MONDAY, JULY 24TH DIGITAL PREVIEW
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IFC
gamescom’s bustling business halls are the place to make those key European deals this summer. So make sure you get noticed by partnering with MCV@gamescom at this year’s show.
MCV@gamescom is the exclusive official show preview and show daily for gamescom 2017. The official preview is distributed to the entire preregistration list prior to the show and then the show daily reaches all 30,000 attendees during the show in the business halls. With daily print editions covering all three trade days of the show, you can increase your exposure and attract more visitors to your stand. Created by the market-leading editorial teams behind MCV, Develop and Esports Pro – the daily magazine will highlight the best opportunities at the show, provide business news, analysis and insight, plus company profiles and industry comment. • gamescom Daily distributed to 30,000 trade attendees • Promoted to an audience of over 500,000 online • Editorial support for your campaign
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Contents
The latest pre-gamescom news Microsoft talks Xbox One X Exhibitor listings and floorplans Child’s Play: what’s next for kids games MCV@gamescom editorial team
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04 10 20 34 42
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Welcome to the heart of gaming gamescom 2017 looks set to be the biggest show yet IN just a few weeks time, hundreds of exhibitors will be arriving at Cologne’s Koelnmesse for this year’s gamescom, making the world’s largest gaming event the biggest and best yet. With over 900 expected exhibitors, gamescom 2017 is estimated to grow by approximately 20 per cent year-on-year, making it another record-breaking year for the event’s organisers, BIU, the German Games Industry Association. Over 70 per cent of exhibitors will be international, too, along with four new territories (Africa, Brazil, Romania and the Czech Republic) all making their debut. In another first for this year’s gamescom, the show will make use of Hall 1, which has been exclusively booked by EA as its business centre. This takes the show’s total gross area to an impressive 201,000 square metres. “This year, too, gamescom is continuing with its success
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story,” Katharina C. Hamma, COO of Koelnmesse said. “In 2017, the emerging increase
gamescom’s success story is made clear by continuing growth. in number of exhibitors and the renewed growth in area show that we have once again taken the right path with the adjustments to the concept. “It is the combination of an exhibition offering across platforms and proven formats
in the supporting programme, as well as the integration of new and thematically suited events that make gamescom so successful and its concept unique in the world.” Felix Falk, BIU’s managing director added: “gamescom’s success story is made clear by continuing growth, but also by the first opening by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the many announced visits by federal and state politicians. “gamescom is much more than a video games trade fair. At gamescom, everyone can experience how digitalisation and networking are changing our society and economy.”
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Just play together This year’s gamescom puts the spotlight on co-operative play THE theme of this year’s gamescom is ‘Just play together’, emphasising one of the most vital parts of today’s worldwide gaming industry. With more ways to play games with family and friends than ever before, this growing trend has been underpinned by a string of upcoming releases, including titles such as EA’s Star Wars Battlefront 2, Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5 and Activision’s online shooter Destiny 2, as well as Sony’s PlayLink, which brings people together in front of their TV to play games via their smartphone or tablet on their PS4, and Microsoft’s recently-revamped Mixer video platform, which lets livestream audiences interact with their favourite channels in real-time. And who could forget the Nintendo Switch, which puts co-operative play at the heart of its on-the-go design. “Games are the most social medium of our time; they promote cooperative play like
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no other medium and allow people to interact with one another in the process – and that’s the case this year more than ever before,” says Felix Falk, MD at German Games Industry Association BIU. “gamescom offers an unparalleled look at the profound changes that digitisation and networking are causing in society. The fact that Chancellor Merkel will inaugurate this year’s gamescom also highlights that games are increasingly being recognised as a cultural and economic asset.” Esports is another big topic at gamescom this year,
and the German scene in particular has seen huge growth over recent months. Millions of Germans now watch esports either on location in arenas or over livestreams. Likewise, companies such as Audi and Vodafone are now getting involved in order to attract younger, digitally savvy audiences that are becoming increasingly difficult to reach via traditional means of advertising. With the announcement that esports will be recognised as an official discipline at the 2022 Asia Games, esports is only set to get even bigger as it gains more recognition on the world stage.
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OBC Austria Ljubljana
Product Groups Headquarters Email Phone
CE & Video Gaming Ljubljana, Slovenia info@colby.si +386 (0)1 530 5630
SLOVENIA
Hungary Zagreb
CROATIA BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
Romania Belgrade
SERBIA
Sarajevo
Product Groups Headquarters Email Phone
CE, IT, Video Gaming & eSports Belgrade, Serbia info@irismega.rs +381 (0)11 715 8000
Pristina
KOSOVO
Podgorica
Bulgaria
MONTENEGRO
Skopje
MACEDONIA Tirana
ALBANIA
Greece
A SNAPSHOT OF OUR VENDOR PORTFOLIO Product Groups Headquarters Email Phone
CE, IT & Mobile Belgrade, Serbia info@pccentar.com +381 (0)11 316 8793
Product Groups Headquarters Headqua Email Phone
CE, Video Gaming & eSports Maribor, Slovenia info@videotop.si +386 (0)2 330 3300
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The UK Game of the Show Award is returning to gamescom This prestigious award returns to the show for the fifth time UKIE’S prestigious gamescom trophy will be awarded to the best UK developed (but as yet unreleased) game being shown at the expo. This will be the fifth year of the award being run by Ukie at gamescom, where its aim is to shine a spotlight on the best of the UK’s development talent in front of a global audience. The UK Game of the Show Award has a reputation for excellence, with previous winners including PaperSeven’s Blackwood Crossing, and The Escapists, developed by
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Mouldy Toof. The award was also taken to San Francisco for the first time this year, where the inaugural GDC edition was won by Spilt Milk’s Lazarus. No application is necessary for companies to be up for the award. Anonymous judges will be making their way around the halls throughout the first two days of the expo to assess the top British dev talent on display, before the winner is announced at the Ukie stand during the Wednesday evening’s networking drinks reception.
All exhibitors on the Ukie stand and their guests are invited to attend this event, which is run in partnership with games recruitment firm OPM Jobs, and also a second networking drinks reception on Thursday, in partnership with Runescape developer Jagex. The UK Game of the Show Award is part of a whole host of activity across three days on the UK industry stand, run by Ukie. The UK pavilion is bigger than ever for 2017, with 80 top UK games businesses exhibiting.
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gamescom’s support programme revealed Featuring cosplay, BMX biking, pro-skating and child-friendly play areas THE supporting programme of events for this year’s gamescom has been announced. Taking place primarily in the entertainment area of Cologne’s Koelnmesse (halls 5-10), this year’s show will once again have a diverse line-up of activities to get involved with alongside the list of over 900 exhibitors. On the main stage in hall 10.1, powered by the BMVI (the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure), there will be four days of community-themed programming, including the conferring of the gamescom Award 2017 on Thursday August 24th, and the cosplay competition on Saturday August 26th. In hall 10.2, the gamescom cosplay village will be returning as the central meeting point for the creative community, and the Zeichengarten (drawing garden) will have plenty of artists and illustrators on hand showcasing their talent.
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Three photo corners will also be available in addition to the main cosplay stage. Hall 10.1 will also be home to the huge Indie Arena Booth. Elsewhere, the gamescom Gamespark powered by Honor will offer plenty of games presentations focused on mobile gaming, and the Internationale Deutsche Casemod Meisterschaft will showcase the world’s best PC case modders. In the outdoor area of P8, visitors can look forward to the gamescom Beach, presented by Big FM, as well
as the Red Bull Action Area, which features international motorbike stunt riding with BMX flatland and trial bike daredevils demonstrating their skills several times a day. The pro-skating COS Cup is also making a stop at gamescom 2017, where athletes from across Germany can qualify for the official German championships at the end of the competition. Those after family-friendly activities should look to hall 10.2, where they’ll find a host of exclusive offerings and childfriendly play stations.
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Return of the ‘X’ Men With a hugely-powerful new console and an exclusive game lineup that feels distinct from the competition, Xbox has got its swagger back. Seth Barton talks to Dave McCarthy about the next twelve months
W
hen is a hardware generation not a hardware generation? When people keep on launching new hardware in the middle of it. The new Xbox has been discussed by everyone, Microsoft included, for some time now, but the revealing of the final design, name and price at E3 drove home that this is a console generation like no other. We sat down with Dave McCarthy, head of Xbox operations, to talk about the upcoming console and the company’s exclusive line-up for the rest of 2017 – and with an Xbox One X positioned casually on the table between us, it’s an obvious place to start. X MARKS THE SPOT We talk about the name first. It’s a good name, but it’s a tricky balancing act between making sure it feels part of the
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current ‘Xbox One’ generation, while still differentiating it significantly from the current Xbox One S. We even suggest the Scorpio code name was so popular it might just outlast its planned usefulness. “There was a real appeal to going back to our roots as an ‘X’ box team. That original Xbox was founded on a principle of real technical innovation, opening up some new avenues for games developers, and gamers overall. So it didn’t take us long to land on the X name,” McCarthy explains. “It spoke to us, it meant something in our history. So, as a team, we gravitated to the name pretty quickly. But I like Scorpio as a project code name as well.” The new console’s black exterior is certainly reminiscent of the original Xbox – black says powerful and serious to us, far more so than the friendlier finishes of the Xbox 360 or the
Xbox One S. We ask whether the colour scheme was planned all the way back to when the One S launched in white. “Were we that purposeful?” McCarthy muses. “At the launch of the original Xbox One, we did a ‘we made this’ white version of the console for our employees. So we had white in mind, it was actually pretty awesome, people like the design of it in their rooms. And obviously putting together the Xbox One S was a pretty special design moment for us. “Did I know that we were going to land back on black specifically? That might be a bit of a stretch, but it was definitely a journey we went on from launch with that special edition. We also did a special edition of the original Xbox One in white that sold very well.” Purposeful or not, it’s a key difference between two products that are separated by
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only a single letter – and around £200 in price, of course. The Xbox One X being smaller than the S also came as a pleasant surprise, though it doesn’t help tell a visual story, with bigger often being equated with more powerful – something that’s obvious at a glance with the triple-tiered PS4 Pro. “We put the challenge of ‘could you do it even smaller?’ because we got such good feedback on Xbox One S,” McCarthy explains, adding that it did require “some special engineering methods” to achieve, referencing the high-end vapour-cooling
system that lets the console hardware run faster than most thought possible. “We have done something surprising this time, to be able to introduce 40 per cent more processing power, and to really be at the forefront of defining what true 4K is. It’s not just eight million pixels – it’s high dynamic range, it’s wide colour gamut, it’s spatial audio. That felt like it was really getting back to our roots overall.” That’s a tickbox list of pretty much everything you could want from a high-end games console. Of course, there will be those who don’t want all that
“Xbox One X really is at the forefront of defining what true 4K is.”
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stuff, particularly at that price, but choice is certainly a good thing, and McCarthy agrees. “I think a family of devices is a familiar concept, so I think you start with this premise. You can’t go wrong wherever you want to enter the Xbox family. Your accessories are going to work across the line-up, your games are going to work across the line-up.” We posit that there’s no bad choice, then, just two good choices? “Honestly, I don’t think there is a bad choice. Xbox One S is a great device right now with HDR gaming, 4K video streaming and 4K Blu-ray support. Alongside Xbox One X, it’s the only console that supports 4K Blu-ray.” McCarthy may be bullish about the One S, but the PS4 is widely accepted to be the
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more powerful console when it comes to the base version of each machine. With the Pro and the X, though, the situation is clearly reversed. “If you really place a premium on true 4K, the power and performance at that price, I can’t think of anything else in the market that comes close to it overall,” says McCarthy, agreeing with our sentiment despite not being drawn into a direct comparison. HANDS ON(E) Of course, he’s one of the few people to have actually spent time with the console: “I’ve had the prototype kit now for a couple of months, and this may sound silly, but I brought it home, unpacked it, pulled the cables out of the S, plugged them into the X, synced
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my controller and I was literally playing in under five minutes.” No problems there, then. “And it’s no joke, those games load faster, the frame rate is smoother, and a lot of those titles use dynamic resolution, and so they look better, too. I had my son with me, playing side-by-side and he said, ‘how is Battlefield 1 better, how is Halo 5 better?’ This is the magic of the box.” If that box is powerful enough to lengthen the Xbox One generation, could it go on for as long as the Xbox 360 did then? McCarthy remains tight-lipped on such long-term speculation: “I don’t know if I’d speculate on the length of the cycle. We’re going to continue to listen to our developers and where they’re going with the experiences. That’s what led us to this box.”
PC GONE MAD? Traditionally, the most determined gamers have often shifted toward the PC space, either periodically or permanently, in order to play on the best hardware. With Microsoft being the only gaming brand to have a significant footprint on both sides of the divide, we wonder just how much PC gaming informed the Xbox One X? “If you felt as a console gamer that you had to compromise and you looked longingly at that PC space and said, ‘I want those top-end things’ – well, now you can get them,” McCarthy states emphatically. “The way we look at it, choice feels like the right principle right now. There are consumers that really want to balance price
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“Games load faster and look better, frame rate is smoother. This is the magic of the box.” against capabilities. But there will always be customers in your segment of gamers that want the best of the best, and I think that up until now the PC space was really the only place they could go to get that. They now have the ability to get that in the console space.” Many gamers have cited higher frame rates, namely 60fps, as a priority over more pixels, but McCarthy believes that’s a decision the studios need to make. “We’re all about the developer choice there overall. Different developers are going to choose to do different things for different game formats. But the good news is that the Xbox One SDK that everyone writes to will be able to handle that variation. You don’t need a unique version for Xbox One X. It’s just going to know if I’m running a One X, will take advantage of it and going to feel like a premium PC experience overall.” We would argue that a ‘premium PC experience’ would include 60fps gameplay, but while McCarthy won’t commit to it across the board, the One
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X is certainly a step in the right direction: “It’s been very, very straightforward for developers to get stuff up-and-running in a day or two on Xbox One X. And what’s exciting about that, for us, is that it leaves them the headroom to do what they want, whether that’s to take advantage of a 2,160 frame buffer, or push their frame rate to the absolute max.” IS HE THE ONE? Strong competition in console hardware has always benefitted the games industry. No one wants to see a single dominant platform, with all the potential abuses of power that such a monopoly might bring, and while the PlayStation 4 has undoubtedly taken the lead in the current generation, there’s no denying that the Xbox One has still sold well overall – putting in numbers that exceed the previous generation of hardware to avoid any such complacency on Sony’s part. With the Xbox One X, Microsoft looks to be utilising its considerable PC gaming know-how in order to produce
what looks to be a practicallyperfect console upgrade. After the missteps of the early Xbox One days, the confidence it has in its new hardware is palpable by comparison. The price is high and the big question remains about whether Brexit-struck consumers will part with £450 for the new device – but there’s always been a hardcore of consumers who are happy to pay up for the best device, and the Xbox One X is certainly that. THE LINE-UP A console without games is a like a gun without bullets, however, so we also question McCarthy on the line-up Microsoft showcased at E3, which will be key to building up the desirability of the One X. The graphical posterboy to date has been Forza Motorsport 7 – no great surprise there, as racing games have long been used as tech demos for new hardware. We got to see the game running in 4K and HDR and the results are stunning. “I think that for a racing simulation, like Forza Motorsport 7, it takes it to a whole new level. You [can almost] feel the heat coming off the cars and the weather effects are frighteningly real.” Beyond that, though, Microsoft’s line-up for
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“I think that for a racing simulation like Forza Motorsport 7, Xbox One X takes it to a whole new level.” the next year is one of strengthin-depth. “You saw [that] in the diversity of game types we showed,” McCarthy says. “We showed community games, indie games, triple-A games, games from around the globe. There are all these different types of games for different types of gamers now. It has never been more diverse. “I think that choice is becoming more and more critical to a gamer’s everyday life, because they do flex across these different experiences, and we have to be able to keep up with that,” McCarthy explains, before
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going on to run down the company’s E3 showing. We ask whether this year’s showcase was primarily designed to appeal as broad an audience as possible. McCarthy replies: “It was a really conscious experience for us to say we want something that speaks to every type of gamer on our stage. And I can’t say we’ve consciously done that every other year before. It was a principle for the briefing overall that we wanted every type of game for every type of gamer. “You noticed that there were fewer speakers on stage this
year. We had too many games overall, it would have been a disaster [to have them all up there] and I like the format of Phil being able to tell the story throughout the show,” McCarthy says. “Of those 42 titles we showed, 22 of them are console exclusive, 18 of those are PC titles as well. Your ability with first party titles from Microsoft – and a lot of the ID@Xbox ones, too – to do things like Xbox Play Anywhere where your license roams, right across those devices, is going to apply to whole first-party line-up. Forza MotorSport 7, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves – they’re all going to do that.” That line-up defines a clear difference between Sony and Microsoft this year, with
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Microsoft concentrating on games-as-a-service-type titles with co-operative and community elements, while Sony focuses on single player, narrative-driven titles. The Xbox offering is closely aligned to its PC gaming titles, too, which hasn’t always been the case. We reckon the announcement of the hugelysuccessful PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as a console exclusive was the cherry on that particular cake. “I’m so glad you brought that up,” McCarthy enthuses. “I don’t think console players realise how special that game really is, and if you think about Xbox Live and the ability to bring people together, and then exploit the unique capabilities of the world’s most powerful console then that’s a great combo for us.”
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We agree, saying the game should be as big as Grand Theft Auto in terms of online players, given its Twitch success to date: “For some console gamers, [our E3 showcase] was their first exposure [to the game], and they’re going to be surprised – it’s going to be huge.” BLACK IS BACK So with powerful new hardware on its way later in the year and a game line-up that is radically differentiated from its main competitor – both in terms of release dates and its underlying business model – Xbox looks to have founds its stride again. There’s something distinct about the brand, too, which allows it to differentiate itself from the competition. That’s great news for the industry. Bringing more of these
PC-like experiences to more convenient console hardware will undoubtedly expand the console space, and, more importantly, it will do it without cannibalising what Sony, or Nintendo, for that matter, are trying to achieve elsewhere. It’s great to see the company not simply trying to claw back what it lost in the last hardware refresh, but rather strike out in a direction that’s more suited to the company as a whole. As for the next hardware generation, who knows what that will bring – or whether it will ever truly come to an end in the way we’ve become so used to in the past. Whenever and however it happens, Xbox looks to be viewing the future with more optimism than we’ve seen from the company in many years.
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Who’s where
A guide on where to find everybody at gamescom this year Vorläufiger Hallenplan • Preliminary hall plan
entertainment area · entertainment area fanshop arena family & friends business area · business area Freigelände/Eventgelände · outdoor area/event area
COMPANY
/
HALL / LEVEL / BOOTHE
Electronic Arts GmbH
1
1
A001
Abysse Corp
2
1
D021a
Acronis Germany GmbH
2
1
ad2games GmbH
2
AdColony
2
ADIA Entertainment Ltd.
COMPANY
/
HALL / LEVEL / BOOTHE
Bundesagentur für Arbeit
2
1
Cardpay PSP Ltd
2
1
D012
A012
Carl Zeiss AG - Multimedia Devices
2
1
C020
1
E013
CC Media House - Akalink Elektronik Tic. ve Bilisim Hiz. Ltd. Sti.
2
1
D011
1
A011
CCP hf
2
1
A012
2
1
A019
CDP Sp. z o. o.
2
1
E031
Adyen GmbH
2
1
D020
Click Entertainment Ltd
2
1
B018
ak tronic Software & Services GmbH
2
1
C014
Creative Distribution Ltd. Reef Entertainment Ltd.
2
1
E014
AMS Neue Medien GmbH
2
1
A012
E-concept
2
1
A013
Aptoide SA
2
1
C033
E-home Entertainment Development Company Ltd.
2
1
A009
astragon Entertainment GmbH
2
1
A022
ESET Deutschland GmbH
2
1
A012
Avanquest Deutschland GmbH
2
1
C017
Events for Games
2
1
C028
Beta Service GmbH
2
1
D023
EZ Games/ EZ Cards Distribution, In
2
1
B015
Bigben Interactive S.A.
2
1
A012
flaregames GmbH
2
1
A021
Bigmoon Entertainment, LTD.
2
1
E030
Funcom Oslo AS
2
1
C024
Bigpoint GmbH
2
1
C016
Game Insight, UAB
2
1
D021a
Blade S.A.S.
2
1
A016
Gameforge AG
2
1
A012
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21 COMPANY
/
HALL / LEVEL / BOOTHE
COMPANY
/
HALL / LEVEL / BOOTHE
Gamera Interactive S.r.l.
2
1
B017
CyberLink Europe B.V.
2
2
D047
Gaming Series S.L.
2
1
D022
DCMN GmbH
2
2
C042a
Genesis
2
1
E022
Digamore Entertainment GmbH
2
2
C031
Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co. KG
2
1
C026
DXRacer Distribution Europe
2
2
C050
GL Entertainment Distributions Limi
2
1
C018
ECommPay
2
2
B043
Guangzhou Walkera Technology Incorporated Company
2
1
D025a
Elm Europe B.V.
2
2
D033
Heaven Media
2
1
E016
Enarxis Dynamic Media Ltd.
2
2
D015
HIPAY
2
1
C022a
Epic Games International
2
2
A034
HORI (U.K.) Ltd
2
1
B022
Forever Entertainment S.A.
2
2
B029a
ImagiNation S.C. Lukasz Kubiak, Bartosz Moskala
2
1
E028
Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH
2
2
C050
I-Mobile Co., Ltd
2
1
E033
Frontier Development PLC
2
2
C031
ironSource
2
1
E020
GAIJIN NETWORK Ltd.
2
2
B035
Kalypso Media Group GmbH
2
1
D013
G-CORE Labs SA
2
2
C050
Keywords International
2
1
C022a
GIANTS Software Entertainment GmbH
2
2
C031
Link Distribution (UK) Ltd
2
1
C011
Girisim Gelisim ve Teknolojileri De
2
2
C024
Logitech GmbH
2
1
A012
Global Collect Services B.V. (dba Ingenico ePayments)
2
2
D024
Marketpoint GmbH
2
1
C013
Goodbye Kansas Entertainment Group
2
2
D031
MIH PAYU BV
2
1
C032
International Business Media Pte.Ltd
2
2
C050
Mobvista International Technology Limited
2
1
C024a
Kingston Technology Europe Co LLP
2
2
C050
MoGi Group Ltd
2
1
E025
Kinguin Limited
2
2
C050
My.com B.V.
2
1
E019
Koelnmesse, Inc
2
2
B035
NBG EDV Handels- und Verlags GmbH
2
1
A012
Koelnmesse, Inc
2
2
A033
Nero AG
2
1
A012
Koelnmesse, Inc
2
2
A035
Nordic Game Supply GmbH
2
1
A12
Kount Inc.
2
2
C040
Oasis Games Limited
2
1
A018
Leogaming
2
2
D017
Omnyex E Commerce DMCC
2
1
B016a
Level Up! Interactive Ltda
2
2
C050
OneSky Inc. Limited
2
1
D032
LifeXpress/ Medion AG
2
2
C028a
ORB Gaming
2
1
D034
Madcow Entertainment SARL
2
2
D035
Plantronics B.V.
2
1
A012
medialounge GmbH
2
2
C031
QIWI Bank JSC
2
1
E026
medialounge GmbH
2
2
C019
RAM ROM GAMES, S.L.
2
1
D030d
NVIDIA GmbH
2
2
C031
Roccat GmbH
2
1
D014
Overwolf, Ltd
2
2
C050
Rock Pocket Games
2
1
D030d
Payguru Trend Ödeme Kurulusu A.S.
2
2
D016
Rubber Road Ltd, Numskull
2
1
A010
Paymentwall, Inc.
2
2
A040
Splash Damage
2
1
B022
Paysafe EOOD
2
2
B031
Trust International BV
2
1
A012
Polyarc, Inc.
2
2
C048
Turtle Beach UK
2
1
A012
SevenOne Media
2
2
C031
Ultrahaptics LTD.
2
1
D025b
PT Unimaksima Lentera Nusantara
2
2
D051
Unity Technologies ApS
2
1
A020
RAD Game Tools Inc.
2
2
C044
UnityAds
2
1
A020
Razer (Europe) GmbH
2
2
C050
Virtuos LTD
2
1
B020a
Roberts Space Industries International Ltd.
2
2
B033
Yandex.Money, NBCO LLC
2
1
C031
SafeCharge Technologies LTD
2
2
A044
Zhejiang Zhongnan Animation Co., Lt
2
1
B019
Secure Trading Group Limited
2
2
D049
1C Publishing EU s.r.o.
2
2
B042
Serienjunkies.de GmbH & Co. KG
2
2
C031
4U2PLAY GmbH
2
2
B018
Silicon Studio Corporation
2
2
C044a
Acapture
2
2
B029
Six Waves Inc.
2
2
C028
Adcash OÜ
2
2
B017
Sky City Y2K Limited
2
2
C048a
adspree media gmbh
2
2
C031
Soedesco B.V.
2
2
C050
Alliance Digital Media
2
2
A035b
SPYR Games
2
2
C031
Amazon Web Services Germany GmbH
2
2
B039
StackPath
2
2
C050
AOC International (Europe) B.V
2
2
C050
Stillfront Group AB
2
2
C050
BIOWORLD Europe BV
2
2
A021
Stimtech Ltd. NeocoreGames
2
2
B016
CALIBURNUS LIMITED
2
2
C031
Techland Sp z o.o.
2
2
D020
Capcom Entertainment Germany GmbH
2
2
C031
Tilting Point Media LLC
2
2
C042
CLD Distribution
2
2
A032
Timecity
2
2
C040a
Computec Media GmbH
2
2
D034
Tobii Tech
2
2
D018
Cooler Master Europe B.V.
2
2
C031
transact Elektronische Zahlungssysteme GmbH
2
2
D030
Corsair Hong Kong Limited
2
2
C050
UOL BoaCompra
2
2
C026
Cosmocover SARL
2
2
C022
Utomik BV
2
2
C050
Cowana GmbH
2
2
C031
Vungle, Inc.
2
2
A038
Creative Labs (Europe) Ltd
2
2
C050
Wargaming Europe S.A.S
2
2
C020
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Exhibitor Guide V5 - Final.indd 2
24/07/2017 12:36
22 HALL 1
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Exhibitor Guide V5 - Final.indd 3
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23 HALL 2.1
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Exhibitor Guide V5 - Final.indd 4
24/07/2017 12:36
24 COMPANY
HALL BOOTH NO.
COMPANY
HALL BOOTH NO.
Wargaming Group Limited
2
2
D022
FDG Entertainment GmbH & Co KG
3
2
B010
We Are Nations, Inc.
2
2
C050
Film- und Medienstiftung NRW GmbH
3
2
B014
Web Media Publishing AG
2
2
C031
Firepoint Interactive
3
2
B019
Webedia Gaming GmbH
2
2
C031
Firetail Games
3
2
A017f
Werkmeister & Company GmbH
2
2
C031
Flux Game Studio Jogos Digitais Ltda
3
2
A013
Whyttest SRL (Limited)
2
2
D041
Fox Renderfarm
3
2
D017
Wirecard Technologies GmbH
2
2
B045
Frozen Vision
3
2
A017f
Xsolla Inc.
2
2
A033
GAME Bundesverband der deutschen Games-Branche e.V 3
2
C012
ZeniMax Benelux B.V.
2
2
C019
gamearea-FRM e.V.
3
2
D012
ZeniMax Europe Ltd.
2
2
C019
Gameloft GmbH
3
2
D012
ZeniMax Germany GmbH
2
2
C019
Gameplan Consulting
3
2
A013
ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd.
2
2
C050
GameRefinery Ltd.
3
2
A017f
“Kookie Entertainment (GameZip)”
3
2
B020
GAMES ACADEMY GmbH
3
2
C014
4-Real Intermedia GmbH
3
2
C012
Games for Families (c/o planetlan GmbH)
3
2
A010
Action Reaction Games
3
2
A017f
GamesMarkt GmbH
3
2
A011
Action Squad Studios
3
2
A017f
gamespipe GmbH
3
2
A014
Aerosoft GmbH
3
2
C012
GAMEVIL Europe GmbH
3
2
C014
Aiara Co., Ltd.
3
2
B020
Gamigo Advertising GmbH
3
2
A014
AIDUS & Advergamekorea
3
2
B020
Gaming-Aid e.V.
3
2
C014
AK Interactive
3
2
B020
Gazzag Serviços de Internet Ltda
3
2
A013
Altagram GmbH
3
2
C014
Gnifrix
3
2
B020
Anxing Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
3
2
D018x
Government of Manitoba
3
2
B019
App Annie Europe Limited
3
2
C014
Government of Quebec
3
2
B019
Application Systems Heidelberg Software GmbH
3
2
C017
Hannoverimpuls GmbH
3
2
B017
Aquiris Game Studio S.A.
3
2
A013
Headup Games GmbH & Co KG
3
2
C012
Assemble Entertainment GmbH
3
2
C012
Heavy Weight Rex
3
2
A017f
Beijing Seasun Interactive & Entertainment Co.,Ltd.
3
2
D018x
Hinterland Studio Inc.
3
2
B019
bHaptics Inc.
3
2
B020
Hoplon Infotainment
3
2
A013
bib International College Hannover
3
2
B017
Humble Bundle Deutschland GmbH
3
2
C014
Bind
A014
3
2
A017f
HWF Hamburgische Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftsförderung mbH
3
2
BIU - Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware e.V. 3
2
A010
HWF Hamburgische Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftsförderung mbH
3
2
A016
Black Forest Games GmbH
3
2
C017
HWF Hamburgische Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftsförderung mbH
3
2
B013
Brazilian Game Developers Abragames
3
2
A013
iFunFactory Inc.
3
2
B020
Canadian Digital Media
3
2
B019
IME - Interactive Media & Entertainment GmbH
3
2
A014
Canadian Media Fund
3
2
B019
Imgnation Studios
3
2
A013
CAT Nigiri Ltda ME
3
2
A013
InnoGames GmbH
3
2
A014
Chendu Future Tech Ltd.
3
2
D017
International Game Developers Association (IGDA)
3
2
C019
Chengdu Animation Network
3
2
D017
Iran Computer & Video Games Foundat
3
2
A015
Chengdu Boran Tech Co.,Ltd
3
2
D017
K3 Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaftsbüro
3
2
C017
Chengdu Yimei Digital Technology Co., Ltd.
3
2
D017
Kaamos Games
3
2
A017f
Chengdu Yumoon Tech co.,Ltd
3
2
D017
Kavio Cluster
3
2
A017f
Chengdu Cellsgame Tech Co., Ltd
3
2
D017
Komogames Ltd.
3
2
D018x
Chengdu Funcell123 Tech Co., Ltd
3
2
D017
Koolhaus Games Inc.
3
2
B019
CipSoft GmbH
3
2
B010
Korea Pavilion
3
2
D019
Complex Games Inc.
3
2
B019
Koukoi Games
3
2
A017f
Canada
3
2
B019
kr3m. media GmbH
3
2
C017
Creative Europe Desk NRW c/o Film- und Medienstiftung NRW 3
2
B014
L&K Logic Korea Co., Ltd.
3
2
B020
Creative Mobile
3
2
C014
Ludocraft
3
2
A017f
Creeng
3
2
A017f
MackMedia GmbH & Co. KG
3
2
C017
CXity of Helsinki
3
2
A017f
MAGIX Software GmbH
3
2
C014
Daedalic Entertainment GmbH
3
2
C012
Manifesto Games
3
2
A013
DECK13 Interactive GmbH
3
2
C012
Media Info Transfer GmbH
3
2
A014
Devs Channel
3
2
A017f
media:net berlinbrandenburg e.V.
3
2
C014
DigiBC
3
2
B019
Mediencluster NRW GmbH
3
2
B014
Digital Frog Co., Ltd
3
2
B020
Mediengründerzentrum NRW
3
2
B014
Duaik
3
2
A013
MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg mbH
3
2
B016
Engage.NRW c/o Mülheim&Business GmbH
3
2
B014
MJ Media Ltd.
3
2
C012
European Games Group AG
3
2
A010
Mothership Marketing GmbH
3
2
C014
EuroVideo Medien GmbH
3
2
C012
Muro Studios
3
2
A017f
EXIT GAMES GmbH
3
2
A010
NezhaGames
3
2
D018x
F+F Distribution GmbH
3
2
B010
Ngelgames Co., Ltd.
3
2
B020
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Exhibitor Guide V5 - Final.indd 5
24/07/2017 12:36
25 COMPANY
HALL BOOTH NO.
Nitro Games Ltd.
COMPANY
HALL BOOTH NO.
3
2
A017f
Adventure`s Planet S.R.L.
4
1
B014
nordmedia Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH 3
2
B017
AESVI
4
1
B014
Nova Scotia Business Inc.
3
2
B019
Aliem Pixel Studios S.R.L.
4
1
F013
Ontario International Munich Trade and Investment Office
3
2
B019
Amiquis
4
1
A021
Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC)
3
2
B019
Amstad Digital EF
4
1
D014
Payletter Inc.
3
2
B020
Apocalypse Hunters SA
4
1
A019
PIXELPIMPS Corp.
3
2
B020
Artefacts Studio
4
1
D013
planetlan GmbH
3
2
A010
Atomicom Limited
4
1
A021
Play Finland (visibility name)/ Neogames Finland Association 3
2
A017
Bad Seed SRL
4
1
B014
Playa
3
2
A017f
Badland Games SL
4
1
B013
Playa Games GmbH
3
2
A014
Bastion
4
1
A021
PLAYPARK Co., Ltd
3
2
B020
Billy Goat Entertainment Ltd
4
1
A021
Playsnak GmbH
3
2
C014
Black Cell OG
4
1
B017
Polkadot
3
2
A017f
Black Land Studio
4
1
A019
PQube Limited
3
2
C012
Blacknut
4
1
D013
Quantum Shake
3
2
A017f
Blade Representaciones SL
4
1
B013
Quantumfrog GmbH
3
2
B017
Bloodirony Games GmbH
4
1
B017
Remote Control Productions Holding
3
2
C012
Bossa Studios
4
1
A021
Rockfish Games GmbH
3
2
A014
Business France
4
1
D015
Rockhead Games
3
2
A013
Business France
4
1
D013
Rusto
3
2
A017f
Business France
4
1
E017
Serious Games Solutions GmbH
3
2
C014
Capsule Studio
4
1
D013
Shanghai Uzone Network Technology Co,Ltd.
3
2
D022
CD Projekt S.A.
4
1
C019
Shanghai Xuebao Info. Tech. Co. Ltd
3
2
D018x
Cedemo
4
1
E017
Sheer Tianyi Technology Co,Ltd.
3
2
D017
Ceské hry z. s. / Dreadlocks
4
1
C015
Shenzhen Entertainment First Co.; L
3
2
D017
Cinnoman Games
4
1
D014
Shenzhen iDreamSky Technology Co,Ltd.
3
2
D017
Clan of the Cloud
4
1
D013
Shenzhen Luckystar Technology Co.,
3
2
D017
ClockStonde Studio
4
1
B017
Shenzhen shi Genyongchang Co.,Ltd
3
2
D017
Cloudalize NV
4
1
A019
Shenzhen Smartmelon Technology Co.,
3
2
D017
Codemasters Software Ltd
4
1
A021
Shenzhen Feiyu xingkong Technology Co,Ltd.
3
2
D017
Coffee Box Games
4
1
A021
Simplaex GmbH
3
2
C014
Coffee Stain Studios
4
1
D017
Six Foot Europe GmbH
3
2
A010
Collense
4
1
D017
SkyBox Labs Inc.
3
2
B019
Controvert Ltd
4
1
A021
SOFTON ENTERTAINMENT Co.,Ltd
3
2
B020
Crazy Monkey Studios bvba
4
1
A019
Soulgame Entertainment Co.,Ltd
3
2
D017
Creative Dialogue Tools Ltd.
4
1
A021
STEA Games Co., Ltd.
3
2
B020
Croatian Chamber of Economy
4
1
B019
Studio DOMA
3
2
B020
Cubic Motion
4
1
A021
Studio ZYX Software, Games Aplicativos E Animacao Ltda. 3
2
A013
Cupboard Games Limited
4
1
A021
Stupid Stupid Games
3
2
A017f
Cybernetic Walrus BVBA
4
1
A019
Subsolar Entertainment
3
2
A017f
Czech Trade Ceska agentura na
4
1
C015
Super Plus Games
3
2
A017f
DaoPay GmbH
4
1
B017
TalkieStudio CO.,LTD
3
2
B020
Dead Good PR
4
1
A021
Taylor Wessing Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB
3
2
A014
DeadToast Entertainment
4
1
D017
TeamSpeak Systems GmbH
3
2
B010
deltaDNA Ltd
4
1
A021
TIL GmbH Tübinger Institut für Lerntherapie
3
2
C017
Digital Tales S.r.l.
4
1
B014
Tivola Publishing GmbH
3
2
C012
Divine Robot
4
1
D017
Travian Games GmbH
3
2
B010
DL-Software Daniel Leitinger e.U.
4
1
B017
Trion Worlds, Inc.
3
2
C012
Dovetail Games
4
1
A021
UNIZSOFT Co.,Ltd
3
2
B020
Edge Case Games, Ltd.
4
1
A021
Urban Invention GbR
3
2
B017
Elektraglide Ltd
4
1
A021
VikingVR Studio
3
2
D018x
Enter Yes
4
1
A21
Werk1.Bayern GmbH
3
2
B010
EverdreamSoft
4
1
D014
WGM Entretenimento Digital Ltda
3
2
A013
Fabraz
4
1
D014
wolff interactive GmbH
3
2
B017
Falkenbrew
4
1
D014
ZENIT GmbH
3
2
B014
FGL´s Enhance
4
1
F016
Zepetto Co.
3
2
B020
Firebrand Games
4
1
A021
101%
4
1
B014
Fishing Cactus
4
1
A19
3DClouds.it
4
1
B014
Flanders DC VZW
4
1
A019
505 Games Ltd.
4
1
A021
Focus Home Interactive
4
1
D015
Activision Blizzard Deutschland GmbH
4
1
A011
Focus Multimedia Ltd
4
1
A021
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Exhibitor Guide V5 - Final.indd 6
24/07/2017 12:36
26 HALL 2.2
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Exhibitor Guide V5 - Final.indd 7
24/07/2017 12:36
27 HALL 3.2
"'"'
D-021
ďż˝
Passage 2-3 passage 2-3
D B-020/D-019
Cafe
D-022
A-017 C-019/B-018 B-019 Canada
D-017/C-016 C-017/B-016 D-018
A-015 A-016
B-017
B-014/C-015
A-014/B-015
C-014/D-015
"'"' Made in Germany area
ďż˝
Eingang Sud Entrance South
A-012/B-013
Passage 2-3 passage 2-3
B-012/C-013 D-012 C-012/D-013
A-013
B-010/C-011
A-010/B-011
A-OlOx
A-011
B
..
Passage 3-4 passaqe 3-4
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Exhibitor Guide V5 - Final.indd 8
24/07/2017 12:36
28 COMPANY
HALL BOOTH NO.
COMPANY
HALL BOOTH NO.
Forge Reply SRL
4
1
B014
Novobox France
4
1
D013
Fourth State Ltd Sketchbook Games
4
1
A021
ODTÜ Teknokent Yönetim A.S.
4
1
A017
Frogsong Studios
4
1
D017
Ojoo
4
1
A019
Frostyfroggs S.C.S.
4
1
A019
OLD SKULL GAMES
4
1
E017
Fusion.Robot GmbH
4
1
D014
OPM Response Ltd
4
1
A021
Game City Southern Sweden
4
1
D017
Oskar Stalberg
4
1
D017
Game Drive
4
1
F016
Outright Games Ltd
4
1
A021
GAMEDIA
4
1
E013
Outsider Games Ltd
4
1
A021
Gamer Network
4
1
E021
Pajama Llama Games VOF
4
1
A019
Gamera Nest SL
4
1
B013
Paladin Studios
4
1
E013
Games London
4
1
A021
Pasching Solutions
4
1
B017
GameSessions (Tangentix Ltd)
4
1
A021
PayByMe Corp.
4
1
A017
Gamious B.V.
4
1
E013
Perun Creative s.r.o.
4
1
C015
Genba Digital Limited
4
1
A021
Pixel Shade
4
1
D017
Generalkonsulat der Rep. Polen
4
1
A015
Pixel Toys Ltd
4
1
A021
Glowfish Interactive VOF
4
1
A019
Plastic SCM Codice Software SL
4
1
B013
Sweden Game Arena
4
1
A018
Playdius Entertainment
4
1
D013
Green Man Gaming
4
1
A021
PlayFab, Inc
4
1
A021
Hana Hana
4
1
D014
Playstack Ltd
4
1
A021
Happy Volcano BVBA
4
1
A019
Plug In Digital
4
1
D013
Haute Ecole Albert Jacquard
4
1
A019
Pole To Win UK Limited
4
1
A021
Hi-REZ STUDIOS
4
1
A021
Polish Agency for Enterprise Develo
4
1
A016
Holo-Light GmbH
4
1
B017
Polnisches Institut Düsseldorf
4
1
A015
Hyperbolic Magnetism - Jan Ilavsky
4
1
C015
Quantum Soup Studios Ltd (Wales Are
4
1
A021
ICE - Agenzia per la promozione all’estero e l’internazionalizzazio 4
1
A012
Rarebyte OG
4
1
S017
ICE - Agenzia per la promozione all’estero e l’internazionalizzazio 4
1
A013
Renaissance PR
4
1
A021
Iceberg Interactive BV
4
1
F016
RGDA Romanian Game Developers Association
4
1
F013
ICO Partners Limited
4
1
A021
Rheinmesse Co., Ltd.
4
1
D017
Insert Coin
4
1
D014
Richard Meredith
4
1
D017
Invest Liverpool
4
1
A021
Ripstone Ltd.
4
1
A021
iQu
4
1
E013
rudy games GmbH
4
1
B017
Italic Pig
4
1
A021
S. C. Cridique Gaming S.R.L.
4
1
F013
Jagex LTD
4
1
A021
Sanuk Games SARL
4
1
D013
KISS LTD
4
1
A021
SC Amber Studio SRL
4
1
F013
Kiwi Studio
4
1
D014
Sekg S.L.
4
1
B013
Kodobur Game and Software Tech
4
1
A017
Senzie
4
1
F016
Krotos Ltd
4
1
A021
Shiro Games
4
1
D013
LA MARQUE ROSE
4
1
E017
Shy Robot Games
4
1
D014
Le Game
4
1
D013
SimyLife Gamification GmbH
4
1
B017
Little Chicken Game Company B.V.
4
1
E013
Skillsearch Limited
4
1
A021
Local Heroes Worldwide
4
1
F016
Sold Out Sales and Marketing Limite
4
1
A021
LocalizeDirect AB
4
1
A021
Southern Sweden Creatives
4
1
D017
Localsoft S.L.
4
1
B013
Spain Pavilion - Games from Spain (ICEX Spain Trade and Investment) 4
1
B013
Marvelous Europe Limited
4
1
A021
Spelkollektivet
4
1
D017
Maximum Games Ltd
4
1
A021
Splendy Interactive Ltd
4
1
A021
McMagic Productions s.r.o.
4
1
C015
Stage Clear Studios, S.L.
4
1
B013
Media Evolution
4
1
D017
StarWell s.r.o.
4
1
C015
Milestone Srl
4
1
A021
Steel Media Ltd
4
1
A021
Milestone Srl
4
1
B014
Storm in a Teacup SRL
4
1
B014
Milky Tea Limited
4
1
A021
Struckd AG
4
1
D014
MixedBag Srl
4
1
B014
Studios Voa
4
1
E017
Mode4
4
1
A019
SwapBots
4
1
A021
Multiplay (UK) Limited
4
1
A021
SwissGames
4
1
C013
nDreams Ltd.
4
1
A21
Sycoforge GmbH
4
1
D014
Neurodigital Technologies SL
4
1
B013
Sylphe Labs Ltd.
4
1
B014
Nifty Productions
4
1
D014
Tag Games Limited
4
1
A21
Nordic Game
4
1
D017
Takeoff
4
1
D013
Northern Ireland Screen
4
1
A021
Talespinners Studios Ltd (Wales Are
4
1
A021
Northern Software Limited
4
1
A021
Taleworlds Entertainment Ikisoft Yazilim Bilgi Ve Iletizim Egitim Te
4
1
A017
Not A Company
4
1
A019
Team Panoptes
4
1
A019
Novaquark
4
1
D013
Teamto
4
1
E017
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Exhibitor Guide V5 - Final.indd 9
24/07/2017 12:36
29 COMPANY
HALL BOOTH NO.
COMPANY
HALL BOOTH NO.
Testronic Laboratories Ltd
4
1
A021
Welsh Government (Wales Area)
4
1
A21
The Station
4
1
D017
Whitepot Studios Limited
4
1
A021
The Trailer Farm
4
1
A21
Wibbu
4
1
A021
Tiny Bull Studios s.r.l.
4
1
B014
Wirtschaftskammer Österreich
4
1
B017
To Play For Limited
4
1
A021
Xplored
4
1
B014
TOGED (Game Developers Association of Turkey)
4
1
A017
YIG Media, S.L. - Playstats
4
1
B013
Toxic Games Limited (Wales Area)
4
1
A021
Yogscast
4
1
A021
Triangle Factory BVBA
4
1
A019
Zurich University of the Arts Departement Design
4
1
D014
Troll inc
4
1
A021
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Germany GmbH
4
2
A010
UIG International GmbH
4
1
B017
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Germany GmbH
4
2
B010
UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE)
4
1
A021
Deep Silver a division of Koch Media GmbH
4
2
A040
UNAmedia di Benegiamo Daniele
4
1
B014
Facebook Ireland Limited
4
2
A042
Universally Speaking Limited
4
1
A021
flashpoint AG
4
2
C020
Untold Games srl
4
1
B014
Gaya Entertainment GmbH
4
2
C050
VE Vision Education GmbH
4
1
B017
Google UK Ltd./London
4
2
C040
Verein FH Technikum WIEN
4
1
B017
Konami Digital Entertainment B.V.
4
2
A021
Vereniging Dutch Games Association
4
1
E013
Microsoft Ireland
4
2
A021
Vereniging Dutch Games Association
4
1
E015
Microsoft Ireland
4
2
A022
verse publications GmbH
4
1
B017
Nintendo of Europe GmbH
4
2
B021
Vertigo Games B.V.
4
1
E013
Sony Interactive Entertainment Deutschland GmbH
4
2
A041
Virtual Arts Ltd
4
1
A021
THQ Nordic GmbH
4
2
A043
Virtualware 2007, S.A.
4
1
B013
UBISOFT GmbH
4
2
C051
Wales Interactive Limited (Wales Ar
4
1
A021
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc
4
2
B040
Warning Up
4
1
D013
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Child’s play With more and more children playing on smartphones, is mobile going to sound the death knell of gaming on consoles for kids? Marie Dealessandri discusses the kids market with SuperData’s Insights team and Klosters Trading Corporation’s president Lutz Muller
E
ver since the glorious days of the 8-bit era, console gaming has bloomed into a thriving entertainment industry. However, the players who also did their growing up alongside it have led to a massive change in the gaming demographics. Indeed, most console games these days are created with adult audiences in mind, leaving kids games dramatically underserved in the mainstream release schedule. It’s not that kids aren’t playing games any more, but with more children swapping consoles for smartphones, is there a future for kids gaming on consoles? Let’s start with the facts. According to the latest GameTrack Digest (ISFE/Ipsos Connect), 25 per cent of the UK gaming population in Q4 2016 fell into the six to 14 year
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age group. That might not sound like a lot, but drill down a little further, and you’ll find 68 per cent of kids aged six to ten and 77 per cent of children from 11 to 14 play video games in the UK – the highest rate of any age group. There’s clearly a lot of interest, then, but what titles do kids actually play, and on what platform? According to Klosters Trading Corporation’s president Lutz Muller, “most games played by children [in the US] fall into the category of social games.” This would explain why kids tend to play on mobile instead of consoles nowadays, particularly since consoles often offer few games that fall into the social bracket. Muller continues: “What differentiates consoles from smartphones are four things: clock speed, graphics, screen
resolution and memory. The game and hardware developers targeting the adult community are extremely focused on them, whereas the limits imposed by smartphones by definition require a type of game that is much more attuned to the needs of children. I hence see a situation where the two development streams, consoles versus mobile, continue to diverge and basically divide the consumer population into two very separate groups: children with smartphones and adults with consoles.” The hardware issue is particularly important. Despite smartphones often costing more than your typical console over the course of a twoyear contract, they’re also considered more disposable than a box that goes under your TV. With four out of
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five adults now owning a smartphone in the UK (according to Deloitte’s Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2016: UK Cut), it’s also clear to see why parents find it easier to let their kids play on mobile rather than investing in standalone consoles. “Since the average age of a console gamer is over 30, today’s game developers prefer to create content for their key demographic,” SuperData’s Insights team research assistant Nate Monteverde tells MCV. “The release of the Nintendo Switch gave new
life to the kids market on console, as they are known to create crossover products that appeal to nostalgic older audiences and kids. PlayStation and Xbox also make their networks less accessible for kids today, as fewer games are just plug-in-and-play, instead requiring a paid online service – PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. Overall, the console market caters less to kids today than they once did. Kids will need to find games on other platforms like handheld devices – the Nintendo 3DS – and mobile.”
“A focus on recognisable characters remains essential.”
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UPWARDLY MOBILE For Monteverde, however, the current kids market can’t be neatly divided into a simple mobile-console split. “It is an overstatement to say that consoles need to compete with mobile to retain kids. The markets are wildly different and neither market is cannibalising the player base of another. Consoles are catering less to kids today and prefer to focus on its older demographic. Mobile is more accessible, has an abundance of content, and is portable, so kids can easily game anywhere. Mobile can act as the gateway that introduces kids to games, while consoles can act as the next step for kids who want to dive deeper into the gaming experience as they get older.”
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Last year’s Pokémon Sun and Moon are a case in point, with even Nintendo saying the games benefited from the Pokémon Go effect in its end of year financials. The tricky part, however, is retaining those console converts in the long run – something Nintendo will no doubt be watching very closely as it rolls out more of its own in-house mobile titles and upcoming child-friendly games for its New 2DS XL like Hey! Pikmin – and keeping them engaged with more games on more platforms until you’ve created a new franchise, merchandise range and a successful entertainment brand. SuperData’s research manager Carter Rogers concurs, saying that “Nintendo clearly aims for mobile games
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to be a gateway to their IPs on console” but adds that more companies could do with applying the same strategy in order to broaden their appeal to kids, and their parents. “This is a valuable way for game companies to generate ancillary revenue and keep kids aware of IPs and characters,” he says. “The Angry Birds Movie was a major boost to Rovio. Sonic Boom and Skylanders Academy are keeping IPs viable for their respective publishers Sega and Activision during slow periods for the game franchises themselves.” Expanding franchises into wider entertainment brands also provides a gateway to more markets, says Muller: “If you take a video game and turn it into a movie,
then it comes down to how strong the movie is as a toy generator,” he explains. “In other words, if you successfully turn a video game IP into a broader entertainment IP, then you can enter the toy and wider licensing market.” Successfully expanding directly into toys isn’t always a guaranteed success, however, with Muller saying that TV is often more effective for increasing brand awareness. “So far, all efforts to take a video game brand and extend it into toys have failed,” he says. “Halo, Destiny, Warcraft, and so on, are cases in point. So the direct route ‘videogame-to-toy’ does not work.” Instead, Muller says the best way to keep kids engaged is to actually release “games, games and more games,”
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and that includes titles specifically developed for phones and handhelds. MINECRAFT POWERED Warner Bros’ Lego titles and Mojang’s Minecraft are both perfect examples of brands that have seen huge success in the kids market. But while Lego had its 85-year history as a toy company to draw on, both franchises share the same secret ingredient when it comes to engaging with children – their characters. “A focus on recognisable characters remains essential,”
says Rogers. “Even Minecraft, which doesn’t have characters per se, has a universally recognisable protagonist – Steve – and monsters.” Minecraft also manages to exist as a toy range in its own right, says Muller: “I do not think the Minecraft toys are significantly influenced by the Minecraft video game or vice versa. Minecraft toys live in their separate universe on the strength of what their licensees – Lego, Spin Master and Mattel – are doing to promote their respective piece of the pie, each in their
“The kids’ market on console is less defined today, with crossover products that cater to all age ranges.”
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own way and in line with their overall toy portfolio objectives,” he explains. “This is different in the case of Lego where the toys, the games and the movies all are part of an overall integrated campaign.” Lego and Minecraft are also similar in the way they allow children to be creative, which for Monteverde is their main selling point. “Minecraft is successful with kids because of the simple game mechanics that give kids the freedom to do a wide range of activities,” he says. “The freedom to create anything in the world of Minecraft copies the same formula that made Lego successful among kids for many years.” Aside from these two behemoths, Muller reckons
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Nintendo is the only other major publisher still competing in the kids market, both with the 3DS and now the Switch. “Very clearly, the two Nintendo consoles have a much lower age profile for their games than their PS4 and Xbox One counterparts,” says Muller. “However, over the longer haul, it will be the quality of the games playable on the Switch that will determine whether we are looking at a fundamental change in the sales trajectory.” Monteverde concurs: “Nintendo’s games have the potential to attract kids to the console space. Outside of their kid-friendly IP, the determining factor for the Switch’s impact on this market lies in what demographic Nintendo chooses to cater for
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with its future first-party and third-party game releases.” THE NETWORK EFFECT Another piece of the puzzle is the toys-to-life market. With the future of this segment looking more uncertain every year, SuperData reckons its best years may already be behind it, despite Ubisoft revealing its new toys-to-life title StarLink: Battle for Atlas at E3. “Outside of Skylanders and Ubisoft’s StarLink, the toys-tolife market is undeveloped and lacks real growth opportunity,” says Rogers, with Monteverde bluntly adding that the market currently “resembles the shortlived plastic instruments space from several years ago and are past their peak.” However, Muller believes there’s still hope in this sector,
and that toys-to-life titles can act as an entry point to console gaming for kids. “The toys-to-life market is healthy if shelf space allocation by the major retailers is anything to go by,” he says. “As the category has matured, its sales increases have moderated to a level which is much more in line with the toy market overall. It is very probable that the exposure of kids to the toys-to-life category will extend into regular video games as they grow older. After all, toys-to-life are played on the normal consoles – Xbox One, PS4, Wii U and now also the Switch.“ If physical toys are one way to get more children into console gaming, another way is a strong digital strategy with game streams and videos.
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“YouTube works as a common and accessible platform for kids to watch games that they want to play,” Monteverde says. “Since kids lack financial independence, gaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch are essential exposure tools for kids looking for new games to play.”
Rogers continues: “Kids watching instead of playing does result in some lost sales for smaller and mid-tier games. However, the games that do succeed win big time due to a network effect.” GROWING UP Smartphones may be
“YouTube works as a common platform for kids to watch games that they want to play.”
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the current platform of choice with today’s youth, but it’s clear there’s still a core group of franchises driving the kids console market forward, with Minecraft at the forefront. If nothing else, this shift to mobile reflects the everchanging landscape of the industry and the current proliferation of platforms. Consoles aren’t the only way to play games any more, after all, and software is more diverse than ever.
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“The kids market on console is less defined today, as it mostly consists of crossover products that cater to audiences across all age ranges,” Monteverde says. “Microsoft’s Xbox continues to heavily support Minecraft as the game’s mechanics and visuals cater to both adults and kids. Nintendo is another classic example of unique IP that creates lifetime fans from an early age. These kids eventually grow up, but still desire to play games that
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remind them of their childhood gaming experiences. The console market will continue to find ways to create crossover products that cater to audiences of different ages. However, as consoles shift their focus to an older demographic, content for kids will continue to be a niche part of the market.” It doesn’t look like mobile will be going away any time soon, then, but putting an emphasis on cross-play between different platforms
would at least give kids one way of jumping from one platform to another when they’re ready to move on. “Mobile will remain the premier platform for kids gaming, but publishers stand to benefit if they make slightly older kids want to ‘upgrade’ to a more robust experience,” Rogers concludes. “Microsoft’s cross platform strategy for Minecraft helps console adoption since console players will be able to play with their mobile-only friends.”
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Meet the team Seth Barton
Marie Dealessandri
Editor sbarton@nbmedia.com
ta riter mdealessandri@nbmedia.com
Katharine Byrne
Sam Richwood
News Editor kbyrne@nbmedia.com
Designer srichwood@nbmedia.com
NEWBAY SUBSCRIPTIONS: James Marinos Production Executive jmarinos@nbmedia.com
Sophia Jaques Games Sales Manager
sjaques@nbmedia.com
Charlie Gibbon Account Manager
Caroline Hicks Events Director
chicks@nbmedia.com
The Emerson Building, 4-8 Emerson Street, London, SE1 9DU e: subs@mcv.com w: www.mcvuk.com MCV has an exclusive media partnership with Famitsu – Japan’s leading video games analyst and news source
Mark Burton Managing Director
NewBay Media Europe Ltd is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association
mburton@nbmedia.com
ISSN: 1469-4832 Copyright 2017
MCV is published 24 times a year by NewBay Media Europe Ltd, The Emerson Building, 4th Floor, 4-8 Emerson Street, London SE1 9DU
cgibbon@nbmedia.com The Emerson Building, 4th Floor, 4-8 Emerson Street. London, SE1 9DU All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher. The contents of MCV are subject to reproduction in information storage and retrieval systems. Printed by Pensord Press Ltd, NP12 2YA
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