State of the Nation: Gaming

Ahead of the game

According to new figures released by the ERA, gaming enjoyed another strong year in 2022 and this continued success bodes well for the growth of gaming as a licensed category. LSB rounds up some of the latest news.

Tinderbox expands partnerships for COD: Modern Warfare II

Tinderbox – the digital division of Beanstalk – revealed a new wave of products to coincide with the launch of the latest title in the Call of Duty franchise. Modern Warfare made its hotly anticipated return to the franchise with a sequel to the bestselling title of 2019.

Tying in with the launch, licensed apparel partner, Fashion UK, expanded its presence across European retail in fast fashion and grocery accounts with MWII branded collections, while Trucare launched its first range of Call of Duty apparel into the Middle East.

Online, Zavvi.com expanded upon its MWII reveal range with a new fashion capsule collection.

Gifting specialists, Abysse and Koyo have created a range of products, across novelty, drinkware and home accessories, while Displate has an array of metal posters available on its web store. Vinyl figurine partner, YouTooz also launched a limited collection of MWII figurines.

In addition, within the burgeoning streaming space, gamers have been able to personalise their content online video with a collection of Call of Duty branded streaming overlays from Own3d.

Above: FIFA 23 was the biggest selling console game in 2022. Below left: The wave of new products coincided with the return of the hit Call of Duty franchise.

UK games market grows to £4.7m

Last year saw the UK games market’s sales grow to £4,664.4m, up 2.3% yr on yr, with gaming accounting for 42.1% of total entertainment revenues in 2022, according to preliminary figures from digital entertainment and retail association, ERA.

Games remains the largest of the three entertainment sectors covered by ERA – with the other two being music and video.

Physical games software sales were soft, falling 4.5% to £488.6m compared with 2021 and now account for just 10% of the overall sector.

Conversely, the best performer was console downloads, up 12.2% to £724.7m. These are still significantly smaller, however, than mobile and tablet games which were up 3.2% to £1,486.8m and the catch-all ‘other digital’ category (up 0.2%) at £1,747.4m.

The biggest selling console game was FIFA 23

which sold 2.39m units across digital and physical formats in the final instalment of the 29-year partnership between its publisher EA and football’s world governing body.

“Gaming remains the often-unheralded leader of the entertainment market,” said Kim Bayley, ceo at ERA. “While growth at 2.3% was lower than that of video or music, its scale is enormous and in terms of innovation and excitement it continues to set the pace for the entire entertainment sector.”

The value of the UK home entertainment sector as a whole soared to £11.2 billion in 2022 – an all-time record for music, video and games sales.

EA and Marvel reveal new collaboration

Below: The agreement will cover at least three new action adventure games for consoles and PC.

Video games giant Electronic Arts is collaborating with Marvel on a long-term deal to develop action adventure games.

The agreement will cover at least three new action adventure games for consoles and PC. Each will be its own original story set in the Marvel universe, with the first title in development being a

single player, third person action adventure Iron

Man game from Motive Studios.

“We have been long-time fans of Marvel and their impressive leadership, so this is a remarkable moment for our developers as well as our players and fans,” commented Laura Miele, coo at EA. “We look forward to welcoming Marvel into the EA family of creators and know this collaboration will produce exceptional experiences for our players. We can’t wait to see players’ reactions when they suit up as Iron Man and do the extraordinary things this super hero is known for.”

Changes at SYBO as Subway Surfers continues growth

SYBO has confirmed that Philip Hickey has joined the company as chief marketing officer, while Naz Amarchi-Cuevas departed at the end of last year.

Phil is charged with ‘unlocking the next level’ of marketing opportunities as its Subway Surfers game and brand continues to grow in its second decade – including setting strategy for a new genre that SYBO is entering in the puzzle category.

Phil joins SYBO from Seriously Digital Entertainment where he led brand, marketing and communications for eight years for the popular Best Fiends game. Prior to that, he was responsible for heading the marketing strategy and execution for Angry Birds.

Meanwhile, Naz Amarchi-Cuevas – who joined SYBO in 2017 and has been serving as chief commercial officer for Subway Surfers – left the company at the

end of 2022. Above: SYBO’s Philip Hickey with Naz Amarchi-Cuevas.

Farshore’s Minecraft sales hit over 35 million

Farshore – the official publisher for Minecraft books – has revealed worldwide sales of over 35 million books in 45 languages since it first acquired Minecraft titles from the developer Mojang Studios in 2013.

In the UK alone Farshore has

sold over eight million copies

and landed over ten top ten titles (Nielsen Bookscan). JanuarySeptember 2022 Bookscan figures show Minecraft publishing in the UK is up 20% on 2021 in retail sales value.

The creative team has produced over 80 titles in the past ten years, raising the bar in terms of how video games are represented on the printed page – even publishing the original Blockopedia in a groundbreaking hexagonal format in 2014.

Farshore’s Minecraft publishing will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2023, with a wide ranging programme of titles including three new young fiction titles and the third in the Bite-Size Builds series. The company will also launch a new drawing book Minecraft: How to Draw, to give kids and gamers stepby-step tips to draw their favourite mobs and create big, blocky scenes.

Above: Farshore’s Minecraft publishing will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2023.

PUBG Mobile partners with Maserati

Hit mobile game, PUBG Mobile recently partnered with luxury car brand, Maserati.

The deal – facilitated by Endeavor-owned IMG – gave players a chance to command some of Maserati’s first-class sports cars in-game.

The cars introduced in PUBG Mobile included the super sportscar MC20, Maserati’s lightweight yet powerful coupe with a 3.0 litre twin-turbo V6 engine, and the robust but stylish Levante, Maserati’s SUV offering, as well as a special unlockable surprise vehicle.

Players were able to take the wheel of Maserati’s sports cars from 18 November through to 31 December 2022.

“We’re always looking to provide players with partnerships that enrich the PUBG Mobile experience,” commented Vincent Wang, head of PUBG Mobile Publishing at Tencent Games.

Above: Maserati was the ‘perfect partner’ for PUBG Mobile to collaborate with, says the company.

World’s first Uncharted rollercoaster ready to ride

Spain’s largest theme park, PortAventura World, has closed a licensing agreement with Sony Pictures to build the first dark ride rollercoaster inspired by the box office hit film Uncharted and based on the popular PlayStation video game franchise.

Opening in mid-2023, the new attraction will be located in the resort’s Far West zone and will allow visitors to go on ‘a dangerous search for one of the greatest treasures ever found’.

The exclusive ride reaches over 12 metres high in a unique enveloping space which will be 4,800 square metres and 16 metres high.