title, gamers play as Noodle the Snake and Doodle the Hummingbird, in 15 levels scattered across four worlds.

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01/03/2017 15:29

BIG RELEASES GAMES

GHOST RECON WILDLANDS

DEVELOPER Ubisoft Paris PUBLISHER Ubisoft DISTRIBUTOR Exertis PLATFORM(S) PS4, XO, PC PRICE £44.99 RELEASE DATE March 7th

WHAT THE PUBLISHER SAID...

WHAT THE PRESS SAID...

...AND HOW WELL WILL IT DO?

SET in a beautiful open-world, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is a military shooter that can be played in co-op or in single-player. Creative director Eric Couzian commented: “As part of the Tom Clancy franchise, authenticity is one of the key pillars which will bring Wildlands to life in our latest instalment in the franchise.” “Players have a range of options in facing not only the deadly cartels, but also the roughness of the multifaceted Bolivian landscape. Ghosts are survivors and hunters, they can blend in to all sorts of environments, leaving no trace except in the heads of their terrified enemies. We want players to feel this power.”

WILDLANDS’ previews are not overly glowing so far. Critics have drawn similarities between Wildlands and Far Cry, with iDigital Times’ Bob Fekete even titling his piece: “The Division meets Far Cry.” Wired’s Matt Kamen felt the same: “With its vast open world, free-form progression, and checklist of sidequests, Wildlands feels more like Far Cry in third person.” Meanwhile, GameSpot’s Oscar Dayus noted that the title struggles to find a balance: “Wildlands strikes me as a game desperate to tell a story; it just doesn’t know what story to tell [...]. It is doing so much to accommodate every player and every way of playing, that it risks losing direction.” The Metro was more positive, though, saying the game had “GTA DNA” and was “co-op heaven“.

THE Ghost Recon franchise has historically sold quite well, with the last game in the main series, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, debuting at No.1 in the UK back in 2012. Ubisoft’s over-arching Tom Clancy branding has always been very popular, with the latest entry, The Division, being the fourth best-selling game of 2016 in the UK. Ghost Recon Wildlands should be no exception and perform well at retail, despite its mixed critical reception. Ubisoft is releasing a wealth of different editions that could also boost sales: there’s the Standard Edition, the Deluxe, the Gold, the Steelbook, plus the top-tier Calavera Collector’s Case Edition, exclusive to Ubisoft’s online store.

INCOMING TITLE

It’s finally here: the Nintendo Switch is hitting shelves today, alongside five launch titles, including Zelda: Breath of the Wild FORMAT

GENRE

PUBLISHER

TELEPHONE

DISTRIBUTOR

Nintendo Switch

N/A

Hardware

Nintendo

01753 483700

Open

1-2-Switch

Party game

Nintendo

01753 483700

Open

Just Dance 2017

Party game

Ubisoft

01279 822 822

Exertis

March 3rd

Skylanders Imaginators

Toys-to-life

Activision Blizzard

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Super Bomberman R

Action

Konami

02089 875 730

Open

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

NS, Wii U

Action-adventure

Nintendo

01753 483700

Open

The Walking Dead - The Telltale Series: A New Frontier

PS4, XO

Adventure

Telltale Games

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

Valhalla Hills - Definitive Edition

PS4

Strategy

Kalypso Media

0121 506 9585

Advantage

PS4, XO, PC

Shooter

Ubisoft

01279 822 822

Exertis

March 7th Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands March 10th Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey

PS4, Vita

RPG

Koei Tecmo

01462 476130

Open

LEGO Worlds

PS4, XO, PC

Sandbox

Warner Bros

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

Mario Sports Superstars

3DS

Sports

Nintendo

01753 483700

Open

Nier: Automata

PS4

Action RPG

Square Enix

01256 385 200

Koch Media

PS4, XO, PC

Stealth

Focus

01256 385 200

Koch Media

March 14th Styx: Shards of Darkness

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March 3rd 2017

01/03/2017 15:29

GAMES WEEKLY CHARTS

WEEKLY CHARTS TOP 40 UK PHYSICAL RETAIL 011

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 01 NEW 03 04 02 05 08 09 06 09 13 10 11 14 12 16 17 15 18 20 19 25 22 28 24 21 38 23 31 26 30 RE 27 RE RE 29 33 RE 32 37

Title For Honor Halo Wars 2 Grand Theft Auto V FIFA 17 Sniper Elite 4 Battlefield 1 Rocket League Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Resident Evil VII: Biohazard Forza Horizon 3 Minecraft: Xbox Edition Watch Dogs 2 Overwatch Hitman: The Complete First Season Nioh WWE 2K17 LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens LEGO Dimensions Pokémon Sun Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Steep NBA 2K17 Fallout 4 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Gears of War 4 Mafia III Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Final Fantasy XV Titanfall 2 Pokémon Moon Call of Duty: Black Ops III LEGO Marvel Avengers Farming Simulator 17 Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Edition Doom Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection New Super Mario Bros. 2 Super Mario Maker Tom Clancy’s The Division

Format PS4, XO, PC XO, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PC XO XO, 360 PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4 PS4, XO, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 3DS PS4, XO PS4, XO PS4, XO, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PC XO PS4, XO, PC PS4 PS4, PS3, Vita PS4, XO PS4, XO, PC 3DS PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, PC PS4, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO 3DS 3DS PS4, XO, PC

Publisher Ubisoft Microsoft Rockstar EA Rebellion/Sold Out EA 505 Games Activision Capcom Microsoft Microsoft Ubisoft Blizzard Square Enix Sony/Koei Tecmo 2K Games Warner Bros Warner Bros Nintendo Bethesda Ubisoft 2K Games Bethesda Ubisoft Microsoft 2K Games Sony Sony Square Enix EA Nintendo Activision Warner Bros Focus Home Interactive Square Enix Bethesda Ubisoft Nintendo Nintendo Ubisoft

THE calm before the storm, would be a good description of the last week in retail. With Nintendo Switch’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn lined up to smash onto shelves this week. Ubisoft’s For Honor managed to keep its place at No.1 last week, despite sales declining 72 per cent. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Halo Wars 2 debuted at No.2, much like the first entry in the series back in 2009, which back then was beaten by Sony’s Killzone 2. Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V and EA’s FIFA 17 kept their respective third and fourth places last week, despite sales decreasing 23 per cent for the former and 21 per cent for the latter. Meanwhile, Rebellion and Sold Out’s Sniper Elite 4, which entered the charts at No.2 the week before, fell down to No.5 with sales declining 64 per cent. BACK IN THE GAME Despite Halo Wars 2 being the only new title last week, there were a few re-entries in the charts, most of them boosted by the release of DLC that likely impacted retail sales. Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III was back at No.32, having been enhanced by new weapons and themes earlier in February, resulting in a 21 per cent increase in sales.

Halo Wars 2 was the only new entry last week. Focus’ Farming Simulator 17 also saw a 39 per cent rise in sales, which was likely boosted by the release of The KUHN Equipment Pack DLC the week before, and re-entered the charts at No.34. The 20 Year Celebration edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider also re-entered the charts at No.35, with sales rising 32 per cent. Sony’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was another good seller last week, climbing from No.38 to No.27 with sales increasing 22 per cent. STEAM POWERED Things were busier on Steam with three new entries in the platform’s Top Ten. Pre-orders for Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Wildlands took No.4, while viking strategy game Northgard, published by Shiro Games, debuted at No.7. Koei Tecmo’s Berserk and the Band of the Hawk entered Steam charts at No.9, having also launched at retail but failing to make it into the Top 40. Meanwhile, For Honor lost its top spot, being replaced by Rockstar’s unbeatable Grand Theft Auto V.

Ubisoft’s For Honor took its second No.1 last week

Source: UKIE/GfK Entertainment, Period: Week ending February 25th March 3rd 2017

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www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 15:51

WEEKLY CHARTS GAMES

Market Data The market settled down last week, following the For Honor and Sniper Elite 4 effect from the week before, with sales declining 34 per cent in revenue and 28 per cent in units

£15m

£10m £15m

£11.7m 361,881 units £30m £5m

£7.8m 265,862 units

£7.7m 260,284 units

£7.1m 249,367 units

Week Ending February 4th

Week Ending February 11th

Week Ending February 18th

Week Ending February 25th

GLOBAL STEAM CHARTS (UNITS)

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 01 04 NEW 10 09 NEW 06 NEW RE

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gaming merchandise uk

MARGIN MAKERS THIS WEEK: THE WALKING DEAD The physical version of Telltale’s The Walking Dead third season is launching today. Marie Dealessandri picks the best merch for all fans of the series

WITH The Walking Dead: A New Frontier landing on PS4 and Xbox One today, it’s time for retailers to update their shelves with more zombie-related items – if your shelves aren’t already inundated with Switch stuff, of course. The boxed version of the third season of Telltale’s Walking Dead series comes with a season pass disc, which includes the first two episodes of the series (Ties that Bind Parts I & II) and will give access to the upcoming episodes as they release. The third episode should launch this March but, at

the time of writing, it hasn’t been dated yet. Telltale’s episodes usually release two months apart, so we should expect episodes four and five to arrive respectively by May/June and July/August. If that’s not enough Walking Dead for you, there’s always the comic books and the TV series of course, plus Starbreeze’s upcoming survival title, Overkill’s The Walking Dead, which is still due to hit shelves later this year even though it’s been some time since we’ve heard anything new about the project.

CLEMENTINE ACTION FIGURE (BLOODY) CLEMENTINE might not be at the centre of Telltale’s Walking Dead story anymore, but she’s still a playable character during the third season’s flashback segments, so there’s still a reason to buy this bloody version of Clementine. There’s also a non-bloody version, in case you’re wondering. SRP: $22.50 (£18) Manufacturer: McFarlane Toys Distributor: Skybound Contact: accounts@ skybound.com

FUNKO POP! TV: THE WALKING DEAD – MICHONNE TELLTALE released a spin-off of its Walking Dead series, dedicated to Michonne, last year. It didn’t get a physical release, though, so retailers might want to find other ways to capitalise on the character’s popularity, such as this Funko Pop vinyl figure. SRP: £9.99 Manufacturer: Funko Distributor: Open Contact: marketing@funko.com

THE WALKING DEAD CLEMENTINE HAT GET the Clementine look with her signature cap, that Robert Kirkman’s Skybound finally decided to create by popular demand. That’s your next Halloween costume sorted. SRP: $19.99 (£16) Manufacturer: Skybound Distributor: Skybound Entertainment Contact: accounts@skybound.com

March 3rd 2017

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www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 15:30

MERCHANDISE GAMES THE WALKING DEAD HAND PRINTS MUG

NO WALKERS MEN’S T-SHIRT

MUGS are always good sellers. This one reads ‘Fight the dead, fear the living’ which is kind of a good rule to live by, really.

YOU can never have too many fun T-shirts, so here’s a nice take on The Walking Dead. SRP: £14.99 Manufacturer: Fashion UK Distributor: Vanilla Underground Contact: 01827 769 115

SRP: £7.99 Manufacturer: GB Eye Distributor: GB Eye Contact: uksales@gbeye.com

THE WALKING DEAD BOOK THIRTEEN THIS hardcover book collects the Walking Dead’s issues #145 to #156 and is the latest compilation of the comics to hit shelves. SRP: £19 Manufacturer: Image Comics Distributor: Diamond Comic Distributors UK Contact: 01928 531 760

RISK: THE WALKING DEAD SURVIVAL EDITION THIS Walking Dead edition of Risk lets players fight to be the last group standing in a world infested with Walkers. Just like classic Risk, it can be played with up to six players. SRP: £39.99 Manufacturer: Usaopoly Distributor: Usaopoly Contact: order@usaopoly.com

THE WALKING DEAD MICHONNE’S SLING BAG IT doesn’t come with a katana and two armless Walkers unfortunately, but this bag is as close as you can get to being Michonne. SRP: £47 Manufacturer: A Crowded Coop Distributor: Heo UK Contact: info@heo.com

www.mcvuk.com

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March 3rd 2017

01/03/2017 15:30

FEATURES PLAYGROUND

How Playground accelerated Forza over the $1bn line Playground Games was Britain’s big success story of 2016, but it’s certainly not resting on its laurels. Seth Barton talks to the team about what it’s achieved and what’s coming next

layground Games’ Forza Horizon 3 was the bestselling Britsoft game of 2016 - putting to one side GTA V’s incredible staying power - and the biggest Xbox One exclusive. To date, it’s already sold 2.5m copies worldwide, helping blast the Forza franchise to lifetime sales of $1bn. With this milestone in mind, MCV heads to Leamington Spa to speak with Gavin Raeburn, CEO, and Ralph Fulton, creative director, to find out how the company went from a start-up with a handful of employees to one of the biggest players in UK development in just three titles. We talk about the company’s core business, its strategic relationship with Microsoft, the upcoming Project Scorpio, its expansion to two teams (see Widening Your Horizons, opposite), keeping the franchise fresh, Brexit and much more. CONSOLE DEALER It’s impossible to talk about Playground Games without first discussing its deal with Microsoft. Playground only makes games for Xbox One and Windows, but beyond that it shares technology and assets with the first-party developer Turn 10, which makes the Forza Motorsport titles. We wonder whether using those assets was part of the original pitch to Microsoft? “Largely yes, actually. Looking back, the original pitch is what you see now in Horizon, so it was the music festival married with racing on real roads. If we could show you the original pitch document you’d go, ‘My word, that’s exactly what I see’,” says Raeburn. He continues: “I think they obviously saw, ‘Well, this is a good March 3rd 2017

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fit for what we’re doing.’ But we didn’t know what we were looking for when we originally made that pitch. It could have been a Project Gotham Racing. It could have been a Mario Kart. It could have been anything. But luckily they saw something they liked in the pitch.” However, despite the huge success of Top Gear over the past decade, it’s odd that many racing games have had a bit of a mainstream wobble. “You have dozens of shooters released a year, [but] there’s a handful of good racing games. It just takes a couple of misses, and then publishers, who are investing tens of millions in these games, start to get nervous. So for a new team to be pitching, ‘Look, we’re gonna grow a new team and we’re gonna be the best racing developer in the world,’ it’s hard to get that message across.”

“We have a good mix of ‘lean in’ and ‘lean out’, as we call it, gameplay. So, ‘lean out’ is where you’re relaxed, you’re enjoying just discovering around the world, but then you’ve got the ‘lean in’ moments in the races. And that, I think, is very different to a lot of other racing games, perhaps, which are more ‘lean in’.” It’s an intriguing point, and one that’s insightful in today’s market, where players can spend huge amounts of time on a single title. Letting them take their foot off the throttle, quite literally in this case, while still playing and having fun, seems like a brilliant move.

ROLLING START Thankfully, it did hit home, and Raeburn is warm in his praise of Microsoft’s ability to shift copies of Horizon: “I don’t think there’s any better people in the business for marketing and selling games. They’ve been fantastic for Horizon, and a big part of the success we’ve had. And I’m not saying you can’t get that from publishers who are working on multiple platforms, but the kind of focus you get, the presence at E3, which you’ve seen that we’ve had, certainly helps.” Of course, even the best marketing can’t sell a product gamers don’t care for, so what does Raeburn attribute Horizon’s success to? He talks about “discovery, freedom and beauty” resonating with a large audience, but also makes a key point about the pacing of the game.

Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 3 has already sold 2.5m copies worldwide

PRODUCTION LINE UK We wonder if being based in the UK made pitching to Microsoft harder? “It wasn’t with Microsoft, but I do take that point. I think [there’s] perhaps an unknowing bias where publishers would www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 17:35

PLAYGROUND FEATURES

WIDENING YOUR HORIZONS PLAYGROUND GAMES will soon be expanding to two teams, housed in separate buildings in Leamington. And it’s currently looking for the new premises, Raeburn notes: “Local government [have been] very supportive in terms of helping us find office space for the second project.” So supportive, in fact, that Playground has even been offered the original town hall for its new premises by the council - though it’s not yet made a final decision. Obviously a new building isn’t any use without staff to fill it. Playground is a little vague on the details but it sounds like the management team have already pitched their new idea to the staff - an open world action game, without racing. “I think we had some expectations about what the existing team would think about the second project. As it’s turned out, some people have been like, ‘Hey, that sounds brilliant. I’d love to be part of that.’ Others have said, ‘Do you know what, I love Horizon. I love what we’re doing on Horizon’,” says Fulton. Playground will be taking on a lot of extra staff over the next few months, and it sounds like a great place to work.

Playground will soon be expanding to two teams in Leamington Spa

rather work with developers in their own territory because they feel they understand that territory. But that wasn’t the case with Microsoft, again to their credit,” Raeburn replies. And did he think Brexit would make it harder to do business from the UK? “We get paid in pounds, so it hasn’t hit us at all so far. That’s not to say it won’t, but from Microsoft’s point of view, we’re now a lot cheaper than we were. So they’re happy.” The weak pound can hardly be called a strategic move by the government, though, so did Raeburn think the politicians were actively doing enough for UK games businesses? “Honestly, I think they’re doing fantastic. The tax credits have made a really big difference and has been one of the things that has helped us, you know, grow the second team as well, the www.mcvuk.com

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“We have this five-year service award. It’s a very personal thing. But the number of those that we’ve been handing out over the last year, you think, ‘Actually, there’s a lot of people’. You look back, and the hit rate that we had, through luck or just good fortune, most of those people are still here, which is great. You do have some misses, but we’ve had a good strike rate. So I’m hoping we’ll have that with the next project as well,” says Raeburn. We suggest that things may not run so smoothly this time, but Fulton replies: “It will present different challenges, running two teams, than we’ve experienced with one. There have been lessons we’ve learned through building Playground over the last seven years which we shouldn’t forget, because there will be many lessons we have to learn fresh building this second team.” Raeburn concludes: “We have a few key members moving over to the new project from this one, and we’d like the new studio to be autonomous in itself but following on all the good patterns we built up. So a start-up with a blueprint of what we are here, and adapt it to the requirements of the second project.”

like Rocket League, for example, and bingo, you can create a triple-A studio. So I think there are a lot of new players in waiting,” Raeburn enthuses.

security it gives you there. So that’s great.” “We’re always invited down [to the] House of Commons to meet various people to talk about the gaming industry. I think it’s seen as an important business for the UK. It’s something that we do well. I think the government do recognise this.” Between the tax credits and the weaker pound, we might actually see a boon in UK development. On the other hand, the recent closure of nearby Guerrilla Cambridge shows the opposite trend. “In many ways, I think there’s never been a better time for the UK development scene, because the triple-A developers we have here are truly world class. And there are so many start-ups who are working in mobile or on Steam games, and these could be the new triple-A studios of the future. You just need one breakout hit,

I think there’s never been a better time for the UK dev scene. Gavin Raeburn, Playground

FORD SCORPIO Project Scorpio is going to dominate Microsoft’s efforts in 2017 - so we’re curious about Playground’s take on the new hardware. It looks as though Scorpio will run current titles, such as the Horizon series, with superior graphics, but Raeburn is looking further afield than that. “[It’s] not just backward compatibility but forward compatibility. It’s actually quite important. When has that ever happened before, where you can pick up your old disc that’s five years old, put it in your new console, and it actually looks however many per cent better? That’s quite incredible.” March 3rd 2017

01/03/2017 17:35

FEATURES PLAYGROUND

Playground has already pushed Horizon 3, adding snow in the Blizzard Mountain DLC

But the platform could also bring a greater workload on developers, as even an exclusive like Horizon would have to work across two consoles. Raeburn isn’t phased, replying, “scalability is now more important,” in order to take full advantage of the various hardware specifications much like with PC releases today. The boundaries between hardware generations may be breaking down, but Raeburn argues that the platforms themselves, the ecosystems, remain as important as ever: “For me, it’s all about the ecosystem that you’re playing your games in, and the exclusives you can get. So obviously Horizon is exclusive for Xbox. If I love Horizon enough, you would hope people would stick within that ecosystem. But I also love Live, so even when I was working on both platforms my favourite was always the Xbox because I loved being in Live. I could see what my friends were doing. It just felt like more of an immersive experience.” In the end, it’s about the games, not the hardware, says Raeburn: “It will continue to evolve. When people like playing large and expensive triple-A games, like you and I do, they’re not going to go away. They will morph over the years, but they will always be the same experiences, just presented in different ways. It March 3rd 2017

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doesn’t matter to me what the flavour or shape of the box is that delivers them, as long as I’m able to create those games.”

at a discount, so here’s monthly content coming there, and it was always so with Forza.” Then there’s the fairly new Forzathon feature: “It’s basically a continuous engagement, and there’s a team that is working on continually engaging our players, listening to their feedback, listening to what they like and dislike, and tailoring more content for them so that they know that they can boot up Forza Horizon, go to the Forzathon screen, and there’ll be a bunch of challenges for them to do.”

ANNUAL SERVICE Speaking of software, we’re also seeing the first hints of a softening in discrete, numbered sequels to game franchises. So we ask creative director Ralph Fulton if he sees the future of the Horizon franchise as biennial numbered sequels or as something more continuous. “I think you’re probably describing two points on a continuum, and there’s space in between there. I’ve been making racing games for eleven, twelve years, and in that time the way even boxed games are delivered and supported has changed beyond recognition.” Fulton continues: “Across the three Horizon games, we have changed the way we think about what we call ‘sustain’. It’s basically moving along that continuum I described and I don’t think it’s like you do boxed releases or you do games as a service. I think there’s any number of points in between. “[With] Forza Horizon 3, we shipped the game, there are monthly car packs, which you can buy individually, you can buy cars individually, you can buy all of them with a season pass

There have been lessons we’ve learned through building Playground which we shouldn’t forget. Ralph Fulton, Playground

OVER THE HORIZON Playground aren’t yet ready to talk about the next Forza Horizon, but with millions of copies sold, the game’s core team staying in the current offices, and with all its experience in crafting openworld racers, it’s hardly a leap to say that the game will receive some kind of sequel on both Xbox One and Scorpio. The management is bullish about the UK games business. It sees growth in development and sales, plus it’s even found a silver lining in Brexit with lowered costs for its international partner. With the new studio opening soon, the size of Leamington’s Playground will be much increased, and with no announcement yet on the exclusivity of the new offshoot, it will doubtless be inundated with suitors for its new franchise. www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 17:35

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28/02/2017 16:59

FEATURES GHOST RECON WILDLANDS

Where the Wildlands are The South American drug trade is a complex subject, but Ubisoft looks to have done its due diligence with a feature-length documentary to support Ghost Recon Wildlands. Katharine Byrne reports

bisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series is built on ‘what if?’ scenarios. For example, what if Russia was taken over by nationalist extremists who wanted to rebuild the Soviet Union? What if those same nationalists then wanted to team up with an Ethiopian colonel to invade Eritrea? Those were the questions posed by the very first Ghost Recon titles, but now, after a five-year hiatus from mainstream consoles, the latest entry in Ubisoft’s tactical shooter franchise is about to take players into the highlands of South America, where a Mexican drug cartel has turned Bolivia into its very own narco state. “It’s that sort of ‘what if’ question and the opportunity to answer it that makes Ghost Recon Wildlands so compelling,” says Ubisoft’s UK senior brand manager Alex Friend. “With Ghost Recon Wildlands, we’re taking a fresh and exciting new direction by bringing the intense tactical action of the original Ghost Recon games to the next level, with total freedom of choice in a massive, dangerous and responsive open world.” With the game landing on shelves next week, however, Ubisoft faces its own kind of ‘what if’ situation when it comes to getting the game in players’ hands. After all, if your game’s launching in the same week as high profile releases such as Horizon Zero Dawn, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the Nintendo Switch, just how do you get gamers to sit up and take notice? “Ghost Recon Wildlands offers a unique gameplay experience from its launch window competition,” Friend argues. “In returning after a five-year break, we believe the appetite for this sort of story is strong, with fans really excited to once more delve into the classic March 3rd 2017

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‘what if’ scenario that Ghost Recon has always been famous for.” Indeed, Ubisoft’s UK marketing director Mark Slaughter says that the public demand for tales surrounding the drug trade has never been higher. “The war on drugs is an everpresent topic in popular culture, with numerous TV shows and theatrical releases, such as Narcos and Sicario, continuing to explore and highlight the issues of drug trafficking,” he says. It’s so strong, in fact, that Ubisoft’s made an entire documentary film to accompany the game’s release, giving the publisher another tool to help it stand out come launch day. Simply entitled Wildlands, the film was initially commissioned to help raise awareness for the game and educate consumers about Wildlands’ backstory. However, it quickly evolved into something much more substantial. “The Wildlands companion documentary was born out of a desire to delve further into the game’s fictitious narrative and its connections to South America and the drug trade,” Slaughter explains. “During our initial research, we came across the New York Times best-selling book, Marching Powder. We found Rusty Young’s story of reformed drug trafficker, Thomas McFadden, and his time in Bolivia’s San Pedro prison to be a fascinating insight into the drug trade. This became the launching point for the final documentary. “Once in pre-production, we realised that there was a much more expansive story to tell about the on-going war on drugs, which led the team to widen the pool of real-life characters and further develop the ultimate aim of the documentary. The end result is an original and fascinating documentary, which can stand

alongside other feature length documentaries, but which also serves as the perfect companion to the world of [the game].”

The companion documentary was born out of a desire to delve further into the game’s narrative. Mark Slaughter, Ubisoft UK

Wildlands offers a unique experience from its launch window competition. Alex Friend, Ubisoft UK

WILD CARD Tie-in films aren’t that unusual in video games these days, and Ubisoft’s even formed its own film studio to further its goal of expanding its popular franchises into new forms of entertainment, including TV, film and theme parks. However, while this year’s Assassin’s Creed film is the first of many feature films to be released by Ubisoft Motion Pictures, this is the first time Ubisoft’s chosen to make an accompanying documentary tie-in, and Slaughter says the decision to make it was primarily in response to the shifting viewing habits of its core audience. “The games industry is continually evolving, and the viewing habits of our audience is changing just as fast,” he says. “[As a result] how we engage as brands also needs to change, and our marketing should reflect that. We are always looking for new ways to engage with our audience, both through the familiar gaming channels and through less traditional methods. “The documentary will hopefully appeal to long-time fans of the series as well as newcomers to Ghost Recon Wildlands, leveraging current trends in popular culture, as well as appealing to a more mainstream audience, who may not be familiar with the game.” Slaughter’s lined up an impressive list of distributors, too, to help get the documentary out to the widest possible audience. “For the launch of the documentary we have secured a number of great distribution partners which will help ensure as many people as possible will be able to access the documentary, www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 17:36

GHOST RECON WILDLANDS FEATURES

Ghost Recon Wildlands launches on March 7th on PS4, XO and PC

alongside our brand alignment messaging,” he says. “The platforms hosting the documentary across EMEA include Amazon Prime, iTunes, and Google Play.” The documentary isn’t the only tool Ubisoft’s using to market the game, either. “Ghost Recon Wildlands has an extensive campaign planned for launch,” says Friend. “The campaign encompasses an extensive TV and VOD campaign in which we are planning our spend across key moments in sport, entertainment and comedy and using impactful gameplay creative. “Our cinema campaign also gives us the opportunity to utilise our long form live-action creative in releases such as John Wick 2 and Logan. We’ve driven cinema impact even further with a nationwide, in-foyer digital outdoor campaign to really reinforce that immersive message. “Our digital campaign has stretched from open beta to launch across key specialist and lifestyle media. Together with a rich and highly targeted social media campaign we are confident that Ghost Recon Wildlands has the support it deserves.” www.mcvuk.com

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As for whether documentaries will continue to form a part of Ubisoft’s marketing campaigns, Slaughter says it will be highly dependant on the title in question. “In terms of any future marketing plans, we very much approach each title as a unique proposition and constantly look to evolve as a team – in terms of our approach and the final product. The future of our approach will be very much determined by our audience.” CARTE BLANCHE Ghost Recon Wildlands has plenty of ammo to help win over gamers, then, and it seems Ubisoft’s laid down some extensive groundwork to help weather the game’s busy launch window. We’ll have to wait and see how its own ‘what if’ scenario plays out next week, but both Friend and Slaughter are optimistic that Wildlands will be able to smuggle its way ahead of the competition come launch day. Friend concludes: “Our ambition is to give players total freedom of choice. Unexpected opportunities and threats can arise from any situation, and that is what makes Ghost Recon Wildlands such a compelling proposition for gamers.” 21

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01/03/2017 17:36

XXX XXX BITS AND PIXELS FEATURES

Pixel art After working on the likes of Metal Gear Solid V for Konami, Sandra Arcan and Su-Yina Farmer left to set up their own licensing agency, Bits and Pixels. Alex Calvin reports

Sandra Arcan (top right) and Su-Yina Farmer (right) partnered with Triumph to create a Metal Gear Solid bike back when they worked at Konami

ast year, Konami alumni Sandra Arcan and Su-Yina Farmer decided to set up their own video game licensing company, Bits and Pixels. At Konami, the duo – Arcan in her role as senior manager of licensing and merchandise and Farmer as European comms manager – worked on merchandise and licensed goods for a variety of titles, most notably Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. This game saw them team up with the likes of Triumph for licensing, and also collaborate with the Alternative Limb Project, something which led to Metal Gear getting coverage on the BBC. The duo then decided to give the licensing game a try, having spotted a gap in the market. “There is definitely a gap for a licensing agency that really only looks after games brands,” Arcan says. “There are so many fantastic licensing agencies out there, but they look after quite a broad portfolio of brands. Some of them have taken on a games brand, but with varying levels of success. We know the industry, we are March 3rd 2017

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very passionate about it, we know licensing inside out. We thought we should create an agency that specialises in games that puts a stake in the ground. There’s another agency that’s part of a bigger one – Tinderbox – but for us to be the second one before it gets overcrowded is what we wanted to do. So that’s what we started last year.” Bits and Pixels hasn’t messed around, either. Its first client was none other than Blizzard, with them handling the Overwatch account. “We pitched ourselves for a very long time,” Arcan laughs. “We just went in there to talk about Overwatch specifically, and we went in with a very detailed and passionate presentation. We had a really good two-hour meeting and within a few weeks they said yes. We must have done something right. We are representing them on Overwatch for EMEA, Australia and New Zealand across all categories except publishing, which is what they’re doing themselves, and toys and games. We’re handling the rest; clothing, homewear,

accessories... all of that is what we are focusing on.” GOING MAINSTREAM The firm has big aims for Overwatch, too, with the agency aiming to get merchandise for the colourful team shooter into the likes of Tesco and Argos, as well as specialist retailers like GAME. “What’s quite unique about Overwatch is that you can cover the whole spectrum of the core gamer that’s competing and getting into eSports, who will spend a lot of money on collectibles and will want everything that’s going. But then we are doing a bit of a two-tier programme for Overwatch because it’s 12-rated,” Arcan explains. “So 12-35 is the age range we want to provide some cool stuff for. For the younger [gamers], we’re talking to licensees that operate within the mass market with the Tescos and Argos of this world that don’t typically look at games brands because they’re too busy with the Marvels. We’re getting quite far down the line with these sorts of companies 00 22

that will be getting Overwatch into Asda and Tesco, as well as GameStop and GAME.” WHAT’S IN-STORE? Speaking of retail, as well as being a licensing agency, Bits and Pixels offers a variety of services, including comms and retail offerings. “With pop-ups, we’re looking to see whether we can do something on that, because our initial focus has been on just working on developing this Overwatch programme on the merchandise side,” Arcan says. “In general, the people we speak to, including retail buyers, are really happy they can deal with a middleman because a lot of the time middlemen have a really bad rap for one reason or another. “But because we’re coming at it with a specialty approach, it instills confidence in them that things aren’t going to get diluted, and things are going to be taken care of in a way that maybe wouldn’t happen if it was a multi-category approach.” www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 15:30

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FEATURES FLATOUT 4

FlatOut fun What’s it like to follow on from one of the worst sequels in history and how do you market it? Marie Dealessandri asked the burning question to IP holder Strategy First, developer Kylotonn and distributor PQube ahead of the launch of Flatout 4, which aims to bring the fun back

otal failure; waste of time and money; plain bad; disgusting to play: these are some of the kinder words used to describe Flatout 3 when it came out back in 2011, and its subtitle – Chaos & Destruction - was an apt reflection of both its review scores and its overall sales. Deciding to create a followup to this car-wreck of a game, then, required a lot of courage, if not a dash of madness. Needless to say, there’s a lot of pressure on IP holder Strategy First, developer Kylotonn, publisher Big Ben and distributor PQube as they take on the challenge of rescuing a oncegreat franchise from the disaster of its last incarnation. “To create Flatout 4, we entirely ignored Flatout 3,” Strategy First’s director Emmanuel Wall immediately clarifies, “and went back to what we loved about the originals and what made them so extraordinarily fun.” Strategy First purchased the Flatout IP after the release of Flatout 3: Chaos & Destruction and took its time to find the right developer to bring the franchise back to life. “We evaluated many studios all over the world,” Wall continues. “There were meetings at Gamescom in Germany, GDC in the United States and Game Connection in France. “We all wanted Flatout to return to its glory days and between us and Kylotonn, there’s been a shared vision of what made the franchise so great. We selected Kylotonn to develop the game and financed it ourselves.

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privilege to create a new entry in the franchise, something to return Flatout to its rightful spot as a highpoint of the destruction derby genre. Flatout 4: Total Insanity is a love letter to Flatout 2 with loads of crazy new gameplay, cars, tracks, stunts and the all-new Assault Mode.”

“Flat out fun” was the number one goal for FlatOut 4

We also hired Tiny Rebel Games who have decades of experience in console game development, having worked on games like Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, BioShock, Borderlands, Gran Turismo and Smugglers Run. Tiny Rebel Games worked closely on the creative vision for the game including track design and humour, and oversaw the production schedule.“

Having developed the last two entries in the WRC franchise, Kylotonn is no stranger to racing games, so the French studio was more than happy to jump on the Flatout train: “We never forgot how we felt the first time we played Flatout and Flatout 2,” Kylotonn producer Alexandre Assier enthuses. “We at Kylotonn are huge racing enthusiasts. For us, it was a

ADRENALINE RUSH Flatout and Flatout 2, both developed by Finnish studio Bugbear, released respectively in 2004 and 2006 to good reviews praising how fun the games were. On the other hand, Flatout 3 was created by Dutch developer Team6 and had an alarming deficit of what made its predecessors so enjoyable. With the series’ reputation in tatters, Kylotonn and Strategy First are now determined to restore the series to its former glory with Flatout 4: Total Insanity. “There’s a real gap in the market right now for the formula that worked so well in the early Flatout games,” Wall says. “Destruction derby done right, not taking itself too seriously, not treading too far into the realm of sims. This is just flat out fun. Literally. That’s all we wanted to accomplish here: a truly fun escape from the real world.” Assier continues: “Flatout is a racing game franchise which sits slightly outside of your typical racing game genre. It combines the adrenaline rush of racing without confining it to the boring safety of a racing track. If your ideal racing fantasy involves smashing a rocket-powered ice

www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 15:33

FLATOUT 4 FEATURES

cream van at high speed through a lumbermill while evading a magnetic bomb from a vintage hearse, then Flatout 4 is definitely for you.” Smashing a rocket-powered ice cream van through a lumbermill evading a magnetic bomb does sound like a lot of fun, but with the fallout from Flatout 3 still lingering in some gamers’ minds, the team behind Flatout 4 needed to get the message out about its return. Enter PQube, whose UK product manager Anne-Lou Grosbois Favreau has a substantial marketing campaign in place. “We want to ensure a high degree of visibility for Flatout 4, so we’re working with the Gamer Network to place site takeovers on several major gaming sites,” she explains. “Of course, social media is always a key element of our marketing, both for advertisement

and for fan engagement. We favour promoting our games through competitions and giveaways post-launch, for instance. We’ll also be running TV spots for Flatout 4 on key extreme sports programming and advertising with partners that cater to similar audiences.”

back for good – and the team is pretty confident about the game they’re about to deliver. “Flatout 4 will definitely have a wide appeal, as you don’t have to be a hardcore racing fan to get the most out of this game,” Grosbois-Favreau says. “It’s an arcade racing game with a focus on fun and furious action, with a blazing sense of speed, high speed crashes and destructible environments. It even features weapon power-ups for maximum carnage. You can also take a break from racing to launch your body through the windshield into giant beer cups, or compete in destruction derbies with weapon power-ups. “With a wide variety of game modes in addition to the standard races and career modes, it’s sure to satisfy both traditional racing fans and people who enjoy action games, as well as those who

A TRULY WORTHY SEQUEL Flatout 4: Total Insanity will release on March 17th on PS4, Xbox One and PC. But with the Nintendo Switch hitting shelves today, we couldn’t help but wonder if there were any plans to port the title to Nintendo’s brandnew console. “While we have no confirmed plans, you never know, we would certainly love to bring Flatout to the Nintendo Switch,” Wall smiles. For now, Strategy First, Kylotonn and PQube are very much focused on showing that the franchise is

enjoyed the original Flatout titles. Anyone looking for a fun online multiplayer experience or a party game, will find a lot to love in Flatout 4.“ Even though Flatout 4 aims to recapture what made the series fun, bringing the franchise back from the dead has always been serious business for both Kylotonn and Strategy First – and the duo promises that quality will be there. “It was imperative to us that we develop a Flatout game which lives up to its past reputation, a truly worthy sequel,” says Assier. Wall conclues: “Every decision was guided by the ones made in the original. We did the best we could do to recreate what was wonderful and, of course, add new features and a next-gen engine. It’s been in development for two years and is certainly the biggest game that Strategy First’s made in recent history.”

Flatout 4: Total Insanity is a love letter to Flatout 2 with loads of crazy new gameplay. Alexandre Assier, Kylotonn

Pictured: Kylotonn’s Assier (top) and PQube’s GrosboisFavreau (above)

www.mcvuk.com

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FEATURES NIER : AUTOMATA

NieR Perfection There can’t be many gamers who remember the 2010 original, which is both a problem and an opportunity for NieR: Automata. With a week to go until launch, Katharine Byrne talks to Square Enix UK’s Chris Arnold about one of 2017’s most unlikely releases

The Japanese art style will appeal to PlatinumGames’ usual fanbase

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www.mcvuk.com

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NIER: AUTOMATA FEATURES

hen Square Enix published the original Nier back in 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, both its reviews and sales figures made for pretty grim reading. Instead of becoming a new, best-selling franchise - based off developer Cavia’s popular Drakengard RPG series - it ended up being the last game the studio ever made. A third Drakengard title then came along in 2014 for the PlayStation 3 developed by Ace Combat and Deadly Premonition outfit Access Games, but that didn’t fare well critically either, garnering a Metacritic score of just 61. With the future of the series now in doubt, the idea of a Nier sequel seemed even more fantastical than a fourth Drakengard game. It was with some surprise, then, that just a year later director Yoko Taro took to the stage at Square Enix’s first ever E3 press conference to announce Nier’s return. If that wasn’t enough, it was also going to be made by action specialists PlatinumGames, the critically-acclaimed studio responsible for titles such as Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It marked the beginning of a very unlikely comeback. Now entitled Nier: Automata, it lands on PlayStation 4 and PC next week, so MCV sat down with Square Enix UK’s senior product manager Chris Arnold to discuss how such a niche title slashed its way back into the limelight. “Nier: Automata is an incredible marriage between PlatinumGames action and Square Enix RPG,” Arnold explains. “It experiments with many styles and genres as this is something the development team and director, Yoko Taro, really wanted to include to give the game as much variety as possible to express the gameplay and story in different ways. This was a part of the previous game which people really liked, and in some ways the experimentation and quirky style really is the essence of Nier and is in there to surprise players as much as possible.” Indeed, during the game’s first 30 minutes alone, Nier: Automata www.mcvuk.com

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switches genres repeatedly, morphing from a bullet-hell shooter into a twin-stick shooter, before changing tack completely and introducing elements more reminiscent of a third-person hack-and-slash title as well as side-scrolling 2D platformer. First and foremost, however, Nier: Automata is an action RPG, and Arnold hopes its blend of styles will make it highly approachable for all gamers: “Nier: Automata is definitely a Japanese game in style, but that will be a strong part of the appeal to many players. Nier was a cult favourite that over time developed a strong following through great word of mouth. Whilst Nier: Automata will appeal to that same audience, the extra considerations that have been made to make the game as accessible as possible will hopefully extend its audience outside of this.” Its main audience, however, is pre-existing fans of both the publisher and developer’s respective portfolios. “The game is designed to be accessible to both fans of the hard-core action games that PlatinumGames are renowned for developing, as well as to those who are more fans of the RPG side of the game that targets fans of previous Square Enix titles,” says Arnold. “There’s an incredibly deep and nuanced combat system from PlatinumGames that will delight fans of the studio’s highly celebrated back catalogue. Late last year, Final Fantasy XV proved that there’s a huge appetite for action RPGs in the UK, and the anticipation for Nier: Automata, [after the demo] in December, is very encouraging.” NEAR AND DEAR Nier: Automata has a very modern sensibility, then, but its origins as a series couldn’t be more obscure. Not only was it conceived as a spin-off to Cavia’s Drakengard franchise, which itself only ever received fairly middling scores in the UK despite its popularity in Japan, but its story followed on specifically from the fifth ending of the very first Drakengard title. Automata continues this trend, too, taking place after the events of Nier’s fourth ending.

Nier: Automata stands on its own, and is a completely new experience. Chris Arnold, Square Enix

Arnold’s confident, however, that Automata’s knotty heritage won’t put players off: “Nier: Automata stands on its own, and is a completely new experience that fans both old and new can enjoy,” he says. “Our collaboration with PlatinumGames has brought us an entirely new audience. We wanted new players to experience the incredibly fluidity of the game first hand, so we released a very well-received demo, which continues to attract a significant number of new players daily.” The demo isn’t the only marketing tool Square Enix is using to get the game in front of players, either: “We’ve already had incredible PR coverage on Nier: Automata, including the cover of Edge magazine, and we’ve recently completed a major press tour which has secured additional covers as we lead up to launch,” Arnold explains. “We’ll also be putting the gameplay front and centre across our extensive online campaign, focusing on PlatinumGames’ expertise in combat, rock solid 60fps and compelling characters. “We have a strong retail proposition, too – The Day One Edition of the game is marketwide and contains additional game content, and we have a T-shirt featuring Emil as well, the iconic character that appeared in the first game.” There’s no post-launch content planned at present but it’s clear Square Enix is putting its best foot forward when it comes to making Nier: Automata a success. Its Week One figures in Japan weren’t available by the time we went to press, but if the publisher’s partnership with PlatinumGames bears fruit, Nier: Automata might finally be the title to put the series on the map, lifting it out of its current cult status and transforming it into a fully-fledged franchise. If it can succeed in wooing both action and RPG fans then March 10th should be a very good day for Square Enix and PlatinumGames. March 3rd 2017

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FEATURES INSIGHT Generation Media is a Media Buying and Planning firm focused on the leisure and entertainment markets. You can contact the company on 0207 307 7900

Mobile and video drive digital Tur sum nonempo ribernam advertising in 2017ipsum? inctiatetur lorem Joe Phelan of Generation Media talks about the latest trends in games advertising – where video and mobile increasingly rule the roost

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Annie, 2017). It is worth observing that these mobile titles are more likely to deploy TV campaigns than console games to drive high frequency of messaging. While we’re seeing clear patterns emerge for mobile gaming looking at achieving downloads, console gaming advertising continues to focus on branding with video content across social, broadcaster and non-broadcaster VOD to build awareness and excitement around a new launch. We’re also seeing a larger allocation of budget into influencer content. While this isn’t a new strategy, the level of investment is growing yearon-year. With a growth of 29 per cent across all sectors, and with platforms such as Twitch, we expect this to be significantly higher across console gaming verticals. Snapchat advertising solutions have also developed, however

2016 saw digital Xxx. Xxx ad spend growth in mobile and video. Joe Phelan, Generation Media

poor view through rates may dissuade advertisers from using this format. There are also limited targeted options, which Snapchat is looking to address. With mobile and video leading digital media growth, advertisers are using more creative solutions to reach consumers as their habits change. Mobile now dominates the market, and games advertisers must think about mobile as one of the key drivers of their communications strategy.

Mobile video shows strong growth within mobile industry 2015

39%

2016

129%

Standard Display

Content & Native inc in-feed 28

298m

Mobile Video

£7m

27% £5m

£130m

£257m

£357m

-1%

£141m

THE POKÉMON GO EXCEPTION With mobile being the driving force behind ad spend growth, video percentage share also grew significantly. As the graph shows (see right), video across all formats grew by 67 per cent year-on-year, with mobile video growing by an astonishing 129 per cent. As video is increasingly watched on mobile devices, advertisers need to invest not only in video, but also develop a

separate strategy for mobile video. While pre-roll still accounts for 34 per cent, its video percentage share is being eaten into by other video formats, driven from outstream and in-read ads (video ads appearing anywhere across a page not before video content) which saw 440 per cent growth year-on-year. Within the video games market, mobile ad spend rise can be clearly attributed to the increase in mobile gaming, with these campaigns requiring a more direct call-toaction in driving downloads. So while we are seeing growth in mobile ad spend this is increasingly focused on mobile games looking for direct acquisitions. Out of the current top seven grossing App Store mobile app games (Pokémon Go, 8 Ball Pool, Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, Mobile Strike, Clash Royale and Candy Crush Soda Saga) only Pokémon Go succeeded without heavy investment in direct response display activity (App

£142m

he digital media market is still in its relative infancy and advertisers must stay ahead of the curve rather than chase the pack when it comes to reaching consumers. Reaching a traditional gaming audience (the male 16-34 demographic) in recent years we’ve seen a digital focus - with TV as a secondary medium. Last year saw a 48 per cent decline in TV delivery across gaming verticals (Kantar Media, 2017) establishing digital as the primary advertising channel. In this article we take a look at the continued growth within this market, and how advertisers can successfully invest to reach consumers in 2017. 2016 saw digital ad spend growth in two main areas: mobile and video. The IAB Adspend UK report for 2016 highlighted that for the first time mobile ad spend overtook PC and tablet spend, equating to £802m compared to £762m for PC. This reflects increasing mobile usage and makes up over a third of all digital ad spend. Within the display market, mobile now accounts for more than half of ad spend. With 86 per cent of smartphone users, aged 18-34, checking their smartphone within half an hour of waking up (YouGov, 2016); it is safe to say mobile now rules the roost.

Remaining display formats www.mcvuk.com

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AdTemplate.indd 1

21/02/2017 12:53

FEATURES INSIGHT

Levelling up: China as a destination for UK games Neil Semple, head of creative content at the Department for International Trade, talks up China as a huge potential market for UK-made games

Mobile MOBAs, such as Vainglory, are big hits in China, Semple says

he UK boasts one of the most vibrant and dynamic gaming industries globally. But in terms of sheer size, there is no market like China. Home to almost 560 million gamers, it has the world’s largest gaming audience. Outperforming even the established US market, it is also the world’s largest, valued at $24.4bn (£19.6bn) in 2016. China presents opportunities for all types of companies, and the sections below outline some of the most promising growth areas – as well as considerations.

a quarter of the 100 bestperforming Android games. Although Android dominates, iOS still takes a disproportionate amount of revenue in China, mainly because more affluent users have iPhones and spend more on games. Freemium remains the favoured business model for mobile games, and understanding the marketing channels and purchasing practices of the consumer is another reason to find a good domestic partner. The main players in the mobile industry are to be found in Beijing, Shenzhen and Chengdu.

MOBILE IS ON THE RISE... That mobile is the industry’s main growth platform is indisputable, and China is no exception. A ‘mobile-first’ country, mobile games already make up 41 per cent of this market. Within mobile, savvy operators will focus on eSports as one of the main windows of growth. eSports titles make up nearly

...BUT PC REIGNS SUPREME Mobile might be the future, but PC is still China’s most popular gaming platform, netting about $13.8bn (£11.1bn) of revenue in 2016. Domestically produced games dominate the charts, so to maximise growth opportunities, UK companies should generally be looking to export their services in animation, scripting

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China is going to be the largest market for games for decades. Neil Semple, Department for International Trade

and production, rather than only focusing on finished products. In December 2016, for instance, Dundee-based Abertay University signed an agreement to increase learning opportunities for Chinese graduates by offering an exclusive route to entering a course in games development. Chinese investors inside and outside of games are very active in purchasing companies and technology as much as content in the West. The largest UK online 30

games company, Jagex, was purchased by a Chinese investment group in 2016. The largest Chinese games company – in fact the largest globally – Tencent bought a controlling stake in the UK’s Miniclip. Getting your content and revenue models right may take time but what is clear is that China is going to be the largest market for games for decades. Make it a priority now before you have to. Relatively simple actions such as enabling AliPay as a payment option for your game will make a huge difference and are a good start. The main players in PC and online can be found in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. LOOKING AHEAD AND AROUND Virtual reality is a nascent segment but one with unparalleled growth potential in China. Having made just under $1bn (£0.80bn) in 2016, it is predicted to bring in a staggering $8.5bn (£6.8bn) by the end of the decade. VR was the main technology focus at the UK-China Creative Innovators Forum in Shanghai in December 2016. Around 15 UK companies gave presentations and met potential Chinese partners and customers, paving the way for many more to come. China is an exciting market with opportunities for companies of all shapes and stripes. However, it is also a sprawling market with a domestic industry that is a force of its own. UK companies, small or large, looking to export can find options and support via great.gov.uk and the Government’s Exporting is GREAT initiative. The Department for International Trade will also be bringing a delegation of Chinese gaming companies to the London Games Festival in April so if you plan to be there, look out for some of the China-focused activities. Similarly, if you are interested in coming out to China, there will also be a group of UK companies attending China Joy Shanghai, the biggest gaming conference of the year. If you are interested in joining, more information will be available in the spring at www.ukie.org.uk/ international-trade-shows. www.mcvuk.com

01/03/2017 15:31

TECHLAND DIRECTORY

WHO?

INSIDER’S GUIDE: Techland CEO Pawel Marchewka discusses Techland’s line-up and the increasing demand for ambitious writing in games Tell us about your company. Techland is an independent game developer, distributor and global publisher. We’re based in Poland and last November we celebrated our 25th anniversary. Our most renowned titles include the original Dead Island games, the Call of Juarez series, Dying Light and Dying Light: The Following. What successes have you seen recently? Last year we released Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition, which was met with universal acclaim. Both critics and gamers loved the game, and we did our best to support the product throughout the whole year. What’s

What are the big trends affecting you right now? We see that gamers are increasingly demanding in respect of storytelling and look for more ambitious writing in games. This is something we take very seriously. So on one hand, we publish the new Torment game, written by one of the best creatives in the industry. On the other hand, we’ve substantially strengthened and expanded our internal story teams.

more, and this is really big, we became a global publisher and as Techland Publishing had a successful showing at Gamescom 2016 with Torment: Tides of Numenera and Pure Farming 2017. What are you currently working on? We launched Torment: Tides of Numenera on February 28th, a successor to one of the best RPGs of all time, so obviously that’s our main publishing focus. Meanwhile, we continue co-development on Pure Farming 2017 as well as in-house development of two big triple-A titles at our studios in Wrocław and Warsaw.

What are you looking forward to in games over the next year? The new God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Red Dead Redemption 2. All of them are shaping up to have quality writing and story.

WHO? Specialism: Development Location: Jana Szczyrki 12, 54-426 Wrocław, Poland Contact: www.techland.pl +48 71 341 76 95

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PUBLISHING, DEVELOPMENT & JOBS

PERIPHERALS, ACCESSORIES & MERCHANDISE DC Games Group Tel: +98 912 101 4090 www.doostan-co.co

Amiqus Tel: 01925 839 700 www.amiqus.com

Audio Motion Tel: 08701 600 504 www.audiomotion.com

Techland Tel: +48 506 688 384 www.techland.pl

Strawdog Studio Tel: 01332 258 395 www.strawdogstudios.com

RETAIL AND DISTRIBUTION

Creative Distribution Tel: 0208 664 3456 www.creativedistribution.co.uK

CREATIVE AGENCIES

Axis Animation Tel: 0203 457 0580 www.axisanimation.com

Gaming Merchandise Tel: 01562 823 261 www.gamingmerchandiseuk.com

Lime Tel: 0844 893 3933 www.limedistribution.co.uk

The Digi Monsters Ltd. Tel: 01926 350 141 www.thedigimonsters.com

Dimensional Imaging Tel: 0141 585 6481 www.di4d.com

MARKETING AND & PR

Sounding Sweet Tel: 01789 297 453 www.soundingsweet.com

Dead Good PR Tel: 07780 600 728 www.deadgoodmedia.com

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

TakeOff UK Tel: 0203 416 5131 www.takeoff.uk.com

TO LIST YOUR COMPANY HERE AND ONLINE EVERY WEEK PLEASE CONTACT CGIBBON@NBMEDIA.COM OR CALL 020 7354 6000 Games Guide DPS 2017 WEEK 6.indd 1

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THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AGENCIES AND SERVICE COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE / CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION KEY CONTACTS: Email

info@creativedistribution.co.uk

Phone

ADDRESS: Unit 2, 119 Beddington Lane, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 4TD

Website

+44 (0) 208 664 3456

www.creativedistribution.co.uk/

ESTABLISHED in 1999, Creative Distribution Ltd is one of the UK’s largest independent distributors of video games, toys and entertainment products. Established over 15 years ago, Creative has the buying power and knowledge to offer some of the best deals around. Only ever offering the stock in the warehouse, gives the ability to process orders quickly and efficiently. Creative holds a huge range of product in its South London warehouse, and has over 3,000 different products in stock at any one time. Open an account today, and our team of over twenty sales professionals will ensure you receive a high level of service, with regular updates on stock availability, new arrivals, special promotions and new releases. Speak to one of our account managers today. The languages spoken by our sales team include: Armenian, Cantonese, Danish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian and Spanish.

Tel: +44 (0) 208 664 3456 g independen bution Ltd is one of the UK’s leadin Established in 1999 Creative Distri Toys. Distributor ’s of Enter tainment and

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INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR GUIDE IN ASSOCIATION WITH

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTORS If you are looking for new partners overseas, then look no further

BELGIUM

CLD DISTRIBUTION Rue du Grand Champs 14 , B 5380 Fernelmont Belgium Tel: +32 81 83 02 02 Fax: +32 81 83 02 09 Email: infos@cld.be Web: www.cld.be home of www.dragonwar.eu & www.mawashi.eu

BRAZIL Sony Music Entertainment Brasil # 1 Physical Distributor in Brazil Rua Lauro Muller n°. 116 – 40°. Andar Salas 4001 a 4003 Botafogo Rio de Janeiro RJ CEP. 22.290-160 Tel. +55 21 2128-0771 Fax: +55 21 2128-0747 Email : rodrigo.altieri@sonymusic.com Website: www.sonymusic.com.br | www.day1e.com.br

IRAN

WORLDWIDE CLICK ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED Email: info@click-entertainment.com Web: www.click-entertainment.com Phone: +44 (0)203 137 3781

DC GAMES GROUP No.9, Hemmatian St., Takestan St., Sattarkhan Tehran, Iran Tel: +98-912-1014090 +98-21-44228670 Email: Bahizad@Doostan-Co.com Web: www.Doostan-Co.com

GAME OUTLET EUROPE AB PO Box 5083, S-650 05 Karlstad, Sweden Sales dept: ali.manzuri@gameoutlet.se Sales dept: andreas.lindberg@gameoutlet.se Purchase dept: hamed.manzuri@gameoutlet.se Purchase dept: david.nilsson@gameoutlet.se Web: www.gameoutlet.se

UAE ALESAYI UNITED COMPANY Video Games Distributor in the Middle East, P.O BOX 16999 Jebel Ali Free Zone Dubai U.A.E. Tel: 00971 4 883 5960 Fax: 00971 4 883 5175 Email: marketing@alesayi.ae U.A.E. Website: www.alesayi.ae Group Website: www.alesayi.com

MCV WORLDWIDE Editorial: + 61 (0)424 967 263 Leigh.Harris@mcvpacific.com

Advertising: + 61 (0)417 084821 Joel.Vandaal@mcvpacific.com

WWW.MCVPACIFIC.COM

MORE DISTRIBUTORS AUSTRALIA AFA Interactive, Bluemouth Interactive, Five Star Games, Mindscape, Namco Bandai Partners, Turn Left Distribution BENELUX CLD Distribution, Koch Media, Gameworld Distribution B.V. CANADA E One, Importel, Just4Games, Solutions 2 Go, Vidéoglobe CYPRUS Access, Gibareio, Zilos, Nortec Multimedia CZECH REPUBLIC Cenega, Conquest, Comgad, Playman, ABC Data DENMARK Bergsala, Elpa, Impulse, Koch Media, Nordisk Film Interactive, Nordic Game Supply, PAN Vision FRANCE Big Ben, Innelec, Koch Media, SDO, Sodifa GREECE Zegatron, CD Media, Namco Bandai Partners, IGE, Nortec, Enarxis, Beacon HUNGARY CNG.hu/Cenega Hungary, CTC Trading, Magnew, PlayON, Stadlbauer ICELAND Sena, Myndform, Samfilm, Ormsson INDONESIA Maxsoft, Uptron, Technosolution IRELAND MSE Group, Baumex JAPAN Ajioka, Happinet, Jesnet NORWAY Bergsala, Game Outlet, Koch Media, Nordic Game Supply, Nordisk Film, Pan Vision POLAND CD Projekt, Cenega, Galapagos, LEM PORTUGAL Ecoplay, Infocapital, Koch Media, Namco Bandai ROMANIA Best Distribution SERBIA ComTrade, Computerland/Iris Mega, Extreme CC SPAIN Digital Bros, Koch Media, Namco Bandai Partners, Nobilis SWEDEN Bergsala, Koch Media, Namco Bandai, Nordic Game Supply, PAN Vision, Wendros, Ztorm (digital) UAE Red Entertainment Distribution, Pluto Games (LS2 Pluto), Viva Entertainment, Gameplay Entertainment, Geekay Distribution

TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION PLEASE CONTACT SJAQUES@NBMEDIA.COM March 3rd 2017

34 MCV910 International Distributor Guide_V1.indd 1

www.mcvuk.com

28/02/2017 11:54