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THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES ISSUE 810 FRIDAY OCTOBER 24TH 2014

CREATIVE THINKING SACKBOY RETURNS TO RETAIL. DEVELOPER SUMO DIGITAL SPEAKS EXCLUSIVELY TO MCV

PAGE 20

IN PICTURES: THE GAMES MEDIA AWARDS WE REVISIT THE BIGGEST NIGHT FOR THE UK GAMES PRESS PAGE 35 GAME’S PLAN

THE NEXT GENERATION

WITH THE HELP OF BOSS MARTYN GIBBS, MCV ANALYSES GAME’S NEW BUSINESS STRATEGY

THE SCI-FI SIMULATION IS BACK. THE GENRE’S FOUNDING FATHERS CHRIS ROBERTS AND DAVID BRABEN REVEAL ALL

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CHEAT SHEET

THE EDITOR

THE WEEK IN VIDEO GAM ‘WE SHOULD BRING GAMESCOM TO LONDON’

WELL DONE PROJECT CARS

quite like a good horror game, and this month I’ve been spoilt for choice. There’s been Sega’s terrifying Alien Isolation and Bethesda’s The Evil Within, which marked the return of survival horror pioneer and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. Unfortunately, Sega and Bethesda launched these games within a week of each other. And at £100 for both, that’s no pocket change. Though it’s not unusual for two big movies to arrive side-byside, the investment you make in games is significantly more. Without knowing internal expectations, it’s difficult to say whether Alien Isolation or The Evil Within were successful for their publishers. But it’s a niche genre and its cult audience would have had to choose which game to buy. If you look at the history of games, you’ll see many titles that launched next to each other to ill effect. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve asked publishers about competition, to receive the same stock response of ‘different audiences’. If it’s Pokémon versus Far Cry 4, then yes, those are non-competing markets. But if you’re launching a game aimed at 18 to 34 year-old men you are competing, and risking sales. I recall the battle of the racers in May 2010 – Disney’s Split/ Second versus Activision’s Blur. Both were meant to be new franchises. Critics loved them equally, according to Metacritic. But they failed. The studios behind both games were closed within a year. You may assume that they cancelled each other

October 24th 2014

If Watch Dogs is anything to go by, games don’t need to be all about the Q4 release window. out, but it wasn’t just that. Red Dead Redemption launched that month, and was another rival to the two games. It baffled me that so many publishers were launching new racing games this Q4. Perhaps it was just coincidence, or a result of EA not launching a Need for Speed game, but there were five releases due in the space of two months. F1 2014 and Forza Horizon 2 were joined by new IP, Ubisoft’s The Crew, Sony’s DriveClub and Bandai Namco’s Project CARS. So well done Bandai Namco. I feared for Project CARS. Not for its quality – the developer is capable and previews have been positive – but it was going up against big games with huge marketing budgets. Just how large is the racing genre on next-gen this Christmas? Half a million if we’re lucky? How much of that would be Project CARS? There’s no shame to walking (or driving) away and living to fight another time. There are many other days in the year, and if Watch Dogs and the sparse release schedule of 2014 is anything to go by, it doesn’t have to be all about Q4 window. cdring@nbmedia.com

Market Data The market continues to slide despite the launch of a handful of new titles. Don’t expect any big rises until Call of Duty in November £30m

£15m

£28.5m 761,269 units £19.3m 449,668 units

£0m

Week Ending October 4th

Week Ending October 13th

£16.6m 493,041 units

Week Ending October 20th

www.mcvuk.com

CHEAT SHEET

MES

KIE CEO Jo Twist and culture minister Ed Vaizey say now is the right time for a UK games industry trade show. Every August the UK games industry flies to Cologne for Gamescom. UKIE takes firms to the event, and said that it had a waiting list of disappointing businesses that it was unable to take. “There needs to be a B2B market place for interactive entertainment in the UK,” Twist tells MCV. “We’re working with different agencies to see about making that happen. We’ve seen the success of Gamescom, where we go out and run the UK industry stand. We took 53 companies and have a waiting list of others. Why do we have to go to Cologne for that? We should bring it here and are looking at that. There are a lot of investors and people with deep pockets who understand very little about games, how its transitioned and the opportunity culturally and economically.” Vaizey adds: “The market place has to make it happen. When I go abroad I see organisation that want to have conferences in London. A lot of people want a presence here. In terms of gaming, the sky is the limit for a games event in the UK.”

SPONSORED BY

DOWN Horror games. Alien Isolation sales plunge 70 per cent

UP Horror games. Bethesda’s The Evil Within debuts at No.2

FIFA 15

Alien Isolation

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Forza Horizon 2

DriveClub

BAYONETTA 2 INC BAYONETTA (WII U)

Sega

Halo: The Master Chief Collection (Xbox One)

Warner Bros

Dragon Age Inquisition (PS4)

Microsoft

Sunset Overdrive Day One (Xbox One)

Sony

Grand Theft Auto V (PS4)

XO+ Sunset Overdrive + COD: Advanced Warfare Microsoft

NINTENDO Microsoft EA Microsoft Rockstar

Destiny

Activision Blizzard

Skylanders Trap Team

Activision Blizzard

Captain Toad Treasure Trackers (Wii U)

2K Games

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Day Zero (PS4) Activision

Nintendo

Pokemon Omega Ruby + Keyring (3DS)

Nintendo

COD: Advanced Warfare – Day Zero (Xbox One)

Activision

NBA 2K15

Super Smash Bros for 3DS

www.mcvuk.com

Sony

Minecraft: PlayStation Edition

Nintendo

October 24th 2014

WHAT’S NEXT FOR GAME?

THE GAME PLAN Retailer GAME posted impressive financial results last week, but the firm’s sights are firmly set on ensuring its continued success in a constantly transforming games market. Christopher Dring takes a look at the strategy with CEO Martyn Gibbs

AME emerged from its first financial year press briefing in a positive mood. The firm, driven by PS4, Xbox One and GTA V sales, reported a revenue spike of 31 per cent to £861.8m, while profit hit £209.7m. A massive improvement on the losses suffered the year before. Things are looking good for the future, too. Spurred on by the performance of the new consoles, the company floated on the stock exchange and its share price continues to rise. Best of all, it’s

managed to secure decent credit insurance, which has allowed it to focus more on launching big games. “Credit insurance is something suppliers enjoy rather directly ourselves,” CEO Martyn Gibbs acknowledges. “But what it means is that we can concentrate on selling stuff. Over the last two years, it has been a period where the suppliers weren’t enjoying that insurance, so we were engaged in a finance-team-to-financeteam perspective an awful lot. But that has moved over the last two

We view the way you access mobile gaming experiences as quite cumbersome, and that we can aggregate those games better. Martyn Gibbs, GAME

months onto putting all of our efforts into the commercial delivery.” Now that’s in place, the business is fully focused on developing new technologies, expanding its preowned offer, creating a mobile store and new sub-brands, and quite a bit more. It’s a combination of developing old concepts and launching new ones, designed to secure the company’s future. But what are these plans and will they actually work? We take a closer look and offer our thoughts.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT What’s the plan? Not a new plan, but rather a continuation and evolution of the old one. GAME has secured 83 exclusive versions of games in 2014, up from 75 in 2013. Over 1.5m of these exclusive SKUs have been shifted over the last year. “Exclusives are very important for us, we never take it for granted that our suppliers work with us on those,” says Gibbs. “The gamers buying these are our most valuable customers; they are buying mainly from a store, with trade-in, reward points and GAME Wallet. “And we can combine that and say to our suppliers that we can bring this population of

gamers to your great content – that is why we need exclusives.” What are the challenges? The obvious issue regarding multiple retail SKUs is gamer confusion. Some rival stores have been eager to secure their own exclusive versions of games in an effort to compete with GAME, which has seen multiple versions of the same game spread out across different stores. It forces an extra layer of choice onto the consumer, and requires additional effort from them in researching the options available. Already gamers are having to pick which platform to own, then whether to buy a Limited Edition, Super Special Edition or a Standard Edition – and now they’re even having to pick which retailer to buy from. What does MCV think? GAME’s ability to secure exclusive versions of their titles will prove crucial to their mint game business. As Tesco and Amazon have the capability to go low on price, GAME has to find new measures to compete – and pre-owned combined with exclusive DLC is a good way of doing so. What’s more, this exclusive content is getting better and deeper. Recently, GAME customers who pre-ordered Alien: Isolation received an entire side-game that

October 24th 2014

featured the voices and likenesses of the cast from the first Alien movie. “Now we are getting involved very early in the cycle of the game being developed,” explains Gibbs. “We are interacting at the right point in the process, so we are able to do a lot more. If you try and do something two weeks before a game comes out, there is little you can do. If you do that two years ahead, there’s a lot you can do. Alien: Isolation is a very good example of a very well executed campaign between ourselves and Sega.”

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WHAT’S NEXT FOR GAME?

GAME DROID

PRE-OWNED

What’s the plan? At GAME’s financial briefing last week, the company announced plans for GAME Droid (working title), an app store for Android phones that incorporates GAME Wallet and provides direct access to Android games. It will launch this year. (Gibbs originally said ‘within weeks’, but judging by the scared look of the GAME rep we mentioned that to, let’s just say ‘before Christmas’.) “We view the way you access mobile gaming experiences as quite cumbersome, and that we can aggregate those games better,” Gibbs says. “So we will be launching a way for gamers to access games and download them direct.”

What’s the plan? A fifth of GAME’s entire business was pre-owned last year. That’s down compared with 2013, but that’s more to do with the huge increase in mint console hardware sales. The company has expanded its pre-owned range via GAMEtronics. Two of the stores were opened this year, which specialise in selling pre-owned technology. Across all of GAME stores, the firm now has over 1,200 technology SKUs, and these accounted for 38 per cent of the firm’s pre-owned hardware sales last year. The firm will roll GAMEtronics bays into all its stores.

What are the challenges? It’s not the first time we’ve seen a big games company try and improve the discoverability of games on Android by launching their own curated store. The last one was PlayStation Mobile, and it failed. As it turned out, Android users were happy with the store they have. It’s important GAME promotes its GAME Wallet integration (plus the ability to trade-in games against Android titles) in an effort to show the advantages of using its portal. What does MCV think? Consumers likely to use this service will be those that both utilise GAME’s Wallet system and regularly buy Android games. We are not convinced that will be a significant number of people. However, the possibility of selling Android games in-store is interesting. What’s more, developing an Android store to sit alongside its pre-existing PC download store could even give GAME the opportunity to sign and publish games itself, just like Green Man Gaming has recently done. Gibbs says: “That’s not something we would rule out, but it’s also not something we will bring to market very quickly.”

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GAME Wallet combines customer’s trade-ins, gift vouchers and reward points into one total

GAME WALLET What are its challenges? Getting people using it. GAME says over 1m people have downloaded its app. But clearly explaining what it does, why it is interesting and why gamers should use it will be a challenge.

What’s the plan? GAME Wallet is the company’s smartphone app that can be used to buy games. It combines users’ trade-in cash, gift vouchers and reward points currency into one piece of monetary value. The firm has also just launched Scan It. Gamers can scan a box of a game in order to watch a trailer for the title. “The amount of people using Scan It is really pleasing,” says Gibbs. “People that use it once are becoming hooked. And publishers love it.” He adds: ”Scan It is the third drop of code we have had on our app, and we still have one more to come before Christmas.”

What does MCV think? If GAME can make Wallet a popular way for paying for games, it opens up a huge market for them. In theory, any game could use Wallet for in-game microtransactions (think Candy Crush or League of Legends). And that next piece of code Gibbs mentions... could it be the ability to buy games using the app and have them automatically downloaded to a console at home?

GAME MARKETPLACE “The premise is not to start selling fridges. Unless it’s a fridge with a Nintendo logo on it.”

What’s the plan? GAME Marketplace will launch in Q1 2015. The concept is to allow third-party sellers to offer products GAME currently does not sell to users. The firm hopes it will help increase its range of merchandise and licensed products, and gamers can access Marketplace content via the website and in-store tablets. “There are so many products aimed at gamers that we are not stocking at the moment,” explains Gibbs. “These are mostly licensed products. The thinking is that we will be able to access tens of thousands of products, both online and in-store, that we’ve previously not been able to sell.

What are the challenges? Digital games cannot be traded-in, and the increase in digital sales and decline in physical suggests that the number of trade-ins will decline in years to come But Gibbs remains unconcerned: “If you look at our digital business at the moment, there’s nothing to say that is having an impact on our pre-owned business.” However, GAME’s preowned revenue fell 1.5 per cent in 2014 versus 2013. What does MCV think? GAMEtronics is important, as it will safeguard against a possible drop in pre-owned games sales. GAME will need to be careful not to get too carried away, however – it doesn’t want to become just another CEX on the High Street.

What are the challenges? GAME Marketplace faces some stiff competition, namely from Amazon and Play.com – and that’s not to mention eBay. What does MCV think? It’s important if GAME wants to maintain its position as the UK’s leading games specialist that it stocks as many games-related products as it can. Marketplace will help it do that. The fact that it will be accessible in the firm’s High Street stores gives Marketplace a unique selling point over rival services, such as eBay.

October 24th 2014

WHAT’S NEXT FOR GAME?

DIGITAL CONTENT What’s the plan? GAME now boasts over 4,400 digital SKUs, a rise of 2,100 over the last year. What’s more, the firm has its own PC download store. But Gibbs says there’s a lot more content to source and sell. “We want everything,” he states. “We are very focused on other gaming formats, PC downloads and mobile gaming, but we are as focused on unlocking the full catalogue on Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo.” GAME argues that it’s vital retailers get involved in this space because many consumers do not have access to credit cards. Gibbs revealed that 75 per cent of all digital sales at GAME were made using cash, trade-in credit or reward points. 1.3m customers brought digital content from GAME last year – up 10 per cent.

GAME Junior focuses on promoting kidfriendly titles

GAME JUNIOR What’s the plan? The sub-brand brings together the likes of Skylanders, Disney Infinity, Minecraft and LEGO. Aimed at GAME’s younger customers and their parents, GAME Junior grew by 74 per cent this year, driven primarily by Infinity and the LEGO franchise. “We are allocating more space in-store and resource centrally to manage this,” Gibbs announces. “More PR, more social activity, community events and marketing campaigns will increase awareness. For example, this month we opened 170 stores for the Minecraft Build Challenge.“

What are the challenges? The kids market – especially in the console space – is under threat. The decline in Skylanders points to that. The strong performance of LEGO, Minecraft and Infinity is promising; however, there is currently a lack of kids titles on the release schedule.

What are the challenges? The fear is that selling digital codes for Steam, Xbox Live,

What does MCV think? Children are the future for the games industry, and that future is increasingly spending its time on smartphones, tablets and online. GAME’s promotion of software aimed at kids will be a boost for the console industry trying to win over a new generation of fans.

PSN or Nintendo eShop is effectively ‘giving away’ your customer to a different retailer. Digital games also cannot be traded-in, and margins on digital games are believed to be smaller than on physical titles. What does MCV think? If GAME wants to become the world’s biggest games specialist it needs to stock all the games it can. Selling digital content may indeed be the future of GAME. The firm can help promote digital content via its stores and special events, and gamers can buy titles from the store in multiple ways. Effectively turning GAME stores into a giant marketing vehicle. “We want to give our suppliers the opportunity to put their digital content in front of a population that is not purchasing their games,” says Gibbs. “That gives us the opportunity to allow a model that is right for a supplier and right for ourselves.”

GAME has started selling digital Xbox games in its stores

BECOMING THE ‘NO.1 COMMUNITY FOR GAMERS’ What’s the plan? GAME wants consumers to read their website, watch their videos, follow their local store on Twitter and download the GAME Wallet app. They want gamers coming to their ‘lock-in’ events to play games, attend their various other events and then, if they want to, buy from them. GAME is not just a games retailer, but a discovery and education channel for this increasingly complex industry. That’s the vision, and the company currently has 4.7m reward card holders (1m new holders from the last year). And it hopes to boost its loyalty scheme for its most loyal customers, too.

October 24th 2014

Judging by a video shown last week, that could include Reward Points for tweeting about games and being a GAME advocate. “Now we are at an even more granular level of understanding our customers, we want to put into place a scheme that will reward them even more for being key participants in our community,” says Gibbs. “We are working on that programme at the moment.” What are the challenges? GAME may have 4.7m active loyalty card holders, but it has 11.3m inactive loyalty card users. The pressure will be on GAME to try and increase its active loyalty

users, and attract back that huge number of gamers. Gibbs says the reason there’s so many inactive users is partially down to the millions who rushed to buy Wii and DS in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and then never brought another product: “Us being able to aid customers’ movement from playing Wii five years ago to buying an Xbox One or PS4 is a key determinant with [our ability to win back customers].” What does MCV think? This is GAME’s main vision and it will be crucial to its continued survival in an industry moving beyond physical goods.

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MARKETING

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK THIS WEEK: MX VS ATV SUPERCROSS

[INFO] Released: October 28th Publisher: Nordic Games Developer: Rainbow Studios Distributor: Open Contact 01256 391 209

THE CAMPAIGN NORDIC is going all-out to support the launch of the latest entry in the MX vs ATV oﬀ-road racing franchise, Supercross. The new racer is the ‘oﬃcial game’ of the Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas, and will also feature heavily at the French Bercy Moto X Championship. Meanwhile, in the UK, MX vs ATV Supercross is going to be appearing on-stage at the Dirt Bike Show and Motorcycle Live. The title will be playable at both of the events. Ads designed by creative agency Factory Media will be appearing on leading motocross and extreme sports websites,

IN THEIR OWN WORDS alongside media channels in the European region. Nordic is also partnering up with Transworld Media to promote the title in the US. Furthermore, the publisher is targeting fans of motocross over social media, and says it has a reach of one million fans. The IP’s oﬃcial Facebook page currently has in excess of 107,200 likes. Nordic has also involved two of the biggest names in motocross – James Stewart Jr and Fredrik Noren – in a Europe versus America ‘ride-oﬀ’. A video of the event was released a week before the game’s launch.

MARKETING NEWS NINTENDO | Two new Pokémon games are on the way for Nintendo 3DS – Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon Omega Ruby – and Nintendo says the games’ early demand is outstripping last year’s smash hits Pokémon X and Y. “Pre-orders for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are doing really well at the moment,” Shelly Pearce, UK marketing boss at Nintendo, told MCV. “In terms of marketing support, this is getting a similar sized campaign to what we did on X and Y.

October 24th 2014

NIK BLOWER Marketing, PR and Franchise Director, Nordic Games

MX vs ATV has long been regarded as the ‘daddy’ of the motorcross and ATV genre and in being so has a large, loyal and extremely vocal fanbase. Without trying to be a simulation-type racing experience, through careful attention to the key components of a believable physics engine, oﬃcial riders and authentic in-game sponsors, MX vs ATV has garnered a reputation of being the best balance of reality and fun. Not only this – former motocross championship winners within the development team itself ensure that MX vs ATV remains the undisputed king of motocross games.

Nintendo is hoping to attract new players to its handhelds ahead of two new Pokémon games

“And in terms of pre-orders it is tracking better. So from that perspective, it is at least at the level of X and Y.” As well as the usual TV and online marketing campaign run, Nintendo has also developed a special demo for the games, which will be offered to consumers through media outlets and retailers. Gamers that buy a 3DS or 2DS and register the handheld alongside either Super Smash Bros or Pokémon will also receive one of seven games free.

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MARKETING

FIFA 15 ENTERS GAMES AND CONSOLES TOP 5 TV AD CAMPAIGNS Despite a later kick-oﬀ date for EA’s TV marketing campaign, FIFA continues to score with viewers +1 Cover

50 40 30 20

05/10/14

04/10/14

02/10/14

03/10/14

00 01/10/14

29/09/14

30/09/14

27/09/14

28/09/14

25/09/14

26/09/14

23/09/14

EA kicked oﬀ its TV advertising eﬀorts for FIFA 15 less than a week before the EU launch date. Fastforward three weeks and 60 per cent of the UK population has seen the ad. In terms of timing, EA’s media strategy surrounding the FIFA franchise has generally focused on

24/09/14

21/09/14

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19/09/14

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RANK

% 1+ Coverage (M16-34)

16/09/14

Individual TVRs (M16-34)

Individual TVRs

200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 00

CAMPAIGN

KING.COM – DIAMOND DIGGER SAGA

324

SUPERCELL – CLASH OF CLANS

298

ACTIVISION – DESTINY

293

DISNEY – DISNEY INFINITY 2

215

EA – FIFA 15

186

MICROSOFT – FORZA HORIZON 2

185

KING.COM – CANDY CRUSH SAGA

105

MICROSOFT – XBOX ONE CONSOLE

NINTENDO – TOMODACHI LIFE

TESCO – FIFA 15

same three-week duration, however, the FIFA 15 campaign has amassed 20 per cent more individual TVRs than last year’s predecessor. This could suggest tactics more focused on driving sales post-launch. The presence of the Tesco retailertagged campaign in the Top Ten

building a TV presence around three weeks prior to the launch date. When looking at last year’s TV ad campaign for FIFA 14, 150 individual TV viewer ratings (TVRs) were accumulated in advance of the September 27th launch date, compared to this year’s 81. In the

INDIVIDUAL TVRS

Games and Consoles campaigns (last four weeks of consolidated data) could further suggest a retailfocused strategy this time around. This mass awareness TV advertising strategy has propelled FIFA 15 to the top of the UK charts, where it has stayed since launch.

MCV GameTime is provided by Generation Media 0207 255 4650 | www.generationmedia.co.uk

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October 24th 2014

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

SONY DEV RELATIONS VET MOVES TO XBOX Simonetta joins ID @ Xbox O EGDF Board election results revealed O Zynga vets join Storm 8 XBOX | Former Sony developer relations exec AGOSTINO SIMONETTA has joined Microsoft’s ID @ Xbox indie programme. Simonetta will be working as a third-party account manager for the Xbox indie scheme. He spent five years at SCEE as senior account manager for development, working with PlayStation’s dev relations team in the UK. In his career he has also held roles at Sega and THQ. Simonetta announced his move over Twitter, saying: “Very happy to announce I’ve joined the ID @ Xbox team in Europe. Looking forward to

carry on working with the indie dev community.”

HILTUNEN and Denmark’s KLAUS HANSEN.

EGDF | The European Game Developer Federation has announced the result of its Board elections for the 2014/15 year. Quantic Dream’s GUILLAUME DE FONDAUMIERE (top left) retains his position as president, while HENDRIK LESSER (above left) of German game trade body GAME was voted vice president. Other board members include TIGA’s DR RICHARD WILSON, Finland’s KOOPEE

STORM 8 | Two industry veterans have moved to the mobile social gaming firm. TIM TOURNEAU (above left) joins Storm 8 as chief creative officer. He joins with nearly 20 years of experience at EA having worked with Maxis leading The Sims IP. Meanwhile STEVE PARKIS (above) becomes president of games and network. Parkis is a veteran of Disney, having worked on Toontown Online and Club Penguin.

Most recently the duo worked at rival social gaming firm Zynga, leading the publisher’s FarmVille IP. “Since our founding nearly six years ago, our goal has been to build the largest mobile games network by delivering the highest-quality mobile gaming experiences to players around the world,” said Storm 8 CEO and co-founder PERRY TAM. “The expansion of our executive team underscores our commitment to this mission and further accelerating Storm 8’s trajectory. Tim and Steve’s combined creative and operational leadership bring us the tandem skill set required to take Storm 8 to our next stage of growth.”

AROUND THE INDUSTRY KEYWORDS | The QA and localisation firm has acquired India-based outsourcing company Lakshya Digital. The art services outsourcing firm is based in New Delhi and Pune, India, and was bought by Keywords for $4m. “By providing us with an entry point into the large, growing yet fragmented art outsourcing market, the acquisition of Lakshya provides Keywords with additional growth opportunities as well as cost and revenue synergies,” said Keywords’ chief executive Andrew Day. “We look forward to welcoming Lakshya’s highly talented employees to the fast growing Keywords group and to continuing to build upon its strong brand, leveraging Keywords’ unparalleled geographic footprint,

October 24th 2014

client relationship and financial strength.” BANDAI NAMCO | The publisher has opened an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is to be headed up by Nicholas Ng, who is to report to the Singapore office’s general manager of sales and marketing Rainel Tan. “Malaysia has always been one of our key markets within Southeast Asia, and with the establishment of the new office we will increase our support to the local market, deliver more content and bring the best gaming experiences to Malaysian gamers,” said Bandai Namco Games Asia’s MD Gerard Noonan. “Our on ground marketing activities will strengthen the Bandai Namco’s brand and assist our growth plans for the Southeast Asian market.”

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EDITORIAL CONTACTS

2014

Wednesday, November 19th

Full-day conference and networking event featuring expert advice from

WE ARE PLAYING...

Event Partner

I’ve been playing The Evil Within. It’s exactly like Resident Evil 4. In other words, it’s terrifying, gruesome and brilliant. Christopher Dring, Editor

I’ve been working on my social link with the Xenomorph in Alien Isolation and hiding from my friends in Persona 4 Golden. That sounds right, yeah? Alex Calvin, Staﬀ Writer

cdring@nbmedia.com

acalvin@nbmedia.com

A bit of Driveclub, and having just splashed out on an Xbox One also some Forza Horizon 2 (in between decorating and building furniture). Ben Parﬁtt, Associate Editor

I’ve moved away from making nemeses in Shadow of Mordor in order to return to pissing oﬀ half of Europe in Crusader Kings II. Is it me? Matt Jarvis, Staﬀ Writer

bparﬁtt@nbmedia.com

mjarvis@nbmedia.com

Publisher: Michael French mfrench@nbmedia.com

Head of Operations: Stuart Moody smoody@nbmedia.com

Group Sales Manager: Alex.Boucher aboucher@nbmedia.com

Circulation: Lianne Davey ldavey@nbmedia.com

Account Manager: Conor Tallon ctallon@nbmedia.com

Finance Manager: Michael Canham mcanham@nbmedia.com

Production Manager: Alice Sanz asanz@nbmedia.com

Head of Design and Production: Kelly Sambridge ksambridge@nbmedia.com

Designer: Sam Richwood srichwood@nbmedia.com

Event Partner

Livestreaming Partner

BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW Tickets £199 at early bird rate (£349 from October 22nd) www.londongamesconference.com/buy-tickets or contact smather@nbmedia.com or call 020 7354 6001

Saxon House, 6a St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire, England SG14 1JA Newbay Media specialises in tradededicated print and digital publishing for entertainment and leisure markets. As well as MCV, Newbay publishes Develop, PCR, ToyNews, Music Week, MI Pro, Audio Pro International and BikeBiz. It also has two onlineonly brands: Mobile Entertainment, dedicated to the growing mass market smartphone sector, and Licensing.biz, for everyone in the global licensing industry. It also runs a number of events including the MCV Industry Excellence Awards, the London Games Conference and the Games Media Awards.

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October 24th 2014

DATA ANALYSIS Source Games and Charts compiled by GfK Chart-Track

DATA & RESEARCH A number of big new games launch but nothing can depose FIFA in its fourth week THE latest FIFA title has now been on top of the charts for four weeks, matching FIFA 13’s debut. In second place is new survival horror title The Evil Within from the master of the genre Shinji Mikami. Though the game was unable to depose FIFA, the PlayStation 4 version of The Evil Within was the single best selling SKU of the week. BETHESDA’s The Evil Within replaces fellow scary game Alien Isolation, which drops to sixth place with a 70 per cent dip in sales. A new entry in the Borderlands series takes third place. The Pre-Sequel released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, and its high

placement in the charts is an indication of how active the user base on the older hardware still is. Four per cent of Borderlands: The PreSequel’s boxed sales were on PC. But as is common for the platform, digital sales are far higher. This week 2K’s shooter topped the Steam charts, while its Season Pass landed in sixth place. The Pre-Sequel knocks last week’s Steam No.1, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, down to second position. And in the weeks building up to Civilization: Beyond Earth, it’s preorders are rising up the charts, this week coming in third place.

TOP 10 STEAM CHARTS

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 01 05 RE 04 NEW 03 NEW RE NEW

BORDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL PUBLISHER: 2K GAMES DEVELOPER: 2K AUSTRALIA

TITLE PUBLISHER Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Warner Bros Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth (P) 2K Games Payday 2 505 Games Counter-Strike: Global Oﬀensive Valve Borderlands: Pre-Sequel Season Pass 2K Games Alien Isolation Sega The Evil Within Bethesda Tomb Raider Square Enix Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne Paradox

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

LW NEW NEW 03 04 02 06 05 10 NEW 07 09 11 08 12 16 14 13 18 17 15 26 20 21 NEW 25 18 24 22 28 23 27 RE RE 32 29 37 RE 30 39

FIFA 15 EA FORMATS: PS4, XO, PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS, Vita, PC DEVELOPER: EA CANADA TITLE THE EVIL WITHIN BORDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL MIDDLE -EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR FORZA HORIZON 2 ALIEN ISOLATION DESTINY DRIVECLUB MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION F1 2014 SKYLANDERS TRAP TEAM SUPER SMASH BROS MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION NBA 2K15 DISNEY INFINITY 2.0 THE LEGO MOVIE VIDEOGAME PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE SLEEPING DOGS: DEFINITIVE EDITION GRAND THEFT AUTO V THE SIMS 4 CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER FROZEN: OLAF’S QUEST WATCH DOGS THE BORDERLANDS COLLECTION LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES TERRARIA TOMODACHI LIFE THE LAST OF US: REMASTERED MARIO KART 8 BATTLEFIELD 4 ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG DISNEY INFINITY NEW SUPER MARIO BROS U SKATE 3 DIABLO III ULTIMATE EVIL TITANFALL COMMAND & CONQUER ULTIMATE SNIPER ELITE 3 JUST DANCE 2014

Week ending October 18th

October 24th 2014

FORMAT PUBLISHER PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Bethesda PS3, 360, PC 2K Games PS4, XO, PC Warner Bros XO Microsoft PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Sega PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard PS4 Sony PS4, PS3 Sony PS3, 360, PC Bandai Namco/Codemasters PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii Activision Blizzard 3DS Nintendo 360 Microsoft PS4, XO 2K Games PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Disney PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA PS4, XO, PC Square Enix PS3, 360 Rockstar PC EA PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Bethesda 3DS, DS GSP/Avanquest PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Ubisoft PS3, 360 2K Games PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros PS3, 360, PC 505 Games/Merge 3DS Nintendo PS4 Sony Wii U Nintendo PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Disney Wii U Nintendo PS3, 360 EA PS4. XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard XO, 360, PC EA PC EA PS4, XO, PS3, 360 505 Games PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii Ubisoft

Week ending October 18th

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DATA ANALYSIS Source

TOP 10 IPAD PAID CHARTS

TOP 20 INDIVIDUAL FORMAT

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

LW 01 NEW 02 04 NEW 03 07 06 08 NEW 10 19 11 17 NEW NEW NEW 05 12

THE EVIL WITHIN BETHESDA FORMAT: PS4

DEVELOPER: TANGO GAMEWORKS

TITLE FIFA 15 BORDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL FIFA 15 FIFA 15 THE EVIL WITHIN DRIVECLUB FIFA 15 MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR FORZA HORIZON 2 BORDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION SUPER SMASH BROS MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION THE EVIL WITHIN THE EVIL WITHIN F1 2014 ALIEN ISOLATION FORZA HORIZON 2

FORMAT 360 360 PS4 PS3 XO PS4 XO PS4 XO PS3 XO PS4 3DS 360 360 PS3 360 PS4 XO

PUBLISHER EA 2K Games EA EA Bethesda Sony EA Warner Bros Microsoft 2K Games Warner Bros Sony Nintendo Microsoft Bethesda Bethesda Bandai Namco/Codemasters Sega Microsoft

Week ending October 18th

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

MINECRAFT – POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

TITLE PUBLISHER Five Nights at Freddy’s The Chase Flightradar24 – Flight Tracker The Room Two Terraria Goat Simulator Notability Photon Flash Player Football Manager Handheld 2014

Scott Cawthon Barnstorm Flightradar24 AB Fireproof Games 505 Games Coﬀee Stain Studios Ginger Labs Appsverse Sega Week ending: October 12th

TOP 10 IPHONE PAID CHARTS

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

SLEEP CYCLE ALARM CLOCK DEVELOPER: NORTHCUBE AB

TITLE Minecraft– Pocket Edition Hypnotic Gastric Band Heads Up! Afterlight The Oﬃcial DSA Theory Test Plague Inc The Chase Pumped BMX 2 Construction Simulator 2014

PUBLISHER Mojang Once Byten Warner Bros Simon Filip TSO Ndemic Creations Barnstorm Yeah Us Astragon Software

TOP 10 XBOX LIVE (UK) 01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 05 06 08 07 03 09 10 RE RE

MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION MICROSOFT FORMATS: XO, 360, PC DEVELOPER: RESPAWN ENTERTAINMENT TITLE APOCZ TERRARIA – XBOX 360 EDITION CASTLEMINER Z SLENDER: THE ARRIVAL BATTLEFIELD 1943 WHITE NOISE ONLINE AVATAR WARFARE MOUNT YOUR FRIENDS THE IMPOSSIBLE GAME

PUBLISHER Sick Kreations 505 Games DigitalDNA Midnight City EA DigitalDNA DigitalDNA Stegersaurus Software FlukeDude

Week ending: October 12th

TOP 10 GOOGLE PLAY CHARTS

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

MINECRAFT – POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

TITLE The Dark Knight Rises Theory Test UK 2014 Flightradar24 Pro The Chase The Room Gangstar Vegas Poweramp Full Version Nova Launcher Pro AllCast Premium

PUBLISHER Gameloft Focus Multimedia Flightradar24 AB Barnstorm Games Fireproof Games Gameloft Max MP TeslaCoil Software Clockwork Mod

Week ending October 20th

PRESENTS

710

5 SECOND FACTS 230,000

Correct as of October 20th

Read and remember these stats so you can sound clever at the next Monday morning meeting...

600,000

24.99

PC component firm AMD is New 3DS and 3DS XL sold World of Warcraft Archos has revealed a shedding 710 employees. 233,438 units in their first subscriptions rose by over budget VR headset priced at This news comes as the two days on sale in Japan. 600,000 in the last quarter a mere £24.99. The gizmo firm says its Q3 revenue is Of this figure, 172,332 were prior to the launch of new will work with any phone with likely to decline 16 per cent the New 3DS XL release Warlords of Draenor a screen size of 6” or less

PDP design & manufacture the Oﬃcial Microsoft licensed Xbox ONE TV Kinect Sensor Clip europesales@pdp.com

www.pdp.com www.mcvuk.com

October 24th 2014

INTERVIEW DAVID BRABEN AND CHRIS ROBERTS

OPEN SPACE Industry legends David Braben and Chris Roberts have returned to making open-world sci-fi games, over two decades after they helped to define the genre. Matthew Jarvis asks them why they’re back and sees what future frontiers are in store

he space race has returned. More than 20 years after seminal franchises like Elite, Wing Commander and Star Wars: TIE Fighter set the bar for space simulation gaming, those that helped the genre first blast off are returning to making out-of-this-world games. Chief among them are David Braben, creator of 1984 title Elite, who has returned with the fourth sequel Elite: Dangerous after an 18-year gap, and Chris Roberts, creator of 1990s space-action series Wing Commander and the original director of Freelancer, who is developing ambitious simulation title Star Citizen. FAILURE TO LAUNCH That’s not to say titles in the last decade or so have abandoned the outer reaches completely – but space games of a certain breed have been in short supply as of late. “Games set in space have continued to be successful,” explains Braben. “The Halo, Dead Space and Mass Effect series, as well as many others, have done pretty well. “Publishers have largely shunned open-world space games, though, because of an understandable level of caution. Since Freelancer in 2003, there has been a perception among publishers that such games are expensive, hard to make and don’t sell too well when compared to big franchises like Call of Duty.” However, Braben adds, fatigue among consumers is now leading to somewhat of a resurgence for expansive star-gazing games. “A largely unsatisfied player demand has built up as gamers have begun to tire of a sequence of very similar first-person shooters,”

October 24th 2014

Chris Roberts sees Star Citizen as a ‘living entity’, due to its continuous evolution

he states. “There is a lot of appetite for something new.” Roberts adds that while a minority of more complex sci-fi games like EVE Online have managed to thrive over the last decade among a niche audience, the sub-genre as a whole has struggled to hit warp speed – until now. “I don’t know why particularly sci-fi fell out of favour for a while, especially the kind of game that I’m making, but I think you’re seeing a lot of it now,” he comments. “I don’t think it’s anything that’s suddenly just happened, maybe there’s been some interesting space games that are now on offer and perhaps the positive response to a few of them has emboldened other people to make the move.”

Publishers aren’t very good at knowing what people really want. Chris Roberts, Cloud Imperium Games Corporation

SPACE RACE So how is it that resurrected franchises from two decades ago, that deal with topics and gameplay seemingly condemned

to obscurity by publishers, have managed to explode back onto the scene with such aplomb? “There is a perfect storm brewing,” suggests Braben. “We’ve seen a decade of a lack of such games, which has meant a pentup demand for them. We’ve seen people getting tired of first-person shooters, we’ve seen the arrival of crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter; this has been great for open-world sci-fi games like Elite: Dangerous. I have wanted to come back to this genre for a long time and this proverbial ‘alignment of the stars’ has enabled it.” Roberts, whose $59m Star Citizen drive has been confirmed as the most successful crowdfunding campaign to date, agrees that new services like Kickstarter and a move away from traditional publishing methods have enabled creators like himself and Braben to return. “Publishers aren’t very good at knowing what people really want,” he says defiantly. “They know what people wanted yesterday. So they tend to always focus on giving people another version of what they were keen on yesterday. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t. What it does mean is that when you’re in a position where you want to do something that hasn’t been a big thing for a while – something like Star Citizen – they’re pretty myopic about it. But crowdfunding allowed the people themselves to have a voice, and that success has spurred on other people to go: ‘I’ll do a space game as well’. When people start to see there’s demand, they jump back on the bandwagon.”

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DAVID BRABEN AND CHRIS ROBERTS INTERVIEW

Elite: Dangerous is the ﬁrst game in the 30year-old series since 1995

Although both advocating for the rebirth of the genre, Roberts and Braben also find themselves facing off against each other with rival products. But Braben says that Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen – as well as other games joining the growing fray – can happily co-exist, much like two other legendary sci-fi franchises. “As a kid I would watch Star Trek on TV and was also a huge fan of Star Wars, he explains. “All these games are on different timescales, and, as such, fans of such games will doubtless play all of them as they come out. Competition is a good thing for players, as it drives the quality of all of the products.” SPACE AGE TECHNOLOGY Despite future console ports, both Wing Commander and Elite were initally computer-exclusive games, debuting on the PC DOS and BBC Micro/Acorn Electron respectively. That was in a gaming landscape alien to the one we now occupy, where consoles hold far more weight, but Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen are similarly PC-only – a move both creators say will allow them to go where very few games have gone before.

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“The Xbox One and PS4 specs are below those of a current topend PC, so from a technology perspective at least, it is PC that is driving things,” explains Braben. “The PC is great both because of its performance and because it is open. Not only is it straightforward for us to publish ourselves on the PC, but the PC is also open to all sorts of other elements; great devices like HOTAS sticks, Oculus Rift and other VR headsets, 3D displays and higher resolutions like 4K all make the PC very versatile. And, of course, the PC is continuing to improve with time. “The biggest change is that we will, and are already, seeing the resurgence of science fiction as a genre. We will see more crossdevice play – from tablets to phones to consoles to PCs – they will all begin to blur into one great gaming space. The future is an exciting place.” Roberts agrees: “The PS4 and Xbox One are essentially like strippeddown, mid-level gaming PCs, so there would be a potential for some form of the work that we’re doing to be on them. But it’s not our focus,

From a technology perspective at least, it is PC that is driving things. David Braben, Frontier Developments

because on PC it’s fun – it’s like a great playground – and we’re not limited by working on a particular platform. We can just push it. “When I worked on Freelancer the technology wasn’t really doing what I wanted, and the level of detail and immersion I wanted wasn’t really there. It was only a few years ago, looking at what you could do on a PC, that I felt: ‘Okay, I can really start to build’. “What was happening was that people were still building stuff based on what you could do on a PS3 or Xbox 360. They were really stuck in time in 2006, but in 2011 things had moved on. But no one was really doing anything, because they were worried that they wouldn’t be able to put it on a console.” One bit of tech pushing game boundaries, especially for space simulation titles, is virtual reality. Both Star Citizen and Elite support the Oculus Rift, as does CCP’s space dogfighting spin-off EVE: Valkyrie. “The change in hardware and what it can do allows people like myself and David to do new stuff, but also stuff that follows the gameplay mechanics in our old games.,” conludes Roberts. “You can do it with much more fidelity, so you feel a lot less limited than you did in the past.”

October 24th 2014

THE BIG GAME LITTLEBIGPLANET 3

LITTLEBIGPLANET 3

BRAVE NEW LITTLEBIG WORLD Sony’s creation game franchise is back, this time with a new developer at the helm. Alex Calvin speaks to the studio in charge, Sumo Digital, about working with franchise creator Media Molecule and the next wave of PS4 gamers Release Date: November 26th Formats: PS4/PS3 Publisher: Sony Developer: Sumo Digital

THE announcement of LittleBigPlanet 3 at E3 2014 came as a surprise. Prior to the show, franchise creator Media Molecule announced it wouldn’t be present, yet at Sony’s Press Briefing a new LittleBigPlanet title was revealed. As it turned out, the developer wasn’t lying. Development duties on LittleBigPlanet 3 are being handled by Sumo Digital “It was a mix of Sony wanting to do a LittleBigPlanet game and us wanting to make one to be honest,” says the studio’s design director Damian Hosen. “I was living in London and joined Sumo just after the project

October 24th 2014

platform game, but also a title in which consumers can create their own levels. And Sumo was eager to get support from the series creator Media Molecule in making the game. “In the early stages we were in regular contact with Media Molecule,” Hosen says. “That was really valuable for us. It’s a series that’s been built from an entirely fresh perspective. That’s true of all Media Molecule games. The studio’s never going to make Damian Hosen, Sumo Digital anything like anyone else. And part of that is that they set themselves very clear targets and goals when they start making something and have a very clear unique vision.

started and heard I could go work on a LittleBigPlanet game. I dragged my three children and wife half way across the country just to do that. I was so in love with the game and the franchise. “I was really excited. but at the same time, Sumo had some ideas before I started about how the franchise can be shaped and how it can be enhanced over time. The team had conversations with Sony and those two visions really aligned. And from there we had a very small team of ten to 15 people working on prototypes. It’s all grown from that really.” LittleBigPlanet 3 continues the series formula of being both a

LittleBigPlanet is quite unique. A lot of the games still have a hardcore, aesthetic. LittleBigPlanet is so diﬀerent.

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LITTLEBIGPLANET 3 THE BIG GAME

CREATIVE JUICES WHEN LittleBigPlanet first launched in 2008 it was largely on its own in the console creation genre. But now LittleBigPlanet isn’t alone. It’s going up against Minecraft, as well as Microsoft’s Project Spark. Yet Sumo Digital creative director Damian Hosen says that Project Spark doesn’t compare to LittleBigPlanet. “LittleBigPlanet has nothing in common with Project Spark,” he says. “I imagine Project Spark was developed as a reaction to LittleBigPlanet as some strategic move to tick some spreadsheet box. “Really they have nothing in common apart from a very high

“So when we went to talk to Mark Healey [Media Molecule creative director] and Kareem Ettouney [Media Molecule art director] it was really cool to get a sense of what they were thinking, how the game came out like it did, what was their vision for it, what limitations did they put on themselves. Kareem said to me that the Story Mode that you release is an example of what you make in Create Mode. That made everything make sense. It all just clipped into place. I can completely understand why the game was like what it was. Those personal insights we got from them early on were invaluable in

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use of the word create. If you think about it LittleBigPlanet is entirely unique. It’s got a really charming high-quality and fun story mode which has been built with the same creation tools that’s given away with the game. That’s a phenomenal achievement because the tools have to be so good for that to be possible. “If the tools weren’t as powerful then it wouldn’t be as much fun. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything with that element of uniqueness to it. The part of LittleBigPlanet that knocks it beyond the park is the incredible charm and sense of identity that comes in the game.”

enjoy, we wanted to inject a huge amount of life in terms of the kind of things you’ll be playing. in order to do that we had to add in a number of create tools. All in all we around 100 tools, which allowed us to make a game where every level is completely different. That’s something I’m really proud of. 100 is a big number, but each one of those is a pretty massive addition in its own right. “For example, adding Damian Hosen, Sumo Digital something like new playable characters, not only do you get to play them with their fun gameplay mechanics, which is great, you can also take them into Create

shaping how we made the rest of the game.” BOLD MOVES Even though the team had some pointers from the IP’s creators, Sumo Digital has worked to make its mark on the latest LittleBigPlanet game “We’ve been working on the game for three years now, we’ve spent a lot of time to add in a lot of stuff. We’re making really a fun charming platform game that anyone can enjoy. But it’s made with the tool set that you ship with the game,” Hosen explains. “In order to make a really fun platform game that everyone can

We’re making a charming platformer that anyone can enjoy. But it’s made with a tool set that you ship with the game.

October 24th 2014

THE BIG GAME LITTLEBIGPLANET 3

BOTH GENERATIONS

New characters in LittleBigPlanet 3 include the larger Toggle

Mode and start giving them unique special powers and abilities so you can make them turn invisible or walk through walls at the touch of button. There’s load of stuff that people are going to do.” COMMUNITY SERVICE As well as being the first home console LittleBigPlanet game to not be developed by Media Molecule, it is also the franchise’s debut on the PlayStation 4. And according to Hosen, this has allowed them to build on the level-sharing community aspects of the original games. “A key thing for us straight away was the Share button. The first thing we did was look into incorporating the video capture into sharing mode in the game,” he says. “Now you can capture creations, you can edit them into a really slick trailer and publish that alongside your levels. Only PS4 users can use that, but PS3 players can watch the videos. It’s a really nice powerful new feature.

October 24th 2014

“LittleBigPlanet 3 and the Share button is a perfect match.” Hosen goes as far as to suggest that the Share button was inspired by LittleBigPlanet games. “I don’t know where the share button came from in Sony, but I imagine it was inspired by LittleBigPlanet and the concept of ‘Play, Create, Share’.” Sumo also had been able to upgrade the visuals of older levels using the power of the PS4. “Upgrading the graphics doesn’t just include the new content that we’re making, that includes old levels, too. LittleBigPlanet 3 is backwards compatible with the previous games, and those levels are upscaled to the quality of LittleBigPlanet 3. That’s a great source of pride for us. There are already 3m levels in existence and they are coming to PS4.”

I imagine the PlayStation 4’s Share button was inspired by LittleBigPlanet’s concept of ‘Play, Create, Share’. Damian Hosen, Sumo Digital

THE NEXT WAVE Over the last few months both PlayStation and Xbox have talked to MCV about the second wave of

LITTLEBIGPLANET 3 is coming to both PS4 and PlayStation 3. Most first-party titles have focused on the newer machines this year. But Sumo Digital says being exclusive to PlayStation 4 wasn’t an option as it didn’t want to divide the LittleBigPlanet fanbase. “We have a massive live community that’s been running for many years on PS3. People that really, really love the games and have been making stuff but don’t have a PS4 yet,” Sumo Digital creative director Damian Hosen says. “The community is so positive and large. We didn’t want to divide it. Over time people will move over to PS4, but at this point it feels like there’s a large base of players on PS3. I’d hate to think that we’d ignored them.”

consumers – the gamers that were happy to wait a little longer for their new console. The gamers that didn’t have to buy it on day one. “LittleBigPlanet will speak to that second wave of gamers. It’s a really exciting time,” Hosen says. “It was interesting being launched at E3 and nervously watching back in Sheffield. LittleBigPlanet is quite unique. A lot of the games coming out of E3 still have the hardcore, violent aesthetic to it. Those genres are still really popular. But LittleBigPlanet is such a fresh, unique game. I feel really good about it. I have three little children, and it’s great to be making stuff that is positive and can be played by kids. It shows what games can do, it’s not just a passive experience, it’s not about sitting on the sofa playing it, this game invites you join in. He concludes: “It’s a beacon, it’s a real shining light to me and that’s one of the reasons I’m so keen to work on it.”

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LOTS OF STUFF HAPPENING HERE

28.10.2014

RETRO GAMING

BACK FROM THE DEAD Everyone might be in a tizzy over the latest generation of hardware at the moment, but many gamers remain fiercely fond of gaming on outdated products. Matthew Jarvis chats to GAME category director Charlotte Knight and David James-Turvey of specialist Retrobution

imply pass a storefront stocked with N64, PlayStation and Dreamcast games with older gamers in tow and you’ll be able to see that retro is very much still in fashion. The accompanying chorus of phrases like ‘I remember playing this as a kid’ and ‘I put so many hours into Goldeneye’ highlights the nostalgia-driven opportunity retailers should be harnessing – with many already taking the chance. “Retro gaming remains big news for us,” GAME category director Charlotte Knight tells MCV. “A number of our customers are still getting considerable use out of their older consoles. The PS2 and original Xbox are still great pieces of kit as well as an affordable entry point to gaming. “Our aim is to make the widest possible range of software, hardware, digital content and accessories available to our customers, and as long as there is demand for these games, we will continue to sell them.” David James-Turvey of Welsh specialist Retrobution echoes the sentiment that PlayStation 2 titles are particularly popular. “PS2 always sells well – what a library of games,” he states. “At the right offer PS2 software is a brilliant daily seller.” James-Turvey adds his belief that Xbox 360 games will eventually inherit the retro gaming crown. “In five to ten years or so, Xbox 360 games will be very cheap to buy, like PS2 games, but they will still sell,” he says. “They are the retro of tomorrow.” DIGITAL AFTERLIFE Many have seen the rise of digital as a death knell for retro gaming,

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Many retro purchases are driven by nostalgia for older games

as original cartridges and discs are replaced with code on online stores. For example, Sony offers PlayStation games digitally as ‘PSone Classics’. “I’m trying to help prevent a digital takeover by offering retro stuff at reasonable prices and allowing customers to trade new for old or old for new to keep the cycle going,” says James-Turvey. He adds: “Retro for the average customer is still very much an impulse buy. “Some may want to play Crash Bandicoot for the weekend with mates, and if they buy it digitally they won’t be able to sell it again. “As long as you can keep the trade cycle going there’s still life in those old yet very playable games.” But GAME conversely sees digital as a new lease of life for some titles.

In five to ten years or so, Xbox 360 games will be very cheap to buy, like PS2 games, but they will still sell. They are the retro of tomorrow. David James-Turvey, Retrobution

“There is no reason why retro and digital can’t go hand-in-hand,” says Knight. “The ever-increasing number of platforms and ways to game provide a huge opportunity for publishers and retailers to help unlock the wealth of digital content that is available. “A few months ago we launched a range of Sega digital download codes, opening up arcade games to a whole new audience. “It’s fun to be able to offer a new way for parents to play alongside their kids and to see a revival of some iconic games and characters. In fact, we’ve seen such a great response that we recently extended the range. “That said, we’re sure that well looked after physical memorabilia and collectibles will continue to hold their value.” RIPE OLD AGE Whichever way retro is being kept alive, it’s clear to see that, for both smaller and bigger retailers, the cliché stands – there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet. “You only need to walk into one of our stores to see that previousgeneration consoles still provide viable retail opportunities,” confirms Knight. “We’d expect to see content for these platforms become increasingly digital and whilst there is demand we’ll be there to meet it.” James-Turvey concludes: “There will always be an audience for more traditional gaming. “The more people preserve physical games and offer trade-ins, the longer you will see them in shops. If stores gradually write them off, then it’ll be a sad day when all your physical games will be on eBay at mad prices.”

October 24th 2014

INDIE INTERVIEW CURVE DIGITAL

AHEAD OF THE CURVE It might have its roots in game development but Curve is also a publisher. In fact, it has been for nearly two years now. Alex Calvin speaks to its MD Jason Perkins

here’s a new craze in the games publishing scene. A number of companies, from 505 Games and Mastertronic to Team 17 and Green Man Gaming, have been wooing indie developers with a desire to find the next big independent hit. But Curve Digital, a sister business to developer Curve Studios, is eager to point out that they’ve been offering this service “for years.” ”We recognised the opportunity to create a small, agile, indie publisher to provide a muchneeded service to emerging micro studios and developers,” says MD Jason Perkins. Curve Digital has since been behind some of the bigger indie hits in recent memory, such as Thomas Was Alone and Stealth Inc. Perkins acknowledges that these games and their makers don’t need publishers. But they can make a real difference. “We’re in a situation now where publishers are at once both less useful than they were and more useful than ever because of the way that games work now,” he explains. “You don’t need one but it’s a good way of getting your games noticed. “There’s been a lot of talk about self-publishing, which is developers just pushing a game out through a digital portal.” Curve may have been in this space for a while but there are now multiple businesses offering publishing services. Perkins says Curve’s development heritage gives them an edge. “What we found was there’s a new wave of publishers that essentially aren’t that different from a PR agency, in that they will offer marketing support. There is still a

October 24th 2014

Stealth Inc was the ﬁrst game published by Curve

lot that a true publisher like Curve can offer, like an in-house QA team – we don’t outsource any of that.”

We’re in a situation where publishers are both less useful than they were and more useful than ever.

FULL-CIRCLE CURVE As well as offering PR, marketing, QA and localisation services, Curve has a large focus on supporting games post-launch. “Our biggest learning as an indie publisher is the life cycle management of titles,” Perkins explains. “Some publishers just help you with the game’s initial launch. “That’s really important to get right, but there’s much more to a game. They aren’t quite the same as they were three years ago. There’s so much going on, so much vying for consumer attention. “We counteract that by making sure we are doing really intelligent things, for example vouchers that apply to certain other games if they’re similar to the title we are selling. We keep our eye on the game years after launch.” Right now Curve only has a handful of games, so it’s easy to talk about maintaining a game long after its launch. But

how is the firm going to ensure it maintains this focus as it grows? “Our plan is to grow the business appropriately,” says Perkins. “We’ve got four people on the publishing side of things, with two guys focused on PR and marketing.” As well as expanding its catalogue, Curve has plans to expand overseas, too. “Where we will grow the business is by looking to open a US office to work closely with our partners there,” Perkins says. “We have strong partners in the US, like Valve and Sony America, but hopefully in the future it’ll be Microsoft and Nintendo too.” It isn’t just planning to move to America – the firm has also started to release games in Japan. To launch Stealth Inc in the region, Curve teamed up with Square Enix. “To survive as a smaller company we need to pick and choose your partners well,” admits Perkins. “We made the decision that we’d speak to established groups in Japan to partner with them.”

Jason Perkins, Curve Digital

CURVE CONNECTIONS It’s not just other territories, either. Curve is also expanding from digital stores to physical ones. “We wanted to have an impact at retail, which is difficult to do as a digital publisher,” admits Perkins. “We partnered with GAME and launched The Swapper into their stores, we did a launch promotion with them, and it’s selling well.” He concludes: “We can take those games across to console and release them worldwide with support on the ground at retail. “All to maximise the revenue on the games the guys are working on.”

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XBOX 360 AT RETAIL

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE XBOX 360 AT UK RETAIL? As the Xbox One approaches its first birthday, Matthew Jarvis asks Xbox 360 product manager Lee Williams what the future now looks like for Microsoft’s older machine

n June last year, GfK Chart-Track announced that the Xbox 360 had overtaken Nintendo’s Wii to become the UK’s best-selling home console for that generation. With almost nine million units sold, the machine is second only to the monolithic PS2 in terms of home console sales in the UK. Launched back in December 2005, the 360 enjoyed eight years launching blockbuster franchises such as Gears of War, Forza and Crackdown before its successor, the Xbox One, hit UK shelves in November 2013. But with the new machine selling rapidly, is there any life left in the Xbox 360? Lee Williams, Xbox 360 product manager at Microsoft, tells MCV that, while the One may be fresh hardware, the 360’s established catalogue of games and lower price still makes it an ideal purchase for many first-time console buyers. “With exciting new bundles and the largest library of games, the Xbox 360 offers consumers a great value entry into gaming,” he says. “We’re still seeing strong demand for the UK’s best-everselling home console, and with further investment including the introduction of a 500GB SKU, we are committed to supporting Xbox 360 for the foreseeable future.” THINK OF THE CHILDREN Williams adds that the Xbox 360 is particularly growing in popularity among families and younger children, thanks to the wide selection of kid-friendly games that have built up over the last near-

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decade – and continue to launch on the console. “Since Xbox One’s launch in November 2013, we’ve seen demand for Xbox 360 amongst parents of younger children grow,” he reveals. “This has been supported by sales of software titles such as Minecraft and FIFA, whose low PEGI rating makes them ideal for ‘new-to-console’ buyers and younger audiences. Plus, with the huge library of Arcade games in the Xbox Store, there’s a game to suit every age and taste.” While the Xbox One may be understandably occupying the bulk of Microsoft’s advertising efforts at the moment, the firm is also making the most of this new opportunity among families, releasing a range of offers and new SKUs tilted towards children who may not be ready for the step up to next-gen. “Where it makes sense, we tailor our bundles and marketing to ensure we offer the best value and relevant content for our customers,” says Williams. “An example of this is our upcoming Xbox 360 Blue Special Edition – the console comes with two free games, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Toy Soldiers. This PEGI 12-rated bundle makes it perfect for parents looking to gift an Xbox 360 to their teenagers this Christmas, where PEGI 18-rated titles wouldn’t be suitable. “Likewise, our FIFA 15 Xbox 360 Value Bundle is rated PEGI 3, making it ideal for those keen to enter gaming from a young age with a great value price tag.”

Since Xbox One’s launch in November 2013, we’ve seen demand for Xbox 360 amongst parents of younger children grow. Lee Williams, Microsoft

October 24th 2014

XBOX 360 AT RETAIL

RETAIL REVOLUTION It’s not just the audience for the 360 that has evolved over the years. The way retailers sell the machine – as well as the face of those retailers themselves – has drastically altered since 2005. Williams outlines some of the new ways Microsoft is working with stores. “Back when the Xbox 360 launched, bricks and mortar stores were the key focus,” he states. “But we’ve seen advances in online experience, mobile transactions and the growing importance of eCRM (Electronic Customer Relationship Management) and loyalty programmes to retail since that time. “The modern retail landscape means we can be a lot more targeted in our efforts, due to the greater availability of data and insights – tailoring offers and communications to specific audiences, and even individual customers. “We’ve recently launched our code-to-content delivery programme, allowing digital software to be sold directly in-store at GAME, and we’re rolling out ESD (Electronic Software Download) and POSA (Point of Sale Activation) cards to a growing number of retail partners, making it even easier for customers to buy content digitally.” THERE’S LIFE IN THE OLD BOX YET While the Xbox One may be making headlines as Microsoft’ next-generation of gaming, the 360 continues to shift units, attracting new demographics as its core audience moves onto the new hardware. “Xbox 360 hardware is available marketwide at retail and via our exclusive Xbox distributor Exertis, alongside its accessory portfolio, which continues to perform incredibly strongly,” Williams says of the machine’s availability to retailers. He concludes by saying more is on the way to keep the aging box fresh in the minds of consumers – and the 360 isn’t out for the count yet: “We have more great value bundles, a stunning Blue Special Edition console launching this October, plus a growing Arcade and software portfolio for gamers to look forward to.”

October 24th 2014

At the time, Halo 4 was the biggest Xbox 360 to date, bolstered by a limited edition console

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL A number of limited edition Xbox 360 SKUs made their way into retail during the console’s lifecycle, based on a number of the console’s biggest titles. From Gears of War 3 to Modern Warfare 3, and even the R2-D2-styled machine that came accompanied by a gold C-3P0 controller, stores weren’t short of eye-catching designs to stock. These special models were bolstered by the many viral marketing campaigns engineered by Microsoft to boost the console’s presence, including the ‘You are the controller’ Kinect advertising run and the 2008 ‘Live your Moment’ marketing, which hoped to capture the social

Lee Williams, Xbox 360 product manager, Microsoft

and casual audience segments by positioning the 360 as an entertainment platform. Asked which campaigns had seen the most success during the 360’s lifetime, Williams recalls the record-smashing launch of Microsoft Studios’ biggest-ever game, 2012’s Halo 4. “Our Halo 4 Limited Edition console stands out,” he says. “Not only did we have a beautifully designed console, with special sound effects and custom controllers, but it was coupled with an incredible game. We hosted midnight openings at GAME throughout the country and stoked excitement by flying the Halo Glyph down the river Thames on launch night.”

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WINNER GADGET OF THE YEAR

WINNER THE GAMING AWARD

Glacier White

” is a trademark of the same company.

THE WINNERS GAMES MEDIA AWARDS

BEST OF THE PRESS The UK’s games media gathered to celebrate the best journalists in the industry. MCV takes a look back at the night, and who picked up prizes

undreds of journalists and writers from all around the industry came together celebrate the best journalism from the last twelve months at this year’s Games Media Awards. The evening was hosted by comedian Holly Walsh of Mock the `Week and 8 Out of Ten Cats fame. Former Official Nintendo Magazine editor Matt Castle – now leading OXM – took away two awards over the course of the evening. Early in the proceedings

he was on stage to pick up the Game Critic prize, and returned at the end of the night to pick up the Journalists’ Journalist award, as voted for by the media in the the room that evening. The first two awards of the evening went to Eurogamer. Wesley Yin-Poole took away the News Writer prize, while Christian Donlan won the Features Writer award. Scottish freelancer Kirk McKeand won the Rising Star prize, sponsored by Sega, while

Hundreds of journalists came together to celebrate the best journalism from the last twelve months.

Videogamer’s Jim Trinca was awarded the Video prize. And threatened to drone strike the attendees’ homes. Matt Lees took to the stage as Daft Souls won the Podcast prize. That’s before Edge and Kotaku UK won the awards for best editorial team for print and online respectively. IGN UK took away new prize Gamers’ Choice, as voted for by the public, just as the team is about to record its 250th episode.

SPONSORS GAMER’S CHOICE PARTNER

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RISING STAR PARTNER

MEDIA PARTNER

EVENT PARTNERS

AFTER PARTY SPONSOR

October 24th 2014

GAMES MEDIA AWARDS THE WINNERS

THE JUDGES A new judging system was put in place for this year’s Games Media Awards, ensuring a bigger focus on the actual work of games journalists - and votes from a wider pool of media insiders, commentators and experts. We selected an array of voices, from specialist writers through to mainstream contributors, developers, industry execs including PR and marketing staff (including former journalists). We then split them into panels responsible for specific awards. Each panel was given a long list of up to 15 entrants per award, and were instructed to read submissions provided by each entrant and then vote for first and second choice winners. The votes in each instance gave us clear indication who should win. Everyone who voted was allowed to put forward suggestions for Gamers’ Choice, while all the media judges were eligible to suggest Journalists’ Journalist nominees.

We’d like to thank the judges for taking part in this process for their time spent reading/ listening/watching the long lists and offering feedback and commentary on the entries. Our 50-plus judges included: Adam Cook, Adam Rosser, Alex Simmons, Alison Beasley, Andrew Smith, Andy Robinson, Ben Parfitt, Caroline Miller, Chris Schilling, Craig Stephens, Dan Griliopoulous, Dan Maher, Daniel Nye Griffiths, Debbie Timmins, Emily Britt, Emily Gera, Georg Backer, Guy Cocker, Ian Morris, James Jarvis, Jo Bartlett, Joel Snape, Jon Hicks, Jonathan Beales, Lee Bradley, Leon Hurley, Mark Brown, Martin Mathers, Matt Lees, Matthew Pellett, Neil Gorton, Paul Presley, Peter Willington, Rob Crossley, Sean Murray, Simon Byron, Simon Miller, Stefano Petrullo, Steve Hogarty, Stuart Dredge, Stuart Saw, Tim Edwards, Tony Mott, Tracey McGarrigan and Will Freeman.

NEWS WRITER WESLEY YIN-POOLE, EUROGAMER

FEATURES WRITER CHRISTIAN DONLAN, EUROGAMER

Thank you. Chris is very sorry he can’t make it tonight. For my part, thank you very much and well done because Chris is a great writer and a great human being.

Thank you very much. This is lovely. This is truly a team effort. I wouldn’t be here without the Eurogamer news team, which is best in class. Thank you all very much.

Christian was unable to make it to this year’s Games Media Awards. Eurogamer’s Oli Welsh collected his prize in his absence

Wesley Yin-Poole, Eurogamer

October 24th 2014

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THE WINNERS GAMES MEDIA AWARDS

GAMES CRITIC MATTHEW CASTLE, OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

RISING STAR KIRK MCKEAND

This is such a surprise. I feel a bit cheeky as I don’t write as many reviews as I used to. I’m chuffed that people are reading our stuff - sometimes you can feel a bit sidelined in print, so this is really appreciated.

Holy shit. Thank you. I though Jim Trinca was going to win to be honest. Thank you to all the editors who have given me a chance and tidied up my copy.

Matthew Castle, Official Xbox Magazine

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Kirk McKeand, freelance writer

October 24th 2014

GAMES MEDIA AWARDS THE WINNERS

VIDEO JIM TRINCA, VIDEOGAMER.COM

PODCAST MATT LEES, DAFT SOULS

This is fantastic. I’d like to thank Tom and James Orry, Adam McCann, Simon Miller, Steve Burns – who is going to drone strike a lot of your homes tonight – and Chris Bratt. And lastly my sister from another mister, Krystal Sim.

I started this for fun, then people said I should get women on the show, so I did. It’s cool that I can provide a platform for diversity at a time when it’s difficult. Thanks to all the other people on the podcast, I couldn’t do it without them.

Jim Trinca, Videogamer.com

Matt Lees, Daft Souls

October 24th 2014

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THE WINNERS GAMES MEDIA AWARDS

EDITORIAL TEAM – PRINT NATHAN BROWN, EDGE

EDITORIAL TEAM – ONLINE KEZA MACDONALD, KOTAKU UK

Magazines get harder to make every year but they let us keep doing it. Thanks to all who have helped make Edge what it is - Ben Maxwell, Matthew Clapham, our wonderful art team and especially Michael Gapper.

What an honour it is to win the ‘Eurogamer Award’. We do all we can with not an enormous amount. It’s a difficult time to be a games journalist now, so it means a lot to have the support of our peers. Thank you.

Nathan Brown, Edge

Keza MacDonald, Kotaku Uk

Congratulations to all the winners at the

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October 24th 2014

GAMES MEDIA AWARDS THE WINNERS

GAMERS’ CHOICE IGN UK PODCAST

JOURNALISTS’ JOURNALIST MATTHEW CASTLE, OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

This is what happens when you bus in 50 Future employees to vote. The thing about print is there are so many people who don’t get recognised. It’s a communal spirit, so I’m so so chuffed to be given this. Thank you.

We’re about to record episode 250 so it’s extra special to receive this award now. If it wasn’t for everyone who have appeared on the podcast, and the 300,000 people who listen each month, it would be nothing. Alex Simmons, IGN UK

October 24th 2014

Matthew Castle, Official Xbox Magazine

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JUST DANCE’S MOBILE MOVE

LIFE AFTER WII: THE FUTURE OF JUST DANCE Ubisoft hopes to keep its dancing franchise alive with two new games, including one for mobile. Christopher Dring meets brand manager Jason Altman

THERE are millions upon millions of gamers that never left the Wii. This isn’t news to most MCV readers. The disappointing sales of Wii U is testament to this. And these gamers have never bought another console. Many are playing tablets, smartphones and PCs. It’s a notion backed up by Nintendo. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto told Edge last month: “Because of the spread of smart devices, people take games for granted now. We do not have to worry about making games relevant to general people’s daily lives”. So where does that leave the big casual titles that found a lucrative home on Wii? Is it just about managing the decline? ENTER MOBILE Just Dance is one such IP having to face life after the Wii. So Ubisoft has been eyeing new platforms. “We’ve been looking at mobile,” says brand manager Jason Altman. “There has been a decline since the old gen, and an explosion in the casual market on mobile.” Just Dance Now is that mobile title, a free app that can be downloaded for iPhone or Anrdoid. It effectively turns your smartphone into a Wii Remote, and by visiting Justdancenow. com, gamers can play Just Dance using their smartphone. The firm says the game is ‘latency-free’, irrespective of your connection. And it allows for up to 20,000 gamers to play together. The site can of course be accessed via tablets, laptops and smart TVs. “The opportunity to have massive parties, lots of people dancing

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Players use their smartphones as a controller in Just Dance Now

is something that can bring it from being a game IP to being an entertainment brand,” says Altman. “We also don’t have to just release a tracklist once a year. It’s live so we can update it at any time. We can be much more agile and, if things go well, bring new content.”

In Brazil there are 10m consoles and 130m smartphones. Our audience goes from being tiny to massive.

CONSOLE WARS Creating mobile versions of hit games has been something other major casual and family titles have been doing. Activision has just brought a full Skylanders game to tablets this year, while shortly Sony is releasing a new SingStar that uses a phone as the microphone. But in many ways Just Dance goes even further. Fans will need nothing more than products that they almost certainly already own, namely a smartphone and a screen with internet access.

Jason Altman, Ubisoft

But won’t this hurt the upcoming console game Just Dance 2015? “Just Dance Now is the greatest hits of Just Dance,” says Altman. “If you’re someone who wants all the features and the new track list, then console is right for you.” “Mobile really is for people who don’t own consoles and markets where consoles aren’t that big. In Brazil there are around 10m

consoles, and 130m smartphones. Our audiences goes from being small to something massive.” Just Dance 2015’s new features include Community Remix. which lets gamers record themselves with the camera and share it. The community can vote for their favourites and the dev team will create playable remixed gameplay. Yet the console sector for Just Dance does face challenges. Particularly following the decision by Microsoft to remove Kinect as an automatic pack-in with Xbox One. But Altman is confident. “Dancing is universal,” he says. “One of our core values is to be on the pulse of tech and popular culture and music. If we can have a great songs, choreography and costumes every year it keeps us alive. There’s not a point in the future where we think it will fail.”

October 24th 2014

MARKETPLACE

SHELF LIFE Adam Cashmore of Ashby-based Extreme Gamez talks to MCV about the steps it has taken to diversify what it sells and which console he feels is going to sell the best this Q4 is deﬁnitely going to be the better selling machine as we go into the Q4 period. There is a far higher demand than for Xbox One. They are a very similar price now. Originally the PS4 was selling better due to having a lower price point. A lot of people don’t seem to trust Microsoft, so aren’t buying the Xbox One.

How has business been? Up and down. Some of the new releases have done quite well; The Evil Within and Shadow of Mordor surprised us by selling fantastically. But overall it hasn’t been brilliant.

Have you held any midnight launches or events for some of the bigger titles? We haven’t. It’s due to insurance or something, but it’s easier for us to let people wait. It’s not the best.

Have sales picked up since the rather quiet summer period? They have since summer, but that was one of the worst periods on record for the store. It was really slow. But the new releases have injected some life in the market.

Have hardware sales increased alongside software sales? Console sales have been pretty steady since launch. Xbox One is selling much, much better than it had been before, but PS4 is still winning in terms of hardware. That

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How have you been coping during the quiet periods? We started selling content online, over Amazon and eBay, getting

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October 24th 2014

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MARKETPLACE

Extreme Gamez 3 Mill Lane Mews, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 1HP

some of the rarer items we get in out there. We’ve also been trying to stock other things, like ﬁgures and other merchandise. They’ve been selling really well for us. How much of your revenue comes from online retail? Not much. I’d say around ten per cent, if that. Have you had to mix up what you sell to get people in-store? A few years ago we started

Phone: 01530 412 983 Website: extreme-gamez.co.uk Twitter: @Extreme_Gamez Facebook: /ExtremeGamezAshby

stocking skating stuff. That sells really well. The other thing we have starting getting in is merchandise. The profit is much higher in merchandise than it is in games – definitely worth stocking. Have you started selling digital codes? We do the DLCSoft codes, which is a big part of the digital push. Profit is quite low but the turnover is high. That helps a lot. We only do the Microsoft physical cards.

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The new Call of Duty will ﬁnally hit shelves in November, but before then there’s Bayonetta, Civilization and Sunset Overdrive to keep players busy FORMAT

GENRE

PUBLISHER

TELEPHONE

DISTRIBUTOR

Wii U

Action

Nintendo

01753 483 700

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October 24th Bayonetta 2 Civilization: Beyond Earth

Strategy

2K Games

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Exertis

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3DS

Life-simulation

Nintendo

01753 483 700

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Fantasia: Music Evolved

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CentreSoft

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PS4/XO/Wii U/PS3/360/Wii Rhythm

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PS3/360

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October 31st The Walking Dead – GOTY Edition

Lords of the Fallen

PS4/XO/PC

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Action

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Danger of the Ooze

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Sony

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PS4/XO/PS3/360/PC

Shooter

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November 4th Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

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October 24th 2014

FITNESS AND MUSIC

FITNESS Rhythm and ﬁtness games continue to be great crowd-pleasers, with a variety of accessible titles on oﬀer to those looking to keep moving. Matthew Jarvis gets down to the beat

THE fitness games market is fittingly in good shape. Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus are the 22nd and 23rd best-selling games of all time respectively, with almost 44 million combined units sold, according to Nintendo. This places them ahead of juggernauts including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Chris Poole, senior account manager for GfK Chart-Track at GfK, observes that the popularity

Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus are the 22nd and 23rd best-selling games of all time, respectively.

of fitness games such as these on the original Wii led to a surge in accessory popularity for the system. “In 2009, the Top Five bestselling gaming accessories were all Wii accessories – MotionPlus, the Wii Fit Balance Board, Wii Remote, Wheel and Nunchuk,” he states. “From 2006 to date, these five accessories have been the top selling ‘traditional’ console gaming accessories, accounting for 17.1 per cent of all units and 19 per cent of all revenue.”

WII FIT U FIT METER Players keeping track of their activity level with the help of Wii Fit U can continue to keep a tab on their progress outside of the house with this device. The accessory notes steps taken, as well as changes in activity level, altitude and atmospheric pressure to estimate the kind of exercise being conducted. The Meter then connects back into the game via the Wii U GamePad. SRP: £10 Manufacturer: Nintendo Distributor: Open Contact: 01753 483 700

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Those boogying the calories away on the Wii or PS3 can use this belt to hold their motion controller.

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FitBit’s wearable activity tracker connects wirelessly to iOS and Android to help wearers keep active.

SRP: £11.99 Manufacturer: 505 Games Distributor: Advantage Distribution Contact: 01215 069 590

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SRP: £19.99 Manufacturer: FitBit Distributor: Widget Contact: 01438 842 350

October 24th 2014

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FITNESS AND MUSIC

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CLICK ENTERTAINMENT

Artworking Mastertronic Brand Identity Ukie Localisation Rising Star Games Advertising BBFC Website Design Deep Silver Exhibition Bethesda Illustration Appynation Digital Media IntentMedia Charity GamesAid Banners & Takeovers Konami Packaging Design Just Flight Email: info@ﬁnkcreative.com CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +44 (0) 208 6643456 ENARXIS DYNAMIC MEDIA

Tel: +44 (0)203 137 3781

Web: www.ﬁnkcreative.com DISTRIBUTION

email: sales@click-entertainment.com

CURVEBALL LEISURE

Web: www.creativedistribution.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1792 652521

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SONY DADC

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Web: www.curveball-leisure.com DISTRIBUTION

Empowering your creative business

Tel: +44 207 462 6200 games@sonydadc.com

www.sonydadc.com Tel: +302 1090 11900

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Web: www.enarxis.eu

Tel: +44 (0) 207 462 6200

Web: www.sonydadc.com

October 24th 2014

DIRECTORY

GAMING ACCESSORIES

L3I

GAMING ACCESSORIES

VENOM

Accessories for use with Xbox One速 Twin Battery Packs

Twin Docking Station

Includes 2 Rechargeable Battery Packs

Tel: + (0)1923 471 020

Web: www.logic3.com

ADVERTISE WITH US

WANT TO ADVERTISE IN OUR DIRECTORY? Web: www.venomuk.com Phone: +44 (0)1763 284181 Email: darren.scott@venomuk.com sam.phipps@venomuk.com tom.hodge@venomuk.com

CALL CONOR TALLON ON 01992 535647 OR EMAIL HIM AT CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM

Tel: +44 (0)1763 284181 October 24th 2014

Venom UK Gaming @VenomGamingUK

w w w. v e n o m u k . c o m

Web: www.venomuk.com www.mcvuk.com

INSIDER’S GUIDE

INSIDER’S GUIDE FEVER PR

DIRECTORY

WHO? Specialism: PR and marketing Location: 10 Great Pulteney Street, London, W1F 9NB

Develop is the only dedicated publication for the UK and European games development community. It reaches over 8,500 subscribers every month.

Joint MD of Fever PR Bruce McLachlan tells MCV about its iconic PS4 OXO Tower takeover

FOR GREAT ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES, CONTACT ALEX BOUCHER ABOUCHER@NBMEDIA.COM

Tell us about your company for those who are unfamiliar with your work. We’re a PR, brand and communications agency based in Soho, London. We work with some of the biggest entertainment and technology brands in the world, including PlayStation, Sky, Warner Bros, EE and Universal.

THIS MONTH’S DIRECTORY SPOTLIGHT: Epic Games .................................................. www.epicgames.com/careers

What is your biggest success to date? Launching the PlayStation 4 with the in-house team – from the OXO tower takeover, which replaced the iconic OXO letters with the equally iconic DualShock face button symbols, to the midnight queue that stretched through Covent Garden, we owned the console launch window by being more creative than the competition. What projects do you currently have in the works? We’re currently working on some very exciting projects, including the launch of some new – and some not so new – PlayStation franchises on the PS4. What are the biggest challenges you face? It’s harder than ever to get consumers to listen to you, so continually coming up with bigger and better ideas is the biggest challenge. To be included in the Develop Directory (which appears every month in Develop and now every week in MCV) contact aboucher@nbmedia.com

It’s harder than ever to get consumers to listen to you, so continually coming up with bigger and better ideas is the biggest challenge. Bruce McLachlan, Fever PR

Tell us something about your company no one knows. Our PlayStation account lead is absolutely terrible at Destiny and players often prefer to quit games rather than have to keep reviving him. How did you choose your company name? Over the course of about ﬁfteen very heated meetings.

WANT TO FEATURE YOUR COMPANY IN INSIDER’S GUIDE? PLEASE CONTACT MJARVIS@NBMEDIA.COM OR CALL 01992 515 303

WWW.DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET www.mcvuk.com

Contact: P: 020 3747 3030 E: info@feverpr.com T: @feverpr

October 24th 2014

FACTFILE SLOVENIA Sponsored by

Wholesaler and distributor of video games, consoles and accessories

INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: SLOVENIA Population: 2,061,085 Capital City: Ljubljana GDP (Per Capita): $24,211 Currency: Euro KEY RETAILERS Big Bang, Comshop, E.Leclerc, Harvey Norman, Müller

TOP DEVELOPERS ZootFly, ActaLogic, Dawn of Play, Cocoasoft, Croteam

TOP DISTRIBUTORS Colby, Videotop

SLOVENIA continues to maintain a strong games market – despite its relatively small size and the lack of games retail variety in the region. Newzoo predicts the Slovenian games market revenue will exceed $21.2 million (£13.3m) by the end of 2014. The research firm also reports that roughly 1.5 million of Slovenia’s 2.1 million inhabitants – 71 per cent – regularly browse the internet. This proportion is close to the UK’s 73 per cent, making the territory ripe for digital retail. Despite this, one retailer dominates the marketplace. Big Bang is the only major player in the Slovenian electronics battlefield, holding a market share of around 60 per cent. Games that are not stocked by Big Bang tend to struggle, relying on independent stores to gather pace among consumers. The difficulty faced by developers and publishers in

the region is exacerbated by the rampant piracy in Slovenia – nearly half of all software is pirated. However, this rate is slowly falling, having dropped from 48 per cent in 2007 to 45 per cent last year, according to the latest BSA Global Software Survey. This may explain the lack of local publishers. From 2008 to 2010, the number of Slovenian games publishers doubled – but only totaled four firms in the latter year, according to business analyst SeeNews. However, at least one of the companies has seen success. ZootFly published the majority of Slovenian games successful enough to be distributed to mainland Europe, before its acquisition in 2013 by a casino equipment vendor. As recently as 2008, Slovenia had no age or content rating system in place and no related legislation. However, since then the PEGI age rating system has been introduced, with official support and legal enforcement.

Nearly half of all software in Slovenia is pirated, but this number is slowly dropping.

October 24th 2014

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SLOVENIA FACTFILE

MEANWHILE IN... FINLAND The Prime Minister of the Nordic country has accused iPhone maker Apple of contributing to its apparent economic decline IT seems that Finland may have tasted the poison Apple. The Prime Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb blamed the American technology giant after the country’s sovereign debt rating was downgraded from AAA to AA+ by ratings agency Standard & Poor. “We have two champions which went down,” said Stubb. “A little bit paradoxically I guess one could say that the iPhone killed Nokia and the iPad killed the Finnish paper industry, but we’ll make a comeback.” Nokia was acquired by Apple rival Microsoft in April following the former

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company’s constant struggle against the growing popularity of the iPhone. Nokia was previously Finland’s largest employer, while the other Finnish ﬁrms ‘killed’ by Apple – UPM-

Kymmene and Stora Enso – were Europe’s largest paper employers. Stubb added optimistically: “We just have to keep at it.”

October 24th 2014

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