MCV814 November 21st by Future PLC

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES

SMASH BROS IN ARMS

ISSUE 814 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21ST 2014

NINTENDO’S ALL-STAR FIGHTING FRANCHISE LANDS ON WII U P16

A million to One

Xbox One is the UK’s No.1 console for three weeks in a row as it ﬁghts to catch up with Sony by Christopher Dring XBOX One has smashed the one million sales barrier in the UK, MCV can reveal. It’s hit this number after outselling PlayStation 4 for three weeks in a row, UK retailers have told us. The resurgence in Xbox One sales has come on the back of a number of blockbuster game launches, including Sunset Overdrive, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Microsoft has also bolstered its hardware line with a special White Xbox One and a 1TB Call of Dutybranded machine, while retailers have been running a number of promotions.

Despite its recent sales success, Xbox One still has some way to go before it topples PS4, which shot past 1m UK sales back in September. The real challenge for Xbox will be whether it can maintain this recent sales momentum during the weeks when it does not have a major exclusive game launch. According to advertising specialist Generation Media, Microsoft has been splashing the cash on TV advertising this Christmas in an eﬀort to catch up with Sony. Meanwhile, Microsoft said

Can Xbox maintain this recent sales momentum?

last week that it has now shipped 10m Xbox One consoles into retailers worldwide. As of September 30th, Sony had sold through 13.5m PS4s.

Xbox One has been boosted by big launches and hardware bundles

DayZ creator eyes UK development scene By Christopher Dring THE creator of zombie-horror hit DayZ is set to move to the UK. New Zealand-born Dean Hall is planning to work with Londonbased technology ﬁrm Improbable, MCV understands. Improbable, which is run by former Crytek general manager Nick Button-Brown, describes itself as a company that is developing ‘experimental technology’ to create ‘new kinds of online games’. Hall originally created DayZ in 2012 as a mod for Bohemia

Interactive’s military simulator title ARMA II. It was such a hit that Bohemia – based in the Czech Republic – hired Hall to create a stand-alone game. The DayZ PC title launched on Steam in its Alpha state in December last year, and sold 2m units worldwide in just six months. Hall announced in February that he would be leaving Bohemia by the end of the year. Neither Hall or Improbable would conﬁrm the news. MCV hopes to bring you the latest on the collaboration in the coming months.

Hall is planning to team up with Londonbased technology firm Improbable.

PLUS INTERVIEW: STRAUSS ZELNICK HOW CALL OF DUTY BEAT EXPECTATIONS

CHEAT SHEET

THE EDITOR

THE WEEK IN VIDEO GAM ATLUS CALLS FOR MORE VITA SUPPORT

IT’S TOUGH AT THE TOP FOR UBISOFT

o the internet did its thing this week, taking a mild disappointment and turning it into an industryshaking catastrophe. Ubisoft released the ‘abysmal’ Assassin’s Creed Unity, which was ‘completely broken’ and then the business behaved like ‘the new EA’ by introducing micro-transactions and forcing critics to delay their reviews until 12 hours after the game launched in America. Evil, bad Ubisoft. Of course, that’s all over-the-top and vitriolic. This is the internet, a place that believes human error should be punished by death. Ubisoft is not exempt from criticism. But a bit of perspective is needed. Unity’s 76 Metacritic is disappointing for an IP that usually ranks in the 80s. But it’s also the same Metacritic score as Taylor Swift’s 1989 album and is actually higher than Christopher Nolan’s movie Interstellar, two entertainment brands widely-recognised as critical darlings. Post-launch review embargoes are a nuisance and anti-consumer. But waiting a few hours for criticism is not exactly the end of the world. There are certainly a few bugs in the game, but (at least in my experience) it’s not nearly as bad as I’d been told. It’s actually quite good, and I’ve played literally unplayable games, and within the last few weeks, too. Yet, even if the recent criticism is overblown, Ubisoft is repeatedly having its nose bloodied. These latest ‘controversies’ follow

November 21st 2014

This overblown criticism is what happens when you become one of the world’s biggest games publishers. complaints about Watch Dogs and accusations of sexism in Assassin’s Creed. But that’s what happens when you become one of the world’s biggest games firms. And it’s important Ubisoft looks at these criticisms in isolation and context and adapts accordingly where needed. Its new blog detailing how it’ll fix the glitches in Unity’s is a great example; it’s transparent and smart. But I hope these media storms do not change Ubisoft too much. The firm has always been open to speak to, it regularly offers up developers to interview and likes to show fans their projects well in advance. The worst thing that could happen from this is if Ubisoft withdraws into its shell. If it doesn’t let developers speak to the press, and offers-up corporate producers instead. Basically, I hope Ubisoft doesn’t follow the PR tactics embraced by its more corporate rivals. There’s only one way Ubisoft can turn around its recent public perception. And that’s by doing what it does best, and releasing some damn good games. Far Cry 4 looks like a good start. cdring@nbmedia.com

Market Data Strong sales of Call of Duty and huge launches for Halo and Assassin’s Creed result in a pleasing market value £50m

£48.5m 1,265,418 units

£25m

£36.9m 1,022,296m units

£16.3m 534,183 units

£0m

Week Ending November 3rd

Week Ending November 10th

Week Ending November 17th

www.mcvuk.com

CHEAT SHEET

MES By Matthew Jarvis THE CEO of Japanese developer and publisher Atlus says that more studios should be supporting PlayStation Vita with exclusive titles. In his ﬁrst European interview, Naoto Hiraoka said that Atlus’ own decision to back the handheld with the Vita-exclusive Persona 4 Golden was due to the power of the system. “The Vita probably has the best specs of any handheld,” he explained. “I hope that going forward Sony gives more energy to the platform and gets into more people’s hands. “But, as a developer, it’s important to create great content and games that Sony will want to support and that they want more people to have a Vita to be able to play. Mine and Atlus’ role is to create content like that. “In the US and Europe, the Vita market may not be as strong as it could be. But, I believe that oﬀering players new ways to play, new ways of how to look at a game or where to play a game – we want to continue to do that.”

DOWN Football Manager 2015 drops out of the Top Ten in its second week on shelves

UP Minecraft: PlayStation Edition rises up the charts thanks to the launch of the Vita version

‘DRIVING GAMES ARE SET FOR A REVOLUTION’

Our biggest stories for the week ending Nov 17th

Boukhelifa said social media, VR and playing across platforms will become the norm in the future. “Though they’re already becoming more prevalent in games, we expect social tools to shape the development of future racing titles more,” he explained. “Communities will be able share in their games with ghosts and replays, as well as outside of them. “A second aspect is the development of VR. Immersion in gameplay will become normal in the years to come. “And cross-platform tech will become a growing point of interest as gamers are currently separated based on their choices of hardware. We expect those barriers to shatter over time, as online gaming becomes even more prevalent.”

by Matthew Jarvis THE racing genre is undergoing a major transformation, says the dev behind Ubisoft’s The Crew. Ahmed Boukhelifa, co-founder and MD of developer Ivory Tower commented: “The driving games market is ripe for change, and ready to oﬀer new approaches to its established codes and rules. That’s something that Forza Horizon 2 and DriveClub have already done, to some degree.”

UK RETAIL TOP 10

COD: ADVANCED WARFARE

Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

FIFA 15

LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Assassin’s Creed: Rogue

Minecraft: PlayStation Edition

1 Six year old RPG Valkyria Chronicles tops Steam sellers list 2 Kotaku calls time on post release review embargoes 3 PS4 claims biggest slice of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare sales 4 Terraria hits PS4/ Xbox One this week 5 Nvidia: Console’s heyday is over

PRE-ORDER TOP 10

TOP ONLINE STORIES THIS WEEK

2K Games EA Nintendo

November 21st 2014

NEWS ANALYSIS

FOUR WAYS ADVANCED WARFARE STOPPED THE ROT After years of gradual decline for the Call of Duty franchise, this year’s game – Advanced Warfare – bucked the trend and sold more in its initial two weeks than its predecessor did. How did it do it? And does it prove anything? Christopher Dring analyses

t was supposed to be a failure. That’s what the press stories had been leading with up to the arrival of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. One analyst firm – based on pre-order data – suggested the franchise could be as much as 40 per cent down year-on-year. They were wrong (well, at least in UK terms). Advanced Warfare sold 5.7 per cent more in its first week than its predecessor Ghosts managed. There are caveats, however, which the media has been at pains to point out. The first was that the game launched on a Monday instead of the typical Tuesday, giving it an extra 24 hours to sell. But the vast majority of sales on ‘Day Zero’ were from pre-order customers, who would have bought the title on the Tuesday regardless. And Day Zero caused confusion at retail, particularly at mainstream stores. That ‘extra day’ certainly didn’t amount to an entire 24 hours of extra sales. The second caveat is that this year’s Call of Duty launched on all platforms at the same time. Ghosts last year arrived prior to the PS4 and Xbox One. That would have had some impact, but we’ve also seen a severe decline in Xbox 360 and PS3 software sales since the launch of Ghosts – and that also ought to be taken into account. And according to media planning firm Generation Media, Activision’s TV advertising on Call of Duty with the male 16 to 34 year-old audience is down 36

November 21st 2014

Week one sales of Call of Duty were up 5.7 per cent yearon-year

So how did it do it?

per cent year-on-year (note, TV ads costs have risen this year). As you can tell, it’s difficult to compare sales year-on-year. The industry hasn’t had two major consoles arrive so close

Advanced Warfare has been declared ‘the best Call of Duty in years’, with a Metacritic score of 83 to back that up.

NO COMPETITION Well, not strictly true. GTA V just launched on the new platforms, as did Far Cry 4. But these games arrived after Call of Duty, and Activision’s more direct competitors – EA’s Battlefield or Medal of Honor – were MIA this year. Battlefield: Hardline isn’t due until early next year. If you wanted a fast-paced war shooter this Christmas, there’s only one option.

IT’S VERY GOOD Call of Duty has declined in terms of quality over the years, with some accusing the IP of stagnating. They have never been bad games, but Ghosts was by far the most disappointing COD in half a decade. This year’s title has been declared ‘the best Call of Duty in years’ and its Metacritic score of 83 backs that up. Ghosts was criticised last year for being a title built for Xbox 360 and PS3, and then upscaled

since 1995. So a lot of these comparisons are meaningless. But Advanced Warfare did better than most expected. Pre-orders had been lower than anticipated, but as two senior retail experts we spoke to last week said ‘the consumers came in the end’.

for Xbox One and PS4. Advanced Warfare was built for the new machines, and it had a three-year development period, the longest yet for the series. There’s been a lack of great ‘new gen’ titles. There are well over 2m Xbox One and PS4 gamers in the UK craving a blockbuster for the platforms, and Call of Duty is arguably one of the first games to really deliver on that.

IT HAS A NEW LEAD STUDIO The first few years of the Call of Duty phenomenon was driven by a two-studio structure. Franchise creators Infinity Ward would push the series forward with its game, before Treyarch added its own twist a year later. But, following a dispute between Activision and Infinity Ward, the latter was left in ruins, with mass departures including leaders Vince Zampella and Jason West. The franchise has had no clear lead studio since, but in Sledgehammer and its bosses Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, Activision may have just found one.

IT BLOODY WORKS Call of Duty doesn’t get enough credit for this as it should. Millions flooded to its servers at launch, but its online mode didn’t fail. It is not riddled with gamebreaking bugs or a poor frame rate. Unlike other recent major launches, Call of Duty runs like a dream. That kind of reliability is increasingly thing, but it’s become something consumers can rely on with COD.

www.mcvuk.com

OPINION

INSIGHT

OPINION AND ANALYSIS FROM THE BRIGHTEST MINDS IN GAMES. THIS WEEK UKIE CEO DR JO TWIST DISCUSSES THE TRADE BODY’S PLANS FOR BOOSTING THE UK’S GLOBAL PRESENCE

ANALYSIS

LEVELING-UP: HOW WE CAN GROW OUR INDUSTRY and decision makers who have the potential to help us if they are part of the next Government. However, there’s still a lot that the current Government can do, which is why I wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week to reiterate four actions he can take in the Autumn Statement. We proposed that the Skills Investment Fund, run by Creative Skillset, be made permanent. When Video Games Tax Relief was announced, it was confirmed that there would be a £6m pot - the Skills Investment Fund (SIF) - for the games, high-end TV and animation sectors, as there is with film. But the money was only allocated for two years, during the first of which we could only make limited use of it as the tax relief was held up by the European Commission.

Last year UKIE helped secure tax relief for the UK games industry, but the organisation has no intention of stopping there. CEO DR JO TWIST tells MCV about the trade body’s plans for the future

t is crucial in the year that tax breaks kick in that we really push our ambitions beyond borders. The UK games industry has to think more and more on a global scale. As you read this, I am in South Korea at G-Star with 18 UK games companies and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Sajid Javid, on a UK trade mission. This kind of mission is vital for the continued development of our sector’s reputation across the games ecosystem, because it tells the rest of the world how diverse and wide-ranging our industry now is. It’s also crucial as I get to tell the Secretary of State what further support the sector could benefit from in order to become resilient, sustainable, and truly global.

The UK games industry has to think more and more on a global scale. Dr Jo Twist, UKIE

THE ROAD AHEAD In August, we published our manifesto for the next Parliament, setting out the areas where we need further support from whoever inhabits Number 10 from next May. The General Election is six months away, and on an almost daily basis we have contact with stakeholders

www.mcvuk.com

Jo Twist believes more should be done to support UK-based game creators

That two years is about to run out. There is still much more that needs to be done if we are going to grow this industry further, which is why it’s vital that the Government keeps the SIF going. We also asked for a new version of the Prototype Fund with £6m funding, urged the Government to expand the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, and asked for support to secure a worldwide plan of trade and investment activity for the games industry. TALENT INVESTMENT This is just a small part of what we need to do. But the logic is clear: if we support talent, we will be more able to keep up with the demands of our industry’s constant transitions. If we support companies who want to prototype but have no other routes to finance a minimum viable product, they are able to learn as they develop, and are given a chance to secure funding. If we have a coordinated, funded, sensible and targeted strategy for then taking these companies and products to the rest of the world, as we are doing in Korea, then we educate and activate more global partners, deals, and potentially, inward investment. All this combined means more games, more companies, more jobs and more opportunities for us all.

November 21st 2014

MARKETING

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK THIS WEEK: ESCAPE DEAD ISLAND [INFO] Released: November 21st Publisher: Deep Silver Developer: Fatshark Distributor: Koch Media Contact 01256 385 200

DEEP Silver has been running media activity through Google’s Display ad network, as well as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to push the latest Dead Island game. Through these mediums the publisher has been targeting existing fans of the Dead Island IP. Deep Silver has also been using some experiential marketing. The title’s protagonist Cliff repeatedly wakes up in a shipping container during the game, so the firm has been holding events where gamers could voluntarily choose to be locked inside a 20-foot shipping crater. The experience is entitled ‘The Crate Escape’ and gives five fans at a time 30 minutes to solve various puzzles in order to escape. The publisher first used this marketing ploy at MCM Comic Con in October, and brought it to Leicester Square on November 14th.

November 21st 2014

IN THEIR OWN WORDS AVAILABLE only on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, Escape Dead Island will bridge the gap between what happened on Banoi in Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide, and the events occurring in California which set the scene for upcoming release Dead Island 2. The game will tie up some of the loose ends in the series and explain more about the origins of the outbreak. Rather than focusing on ﬁrstperson combat, as in the original game and Riptide, Escape Dead Island puts the players in a thirdperson view and uses stylish celshaded graphics to give a fresh alternative to our much-loved zombie-ﬁlled apocalypse. As an extension to the everpopular franchise, Escape

NICK TURNER Product Manager, Deep Silver

Dead Island represents a great opportunity for retail to reach out to Dead Island fans through peak trading. Backed by a comprehensive trade marketing campaign for launch across all channels, and a Dead Island 2 guaranteed beta access pre-order incentive, Escape Dead Island provides retail with the perfect opportunity to build on the franchise’s existing popularity in the run up to the launch of Dead Island 2 in 2015. Globally, the Dead Island franchise has now surpassed 10 million sales. Through our consumer and trade marketing, events and PR campaigns, we will be targeting the Dead Island fan base and attracting gift purchases through peak trading.

www.mcvuk.com

MARKETING

MARKETING NEWS

Microsoft has teamed up with Future Publishing for a month-long promotional campaign for Sunset Overdrive

MICROSOFT | The platform holder has teamed up with Future Publishing’s in-house marketing agency, Future Fusion, for a monthlong promotional campaign centred around Sunset Overdrive. The wacky Xbox One exclusive, released on October 31st, is being pushed as part of a six-figure deal that will run across multiple brands, including CVG.com, T3, Total Film and Edge. The deal is divided into three areas, which will cover Future’s games, tech and film portfolios. The first is a custom microsite housed on CVG.com, which includes exclusive blogs and imagery alongside Sunset Overdrive news. The second is targeted content including four online shows for Overdrive’s in-game Sunset TV channel and advertorials. The third is a 12-page print supplement that will be distributed to over 200,000 recipients via the T3, SFX, Total Film, Official Xbox, Edge and GamesMaster publications.

MICROSOFT: THE RISE TO 10M This week, GameTime looks at how Microsoft’s TV advertising has helped it hit its latest landmark 4+ Percentage Coverage

6,000 89.1

Individual TVRs

5,000 4,000 3,000

46.5

2,000 1,000 00

Nov 13

Dec 13

MICROSOFT has reached its latest milestone, with more than 10m units of the Xbox One console shipped through to retailers, whilst outselling Sony across the last three weeks. In a diversiﬁed TV ad market, driving deeper engagement is of critical importance to marketing

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Feb 14

Mar 14

Apr 14

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Jun 14

Jul 14

Xbox One commercial at least four times. Within the same period, Sony achieved a four-plus percentage coverage of just over 75 per cent of all UK individuals. Since the launch, Microsoft has accrued almost 5,000 individual TV viewer ratings (TVRs) in comparison

teams. Frequency (number of times a commercial is viewed per individual) can be an important yardstick when measuring the eﬀectiveness of TV ad campaigns. Since the launch of the Xbox One in November 2013, 89 per cent of all UK individuals have now seen an

Aug 14

Sep 14

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to Sony’s 2,000. This equates to a total TV ad market share of almost 20 per cent for the period. With Halo hitting shelves last week, Microsoft is without doubt trying to bear down on Sony with its slew of exclusives and highproﬁle releases.

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

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100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 00

November 21st 2014

4+ Percentage Coverage

Individual TVRs

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

NEW BUSINESS EXEC FOR GREEN MAN GAMING Hatton swaps Sony DADC for GMG O Lopera leaves Bandai Namco O Stature PR games team now ﬁve strong GREEN MAN GAMING | Business development veteran MATTHEW HATTON has moved to the online retailer. Hatton joins Green Man Gaming as SVP of business development having spent seven years as head of business development at Sony DADC, where he was in charge of publisher and digital retail relations for the firm’s Genba platform. “I’m thrilled Matt has brought his expertise to the Green Man Gaming team at such an important time in our growth and development” said Green Man Gaming CEO PAUL SULYOK.

“I leave behind a fantastic team and an incredible company in Bandai Namco Games,” Lopera told MCV. “This has truly been a wonderful journey in an industry that continues to grow and is defined by some amazing personalities who I had the honour of working with. Thank you to everyone who made it what it was.”

“Matt has been tasked with expanding our digital channels to support our acquisition of users on a global scale. He is also exploring new ways to connect gamers with the very best of content, whilst helping to extend our Playfire community. This is a great move for us and gamers alike.” BANDAI NAMCO | UK PR manager JONATHAN LOPERA is departing the publisher. He leaves having joined Bandai Namco in December 2012. Prior to his role there, Lopera was a marketing manager at UK developer Bossa Studios.

STATURE PR | CHARLEY GRAFTON-CHUCK has joined the PR firm as an account manager. Grafton-Chuck started her career in games PR at Oxfordbased Rebellion, then moved

on to Johnny Atom Productions, where she managed gaming accounts that included Paradox Interactive. At Stature she will be handling a number of clients, including Bandai Namco and Codemasters. With the arrival of GraftonChuck, Stature’s games team now consists of five members. “Charley has been on our radar for a while now, her campaigns continually generate excellent coverage throughout mainstream and specialist media”, the firm’s associate director LAURENCE BRAY said. “The games team at Stature PR continues to grow from strength-to-strength and with Charley on board the future looks very bright.”

AROUND THE INDUSTRY FUTURE | PC Gamer’s website has experienced what the publisher calls ‘recordbreaking’ growth since its redesign in October. Page views around the world hit 52m, an increase of 109 per cent on the previous record of 24.9m. Page views have risen 111 per cent, and average user time is up 22 per cent. In the UK, page views are up 94 per cent month-on-month. Meanwhile, mobile views rose 92 per cent, and average user time rose ten per cent. SUMO DIGITAL | The Sheffield-based LittleBigPlanet 3 developer has performed a management buyout from entertainment group Foundation 9. With the assistance of private equity firm NorthEdge Capital, the studio’s management team is now

November 21st 2014

separated from the group that purchased them in 2007. The developer is now fully independent. “With the imminent release of LittleBigPlanet 3 and a number of exciting projects under development, the business is in an extremely strong position,” said Sumo CEO Carl Cavers. “We are delighted to have completed the MBO and to be partnering with NorthEdge as we accelerate our growth strategy and cement our position as one of Europe’s leading games developers.” PANACHE DIGITAL GAMES | Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Désilets has opened a new studio, Panache Digital Games. This is the first word of what Désilets has been up to since he left Ubisoft for the second time in May 2013.

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EDITORIAL CONTACTS

EDITORIAL CONTACTS WE ARE PLAYING... Finally ﬁnished Sunset Overdrive. There’s a cracking NeoGaf joke at the end. Now time to crack on with COD. Christopher Dring, Editor

I went back to niche games this week, ﬁnishing Danganronpa 2 and picking up OlliOlli and Freedom Wars again. Alex Calvin, Staﬀ Writer

cdring@nbmedia.com

acalvin@nbmedia.com

All I’ve had time to dabble with is AC Unity, which I’ve been enjoying. But for some reason I’m supposed to hate it? Ben Parﬁtt, Associate Editor

I’ve been practising my terrible French accent while playing Assassin’s Creed Unity. Veevar la Fraunsay. 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

OUR POPULAR QUIZ NIGHT IS BACK FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON ON DECEMBER 2ND

???

SUPER SIZED quiz event for the festive season

30 teams from publishing, retail, games development, media and more competing

Costs £249 for a team of ﬁve, includes food and drink all night

Venue is Minster Exchange, London. Near Tower Hill and Monument tube stations

CALL ALEX BOUCHER ON 01992 535 647 FOR MORE INFORMATION OR EMAIL ABOUCHER@NBMEDIA.COM

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.

US Correspondent Erik Johnson ejohnson@nbmedia.com

Special Projects: Lisa Carter lcarter@nbmedia.com

30 Quiz will test your games brain and general knowledge

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THE RETAIL ADVISORY BOARD MCV takes soundings from its Retail Advisory Board on the biggest issues in the industry. The current members are...

Charlotte Knight GAME

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November 21st 2014

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

DATA & RESEARCH Call of Duty maintains ﬁrst place despite new Halo and Assassin’s Creed games THE most recent entry in the Call of Duty series holds onto ﬁrst place, despite a sales dip of 77 per cent this week. ACTIVISION’s shooter faced strong competition from UBISOFT’s two new Assassin’s Creed titles and MICROSOFT’s Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Assassin’s Creed Unity misses out on the top spot by 16,000 units, but had its sales been combined with those of Assassin’s Creed Rogue for the older machines (which debuts at No.6) then Assassin’s Creed would have taken the top spot. Meanwhile Halo: The Master Chief Collection takes third place, and was the biggest launch of a Microsoft-published Xbox

One game so far. In seventh place is Minecraft: PlayStation Edition. This title rose one place up the chart, driven by strong sales of the Vita SKU which debuted at retail last week. This version was actually the biggest launch for Mojang’s blockbuster on a PlayStation format to date, and the third biggest launch on Vita thus far. In the Steam charts, Football Manager 2015 holds onto ﬁrst place, while the Far Cry Franchise Pack shoots to second on the back of a promotion prior to the launch of Far Cry 4. Pre-orders of that title made it the ninth most popular game of the week.

TOP 10 STEAM CHARTS

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW RE NEW 03 01 NEW 07 RE NEW NEW

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2015 PUBLISHER: SEGA DEVELOPER: SPORTS INTERACTIVE

TITLE PUBLISHER Far Cry Franchise Pack Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed Unity Ubisoft The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Nicilias Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Activision Blizzard Valkyria Chronicles Sega Counter-Strike: Global Oﬀensive Valve Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Warner Bros Far Cry 4 (P) Ubisoft This War of Mine 11 Bit

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 02 NEW NEW 06 NEW NEW 05 07 10 11 03 12 16 11 08 19 13 08 21 14 26 18 18 23 20 15 22 28 27 24 25 35 33 30 33 30 39

COD: ADVANCED WARFARE ACTIVISION FORMATS: PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC DEVELOPER: SLEDGEHAMMER GAMES TITLE ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION FIFA 15 LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM ASSASSIN’S CREED: ROGUE MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2015 WOW: WARLORDS OF DRAENOR DESTINY SKYLANDERS TRAP TEAM MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION DISNEY INFINITY 2.0 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2015 ALIEN ISOLATION ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG FORZA HORIZON 2 SUNSET OVERDRIVE TOMODACHI LIFE WWE 2K15 THE EVIL WITHIN LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR THE LEGO MOVIE VIDEOGAME SUPER SMASH BROS LEGO THE HOBBIT JUST DANCE 2015 FROZEN: OLAF’S QUEST WATCH DOGS MARIO KART 8 THE SIMS 4 GRAND THEFT AUTO V PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS TITANFALL DISNEY INFINITY DRIVECLUB TERRARIA BORDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER

Week ending November 15th

November 21stt 2014

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

Week ending November 15th

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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 NEW NEW 01 02 03 04 06 NEW 07 NEW 10 NEW 08 NEW NEW 05 NEW 05 12

HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF MICROSOFT FORMAT: XO

DEVELOPER: 343 INDUSTRIES

TITLE ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE FIFA 15 ASSASSIN’S CREED ROGUE FIFA 15 WOW: WARLORDS OF DRAENOR MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM FIFA 15 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2015 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2015 ASSASSIN’S CREED ROGUE FIFA 15 DESTINY

FORMAT PS4 XO PS4 XO 360 PS3 360 360 XO PC 360 360 PS4 Vita PS4 PC PS3 PS3 PS4

PUBLISHER Ubisoft Ubisoft Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard EA Ubisoft EA Activision Blizzard Microsoft Warner Bros EA Sony Konami Sega Ubisoft EA Activision Blizzard

Week ending November 15th

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

MINECRAFT – POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

TITLE PUBLISHER Five Nights at Freddy’s Scott Cawthon The Chase Barnstorm Tipping Point Barnstorm Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Rockstar The Room Two Fireproof Games The Joy of Reading Seven Academy Little Builders – Track, Crane and Digger for Kids Fox and Sheep Terraria 505 Games Flightradar24 – Flight Tracker Flightradar24 AB

Week ending: November 9th

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 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Oﬃcial DSA Theory Test Heads Up! Afterlight The Chase Five Nights at Freddy’s Fantasy Premier League 2014/15 Facetune

PUBLISHER Mojang Rockstar TSO Warner Bros Afterlight Collelctive Barnstorm Scott Cawthon Premier League Lightricks

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

Week ending: November 9th

TOP 10 GOOGLE PLAY CHARTS

HOW TO SURVIVE 505 GAMES DEVELOPER: EKO SOFTWARE TITLE POOL NATION SURVIVAL GAMES SEASON ONE MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION SERIOUS SAM 3: BFE APOCZ TERRARIA: XBOX 360 EDITION CASTLEMINER Z AVATAR WARFARE WHITE NOISE ONLINE

PUBLISHER Mastertronic 2.0 Studios Mojang Devolver Digital Sick Kreations 505 Games DigitalDNA DigitalDNA DigitalDNA

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

MINECRAFT – POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

TITLE The Chase Five Nights at Freddy’s Theory Test UK 2014 The Chase AllCast Premium Tipping Point Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Room Plants vs Zombies

PUBLISHER Barnstorm Scott Cawthon Focus Multimedia Barnstorm Games Clockwork Mods Barnstorm Rockstar Fireproof Games EA

Week ending November 17th

PRESENTS

10m

5 SECOND FACTS 15%

Microsoft has revealed that MCV sister publication it has shipped ten million Develop has found that Xbox One consoles. Sales women represent just 15 of the hardware have per cent of employees at UK “skyrocketed” since its price games studios cut in America www.mcvuk.com

Correct as of November 17th

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

75,000

Advanced Warfare was PS4 outsold Xbox One for streamed by 75,000 Twitch the tenth consecutive month users, with a total of 327m in the US, according to NPD. minutes of footage. It’s the Sales of both consoles are largest number of streamers 70 per cent up over PS3 and for a game’s launch 360’s ﬁrst year 13

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

www.pdp.com November 21st 2014

THE BIG GAME SUPER SMASH BROS

SUPER SMASH BROS FOR WII U

SMASHING IT ON WII U Nintendo’s all-star ﬁghting franchise is battling onto Wii U later this month. Matthew Jarvis chats to Roger Langford, Mario brand manager at Nintendo, about following the 3DS, pitting gaming icons against each other and the role of Amiibo

Release Date: November 28th Formats: Wii U Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Sora Ltd, Bandai Namco

November 21st 2014

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SUPER SMASH BROS THE BIG GAME

t’s every fan’s dream: see your favourite characters faceoff in an intense battle royal, utilising their signature moves to scrap across recognisable environments until one winner is left standing. And with a back catalogue of characters as storied and beloved as Nintendo’s – one that has been bolstered in the past by the inclusion of third-party icons such as Solid Snake – it’s little surprise that the Super Smash Bros series continues to thrive. “One of the great things about Smash Bros is that it contains characters from some of the

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most iconic gaming franchises, including The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon and Sonic the Hedgehog,” comments Roger Langford, Mario brand manager at Nintendo, on the series’ starstudded roster. “In Super Smash Bros for Wii U we get to see this list of characters and franchises extended with the likes of the Villager from Animal Crossing, Pac Man and Punch Out’s Little Mac – to name just a few. “We also get to see our favourite characters play on new stages and in new modes – not to mention it’s the first time we get to have all of this in HD.”

Smash Bros contains characters from some of the most iconic gaming franchises. Roger Langford, Nintendo

HISTORY LESSON Smash may bring together franchises spanning the entirety of Nintendo’s history, but the series has quite the legacy of its own. From the original N64 Super Smash Bros in 1999, the last 15 years has seen a Smash title hit every Nintendo home console since – Melee on GameCube in 2001 and Brawl on Wii in 2008. The cycle continues with Super Smash Bros for Wii U. “For us, working on a game such as Super Smash Bros, which has such a considerable legacy, is a

November 21st 2014

THE BIG GAME SUPER SMASH BROS

The Wii U and 3DS versions of Super Smash Bros both feature platform-exclusive levels and game modes, but the same characters

privilege and something that we are very respectful of,” Langford says of the approach required to both bring existing fans back and attract new players. “It is all about creating a balance between highlighting the exciting new features to existing fans – such as HD graphics, the option to play as one of eight players and the compatibility with Amiibo – while also making sure that it’s also accessible by newcomers to the franchise.” One thing series devotees will be pleased with is the option to use a GameCube controller with the title. This control scheme is the preferred option for many fans. PLATFORM POSITIVES 2014 marks the year Super Smash Bros comes to the Wii U for the first time. But it is also the first time a Smash title has come to a Nintendo handheld, courtesy of Super Smash Bros for 3DS. While the character roster and base gameplay remains the same between the two, there are some differences between the 3DS

November 21st 2014

release and the Wii U version. The 3DS version adopted a celshaded aesthetic in comparison to the Wii U’s high-definition graphics; Smash creator Masahiro Sakurai has stated that the former helps players see characters on the 3DS’ smaller screen. Each has its own specific hardware. There is a branded GameCube controller for Wii U and a themed 3DS XL console bundle, too. The two games will also both feature platform-specific game modes and levels, with the Wii U release gaining arenas based on games only available on the console. The 3DS title similarly has exclusive levels from handheld-only titles. Due to these differing environments, cross-play multiplayer between 3DS and Wii U will not be supported. However, players who purchase both versions of the game will be treated to several new features. “The Nintendo 3DS version of Super Smash Bros allowed us to whet the appetite of fans and

Super Smash Bros for 3DS has allowed us to whet the appetite of fans in the run up to the Wii U launch. Roger Langford, Nintendo

start engaging newcomers to the franchise in the run up to the Wii U launch,” Langford explains. “There is some very literal cross-over between the two in that players can use their 3DS as their controller for Super Smash Bros for Wii U, as long as they have a copy for 3DS. “There is also the chance to import custom fighters from the 3DS version, along with customised equipment, costumes and hats. “In addition, if players register both versions of the game via Club Nintendo then they get a special DLC character – Mewtwo – in Spring 2015, as well as a copy of the soundtrack.” SMASHING AHEAD Super Smash Bros follows Mario Kart 8 as one of the biggest Wii U releases of 2014. In fact, it’s the biggest Wii U launch yet. Nintendo America chief Reggie Fils-Aime recently revealed that pre-orders for the game were outpacing Mario Kart 8, the former record-holder for the platform. The latter game

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SUPER SMASH BROS THE BIG GAME

went on to sell more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. “Pre-launch we will be focused on talking to Smash Bros fans and existing Wii U owners,” says Langford. “We think it’s a great follow-up title to those that bought Mario Kart 8 earlier this year.” Wii U has had a challenging first two years. But Nintendo is confident the machine now has the software needed to stimulate interest. And Smash Bros is a big part of that. “We believe that the game is a must-have title for existing Wii U owners, but also that it gives another reason for non-owners to take the leap and purchase,”

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comments Langford. “Super Smash Bros adds to the growing catalogue of Wii U exclusives including the likes of Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, Pikmin 3 and Super Mario 3D World which are all critically acclaimed but most importantly great fun.”

MODEL BEHAVIOUR SUPER Smash Bros for Wii U will launch alongside the first range in Nintendo’s NFCequipped Amiibo figurines. Featuring many of the characters found in Smash, including Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Link, Princess Peach and Kirby, Amiibo will connect to the game via the Wii U Pad’s integrated NFC reader. “The addition of Amiibo to the Super Smash Bros gameplay is something that offers fans a new way to play,” explains Langford. “In Super Smash Bros for Wii U players can train their Amiibo so that it can fight on their behalf or be used as a sparring partner to hone their skills.

“Each time gamers play with them they learn new skills. For instance, if they like to taunt after KO’ing an opponent then the Amiibo will learn to do the same. It’s a chance for players to create their own personal fighting companion.” Super Smash Bros for Wii U is just the first game to support the new toys, with Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors having support added retroactively. “The great thing about Amiibo is that they don’t just work on Super Smash Bros but will have compatibility with future games,” says Langford. “For instance, in Mario Kart 8, Amiibo unlock costumes which can be worn by Miis.” Upcoming titles Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Party 10, Yoshi’s Woolly World and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will also include support when they launch in 2015. A second wave of figurines is set for release in the UK on December 19th.

November 21st 2014

THE MAKING OF XBOX ONE

THE SECRET GAMES DESIGNER There is one video games creator who doesn’t want you to notice anything about his product. Christopher Dring discovers the story of Xbox One’s design from the man who built it, Carl Ledbetter

arl Ledbetter is a games industry master of disguise. He leads a team of 35 that spent three years building the Xbox One into a machine that blends into the background and gets forgotten. The console’s 16:9 aspect ratio is meant to reflect that of a widescreen TV. The front illuminated Xbox logo will dim in poor light, so as not to distract fans. The team even mocked up 200 controller prototypes and spent 500 hours testing the pad with 1,100 different people. The reason for all this painstaking, seemingly unnecessary, work is so that Xbox One sits under the TV and is ignored. Nobody complains about aching hands, nobody struggles to turn the machine on or off, nobody is distracted by a ridiculous design or a blinding light.

November 21st 2014

“Nobody says anything about the little things on the hardware,” Ledbetter tells MCV. “If somebody is using the controller and after 30 minutes is saying ‘my hands are starting to hurt’, then that’s a fail. But if after 30 minutes all they’re thinking about is the game, then we’re doing okay. “At the end of the day the machine delivers this experience that you are trying to get to – whether that is a game, movie or talking on Skype.” He continues: “We know people put it in bedrooms and other places, but we have designed this for a living room environment. We know these people are going to have a good-sized TV that is probably a flat screen, it is probably highresolution, so it is optimised for all those conditions. It is also optimised

If after 30 minutes of playing all somebody is thinking about is the game, then we’re doing okay. Carl Ledbetter, Microsoft

for gamers, but because you can do so much more on Xbox, we made it simple enough for anyone to use. It is not off-putting and it’s not this evasive thing in the living room.” SIZE MATTERS But it’s not all about making the Xbox One disappear into the background. The console is also designed to reflect the Xbox brand; the patchwork squares are meant to match the Xbox One dashboard, for instance. We had to ask: was this really worth the effort? Nobody on the MCV team has noticed how the machine happens to look a bit like the dashboard. “It really does matter,” Ledbetter insists. “For us it is about creating a very consistent and seamless experience that is reliable, so that

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THE MAKING OF XBOX ONE

cost us an extra $200. And that $200 of cost may not deliver an extra $200 of value,” says Ledbetter. “We always weigh new features or capabilities in a very real-world setting. Is this, as a holistic product, going to deliver something that is equal in value to the cost of components? It is a balance.”

There are hundreds of Xbox One prototypes that have been created

when you see it, it is already starting to communicate aspects of the brand, and when you go into the user experience, it fulfils your expectations. “It would be like if you saw a beautiful car, and then you opened the door and the handle felt a little strange, and when you got inside it had been designed by someone different, and even the controls were not what you expected. “Then there is the delight factor of how it behaves in motion, and the way it works with the Xbox experience on your phone or your Surface tablet, it retains the same qualities. So it absolutely matters.” Not that the Xbox One designers have it all their own way. Ledbetter and his team have to work with very real constraints. One criticism about the machine’s physical appearance is that it is a large and hefty product. “Everybody gets frustrated, because what we want is for everything to be wafer thin, not get hot and just be a snap to put together,” he explains. “But the reality is that there are very real issues around cooling when you’re pushing some number of watts in the processor, therefore the thing has to have some size to it. There’s always an interesting dynamic between engineering and design, and constraints around performance.” He adds: “It’s called designing with constraints, and constraints create very real things for people to go after and solve. Blue sky

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can get a little tough because it is limitless and it’s boundless. “The engineering doesn’t really become a barrier – engineering is necessary, just like the design and technology. It’s a combination of everything that creates the product.”

There’s always an interesting dynamic between engineering and design, and constraints around performance.

TESTING TIMES Back in 2002, Microsoft made a design mis-step. “An example of something we got wrong was the first Xbox controller,” admits Ledbetter. “It worked, but it wasn’t the right size for people. “For the Xbox One, there has been a bunch of things that, I don’t know if they were wrong, but they weren’t appropriate or they weren’t the ideal solution. “Usually, we do enough testing that it wouldn’t go out the door if it wasn’t right.” So what about the bits that didn’t make it in? “We have lots of interesting ideas that for one reason or another we can’t necessarily use,” Ledbetter explains. “Maybe the technology isn’t ready or affordable yet, so that we can make it for mass consumption. “We have definitely have a few of those ideas. But we are constantly exploring and tuning and evolving to see if we can productise them at some point.” A lot of it comes down to price. “We have a lot of ideas where we ask: ‘Can we productise them?’ Maybe we could, but to do so would

Carl Ledbetter, Microsoft

FUTURE THOUGHTS Once the machine is out there in the world, that isn’t it. From media remotes to components, there’s always new hardware to design. Of course, there’s bound to be future revisions to the Xbox One, too – and that’s not to mention the various special editions linked to specific titles. Ledbetter was part of the team that created the R2-D2 Xbox 360. “We do all the limited and special editions,” he says. “Like the Titanfall controller; we worked with the developers and our own games people with that. “We take a lot of pride in those because we want them to be unique, special and cool. We are working on all kinds of stuff.” Yet surely it’s frustrating being the unsung hero (or villain, depending on your opinion) of games design? Ledbetter’s 35 colleagues are destined for a life where their work is supposed to go unnoticed. “I don’t know,” he says. “I think it is cool working on something that people get excited about. That’s it, pure and simple. If we are making products that are delivering experiences that really get people excited, that is special.”

November 21st 2014

INTERVIEW STRAUSS ZELNICK, TAKE-TWO

WINNER TAKES ALL Alex Calvin speaks with Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick on the firm’s digital transformation and what that means for the Grand Theft Auto-maker’s future

f you’ve read any of our Take-Two interviews in recent years, you’ll have read the same story: TakeTwo is no-longer the Grand Theft Auto company. It’s something CEO Strauss Zelnick likes to remind us at every available moment. They have over 30 1m+ selling brands, he says. But that’s actually been the case for a few years now. We know that. But what’s been different this year is how the firm has finally managed to crack the potentially lucrative digital market. It’s even increased its annual estimates based on micro-transactions, game downloads and mobile. The digital side of its business is booming. But Zelnick says it’s not all about making money. “We’ve seen on-going engagement with our games between big releases that didn’t exist five years ago. We call that recurrent consumer spending – spending on everything except full-game downloads,” Zelnick says. “There’s no doubt that we’re investing more in online. Whether that’s NBA 2K Online in China or the Civilization title we’re working on in Korea, whether that’s Grand Theft Auto or other forms of other engagement, such as virtual currency inside an NBA game or engaging with WWE Supercard. “Having consumers engaged online is an important part of the business. It’s not just for us, but for the entire industry. The important bit is not because it’s digital, but that it reflects engagement.” GOING MOBILE Like many of its rivals Take-Two

November 21st 2014

smartphone and tablet content that is unrelated to a core release. I’m not saying we don’t do it, but it’s of less interest to us.”

Digital titles like GTA Online helped drive Take-Two’s revenue

has been trying its hand at mobile gaming. During its last financial quarter, its launches included tablet and smartphone collectible card game WWE Supercard. It even released 2007 Xbox 360 title BioShock on iOS at the end of August. “We’ve learnt that until devices are great game platforms for current console releases and become more powerful from a graphics and a processing point of view, we’re limited to older titles for tablets,” Zelnick says. “What we have become very excited about is companion apps. Most recently WWE Supercard has been a big success for us. And our NBA title has benefitted from companion apps. “Like everyone else, we can’t have the Angry Birds and Candy Crush Sagas of the world. Those games are best in class because Rovio and Supercell know what to do for mobile. What we’re less focused on is standalone

Since 2007 we’ve tried to diversify TakeTwo from just Grand Theft Auto. And we’ve succeeded. Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two

NEW IDEAS The firm has two new IPs coming to market soon, too. First, there’s team-based FPS Evolve from Left 4 Dead studio Turtle Rock in February 2015, then Gearbox’s arena-shooter Battleborn set to launch in the 2016 fiscal year. It’s a good time to launch new IP, following big sales for Titanfall, Watch Dogs and Destiny. But Zelnick insists the success of Activision and Ubisoft’s titles has had no impact on its plans. “The launches of Watch Dogs and Destiny haven’t shaped our strategy,” Zelnick says. “What Watch Dogs showed us was something we knew already which is in the early stages of a console cyle it is easier to get a good result. Later, quality parameters go up. The market is more forgiving now becauase when consumers buy new hardware they’re anxious to buy software to enjoy on it. “Watch Dogs benefitted from that. And we too have the benefit of that window, where consumers are avidly interested in software for next-gen. And the release schedule has been pretty barren so far. It’s not as super competitive.” He concludes: “We have Evolve and Battleborn, and we have a lot of titles in development, and in time the market is going to understand that when we say we have great titles in the works we don’t say words lightly. I‘m confident about our upcoming releases.”

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RETURN OF POKÉMON

POLISHED GEMS Last year’s Pokémon X and Y were a massive success, selling over 12 million units worldwide. Vanisha Kavia, product manager at Nintendo, tells Matthew Jarvis how the firm plans to catch fans again

8 years. 22 games. 719 Pokémon. Nintendo’s biggest handheld franchise has an impressive legacy, which continues this year with the release of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby for 3DS. Remakes of 2002’s Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire for the Game Boy Advance, Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby follow 2013’s Pokémon X and Y, the first ‘proper’ 3D outings for the series. X and Y also marked the first simultaneous worldwide launch for a new Pokémon entry – a strategy that worked in Nintendo’s favour, as the games sold more than four million units in their opening weekend and became the fastestselling 3DS games on record. X and Y might have set a high bar for this year’s releases, but early signs are promising – pre-orders for Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby are already tracking ahead of those for X and Y. Vanisha Kavia, product manager at Nintendo, says that this hype is partly due to players who have been itching to revisit the GBA classics. “Ruby and Sapphire remakes have always been a popular request from fans,” she states. “But with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, developer Game Freak was keen to go beyond just a remake with an X and Y-style visual upgrade. The key was to ensure that the games felt fresh to long time Pokémon fans who have already played through the GBA games numerous times, and ensure they could still surprise them.” OLD WITH THE NEW Ruby and Sapphire are the fifth best-selling set of Pokémon titles

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Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby are remakes of 2002 Game Boy Advance titles

to date, with 15.85 million units shifted worldwide. Remaking such beloved titles requires a careful balance of retaining what players loved 12 years ago with the introduction of enough to make the titles accessible to newcomers, Kavia explains. “Our core audience is absolutely the primary audience and are who we engage with first and foremost when it comes to marketing the games,” she says. “For core fans, with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, it’s all about tapping into the nostalgia and bringing out their fond memories and then surprising them with what is new. “Targeting kids and growing the franchise has been an objective of ours for a few years now, but this does not come at the expense of our loyal fans as we ensure that there is something available for both audiences.” Kavia adds that the core Pokémon video game series continues to be

Ruby and Sapphire remakes have always been a popular request from fans. Vanisha Kavia, Nintendo

supported by a wide universe of merchandise, which keeps the IP popular between titles. “Keeping the franchise growing and feeling fresh at each stage is one of our key objectives,” she says. “There are many pillars to the brand aside from the games that are of growing importance, such as the TV series, merchandise and the Trading Card Game, which help to keep the franchise relevant amongst a younger audience.” The Poké fans’ love of merchandise has seen Nintendo put together special editions for the new titles with SteelBooks, figurines and in-game extras. There are even special 2DS bundles launching. “Offering retail partners exclusives gives them a point of difference and incentivises consumers with an exclusive gift – be it digital or physical,” says Kavia. “Strong gifts help to drive preorders and ultimately rewards fans for their loyalty.”

November 21st 2014

INDIE INTERVIEW THE CHINESE ROOM Sponsored by

THE NEXT STAGE OF INDEPENDENTS The Chinese Room has its roots in creating game mods, and a reputation for building deep, artistic titles. However, the developer insists that is no longer ‘indie’. Alex Calvin speaks to the firm to find out more.

n recent memory, ‘indie’ has become more of a marketing buzzword than an actual description of what a developer is. This is a sentiment shared by Brighton-based developer The Chinese Room, the studio behind acclaimed PC titles Dear Esther and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. “We don’t really think of ourselves as an indie studio anymore. We’re just a small studio that started off indie,” studio head and creative director Dan Pinchbeck says. “Rebellion and Crytek describe themselves as independent and that goes all the way down to (Super Hexagon developer) Terry Cavanagh and Positech’s Cliff Harris. “At what point do you say you’re independent? It doesn’t seem to mean very much. Indie normally just means small companies with a high degree of creative control.” Studio head and composer Jessica Curry agrees: “‘Indie dev’ is a bit of a meaningless term.” SHOOTER ROOTS It may not class itself as indie, but its games certainly have indie qualities in that they’re unique, daring and artistic. Take for example the studio’s first game, Dear Esther, an experimental first-person game that became famous for its use of narrative. But this title didn’t begin life as something so unique. “Dear Esther started as a Half Life 2 mod. It was never conceived as an art game,” Pinchbeck says. “It was a game that came out of the most hardcore FPS

November 21st 2014

PInchbeck (far left) and Curry (left) turned to Sony for Everyone’s Gone to the Rapture

community there is. We never really saw it consciously as an art game or anything different. We saw it as an interesting thing to do. It just grew out of the first-person design format. The reason it picked up and became popular was it appealed to the most hardcore fans of the first person genre anyway. It proved its appeal as a mod long before it went commercial. “It makes me smile a bit when people say that Chinese Room is an art-based developer, and really Dear Esther grew out of a love of Doom, Quake and Half Life rather than anything else.” And the studio picked up its fair share of critical acclaim. In 2013 Dear Esther was nominated for five video game BAFTAs. “It was a wonderful few years with Dear Esther, then [survival horror title] Amnesia: Machine for Pigs,” Curry says. “It was surreal. We never did games to win awards or make money. It was a purely artistic

endeavour. All those things came as an added bonus. It means a lot to be judged by your peers. “Then you get emails from fans telling you that your game got them through a really hard time. That is the most extraordinary feeling. That is why I always created.”

Dear Esther grew out of a love of Doom, Quake and Half Life rather than anything else. Dan Pinchbeck, The Chinese Room

FEELING RAPTUROUS Now The Chinese Room is working on a new PlayStation 4-exclusive called Everyone’s Gone To The Rapture, a project far more ambitious than anything

the studio has tried before. So the firm has turned to Sony’s Santa Monica studio to give them a helping hand. “We knew that for Everyone’s Gone to the Rapture, with the level of ambition we had, that we’d have to work with a partner or publisher,” Pinchbeck explains. “We sat down to list the studios we’d like to work with, wrote down Santa Monica, left it, came back two weeks later and the paper just had that written on it still. So we approached them.” Curry adds: “Working with Santa Monica was attractive for us. They have a really good reputation with indies particularly. We started talking to them and we felt they were the perfect partner for us to be honest. It’s a really good fit.” And with this new project, The Chinese Room has obviously grown since three developers made Dear Esther. “With Rapture, our team size is bigger now. It brings up a whole new list of challenges, joys and pitfalls. Essentially we were a group of friends working together.” She concludes: “And I don’t think we were really a professional game studio in a lot of ways, but now through experience and blood and sweat and tears we can call ourselves a bona fide game studio. We’re professionalised, we’re implementing pensions and we’ve got a business plan and all that stuff, which we winged before.”

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ERP

ÂŁ49.99

Call our specialist sales team 01279 822 822 exertis.co.uk/home exertis.co.uk/home/store

MARKETPLACE

SHELF LIFE MCV speaks to GAME Northfield’s Christmas sales assistant Kat Hughes on the retailer’s in-store events and what their customers are looking forward to in the build-up to the festive season Tell us a little about your store’s team. There are nine of us in total. We all bring something different to the store and this is what makes us a unique team, especially over the Christmas season where some of our regular Christmas staff join us once again. What’s your store speciality? Our community. We’re a family, that’s clear from the moment you step inside our humble store.

PRE-ORDER CHARTS

dressing up. Let me tell you about our most recent lock in for The Evil Within. Think house of horrors, think insane asylum, think gamers paradise, this is what greeted you inside. We dimmed the lights, got ourselves dressed up in our ﬁnest gore and ordered some pizzas and then, show time. All our fabulous customers turned up for an evening sneak peak at the terrifying new Evil Within game.

We all strive to build a vibrant community around our local gamers. People often ask how come we have so many returning customers? Well, we’re just good at persuading all the passersby to become a regular GAME shopper, that’s all. What has been your most successful in-store event? There have been so many great events at the store, we are forever planning, decorating and

PRICE CHECK: NOTTINGHAM

TOP 10 PRE-ORDERS 1. GRAND THEFT AUTO V Rockstar, PS4

2. Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar ...................................................................XO

POKÉMON BLACK

3. Dragon Age Inquisition EA .............................................................................PS4

Nintendo,3DS

POKÉMON X Nintendo, 3DS

4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D Nintendo............................................................... 3DS

Nintendo, Wii U

3DS

£32

£13.39

£31.85

£39.97

£34.85

£24.85

£31.85

£39.85

£31.99

N/A

£31.99

£39.99

9. Far Cry 4 Limited Edition Ubisoft .......................................................................XO

£34.99

£32.99

£42.99

10. Dragon Age: Inquisition EA ................................................................................XO

£32

£27.59

£33

£40

6. Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 Konami ...................................................................PS4

ONLINE

5. Far Cry 4 Limited Edition Ubisoft ....................................................................PS4

SUPER SMASH BROS, NINTENDO

SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD

7. Super Smash Bros + GameCube Nintendo............................................................. Wii U

UPLOADING The latest digital releases coming to market

November 21st 2014

IN STORE

8. Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Remix Square Enix..........................................................PS3

ELITE: DANGEROUS

TERRARIA

THOMAS WAS ALONE

The Kickstarter space sim lands onto PC in time for Christmas

The crafting title is on PS4 with bigger worlds and cross play

The indie hit is coming to PS4, Xbox One and Wii U this month

OUT DECEMBER 16TH

OUT NOW

OUT NOVEMBER

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MARKETPLACE

GAME Northﬁeld 9 Church Road, Northﬁeld Birmingtham, West Midlands B31 2JX

What’s the best thing about dropping by your store? As I said earlier, our store is a family. The best thing about dropping by is the feeling of community you get. We know that our customers are a great source of knowledge and skill and we love chatting and sharing tips and tricks. We really want to make sure that everyone leaves feeling like they have the perfect addition to their gaming collection.

Phone: 0121 477 2292 Website: www.game.co.uk

What are your customers looking forward to in the buildup to Christmas? Our local gamers interest in all diﬀerent genres and platforms. There is a lot of buzz over some of the upcoming PS4 and Xbox One titles. Our customers want value for money and titles that will last them a long time. Games like Shadow of Mordor and Alien are proving popular simply because of the potential of extended game time with season passes.

INCOMING TITLE

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

We’re into the ﬁnal stretch of 2014 releases, with a new Dragon Age game coming out this week and LittleBigPlanet 3 and The Crew launching shortly after FORMAT

GENRE

PUBLISHER

TELEPHONE

DISTRIBUTOR

PS3/360

Action

Warner Bros

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

November 21st Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Dragon Age: Inquisiton

PS4/XO/PS3/360/PC

RPG

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Escape Dead Island

PS3/360

Action

Deep Silver

01256 385 200

Koch Media

Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Editon

Vita

Construction

Sony

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric

Wii U

Platformer

Sega

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

3DS

Platformer

Sega

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Watch Dogs

Wii U

Action

Ubisoft

01279 822 822

Exertis

WWE 2K15

PS4/XO

Fighting

2K Games

01279 822 822

Exertis

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom

PS3/360/3DS/PC

Action

Bandai Namco

01215 069 590

Avantage

LittleBigPlanet 3

PS4/PS3

Platformer

Sony

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

3DS

RPG

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Open

November 28th

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

3DS

RPG

Nintendo

01753 483 700

Open

Rugby Union Team Manager 2015

Sports

Alternative Software 01977 555000

Open

Super Smash Bros

Wii U

Fighting

Nintendo

01753 483 700

Open

PS4/XO/360/PC

Racer

Ubisoft

01279 822 822

Exertis

December 2nd The Crew

December 5th Big Hero 6

3DS/DS

Action

Avanquest

01480 359 403

Open

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix

PS3

RPG

Square Enix

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

PS4/XO/PC

Action

Square Enix

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Wii U

Puzzle

Nintendo

01753 483 700

Open

January 2nd Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

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November 21st 2014

FANTASY

FANTASY They might deal with swords and shields, but fantasy games remain as popular as ever in the modern games market. Matthew Jarvis sets oﬀ on a quest

Fantasy has come a long way since the dice-rolling days of the original Dungeons and Dragons. With floods of video game titles allowing players to slash, summon and spellcast their way through a diverse variety of environments filled with all sorts of mythical beings and beasts, it’s clear that the genre continues to enchant and impress. The sector can hardly be discussed without a mention of Square Enix’s behemothic Final

Skyrim is the bestselling fantasy game of all time, and one of the best-selling video games of all time.

Fantasy franchise. Created in 1987, more than 25 years, 14 core titles and four movie spin-offs later, the series has sold in excess of 85 million units. This popularity has spawned a huge range of merchandise, from T-shirts and plush toys to figurines, keyrings and even vinyl soundtracks. This year will see the re-release of several of Square’s Final Fantasy titles on PC via Steam, making now the right time to encourage fans of the franchise into stores.

DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION HERALDRY MESSENGER BAG Emblazoned with the Seeker logo from the latest title in BioWare’s roleplaying fantasy series, this Dragon Age: Inquisition messenger bag is created from durable nylon and has a padded carrying handle and integrated laptop sleeve. It does not guarantee laptop safety from dragon breath. SRP: $60 (£38.30) Manufacturer: BioWare Distributor: BioWare Contact: contact@bioware.com

FINAL FANTASY MOOGLE PLUSH

THE WITCHER HOUSE OF GLASS

THE ELDER SCROLLS: ONLINE WALLSCROLL MAP

Fans can ﬁnally own their own Moogle, with this plush based on the adorable Final Fantasy series mascot.

This paperback collects the entire The Witcher spin-oﬀ graphic novel miniseries, with all ﬁve issues included.

This 77x100cm wallscroll shows the map of Tamriel, the vast continent of The Elder Scrolls: Online.

SRP: £21.99 Manufacturer: Square Enix Distributor: CentreSoft Contact: 0121 625 3388

SRP: $17.99 (£11.48) Manufacturer: Dark Horse Distributor: Diamond Comic Distributors UK Contact: 01928 531 760

SRP: £19.99 Manufacturer: Gaya Entertainment Distributor: Gaming Merchandise UK Contact: hello@gamingmerchandiseuk.com

November 21st 2014

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FANTASY

DIRECTORY

MCV DIRECTORY KEY CONTACTS Sony DADC ............................................ +44 (0) 207 462 6200

CREATIVE Fink ................................................................. info@ﬁnkcreative.com

GAMING ACCESSORIES DISC REPAIR

L3I............................................................................+ (0)1923 471 020

Total Disc Repair ..................................+44 (0) 1202 489500

Venom ............................................................... +44 (0)1763 284181

DISTRIBUTION Click Entertainment ............................ +44 (0) 203 137 3781 Creative Distribution ......................+44 (0) 20 8664 3456 RATES

Curveball Leisure ................................... +44 (0) 1792 652521

£70 per two column box (100mm x 75mm). To run weekly for a minimum of 1 year. Please phone for other size and/or position requirements.

Enarxis Dynamic Media ............................. +302 1090 11900

DISC REPAIR

TOTAL DISC REPAIR

Tel: +44 (0) 1202 489500

November 21st 2014

Web: www.totaldiscrepair.co.uk

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DIRECTORY

ENQUIRIES CONOR TALLON Tel: 01992 535647 ctallon@nbmedia.com

FINK

CREATIVE

DISTRIBUTION

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

DISTRIBUTION

SONY DADC

DISTRIBUTION

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

www.mcvuk.com

Web: www.enarxis.eu

Tel: +44 (0) 207 462 6200

Web: www.sonydadc.com

November 21st 2014

DIRECTORY

GAMING ACCESSORIES

L3I

GAMING ACCESSORIES

VENOM

New officially licensed products

Rechargeable Battery Pack

Fully recharges the DUALSHOCK®4 wireless controller for up to 20 hours of gameplay.

Hurricane Steering Wheel

Tel: + (0)1923 471 020

Web: www.logic3.com

Take racing to the next level

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 November 21st 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 NOVOBOX

DIRECTORY

WHO? Specialism: Packaging manufacturing Location: Dože Đerđa 1, App 36, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia

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

Jean Noël of packaging specialist Novobox talks about working with some of this year’s biggest titles

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

Tell us about your company. Novobox manufactures special packaging, collector’s edition boxsets and figurines. We have in-house design and production teams at our headquarters in Serbia, as well as in our office in China. We have had our own office in Dongguan, China for over seven years.

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

What is your biggest success to date? We provided the Assassin’s Creed Unity Collector’s Edition box this year, as well as providing the special edition case for Warner Bros’ Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The total combined number of ordered units for Unity and Shadow of Mordor was more than 500,000. What projects do you currently have in the works? We have just ﬁnished our work on the packaging for Project CARS and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for Bandai Namco. This year we have also worked on FIFA for EA, Halo for Microsoft and Far Cry 4 for Ubisoft. What are the biggest challenges you face? The ‘SteelBook’ name is quite famous, but people are converting very quickly to FuturePak, since the material is stronger and we can do tins with integrated sound and light. Tell us something about your company no one knows. To be included in the Develop Directory (which appears every month in Develop and now every week in MCV) contact aboucher@nbmedia.com

We have just finished work on the packaging for Project CARS and The Witcher 3. We are currently working on the packaging for the Bandai Namco-published anime fighting game Dragon Ball Xenoverse, which is scheduled for release on PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC during February 2015. How did you choose your company name? My wife is from Serbia – we are based there in Novi Sad near Belgrade. We purchased some machinery in Serbia from a company named Don Box and had to rush to the lawyer office to find a name within a few hours. The result was Novobox.

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: E: info@novoboxworld.com P: +381 21 445 663 W: www.novoboxworld.com

November 21st 2014

FACTFILE AUSTRIA Sponsored by

Wholesaler and distributor of video games, consoles and accessories

INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: AUSTRIA Population: 8,504,850 Capital City: Vienna Currency: Euro GDP (Per Capita): $52,216 KEY RETAILERS GameStop, MediaMarkt, Müller, Saturn, Video Game Store, Videogames Pilko, Videolife TOP DISTRIBUTORS Koch Media, Sony DADC, Play Art, Stadlbauer

CLOSELY linked with its close neighbours Germany and Switzerland, much of Austria’s games industry revenue is generated by titles imported from those regions. This relationship is symbiotic – many German gamers import titles from Austria to try and circumvent Germany’s strict censorship laws. No such legal limitations exist within Austria, making the region a haven for those seeking more controversial game titles. Compared to the UK’s dwindling number of independent stores, which are in constant battle with larger national supermarkets, in Austria indie retail is thriving. Alongside specialists and global chains, the strength of indies has meant that Austria hypermarkets have little foothold in the market. One of Austria’s biggest games publishers is Nordic Games. The

TOP DEVELOPERS Clockstone Studios, DonkeyCat, Mipumi Games, Sproing, Rarebyte, Still Alive Studios, Egon.CX PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION Deep Silver, Nordic Games, Microsoft

firm has grown in stature in the wider games market, particularly following its acquisition of multiple THQ properties and the THQ name in 2013. Nordic also acquired fellow Austrian publisher JoWooD Entertainment in 2011. Nordic is one of a scant number of local firms operating in Austria. Many are German firms whose coverage extends to the region. One of the largest is the German distributor and publisher Koch Media, which has an office in Austria. One region in which Austrian games are finding a particular foothold is South Korea. The Federal Ministry of the Economy, Family and Youth and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber have organised multiple trips to South Korea in order to establish a foundation for Austrian-developed titles.

Indie retail is thriving in Austria, with hypermarkets holding little foothold in the market.

November 21st 2014

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AUSTRIA FACTFILE

MEANWHILE IN... NORTH AMERICA The average age of those playing games on mobile devices has plummeted, falling by more than seven years in comparison to 2013 CHILDREN and teens are fast becoming the primary users of mobile devices for gaming, a new report has found. According to the 2014 Deconstructing Mobile and Tablet Gaming Report from EEDAR, the average age of mobile gamers in North America is now 27.7 years old. This is a drop of seven years from 2013. EEDAR suggests that the drop in age is due to the falling price of tablets and smartphones leading more children and teens to own such devices. The average age of those playing also varies depending on the game type. Those playing casual games were found to be

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younger on average, at 26 years old, and more likely to be female, with seven in 10 women playing such titles. Comparatively, core games attract an older audience, aged 30 on average, which

is more likely to be male â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 58 per cent were men. The report also found that there are over 30 million more mobile gamers now than in 2013, up to 142m from 111m.

November 21st 2014

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION