MCV862 January 22nd by Future PLC

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES ISSUE 862 FRIDAY JANUARY 22ND 2016

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES

10 YEARS OF 505 GAMES

ISSUE 862 FRIDAY JANUARY 22ND 2016

THE JOURNEY FROM COOKING MAMA TO INDIE HITS P16

‘Boris boost is for all of Britain, NOT just London’

£1.2m Mayor of London investment will bolster games industry from Brighton to Edinburgh, says organiser O ‘UK can attract triple-A giants again,’ says Payne by Christopher Dring THE new London Games Festival is designed to support everyone in the UK games industry, not just those based in the capital. LGF is taking place between April 1st to April 10th, and is a collaboration between UKIE, Film London and the Mayor of London, the latter of which has contributed £1.2m to ensure the event remains a part of the UK calendar for at least three years. It was announced via a special Minecraft-inspired video (above). The Festival will feature a series of talks, a ﬁnance market, BAFTA Game Awards, Rezzed and more. It is part of the Games London programme, run by former MCV publisher Michael French. The Chair of LGF and Games London, Andy Payne, tells MCV that it’s imperative that they don’t

“just talk about ‘London, London, London’.” Because games are far more regionally distributed in terms of the people who make them,” he says. “London will act as a conduit for investment in games across the UK. This is not just about London; it is about the UK games industry.” He added: “LGF can shine a light on, and help, the rest of the UK, because we have a digital business and we don’t have to be located in London. There are thriving hubs in Brighton, Cardiﬀ, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Dundee, Edinburgh, Liverpool and many more. And these areas should grow bigger because of the digital nature of what we do.” Payne hopes LGF will become part of the annual calendar, akin to London Fashion Week, and can help draw in investment from ﬁnancial institutions and other

The UK can certainly punch equally and take-on big gaming countries like Canada. Andy Payne, Games London

countries. He says that the aim from Games London is to take on San Francisco to establish London as the global digital capital. “London is the capital of ﬁnance globally. Wouldn’t it be great if it was the capital of digital, too?” he asked. “If you look at digital capitals, San Francisco is perhaps No.1, but London isn’t far behind. There’s no reason why we can’t be No.1 in the world.” What’s more, Payne hopes that this initiative, coupled with the introduction of tax breaks, should encourage the triple-A publisher to increase their investment in the UK, just as it did in Canada. “Britain, through London, has a good opportunity to be a place where the bigger companies can have their games made,” he said. “The UK can certainly punch equally and take-on big gaming countries like Canada.”

PLUS 2K AND FIRAXIS ON XCOM 2 MEET THE NEW CURVE

NEWS

MCV boosts sales team YOUR favourite industry title has bolstered its sales force. Lesley McDiarmid has returned as an senior account manager following stints at Sharedit and Chelsea Magazines. She initially joined MCV in 2002 as a sales and production assistant before rising up the ranks. She will work alongside senior account manager Conor Tallon. Meanwhile, Develop sales executive Charlotte Nangle and PCR account manager Sarah Goldhawk will be assisting McDiarmid and Tallon on MCV. “The new additions to the MCV sales team will help ensure that we continue to provide our commercial partners with the service you require,” NewBay sales director Mark Rankine said. MCV’s sales team can be reached at 0207 354 6000.

Creative England makes surprise publishing move Not-for-profit organisation joins raft of competing companies in the indie sector by Christopher Dring ANOTHER week in MCV, another story about a company that has moved into publishing indie games. But this one is a little different as its not-for-profit organisation Creative England. The firm – which traditionally offers training, mentoring and investment to those in the creative industries – has teamed up with Imaginarium Studios to launch a new games publishing venture. The two firms will be ‘developing and curating new games across multiple platforms’. Creative England will seek out developers to bring between five and ten games to market in the next 12 months. The organisation says it wants to ‘bridge the gap’ and help broker commercial deals

Creative England is partnering with Andy Serkis’ Imaginarium to publish games

between small developers and the major games giants. “There is a wealth of development talent across our country and this partnership will provide a route to market for many of the fantastic content creators and businesses we invest in, allowing the big guys and little guys to join forces to produce amazing new content,”

505 Games switches focus to developing its own IP

Curve Digital: We could make a cracking James Bond tie-in game CURVE Digital Entertainment boss Dominic Wheatley says movie licences could be a huge opportunity for smaller publishers. Referencing the absence of a James Bond game to tie in with last year’s Spectre movie, Wheatley says that as companies like EA and Activision focus on their own IP, that leaves an opportunity for the likes of Curve. “A lot of these bigger ﬁrms are not terribly interested in licences now,” he told MCV. “There is a completely justiﬁable

January 22nd 2016

said Creative England’s director of content Solomon Nwabueze. Creative England has also invested in a Rise of the Planet of the Apes game, created by Imaginarium, and due in 2017. Imaginarium is a London-based studio that specialises in motion capture. It was set-up in 2011 by Hollywood star Andy Serkis and producer Jonathan Cavendish.

arrogance from the bigger companies who are saying that they don’t need a movie licence. They have Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty, they have their own IP, so why should they promote someone else’s brand? That is an incredible coming of age for the games industry. “But I’d be very happy to have a James Bond licence. We could do a cracking game around that. These are opportunities that might be overlooked by the bigger ﬁrms.” Turn the page for more from Wheatley and the new Curve.

PUBLISHER 505 Games says it is determined to develop its own brands going forward. The ﬁrm, celebrating its tenth birthday this month, traditionally partners with other studios’ titles, and has helped turn Terraria, Cooking Mama, Payday and Zumba Fitness into smash hits. 505 boss Ian Howe told MCV that he’s not turning his back on these partnerships, but the ﬁrm is now looking to create its own hits. “A lot of our past success has come from other people’s games, and whilst we’re happy to still have this play a part in our future, it’s critical that we

develop our own brands,” he told us. “We’ve been working hard on unannounced IPs that will launch in the next couple of years. We encourage everyone at 505 to think about the types of games they want to make. If we think the idea is strong enough, then we’ll make it. In that respect we’re taking an approach closer to that of a developer than a publisher.” He added: “We have an exciting new wholly-owned IP to unveil in the next couple of weeks.” For more on 505 Games past, present and future, check out pages 16 to 19.

www.mcvuk.com

NEWS

Candy Crush company King targets Clash of Clans’ fans by Alex Calvin WATCH out Supercell, casual mobile games giant King is making a move into the ’midcore’ sector. King currently specialises in casual titles such as Candy Crush and similar match-3 puzzle games. Meanwhile, rival mobile giants such as Supercell and Machine Zone are generating signiﬁcant revenue from ‘mid-core’ games such as Clash of Clans, Boom Beach and Game of War.

THE EDITOR

Mid-core is a term coined for games that sit between casual puzzle titles and more hardcore strategy and shooter games. Speaking to MCV ahead of the launch of King’s new mobile title Jelly Saga – SVP of the Candy Crush brand Tjodolf Sommestad said: “As a company, we are now working on a mid-core title. “It’s an area that we are interested in but we have nothing to announce at this point.” It was revealed last year that King will become part of Activision in a $5.9bn deal.

SCENE IS SET FOR UK GAMES INDUSTRY PR TRIUMPH

ust under ten years ago, Boris Johnson said that computer games rot the brain. He said it was time to say ‘no to Nintendo’, ‘garrotte the Game Boy’ and ‘paralyse the PlayStation’. Thanks Boris. Ten years later, and he’s not just changed his tune, but he has handed the games industry £1.2m to launch London Games Festival. Let’s not undersell the achievement of trade bodies like UKIE for talking the Government – and its associated organisations – around. Not only is it hard to accurately explain the benefits of our massive industry, by the time it’s sunk in, the games market goes and changes again. The Festival is part of a triumvirate of Government initiatives designed to give our industry the environment it needs to find the next Shigeru Miyamoto or build the next Minecraft. First came the tax breaks, then the introduction of computer science onto the education curriculum and now we have ten days of events that will allow games businesses to advertise their strengths to companies and investors both internally and around the world. And what we need now is a real PR win. Take the TV and movie industries. The British film industry is one of the strongest in the world. It has incredible acting talent, brilliant facilities, smart technical people and, of course,

King is planning on expanding beyond the casual Candy Crush market

SPONSORED BY

PRE-ORDER TOP 10

TOM CLANCY’S THE DIVISION + BETA (PS4)

UBISOFT

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD + Amiibo (Wii U)

Nintendo

Tom Clancy’s The Division + Beta (XO)

Gravity Rush HD Remastered (PS4)

Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls (PS4)

Resident Evil Origins Collection (PS4)

Final Fantasy Explorer (3DS)

Square Enix

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers (PS4)

Warner Bros

Street Fighter V (PS4)

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)

www.mcvuk.com

Ubisoft Sony Sony Capcom

Capcom Sony

The upcoming Assassin’s Creed film was made in the UK – why not the next Assassin’s Creed game? tax relief from Government. We know all this because of the number of times Brits who end up dominating the Oscars, or when Disney announces it will be making every Star Wars movie at Pinewood Studios, or the sheer amount of British people in Game of Thrones. Isn’t it about time, with the talent and Government support that Britain now boasts, that Lara Croft returned home? Or the next FIFA is built in a country that actually likes football? Hell, the upcoming Assassin’s Creed movie was made in the UK, why not the next Assassin’s Creed video game? As soon as we fix our dodgy internet infrastructure (it is happening, right?), there is no reason why any of the above could not be a realistic possibility. It may not be the reason why the likes of London Games Festival or the tax relief exist, but a big PR win like those will go a long way in immediately reassuring Government that its financial support is having a significant impact upon our industry. cdring@nbmedia.com

January 22nd 2016

MEET THE NEW CURVE

Unﬁnished business Eidos co-founder Dominic Wheatley has returned to the frontline of video games to resurrect the UK publishing scene. Is this merger between Curve and Kuju an act of noble ambition, or a desperate move in a challenged indie games market? Christopher Dring speaks to Wheatley and company chairman Stuart Dinsey

WHO IS STUART DINSEY? MOST famous for founding MCV, Stuart Dinsey’s career has included stints at CTW, GamesAid and UKIE. Now he serves as Curve Digital Entertainment’s chairman having joined what was Curve Digital in November 2013. Outside of the games industry, Dinsey is director of both Stevenage FC and the footballer communications and promotions agency The Integrity Club.

ominic Wheatley has a point to prove. The co-founder of Eidos – the Brit firm behind hits such as Championship Manager, Hitman and Tomb Raider – departed the company after it had floated. Years of uncertainty followed, as it passed through different owners before finally being acquired by Japanese giant Square Enix. “My regret is that I left Eidos too soon,” says Wheatley. “I would have loved to have seen it remain a British publishing powerhouse, which it absolutely should and could have been.” Wheatley’s involvement in games in recent years has been

January 22nd 2016

THE INDIEPOCALYPSE It’s easy to romanticise the Curve and Kuju merger, but there is a far more practical reason to this deal than simply rejuvenating a dormant UK publishing scene. “We’ve often been hampered by an inability to compete with the larger companies entering the market,” says Stuart Dinsey, chairman of Curve Digital Entertainment. “We have funded games here and there, but it’s been at a very low level. We won’t be changing Curve’s ethos, but we will be looking to work with developers and partners which have, up until now, been out of our reach.

as CEO of The Catalis Group, which owns work-for-hire developer Kuju and QA firm Testronic. And earlier this month he returned to publishing after Catalis acquired indie publisher Curve, and subsequently merged it with Kuju. Is this Britain’s next Eidos? “We are not trying to recreate things from the past necessarily,” Wheatley continues, referring to a period in the 1980s and 1990s when Brit publishers such as Eidos, Ocean, Virgin and US Gold ruled the shelves. “But there isn’t really a big British publisher now, and that’s a shame.”

“These days, many indies are no longer daunted by console development – many feel they can go it alone. The low barrier to entry is a double-edge sword, though. Whilst the talk of an ‘indiepocalypse’ is an exaggeration, the market we entered is becoming increasingly crowded – you can no longer simply stick a game on Steam and watch the money roll in. Console stores are becoming increasingly crowded, too – the idea of self-publishing may be romantic, but the reality is often very different.” Publishers need to work harder and need bigger wallets in order to afford the production

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MEET THE NEW CURVE

WHO IS DOMINIC WHEATLEY? Dominic Wheatley helped launch one of the biggest publishers of the Britsoft era back in the ‘90s when he founded Domark Software, later re-named Eidos. Since then he has taken on the role of CEO at The Catalis Group, which owns development arm Kuju as well as QA firm Testronic. Outside of games, Wheatley served as a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, British Army, and is Chair of social network creation company SocialGo.

values now being demanded by consumers, Dinsey says. And it’s a view backed up by its rival, Team17. The Worms maker has recently signed indie projects that have multi-million pound development budgets. Dinsey says Curve can now compete at this level, thanks to private equity support provided by Catalis. “Devolver and Team17 have set the bar for that next level up of indie, and Curve wants to be part of that,” adds Dinsey. “That doesn’t mean we are going to start throwing money around, but if the consumer expects a higher grade of indie game, then you’ve got to be in that space.” It sounds like a return of the mid-tier publisher, the type of company that died off in the physical space. “That’s not a bad way of putting it,” says Wheatley. “The mid-tier publisher has been absorbed or disbanded. There is a gap there that one could move into. A lot of these bigger companies are

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Dinsey. “And people were telling us that we were doing the wrong thing. Consoles were over. We should be on Steam. Steam is free money. “Look at the market now. The console focus was right for us then and it remains the core

not terribly interested in licences anymore. Now the industry is bigger than Hollywood, there is a completely justifiable arrogance from the large companies who are saying that they don’t need licences - there wasn’t a James Bond game last year, which just seems extraordinary to me. “But, the new group has all the talent to do a cracking James Bond game... There are opportunities for people like us that might be overlooked by the bigger companies.”

The group has all the talent to do a cracking James Bond game.

CONSOLES LIVE Curve credits its relationships with the platform holders as one of its biggest strengths. The publisher has mainly focused on console and is broadly steering clear of mobile (“Mobile is like being struck by lightning. It can happen, but it probably won’t happen again,” says Wheatley). “When we moved into publishing two years ago. We decided not to do mobile, and not to concentrate on PC,” adds

Dominic Wheatley, Curve Digital Entertainment

of our business. We love our relationships with Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. And they love the fact we have been committed to them all along.” THE NEXT STEP Wheatley says that Catalis may acquire more studios – “We’re

absolutely up for that,” he declares. But his big aim is in finding new games and talent. He points to Kuju’s Startup fund, which raised £350,000 for developers, and allowed him to sign three games. However, the UK games industry’s next Eidos is not about to emerge overnight. 2017, Dinsey suggests, is when we’ll start to see some of the fruits of this merger. But it’s a positive move. Curve, and others such as Team17, could finally help the UK compete globally, not just in terms of development, but on a business level, too. “UK developers have proven themselves on a global stage, they’re just doing that for American or Japanese publishers,” concludes Wheatley. “The commercial side is the bit that has been lacking in the UK games industry. We haven’t had strong business people and funding so that we can get out there and – as it were – conquer other lands.”

January 22nd 2016

CHEAT SHEET

UP & DOWN

Market Data A lack of new releases results in the market slumping in value once again

FIFA 16 slips one place to No.3 as sales dipped 45 per cent last week

£30m

£15m

£27.7m 969,281 units £11.1m 407,712 units

Week Ending January 2nd

Week Ending January 9th

GTA V rises to second place, the highest the title has charted since August 2015

£7.8m 268,714 units Week Ending January 16th

EVENT CALENDAR FEBRUARY 2016 .................................................................................. THE UK VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY, POLICY PRIORITIES AND NEW AVENUES FOR GROWTH London Thursday, February 25th Q UK industry veterans including Ian Livingstone, UKIE’s Dr Jo Twist, Richard Wilson of TIGA and Rebellion’s Jason Kingsley discuss what the industry’s priorities are for government policy going forward. Livingstone and Chris White MP will chair aﬀairs

INSOMNIA 57 The NEC Birmingham, Birmingham Friday, March 25th – Monday, March 28th Q Multiplay’s Insomnia eSports event returns to Birmingham’s NEC Q Featuring pro-gaming events and the UK’s biggest LAN party Q Counter-Strike, Rocket League, DOTA 2 and League of Legends tournaments to be played Q Consumers can also check out the latest games in the Exhibition Hall Q In addition, Insomnia 57 features the Indie Zone, Retro Zone and more

APRIL 2016 ..................................................................................

MARCH 2016 .................................................................................. MCV AWARDS 2016 Hilton Bankside, London Thursday, March 3rd 2016 Q Celebrating the best that the UK games industry has to oﬀer Q Two categories make a return – Mainstream Retail and Events Team Q New venue at the Hilton Bankside

January 22nd 2016

EGX REZZED Tobacco Dock, London Thursday, April 7th – Saturday, April 9th Q Gamer Network’s indie-focused event returns to London’s Tobacco Dock Q Consumers can try the latest games, from the big blockbusters to hits from smaller teams Q On Friday and Saturday, creators will be holding talks for the Developer Sessions and the Rezzed Sessions

www.mcvuk.com

CHEAT SHEET

PRESENTS

5 SECOND FACTS

THE NEWS IN 140 CHARACTERS The Tweets you might have missed in the last seven days

Your shortcut to sounding clever in the pub, we take you around the industry in under 30 seconds

BORIS JOHNSON ANNOUNCES LONDON GAMES FESTIVAL

250m

Boris Johnson has launched a new programme – Games London – which is a collaboration between UKIE, Film London and the Mayor of London. The ﬁrm is launching a new London Games Festival, which will take place between April 1st and April 10th.

Activision has announced that its Call of Duty franchise has sold over 250m units worldwide

4x Nintendo boss Tatsumi Kimishima has said that the ﬁrm’s new mobile business will quadruple its proﬁts

@spadgy_OTA This Games London project looks like it has loads of potential for games industry and games themselves. Good job.

@MayorofLondon Pleased The London Enterprise Panel is investing in London Games Festival to make London the games capital of the world.

Boris Johnson, The Mayor of London Tuesday, January 19th

Will Freeman, freelance journalist Tuesday, January 19th

HITMAN BUSINESS MODEL CHANGES AGAIN

ROBOT WARS IS RETURNING TO BB2

Square Enix has announced that the business model behind its upcoming Hitman game has undergone some further revisions. The title is now coming with less content at launch, and is fully episodic.

While not strictly game related (or anything to do with games, really – Ed), we couldn’t let the week pass without mentioning that BBC2 has commissioned a new six-part series of Robot Wars.

@edfear I think this is great. I’d never buy a full-price Hitman game, but now I get to pay a bit and see if I like it.

3 Channel 4’s new All 4 Games publishing arm has revealed that its ﬁrst three games will launch by March

@mikeBithell ROBOT WARS IS BACK

*cancels next two projects and begins computer assisted design software*

Sony has oﬀered PlayStation Plus subscribers a one-day extension as an apology for a service outage on PSN earlier this month

Ed Fear, Mediatonic Friday, January 15th

Mike Bithell, indie developer Wednesday, January 13th

@PsychTyson I’ve actually got no problem with Hitman being episodic. My real problem is with the absolutely horrendous messaging.

8% GAME’s share price rose eight per cent after the retailer announced that its Christmas and New Year’s sales were better than feared

@Starfox118 The BBC has decided to televise hapless robots as they battle for their survival once again.

Andy Manson, The Game Jar Friday, January 15th

Vaughn Highﬁeld, Alphr Wednesday, January 13th

Xbox ONE Rock Candy Wired Controller - PDP Design and manufacture the Oﬃcially Licenced Microsoft Rock Candy Wired Controller for Xbox ONE europesales@pdp.com

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GAMESAID THIS WEEK .................................................... PLAY YOUR PART BECOME A MEMBER AMBASSADOR TRUSTEE WWW.GAMESAID.ORG

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GAMESAID HUMBLE BUNDLES

GAMESAID TENNER

..................

The end of 2015 saw Capcom, Codemasters, Square Enix and Yogscast, choosing GamesAid one of their charities for their Humble Bundle deals. GamesAid has thanked those companies for their support.

On March 3rd the MCV Awards will be taking place at the new venue of Bankside Hilton in London. As is tradition, GamesAid will be asking for donations of £10 from attendees. Last year’s show saw £3,088 raised for GamesAid.

STAND UP FOR GAMESAID ..................

Games industry comedy night Stand Up For GamesAid will be returning to London’s Comedy Store this year. The event will be hosted by charity trustree and comedian Imran Yusuf. A date will be announced shortly.

January 22nd 2016

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

IGN’s news editor joins Bastion’s PR team Luke Karmali to work on video projects O Premier’s Williams promoted O New marketing manager for Curve BASTION | Former UK news editor and video host at IGN LUKE KARMALI has joined Bastion as a PR account executive. Karmali will work on the Abuzu, Epic and NCsoft accounts, and lead several new video projects. “Over the three and a half years that Luke was at IGN he built up a deep understanding of the games industry and honed his skills in production. With Bastion’s recent account wins and the launch of our new video division, Turnstile Productions, Luke was a natural choice to join the team,” explained Bastion MD Dean Barrett. Karmali added: “The diversity of accounts that Bastion has as well as its ambitions in the video

January 22nd 2016

ahead. Video games PR is a constantly evolving sector, and Premier’s games team is uniquely positioned to deliver outstanding campaigns that drive growth in our business.”

space made this a very attractive move. I’m looking forward to getting to grips with the ‘dark side’ and making some films for clients that have a real punch.” PREMIER | Premier PR has promoted GARETH WILLIAMS to director of games. “Gareth has been a long term member of Premier’s games PR team and has risen to the challenge of growing the department’s international client base as departmental director,“ declared JOHN REISS, executive chairman of Premier. Williams said: “I’m delighted with the support I’ve had from the management this year, and excited for the coming years

CURVE DIGITAL | NICK MARSHALL has become Curve Digital’s new marketing manager. “We are thrilled to have Nick join our publishing team. His previous experience and knowledge of the indie game market will be invaluable to Curve,” said publishing director SIMON BYRON. Marshall previously worked as an assistant producer at Mastertronic, as well as the marketing manager at Get

Games Go since 2012. “Curve has a fantastic slate of titles and I can’t wait to help make these games shine in the year ahead,” stated Marshall. GINX | Staff writer and producer CHRIS BOND has departed Ginx TV. “It’s been fantastic working with the wonderful team here for the last three and a half years. I’m leaving the games/ television industry, but not production as I’m going to be a video producer for Article 10, a marketing agency based near Old Street in London,” he explained. He is being replaced by ADAM MASON for production and PR related work and JAMES NEAL.

www.mcvuk.com

MONTHLY SALES CHARTS

DECEMBER CHARTS DESPITE some huge releases in November and Black Friday deals taking retail by storm, the UK games market is very slightly down year-onyear in December. Physical software generated £257.6m for the month, a one per cent dip year-onyear. Meanwhile, 8.3m games were sold during December – a 1.7 per cent yearly decline. The diﬀerence in the year-on-year change between revenue and units will be due to the higher number of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One software sold during the month – these are sold at a higher RRP. Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III was the best-selling title for the month ahead of EA’s FIFA 16. Black Ops III’s success also meant that developer Treyarch was the studio with the second-highest market share in December. The developer was beaten to the top spot by EA’s DICE studio, which made two titles in the Top 40 – Star Wars Battlefront and Battleﬁeld 4. Those

titles, coupled with FIFA, helped EA secured the highest software market share for the month. FIFA 16 may have been the second-bestselling physical game of the month. However, according to SuperData’s ﬁgures, FIFA 16 generated the most digital revenue for the month. EA’s football title was responsible for £8.8m in digital revenue in December – a £3m lead on second place, Black Ops III. This highlights the amount of money that FIFA generates through its digital Ultimate Team mode, hence its considerable lead on Call of Duty: Black Ops III. DLC for Activision’s shooter is yet to launch, with the ﬁrst round – Awakening – coming out on February 2nd. Activision drops one place to No.2 in the publishing ranks, while Ubisoft rises to third place in terms of both revenue and units sold thanks to Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and new release Rainbow Six: Siege.

Star Wars Battlefront and FIFA 16 helped EA secure the largest boxed software market share for December

TOP 40 UK PHYSICAL RETAIL 02

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

LM 01 04 03 02 08 NEW 12 06 NEW 14 07 05 21 10 11

Title Call of Duty: Black Ops III FIFA 16 Star Wars Battlefront Fallout 4 Minecraft: Story Mode Just Cause 3 Grand Theft Auto V Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection WWE 2K16 Halo 5: Guardians Forza Motorsport 6 Rise of the Tomb Raider LEGO Dimensions

Format PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4 PS4, XO, PS3, 360 XO XO XO, 360 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360

Publisher Activision Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Bethesda Telltale Games Square Enix Rockstar Ubisoft Ubisoft Sony 2K Games Microsoft Microsoft Square Enix Warner Bros

13 32 16 24 09 20 15 23 18 RE RE 31 25 RE 35 RE RE 29 27 36 34 RE 07 38 26

LEGO Jurassic World Just Dance 2016 Minecraft: Xbox Edition Disney Inﬁnity 3.0 Need for Speed Skylanders Superchargers Guitar Hero Live Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Football Manager 2016 The Last of Us: Remastered Until Dawn Batman: Arkham Knight Mario Kart 8 Destiny: The Taken King Splatoon LEGO Marvel Super Heroes The Crew The Elder Scrolls Online Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Terraria LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Battleﬁeld 4 The Witcher III: Wild Hunt NBA 2K16 Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita Warner Bros PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii Ubisoft XO, 360 Microsoft PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Disney PS4, XO Electronic Arts PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS, Tablet Activision PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Activision PS4, PS3, Vita Sony PC Sega PS4 Sony PS4 Sony PS4, XO Warner Bros Wii U Nintendo PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Wii U Nintendo PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita Warner Bros PS4, XO, 360, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO, PC Bethesda PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Konami PS4, XO, PS3, 360, Vita, PC 505 Games/Merge PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Electronic Arts PS4, XO, PC Bandai Namco PS4, XO, PS3, 360 2K Games XO Microsoft

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: November 22nd to January 2nd January 22nd 2015

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MONTHLY SALES CHARTS

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SHARE BY STUDIO (REVENUE)

TOP 10 UK CONSOLE DIGITAL SALES BY REVENUE (DECEMBER)

01 TM 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LM 01 04 02 32 07 22 14 11 13

DICE PARENT COMPANY: ELECTRONIC ARTS

Developer Treyarch EA Canada Bethesda Avalanche Studios Traveller’s Tales Ubisoft Montreal Rockstar North Nintendo Telltale Games

Parent company Activision Blizzard Electronic Arts Zenimax Media Independent Warner Bros Ubisoft Take-Two Nintendo Independent

TM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Title FIFA 16 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Star Wars Battlefront Fallout 4 Destiny Grand Theft Auto V Just Cause 3 FIFA 15 Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: November 22nd to January 2nd

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SHARE BY PUBLISHER (REVENUE)

01 TM 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LM 01 06 03 09 05 08 07 10 04

LM 01 05 03 08 09 06 07 04 11

Revenue £8,752,883 £5,517,410 £4,498,516 £3,112,520 £2,459,379 £1,839,949 £1,550,995 £1,291,513 £1,616,242 £1,044,169

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SALES BY FORMAT (REVENUE)

ELECTRONIC ARTS Publisher Activision Blizzard Ubisoft Bethesda Square Enix Take-Two Nintendo Warner Bros Sony Microsoft

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SHARE BY COMPANY (UNITS)

TM 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Publisher Electronic Arts Activision Electronic Arts Bethesda Activision Rockstar Square Enix Electronic Arts Ubisoft Activision

Source: SuperData, Period: December 1st to December 31st

TM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LM 01 02 03 04 06 07 05 08 09 10

Title PlayStation 4 Xbox One Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Wii U 3DS PC Wii Vita DS

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: November 22nd to January 2nd

Format PS4, PS3, XO, 360 PS4, PS3, XO, 360 PS4, XO PS4, XO PS4, XO, PS3, 360 PS4. XO, PS3, 360 PS4, XO PS4, PS3, XO, 360 PS4, XO PS4, XO, PS3, 360

Manufacturer Sony Microsoft Microsoft Sony Nintendo Nintendo N/A Nintendo Sony Nintendo

Market Share 41.5% 36.6% 8.0% 3.9% 3.5% 3.4% 2.1% 0.6% 0.2% 0.1%

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: November 22nd to January 2nd

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SALES BY FORMAT (UNITS)

ELECTRONIC ARTS Publisher Activision Blizzard Ubisoft Bethesda Nintendo Sony Take-Two Warner Bros Microsoft Square Enix

TM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Title PlayStation 4 Xbox One Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 3DS PC Wii U Wii PlayStation Vita DS

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: November 22nd to January 2nd www.mcvuk.com

Manufacturer Sony Microsoft Microsoft Sony Nintendo N/A Nintendo Nintendo Sony Nintendo

Market Share 38.3% 32.9% 10.6% 5.3% 4.6% 2.8% 3.6% 1.1% 0.4% 0.4%

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: November 22nd to January 2nd 13

January 22nd 2015

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

WEEKLY CHARTS ANOTHER week with no new releases results in a very familiar-looking Top 40. Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III holds ﬁrst place for the sixth consecutive week. This is the longest time a game has held the top spot since FIFA 15 in 2014. That title also managed six weeks. Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V rises two places to No.2. This is highest the openworld title has appeared in the charts since August 2015. Meanwhile, in the App Store charts, King’s new entry in its Candy Crush franchise – Jelly Saga – debuts in second and seventh place in the iPad and iPhone Free (units) ranks respectively.

The game does not appear in either Grossing Top Ten charts indicating that those playing the title are not feeling the need to use their hard-earned cash in the game just yet. But it is still very early in Jelly Saga’s lifecycle. Over in the Steam software ranks, Capcom’s long-awaited PC SKU of Dragon’s Dogma re-release Dark Arisen hits the Top Ten, taking the No.1 and No.2 spots. In second place is the game itself, which launched on Friday, January 15th, but the most-purchased item of the week was in fact preorders for the title. It highlights just how signiﬁcant pre-orders are for triple-A Steam titles.

GLOBAL STEAM CHARTS (UNITS)

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW NEW 02 NEW 01 03 05 10 04 RE

DRAGON’S DOGMA: DARK ARISEN (P) DEVELOPER: CAPCOM PUBLISHER: CAPCOM

TITLE Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen Counter-Strike: Global Oﬀensive Tom Clancy’s The Division (P) Grand Theft Auto V Fallout 4 Ark: Survival Evolved XCOM 2 (P) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Squad

PUBLISHER Capcom Valve Ubisoft Rockstar Bethesda Studio Wildcard 2K Games Ubisoft Oﬀworld Industries

TOP 40 UK PHYSICAL RETAIL 02

TW 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

LW 01 04 02 03 06 08 07 05 12 13 16 14 11 26 19

Title Call of Duty: Black Ops III Grand Theft Auto V FIFA 16 Star Wars Battlefront Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Just Cause 3 WWE 2K16 Fallout 4 LEGO Jurassic World Minecraft: Xbox Edition Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Disney Inﬁnity 3.0 Minecraft: Story Mode Just Dance 2016 Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

Format Publisher PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Rockstar PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA PS4, XO, PC EA PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO, PC Square Enix PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC 2K Games PS4, XO, PC Bethesda PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros XO, 360 Microsoft PS4, PS3, Vita Sony PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Disney PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Telltale Games/Avanquest PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Ubisoft PS4 Sony

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

18 23 17 24 27 20 22 29 09 10 28 32 34 25 21 30 38 31 36 33 RE 35 RE 37 RE

Batman: Arkham Knight The Elder Scrolls Online Forza Motorsport 6 Need for Speed Guitar Hero Live Halo 5: Guardians Destiny: The Taken King LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Battleﬁeld 4 The Last of Us Remastered Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain The Crew The Evil Within Wolfenstein: The Old Blood Rise of the Tomb Raider Dishonored Deﬁnitive Edition The Witcher III: Wild Hunt NBA 2K16 Until Dawn Dying Light The Sims 4 Mad Max LEGO Dimensions Call of Duty: Ghosts

PS4, XO Warner Bros PS4, XO, PC Bethesda XO Microsoft PS4, XO EA PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard XO Microsoft PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA PS4 Sony PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Konami PS4, XO, 360, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Bethesda PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Bethesda XO Square Enix PS4, XO Bethesda PS4, XO, PC CD Projekt RED/Bandai Namco PS4, XO, PS3, 360 2K Games PS4 Sony PS4, XO, PC Warner Bros PC EA PS4, XO Warner Bros PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Warner Bros PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard

Source: Steam, Period: January 11th to 17th January 22nd 2016

Source: UKIE/GfK Chart-Track, Period: Week ending January 16th 14

www.mcvuk.com

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

UK IPAD PAID

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 02 05 06 09 03 15 08 10 NEW

UK IPHONE PAID

(UNITS)

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Minecraft: Story Mode Cut the Rope: Magic Scribblenauts Unlimited Geometry Dash Goat Simulator Escapists - Back to Prison Football Manager Mobile 2016 The Sims 3 Phantasmat: The Endless Night HD

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Telltale ZeptoLab Warner Bros RobTop Games Coﬀee Stain Studios Noah Mason Sega EA Big Fish Games

LW 02 04 03 09 07 12 08 06 14

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: January 4th to January 10th

(UNITS)

HEADS UP! DEVELOPER: WARNER BROS

Title Minecraft: Pocket Edition Monopoly Football Manager Mobile 2016 Geometry Dash Storage Hunters UK: The Game Plague Inc Minecraft: Story Mode Cut the Rope: Magic Bloons TD 5

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: January 4th to January 10th

UK IPAD GROSSING (REVENUE)

UK IPHONE GROSSING (REVENUE)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 03 02 04 06 09 07 11 10 05

CLASH OF CLANS DEVELOPER: SUPERCELL

Title Candy Crush Saga Game of War - Fire Age Candy Crush Soda Saga The Sims: FreePlay Hay Day Boom Beach Gummy Drop Farm Heroes Saga Minecraft: Pocket Edition

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer King.com Machine Zone King.com EA Supercell Supercell Big Fish Games King.com Mojang

LW 03 02 04 07 05 08 11 06 10

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: January 4th to January 10th

CLASH OF CLANS DEVELOPER: SUPERCELL

Title Candy Crush Saga Game of War – Fire Age Candy Crush Soda Saga Boom Beach 8 Ball Pool Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes Mobile Strike Episode The Sims FreePlay

UK IPHONE FREE (UNITS)

LW NEW 06 03 02 08 05 NEW 04 NEW

PIANO TILES 2 DEVELOPER: CHEETAH TECHNOLOGY

Title Developer Candy Crush Jelly Saga King.com Geometry Dash Meltdown RobTop Games Traﬃc Rider Soner Kara Crossy Road - Endless Arcade Hopper Hipster Whale Episode Episode Interactive Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes EA Color Switch Samuel Ratumaitavuki Subway Surfers Kiloo Bus Driving Taxi Parking Simulator Real Extreme Car Racing Sim Play With Games

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: January 4th to January 10th www.mcvuk.com

Developer King.com Machine Zone King.com Supercell Miniclip.com EA Epic War Episode Interactive EA

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: December 28th to January 3rd

UK IPAD FREE (UNITS)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Mojang EA Sega RobTop Games UKTV Interactive Ndemic Creations Telltale ZeptoLab UK Ninja Kiwi

LW 03 07 04 02 09 NEW 06 05 10

PIANO TILES 2 DEVELOPER: CHEETAH TECHNOLOGY

Title Color Switch Traﬃc Rider Pixduel Stupidness 2 Geometry Dash Meltdown Candy Crush Jelly Saga Twist Stupid Test! Episode

Developer Samuel Ratumaitavuki Soner Kara FEO Media Orangenose Studios RobTop Games King.com Ketchapp Leigh Be Episode Interactive

Source: UKIE/Reﬂ ection, Period: January 4th to January 10th 15

January 22nd 2016

505 GAMES TURNS TEN

Ten years of 505 Games Cooking Mama, Zumba, Sniper Elite, Terraria... 505 Games’ decade in the games industry is littered with surprise blockbusters, and the publisher is now set to launch its most unusual line-up yet. MCV speaks with 505 Games president Ian Howe and global marketing chief Tim Woodley on the firm’s story so far How did 505 Games come to be? Ian Howe, president, 505 Games: The initial ambitions for 505 Games were pretty humble and quite opportunistic. The low cost-of-entry and large install base on DS meant that it was the obvious platform to focus on. We could take a portfolio approach, take a few more risks and increase our chances of finding success. A lot of the original content came from Japan. There were many firms struggling to reach the European market. One of the first games we picked up in Japan was Cooking Mama. It had a real charm about it, but we’d be lying if we had any idea what we had. That game went on to sell over 1.5m copies in Europe. 505 Games was also born out of the casual/family market that Nintendo created and we understood it intrinsically. Many other core gaming publishers were struggling to understand it. Our challenge was in how we moved away from the low-risk casual sector to core gaming when the Nintendo iceberg melted. When that ‘iceberg melted’, so many companies just fell away. But 505 Games didn’t... Tim Woodley, SVP, global brand and marketing, 505 Games: Well, we have always kept a very keen ear to the ground when it comes to market movement. We’re not big enough to drive the dynamics of the market, but we do like to be fast-followers. Even before the Nintendo platforms started to fall away, we recognised that we would have to move into the grown-up gaming world, the world of Xbox

January 22nd 2016

360 and PS3. This meant bigger investments, longer development times and bigger risks. Even then though, we remained pragmatic and considered. IL-2 Sturmovik and Naughty Bear were co-production deals with their developers and gave us both the ability to turn a profit very quickly. IL-2 Sturmovik, in particular, was an 8/10 game developed by Gaijin on four formats in Russia. People would be shocked to know how little that project cost us. We diversified our portfolio onto the core-gaming platforms in a fiscally responsible way, and established closer and more symbiotic, open, honest and transparent relationships with developers, something which has become part of our corporate identity. Addressing the traditional friction point between publisher and developer has been one of the core achievements of our first ten years. We also had a ready-made distribution network from the outset. Our parent company had been in bricks and mortar games distribution for 15 years and already had offices in Italy, France and Spain. When 505 headquartered in the UK, we had only to open in Germany and the United States, which happened in 2008, to have all the major markets covered. Also, the team all had experience at larger games corporations, mainly Activision and THQ. This expertise, which remains to this day, enables us to think like a big publisher but with all the benefits that come from being a small one. Finally, we have always been quick to move on opportunity. Rugby World Cup 2011, for instance,

was greenlit in 24 hours after HB Studios were let down by its original publisher five months from the start of the tournament. That went on to sell half a million units.

For ages we were ‘the Cooking Mama company’. That was no bad thing, but over-dependence on anything is dangerous Tim Woodley, 505 Games

Cooking Mama was a defining moment for 505 Games. What are your thoughts on the series looking back now? Woodley: It was the right product on the right platform at the right time. Cooking Mama matched the DS gameplay style perfectly, at a time when millions of new casual players - girls especially - were getting into games on that platform. It was a killer app for that generation. For ages, 505 was ‘the Cooking Mama company’. While that was no bad thing in the early days, as it gave us a calling card, especially for retail, over-dependence on anything is a dangerous thing. We have always been good at identifying this risk. With Cooking Mama, it was about slowly diversifying from Nintendo platforms onto PS3 and Xbox 360, finding our footing there, and gradually levelling up in terms of the developers we were working with. With our US organisation now fully operational, we would find our first million seller on those platforms in the form of Sniper Elite V2 with Rebellion in 2012. But real diversification was still to come with the rise of digital, mobile and free-to-play. How did digital change things? Howe: We’ve never been more successful than in these last couple of years as we’ve

505 GAMES TURNS TEN

505 GAMES: THE STORY SO FAR

January 2006 505 Games business plan written on dining room table in Northampton, UK.

December 2006 Original Cooking Mama on DS is released in Europe. Cooking Mama franchise goes on to sell 3.5m units.

March 2008 505 Games is Awarded Sales Triumph Award for Cooking Mama DS at the MCV Awards.

Terraria launches on XBLA and PSN. Goes on to become the 12th best-selling XBLA title of all time and is released on a further seven platforms.

August 2013 Terraria launches on iOS and Android. First Editors Choice feature.

August 2013 Payday 2 launches on Xbox 360 and PS3. Surpassed 1.2m units in its first week.

August 2009

August 2013

First global day and date multiformat release - IL2-Sturmovik: Birds of Prey for Xbox 360, PS3, DS and PSP.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons released on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Goes on to garner many awards and widespread acclaim.

June 2010

December 2013

The iconic Naughty Bear released, and causes a stir by wandering around E3.

Breakthrough free-to-play success with Battle Islands released as 505 Games’ first wholly-owned IP for iOS and Android. Now across mobile, social and console.

November 2010 First Zumba Fitness game released.

April 2011 Zumba Fitness Wii released and spends 13 weeks at No.1 in UK charts. Franchise goes on to sell 3.5m in Europe.

March 2012 505 Games wins the Sales Triumph category for Zumba Fitness on Wii at MCV Awards.

March 2012 505 Games Mobile established.

March 2013

North American and German offices are opened.

June 2008

505 Games has grown its portfolio in a responsible way, says global marketing boss Woodley

1m unit seller globally on 360 and PlayStation 3.

June 2014 Sniper Elite 3 released. Biggest retail release in 505 Games’ history.

March 2015 505 picks up Indie Games Label prize at MCV Awards.

June 2015 New signings Abzu and Adr1ft impress at E3 2015, garnering multiple Editors Choice awards between them.

May 2012

July 2015

Sniper Elite V2 released. It becomes the company’s first

505 Games opens office in Shenzhen, China.

January 22nd 2016

505 GAMES TURNS TEN

BROTHERS IN ARMS 505 Games may be looking to establish its own IP hits today, but some of its biggest successes have come from partnering with the likes of the Cooking Mama Company, Majesco (Zumba), Re-Logic (Terraria) and Starbreeze (Payday). The company’s success in the indie space saw it named indie publisher of the year at last year’s MCV Awards. And this was no surprise to the teams that have worked with them. “505 Games has been an integral part in helping Terraria become the global

brand it is today,” says a spokesperson for Terraria developer Re-Logic. “It’s now sold over 16 million copies.” Bo Andersson, the CEO of Payday developer Starbreeze/Overkill, adds: “505 Games’ independent status and flat structure enables it to react quickly, make prompt decisions and keep pace with our agile organisation. At the same time they have the reach and means to take the Payday brand to all corners of the globe, which has enabled us to reach nine million franchise sales... so far.”

diversified into digital. Access to digital data has meant that people have only ever seen the tip of our iceberg. In June 2015, we closed out our most successful year to-date. Terraria has sold well over 5m units across the nine platforms we have developed and published it for. It became a console hit and has rarely been out of the App Store’s Top 20 in many countries in two and a half years. That helped us establish strong relationships with Apple and Google. Payday 2 is another one of our best-kept secrets. It was given a last minute physical release in 2013 after it transpired that the game would be too big to be released solely through digital. Five months from launch, we were able to turn on a dime, activate the commercial arm and prepare for a retail release. It went straight to the top of the charts and the franchise ended up becoming far bigger than it would have had it stayed purely digital – we

505 Games president Howe says that the ﬁrm closed its most successful year in June 2015

January 22nd 2016

sold over 9m units. Nevertheless, the majority of Payday 2 sales have come from digital, it’s been an evergreen hit on Steam. The rise of digital has allowed us to take a few more risks. Starbreeze’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an indie project, which we’re really proud of. It took a while for critical acclaim to translate to commercial success – it’s now sold over 1m units - but retail would never have taken a chance on it. Similarly with our other zombie survival mini-hit, How To Survive, which has sold 1.5m units. Our wholly-owned free-to-play IP, Battle Islands, was a profitable mobile experiment, which has now broken through onto console to levels that we never expected. This is now leading the charge. Let’s head back again, though, to the Zumba phenomenon of 2011. That was quite a surprise. Woodley: You couldn’t help but notice the rise of fitness and dance genres among this new casual audience. We knew that if we could bring these two together, you had all the ingredients of a mega-hit. Majesco clearly had a similar thought and secured exclusive rights to the then-fledgling Zumba craze. It then approached us to be

www.mcvuk.com

505 GAMES TURNS TEN

COMING SOON 505 Games has a reputation for surprise hits. Cooking Mama, Zumba Fitness, Terraria and Payday 2 all took the market unawares (two even won MCV Awards for doing so). So the three new IPs 505 Games have coming to market in 2016 might be worth paying attention to:

Developer: Giant Squid Release Date: Q2 2016 Formats: PS4, PC This underwater diving experience comes from the mind of Matt Navas, the art director behind the acclaimed PS3 digital hit Journey. His influence is unmistakeable.

Adr1ft

Assetto Corsa

Developer: Three One Zero Release Date: March 28th, 2016 Formats: PC, PS4, Xbox One The VR equivalent to 2013 Sandra Bullock film Gravity sees an astronaut floating through space. It’s set to launch alongside Oculus Rift.

Developer: Kunos Simulazioni Release Date: H1 2016 Formats: PS4, Xbox One The well received racing simulator was initially released on PC via Early Access in November 2013. It comes to the PS4 and Xbox One this year.

Abzu

505 Games has picked up three MCV Awards over the years – two for Sales Triumph and one for Indie Games Label

the European publishing partner for Zumba Fitness. The interesting thing about that game is that, initially, retail was only interested in the Xbox 360 Kinect version and not the Wii edition. In 2010, retail was of the opinion that the Wii had had its last Christmas. Roll on to April 2011, when we had finally managed to get the game listed, and we started getting calls from retailers experiencing unprecedented levels of pre-orders. The rest is history. That first game spent all of the summer of 2011 at No.1 in the UK charts, and the franchise went on to sell 3.5m units across Europe. Just as Cooking Mama changed our fortunes by allowing us to diversify and invest in new platforms, Zumba Fitness was another significant injection of resources. Was there any particular lowpoints during the early days of 505 Games? Howe: Anyone who’s started up a business will say there are plenty of low points and we’re no different. Having a small, tight-knit team who’d all worked together before was beneficial early on. Whenever you release a game, you don’t truly know how the world will react and when the reaction

www.mcvuk.com

is bad, it’s always challenging. Sometimes you can look at the game and say it simply wasn’t good enough, other times, the quality is there but for whatever reason, there was no demand. We try not to over-analyse the market – if you do that you can cause a reduction in creativity so we try and trust our instincts. But that sometimes leads to bad decisions and, ultimately, a bad product, which is something that we’re always trying to improve upon. We have been able to learn from our mistakes.

505’s big 2016 releases (left to right): Adr1ft, Assetto Corsa and Abzu

We’re focused on our own IP. A lot of our success in the past has come from other people’s games.

Looking further ahead, what are your aims for the next ten years? Howe: They’re certainly broader than ten years ago, but we’re ultimately focused on developing interesting video games. We’re highly focused on our own IP. A lot of our success has come from other people’s games and while we’re very happy to still have this play a part in our future, it’s critical that we’re able to develop our own brands. We’ve been working extremely hard on some new, unannounced IPs that will come to market in the next few years. These are ideas that come from our team at 505 and we encourage everyone in the

Ian Howe, 505 Games

company to think about the types of games they want to make. If we think the idea is strong enough, then we’ll go ahead and make it. In that respect we’re taking an approach much closer to that of a developer. But we’re always looking to partner with the best development talent and again, we’ve got a couple of major partnerships that are as yet unannounced. Looking further ahead, growth is something of a double-edged sword for us. We see our size, or our lack of size, as one of our key strengths and growth presents some interesting challenges. It is inevitable that we will see a significant growth over the next decade, but it’s hard to predict in what areas that will come. My hopes, ultimately, are that we are still able to be a vibrant and interesting games publisher that’s still prepared to take risks.

January 22nd 2016

THE BIG GAME XCOM 2

XCOM 2

Alien Nation The alien ﬁghting strategy franchise is back, although this time things are looking decidingly less hopeful for the XCOM team. Christopher Dring meets Firaxis and talks with 2K Games to discuss the latest twist on a video game classic

Release Date: February 5th Formats: PC, Mac Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Firaxis Distributor: Exertis Contact: 01279 822 822

UNDERWATER MENACE

FOLLOWING the successful remake of Enemy Unknown, fans were calling on Firaxis to return to the 1995 underwater sequel – Terror from the Deep. The studio has since decided to take the series in its own direction, but producer Garth DeAngelis says the team did consider another remake, and he won’t rule out a possibility of seeing it in the future. “ Terror from the Deep definitely did occur to us,” he tells us. “We love the XCOM community and I have seen that feedback on the forums from the hardcore fans. Creatively we decided not to go there... not yet anyway, who knows in the future. “We understand there is certainly a nostalgia factor there, so who knows? But not right now.”

January 22nd 2016

www.mcvuk.com

XCOM 2 THE BIG GAME

y friend Andrew was the only friend I knew with a computer when I was 12. He had a few games for it, including one we’d picked up at a car boot sale called: UFO: Enemy Unknown. We loved it. We had built our base, equipped our ships and put together our squad. Our favourite soldier was Wolfgang, who was a crack shot with a laser rifle. How many times had Wolfgang picked off multiple Cyberdiscs or brought down a troublesome Chryssalid, while his comrades cowered in fear? We’d lost count. He was our war hero. Until that epic match. Until that Alien grenade landed at Wolfgang’s feet... My mum picked me up that evening and I was silent. She thought I had been fighting with Andrew. But I was in mourning. Wolfgang didn’t make it back. That was always the joy of XCOM, as the series became

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known. It was a deep, involving turn-based strategy game from the talented mind of British developer Julian Gallop, but more than that, it had an emotional centre and an unpredictability that allowed gamers to craft their own stories. Two excellent sequels followed – the rock hard Terror from the Deep (1995) and the ambitious futuristic XCOM: Apocalypse (1997). But then that was pretty much it. There were a handful of spin-offs, a few spiritual successors, a couple of aborted sequels - but the turnbased strategy franchise from the 1990s all but vanished. That was until 2012 when Firaxis, the talented developer behind the Civilization series, brought XCOM back with a remake of the original game. XCOM: Enemy Unknown was a triumphant return for the series. The gameplay had been simplified, but that same emotional attachment and strategic depth

The magic of XCOM is in the challenge and the emotional bond fostered between players and their soldiers. Simon Turner, 2K Games

remained. This isn’t just MCV speaking, the game’s Metacritic average sits at 90. “The magic of XCOM is in the challenge, in the emotional bond fostered between players and their soldiers, and the tough choices it presents,” said 2K Games’ UK marketing and PR boss Simon Turner. “It’s a tough balance to get right, but it proves that as much as games have changed in the last few decades, challenge and choice still matter.” The success of Enemy Unknown has spawned another, but Firaxis has left behind the remakes in favour of an entirely fresh XCOM sequel. THE SECOND COMING The most obvious change with XCOM 2 is that the gamer is no-longer fending off an alien threat... the enemies are already here, they’ve invaded and have taken control.

January 22nd 2016

THE BIG GAME XCOM 2

Developer Firaxis is focusing on PC and Mac for XCOM 2

XCOM is now a rebellion, a unit tasked with kicking the alien scourge from the planet. 20 years after the events of the original game, the XCOM division is managed from a floating base, which is vulnerable to attack. Whereas in previous games, XCOM had to politically look after countries to ensure it received the funds it required, now the task is to liberate territories from alien control. Yet beneath the surface, the biggest change with this new XCOM is in the unpredictability of battles. Like that grenade that toppled our beloved Wolfgang, the original XCOM games were filled with unpredictable moments. If there was one minor criticism to make about 2012’s remake, it’s that as the game progressed, some of the challenges became more formulaic. And this is a big area that Firaxis hopes to address. “We had three major goals for XCOM 2: Make the game more unpredictable, make it more challenging, and make a game that is replayable enough that players can come back to it and always find something new,” continued Turner. “I think the success of XCOM: Enemy Unknown came from the

January 22nd 2016

way players told their stories about the game. Players are natural storytellers. The attachment to their soldiers spawned so much genuine emotion, and produced so many fun shared stories that we wanted to make a game that empowered them even more in this direction.” Firaxis producer Garth DeAngelis added: “From Enemy Unknown to XCOM 2, something that we really wanted to push, which actually does harken back to the original game, is that we want the game overall to be way more unpredictable. We want it to be more unwieldy in a good way. This is an alien occupied earth now, so thematically the power has been completely taken away from the player. This is not the aliens invading our home. We need to take our home back. “We want a strategy layer that feels different every time you play. There is not a go-to strategy anymore. You can do so much now and it changes every time.”

BEYOND THE GAMES XCOM has a dedicated fan base, and that is something 2K Games has capitalised on with a number of addons and merchandise. There is the XCOM: Board Game, created by Fantasy Flight Games, and inspired by the 2012 Enemy Unknown video game. And then there are XCOM books. In fact, there are two books available already for XCOM 2 – a hardcore artbook from 2K, and the novel: XCOM 2: Resurrection. On top of this, there is the XCOM 2 Reinforcement Pack for the XCOM 2 game. It can be ordered now and boasts three expansion packs - Anarchy’s Children, Alien Hunters and Shen’s Last Gift , with new characters and missions. These packs will be released throughout spring and summer.

ONLY ON PC One of the big successes of the 2012 XCOM: Enemy Unknown was that Firaxis had made the game work, and work well, on Xbox 360

and PS3 – formats not known for their turn-based strategy games. But with XCOM 2 Firaxis has decided to focus on the platforms it knows best – PC and Mac. “Firaxis’ pedigree is PC,” reminds DeAngelis. “We have a few key pillars, like modding, which we did not do with Enemy Unknown, and we wanted to create a robust toolset for modding to encourage the community to get involved. And so we decided to focus on the platform that would best allow us to do that, which is the PC.” He continued: “There is always cost for developing multiplatform, because you are splitting mindshare. We’ve been able to focus purely on making the best game possible, to get in the maximum number of enemies, abilities and classes and not worry about concurrent development. That is a huge positive.” The ability to focus on PC means that Firaxis can layer more depth onto the series, bring about those unpredictable moments and add more customisable options. However, DeAngelis is keen not to make the game impenetrable. “Accessibility is still very important,” he says. “We want it to be accessible, but not in the stigma sense that it is dumbed down. We want as many people as possible to enjoy and play our game. We still want it to be challenging, because accessibility and challenge is different. But we now have the benefit of some of this ingrained player base and knowledge of how the game’s systems work – from Enemy Unknown. “We want it to push a bit further with the unpredictability. It is going to be a bit harder – you’ll never know what is going to happen, and there will be lots of micro-systems and sub-systems in the strategy.” The early press reports suggest that Firaxis’ XCOM 2 will be a more urgent, emotional and, most importantly, confident game. Enemy Unknown successfully won over the fans and attracted a new audience to the series, and now it’s time to take that somewhere new. And I, for one, can’t wait to see how Wolfgang performs this time.

www.mcvuk.comJ

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4ZY /FSZFW^ YM SĂŠbastien Loeb Rally EVO ÂŠ 2015 Published and Developed by Milestone S.r.I. All rights reserved. All manufacturers, accessory suppliers, names, tracks, sponsors, brands and associated imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners.

SIX WEEKS TO GO THURSDAY, 3RD MARCH BANKSIDE HILTON, LONDON NOW in their 16th successful year, the MCV Awards are the UK’s only computer and video games awards that recognise games publishing, retail, distribution, marketing, PR, events and media – all parts of this industry we love. Each year these prestigious awards are open to games publishers, retail and distribution, with entries peer-voted and judged by an independent panel of specialists. They are stylishly presented at the ceremony to over 600 of the industry’s leading ﬁgures to celebrate the achievements of the top games industry professionals and teams.

Firmly established as the unrivalled badge of excellence for the games sector, these prestigious awards were launched to raise standards across the industry by showcasing top class performance and innovation. Today, with 23 categories recognising the best in the games business, The MCV Awards remains one of the “must attend” events in the games calendar with the great and good of the market descending on London’s new swanky Hilton Bankside Hotel for a memorable evening.

FOR SPONSORSHIP CALL CONOR TALLON OR LESLEY MCDIARMID ON 020 7354 6000 OR EMAIL CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM / LMCDIARMID@NBMEDIA.COM TABLE AND SEAT BOOKINGS VISIT WWW.MCVAWARDS.COM

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HANS VAN BRAKEL, SOEDESCO INTERVIEW

Soedesco’s Venture There’s a growing number of indie publishers in the sector at the moment, so what sets Dutch newcomer Soedesco apart from the crowd? MCV speaks to executive manager Hans van Brakel to find out

oday, Soedesco is an up and coming indie publisher, but this is a relatively new business for the company. The firm opened its doors in 2001 and until recently was publishing game and accessories bundles. For example, it was behind a Resident Evil 4 and Light Gun bundle for the Wii. But now the Netherlands-based company is making a name for itself in the indie publishing space. “It was an easier transition than you might think,” executive manager Hans van Brakel tells MCV. “We had experience in doing the distribution of games-related products. It doesn’t really matter whether you are selling an indie title or selling a bundle to a distributor or a retailer. “But we wanted to do something different, we needed to because the market is changing fast and we had to grow and change with it. So we decided to start off by bringing indie titles to retail.” The firm began publishing digital releases, like Rain Games’ Teslagrad, at physical retail. But Soedesco is also working on its own franchises, like adventure game series Adam’s Venture. The company purchased that IP from Dutch developer Vertigo Games last year. “We wanted to do a variety of different projects,” van Brakel says. “We don’t want to be only dependant on indies that want to work with us – if they all say they don’t want to work with us for one reason or another, then we have nothing. So we want to have a base that is our own IP, such as Adam’s Venture, and grow that project and really build a franchise that gamers can recognise.

www.mcvuk.com

“We’re gamers as well, we love indie titles. So if the opportunity is right, we will work with indies and bring them to retail both physically and digitally. That’s something that will never go away for us.” BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Soedesco is not alone in the indie publishing space. There are a growing number of companies looking to assist the burgeoning indie development scene. In the UK we have the likes of Team 17 and Curve Digital, for example. But van Brakel says that Soedesco offers something unique from these other publishers. “We all have our own taste in games and our own style of working,” he explains. “But in general, there aren’t that many publishers that do both the physical and digital sides well when it comes to indie games. “Building an indie game costs £200,000, £300,000, maybe even more. That title is sold at £14.99. If you purely look at the

There aren’t many publishers that do both the physical and digital sides of things well when it comes to indie games. Hans van Brakel, Soedesco

Adam’s Venture: Origins is Soedesco’s ﬁrst own-IP release

simple calculations, making back a game’s budget for £14.99 per unit, it’s crazy. Developers also need to pay a little bit here, a little bit there. That’s a crazy business model. We are capable of covering a huge amount of risk for the developer with the retail market.” Soedesco is offering developers the ‘usual’ publishing services, such as PR and marketing support. But the company is also focused on making its games global, and not just for Englishspeaking territories. “We are setting up full marketing and PR campaigns, we are working hard on expanding our online presence in general, we’re working with YouTubers and Twitch streamers – those are going to be very important channels over the coming years,” van Brakel says. “We’re also offering QA and localisation. This is becoming more and more important – we don’t want to bring out any game that is only English. There’s such a large part of the planet that doesn’t speak English, so only launching a game in that language is not smart.” And, reflecting on 2015 and looking to 2016, van Brakel is optimistic about what the future holds for Soedesco. “Last year was a starting year. We entered the market in a good way, it went well,” he says. “For this year, we are growing. We want to launch more projects and want those projects to reach a bigger audience. We have a significant presence in both retail and digital and we want to expand on that. “And, of course, we want to sign more cool titles.”

January 22nd 2016

MARKETPLACE Sponsored by

SHELF LIFE Andrew Le-Tekro from Angus Video Games (previously known as Backyard Games) in Brechin tells MCV about the Wii U games success he witnessed in his store and why virtual reality is probably going to fail. How has your business been lately? Pretty good. Things picked up over Christmas after a really slow buildup. After Black Friday, it was dead. And then suddenly in December it picked up and for the last three weeks we did really well. It has slowed down a bit now, but some good titles are coming out in the next months so we’re happy. What are your challenges for 2016?

PRE-ORDER CHARTS

To try and get people to stop buying online and come to us ﬁrst.

panicked and thought they were going to discontinue the black one. I think that is what happened.

What games have been selling particularly well recently? Black Ops III is always going to sell, so nothing changes here. But Wii U games sold particularly well over the last few months or so, to the point that we had to order an entirely new stock of Wii U games. Because Nintendo discontinued the white Wii U, everyone

Wii U games sold particularly well over the last few months: we had to order an entirely new stock.

What games are you looking forward to this year? Personally, it’s got to be Uncharted 4, which you’ll be hearing from everybody, I’m sure. Also, I think Far Cry Primal is going to be bigger than Ubisoft anticipated. As a store, we hope it will be the case and

Andrew Le-Tekro, Angus Video Games

PRICE CHECK: CARDIFF

TOP 10 PRE-ORDERS 1. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS HD + AMIIBO

Nintendo, Wii U 2. Gravity Rush HD Remastered Sony............................................................................. PS4 3. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Bandai Namco ....................................................... PS4

SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS STARTER PACK

Warner Bros, PS4

Activision, XO

DISNEY INFINITY 3.0: STAR WARS STARTER PACK

ANIMAL CROSSING: AMIIBO FESTIVAL Nintendo, WII U

Disney, PS4

£37.99

£79.99

£29.99

N/A

6. Resident Evil Origins Capcom ..................................................................... PS4

£49.99

£79.99

£30.99

£42.99

£39.99

£78.99

£29.99

£33

£72.95

£26.99

£38.95

£53.56

£82.60

£32.25

£43.39

7. Final Fantasy Explorer Square Enix..............................................................3DS 8. Tom Clancy’s The Division Inc Beta Ubisoft ........................................................................ PS4 9. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Sony............................................................................. PS4 10. LEGO Marvel’s Avengers Warner Bros .......................................................... PS4

UPLOADING The latest digital releases coming to market

CRYPT OF THE NECRODANCER

NOT A HERO

RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER

The roguelike rhythm game debuts on PlayStation 4 and PS Vita

The political satire shooter will soon be available on PlayStation 4

Lara Croft’s latest is landing on Windows 10 and Steam next week

OUT: FEBRUARY 2ND

January 22nd 2016

ONLINE

5. UFC 2 Day 1 Ed - Hall of Famer & The Gracie Hunter EA ................................................................................. PS4

IN STORE

4. Heavy Rain & Beyond Two Souls Collection Sony............................................................................. PS4

LEGO DIMENSIONS STARTER PACK

OUT: FEBRUARY 2ND

OUT: JANUARY 28TH

www.mcvuk.com

MARKETPLACE

Angus Video Games 15 St David St, Brechin, DD9 6EG

from the talk we have with our customers, a lot of people are really excited for Far Cry Primal. Is there any event you are looking forward to this year? I always look forward to Comic Con in Dundee, which is called Dee Con. And this year I am looking forward to E3 because I’m assuming Nintendo will announce its new console there. I think a lot of people are waiting to see what Nintendo is going to do next.

Phone: 01356 625 324

How do you think virtual reality will do? I don’t think it is going to sell because of the price. We struggled - and we still do from time to time - to sell new consoles when they cost more than £200 or £300. So people will say it’s too expensive. This is for the elite gamers. I believe it will come down in price but it won’t come down quickly. I really want VR to work but, unfortunately, I don’t think it will.

INCOMING

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

January will be a satisfying month for survival horror fans, as both Resident Evil Origins Collection and Zombi hit the shelves.

TITLE

FORMAT

GENRE

PUBLISHER

TELEPHONE

DISTRIBUTOR

PS4/XO/Wii U/PS3/360

Toys-to-life

Warner Bros

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

January 22nd LEGO Dimensions Back to the Future Doc Brown Fun Pack LEGO Dimensions DC Comics Team Pack

PS4/XO/Wii U/PS3/360

Toys-to-life

Warner Bros

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

LEGO Dimensions Doctor Who Cyberman Fun Pack

PS4/XO/Wii U/PS3/360

Toys-to-life

Warner Bros

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

LEGO Dimensions Ghostbusters Level Pack

PS4/XO/Wii U/PS3/360

Toys-to-life

Warner Bros

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

LEGO Dimensions Ninjago Sensei Wu Fun Pack

PS4/XO/Wii U/PS3/360

Toys-to-life

Warner Bros

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Resident Evil Origins Collection

PS4/XO/PS3/360/PC

Survival horror

Capcom

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

Zombi

PS4/XO/PC

Survival horror

Ubisoft

01279 822 822

Exertis

January 29th LEGO Marvel’s Avengers

PS4/XO/Wii U/PS3/360

Action

Warner Bros

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo

PS4/XO/PC

Racing

PQube

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

PS3/Vita

RPG

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Open

This War of Mine: The Little Ones

PS4/XO

Survival

Deep Silver

01256 385 200

Koch Media

February 5th Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4

PS4/XO/PC

Action

Bandai Namco

01215 069 590

Advantage

XCOM 2

Strategy

2K Games

01279 822 822

Exertis

Digimon Story Cybersleuth

PS4/Vita

RPG

Bandai Namco

01215 069 590

Advantage

The Legend of Legacy

3DS

RPG

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Open

February 12th Arslan: The Warriors of Legend

PS4/XO/PS3

Strategy

Koei Tecmo

01462 476130

Open

Earth Defense Force 2

Vita

Arcade

PQube

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Earth Defense Force 4.1

PS4

Arcade

PQube

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Etrian Odyssey 2: Untold: The Fafnir Knight

3DS

RPG

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Open

PS4/PC

Fighting

Capcom

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

February 16th Street Fighter V

www.mcvuk.com

January 22nd 2016

TOMB RAIDER

TOMB RAIDER Following the success of Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox, the action adventure title debuts on PC at the end of the month. Marie Dealessandri takes this opportunity to check what’s new in Lara Croft’s universe

RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER launched as an Xbox exclusive in November 2015, following a partnership between Microsoft and Square Enix. The Crystal Dynamics title sold over one million units worldwide since then, according to Xbox head of marketing Aaron Greenberg. However, this number is still far from the success of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, which sold 3.6 million units during its first month and 8.5 million copies

Rise of the Tomb Raider sold over one million copies worldwide since its release in November.

worldwide between its launch in March 2013 and April 2015, thus becoming the most successful opus of the franchise. Of course, Rise of the Tomb Raider has yet to launch on any other platform outside of Xbox. The PS4 version is due later in the year. Meanwhile, a PC version is out next week (January 28th) via Steam and Windows 10. “PC players are a passionate, devoted audience and we know they’ll embrace the version

MICROSOFT XBOX ONE RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER BUNDLE To celebrate the Xbox One release of Rise of the Tomb Raider last November, Microsoft issued this dedicated Xbox One bundle. It features a 1TB console, one wireless controller, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider: Deﬁnitive Edition. SRP: £289.99 Manufacturer: Microsoft Distributor: Exertis Contact: 01279 822 822

RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER: THE OFFICIAL ART BOOK

LARA’S AXE SHOT GLASS

This publication features concept art, 3D renders and sketches from Rise of the Tomb Raider, along with developer commentaries.

Clearly a key collectible for every Tomb Raider fan, this 2oz shot glass features Lara’s iconic climbing axe.

SRP: £20.39 Manufacturer: Titan Books Distributor: Titan Books Contact: sales@titanemail.com

SRP: £12 Manufacturer: Treehouse Brand Stores Distributor: Treehouse Brand Stores Contact: info@treehousebrandstores.com

January 22nd 2016

LARA CROFT - TOMB RAIDER/LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: CRADLE OF LIFE DVD The two Tomb Raider movies have grossed more than $430m (£298m) worldwide. SRP: £4.99 Manufacturer: Paramount Distributor: Universal Pictures Contact: enquiriesuk@nbcuni.com

www.mcvuk.com

TOMB RAIDER Sponsored by

gaming merchandise uk

created for their systems,” commented Ron Rosenberg, co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. The Tomb Raider franchise, which comprises more than 15 games, has sold over 45 million copies worldwide since the first title launched in 1996. It has also been successfully adapted into movies, with Angelina Jolie portraying the iconic Lara Croft. Lara Croft Tomb Raider (directed by Simon

West) and Lara Croft - Tomb Raider: Cradle Of Life (directed by Jan de Bont) respectively hit theatres in 2001 and 2003. Together, they grossed more than $430m (£298m) at the international box office. A reboot was announced in 2011, when MGM acquired the rights, and is expected to hit theatres in 2017. Details on this project are scarce and the studio did not reveal who will play Lara Croft.

RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER PLAY ARTS KAI – LARA CROFT With this ﬁgure, Play Arts Kai made sure to honour Lara Croft’s details, such as her clothing, her facial expression and her hair. To be even closer to the character, the company also added Lara’s iconic accessories: her climbing axe, bow and arrows. SRP: £84.99 Manufacturer: Play Arts Kai Distributor: Square Enix Contact: 020 8636 3000

TOMB RAIDER MESSENGER BAG

TOMB RAIDER VOLUME 1: SEASON OF THE WITCH

WOMAN VS WILD HOODIE

A useful Lara-themed bag, with an adjustable strap and multiple pockets.

Gail Simone, known for her work on Birds of Prey, Deadpool, Wonder Woman and Batgirl, has written this Tomb Raider comic.

Made with premium fabric, this hoodie shows Lara facing a bear on the back and a small axe on the front.

SRP: €23.24 (£17.50) Manufacturer: Abysse Corp Distributor: Abystyle Contact: contact@abyssecorp.com

SRP: £13.48 Manufacturer: Dark Horse Distributor: Diamond Comic Distributors UK Contact: 01928 531 760

SRP: £60 Manufacturer: Treehouse Brand Stores Distributor: Treehouse Brand Stores Contact: info@treehousebrandstores.com

www.mcvuk.com

January 22nd 2016

HOT PRODUCTS

HOT PRODUCTS MCV takes a look at the best accessories heading to UK retail. This week, Monster and world champion gamer Johnathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel unveil new headsets and Lenovo showcases its ﬁrst curved gaming monitor, both announced at CES

FATAL1TY BY MONSTER FXM 100 GAMING HEADSET Monster and Fatal1ty Gaming Gear just announced their first two Fatal1ty by Monster gaming headsets: the FXM 100, which will be released in February, and the FXM 100, which will be unleashed in May. These products are the result of a highly anticipated partnership announced at E3 last year. Professional gamer Johnathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel, who created his brand in 2002, holds 12 world titles in five different games. Both of these headsets feature the fHex720 Sound Chamber Technology and the special Gametuned version of Monster’s signature Pure Monster Sound profile. These features, along with noise-isolating ear cups, aim to help gamers accurately hear every element and nuance when they play. “Fatal1ty’s expertise and credibility will assure gamers that this gear is the real gaming deal. The FXM 100 and 200 models provide everything gamers are looking for in

audio and communication that will enable them to excel in playing their favourite games as never before. Their sleek looks will turn heads in their homes, at tournaments, or anywhere else they gather with friends to play. All this at a price that won’t break the bank,” stated Head Monster Noel Lee. The FXM 100 and 200 headsets have been speciﬁcally designed to maximise comfort during gaming marathons. They also both come with a detachable noise-cancelling microphone, perfect for a clear communication while playing.

[INFO] RRP: £59.95 Release Date: February 2016 Distributor: JDM Products Contact: +353 1 2050 500

LENOVO’S Y27G RAZER EDITION CURVED GAMING MONITOR Lenovo introduced its ﬁrst curved gaming monitor at CES, the Y27g Razer Edition, following a partnership with the popular gaming brand. The Y27g Curved Gaming Monitor has 144Hz fast refresh rates and 8ms response time. It also comes with Razer’s distinct Chroma lighting eﬀects. The 27-inch monitor has been designed to complement another brand new Lenovo product: the ideacentre Y900 Razer Edition. The latter has a quad core 6th Gen Intel Core i7 K-series processor

January 22nd 2016

and dual NVIDIA GTX 970 discrete graphics. Gamers will have to wait until June 2016 to enjoy these novelties.

[INFO] RRP: $549.99 (£380) Release Date: June 2016 Distributor: Exertis Contact: 01279 822 822

www.mcvuk.com

MARKETING, PR & CREATIVE AGENCIES

LEGAL

AUDIO IN

GERARD FOX LAW

Tel: 0044 7985678437 www.audioin.co.uk ........................................................................................................

BIG TOP PR

Tel: 07784 778197 www.bigtop-pr.co.uk ........................................................................................................

DEAD GOOD MEDIA

Tel: +44 (0)7780 600 728 www.deadgoodmedia.com ........................................................................................................

STUDIO DIVA

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

FLUID

Tel: +44 (0)121 212 0121 www.fl uidesign.co.uk ........................................................................................................

KENNEDY MONK

Tel: 0207 636 9142 www.kennedymonk.com ........................................................................................................

charne@sprintmail.com www.gerardfoxlaw.com ........................................................................................................

TRADE BODY UKIE

Tel: +44 (0) 207 534 0580 www.ukie.org.uk ........................................................................................................

PUBLISHING

Tel: +44 (0) 114 278 7100 www.uberagency.com/ ........................................................................................................

QA & LOCALISATION, PAYMENT & SOLUTION EXEQUO

Tel: +1 425 279 7855 sbonfi ls@exequo.com ........................................................................................................

LA MARQUE ROSE

Tel: +33 1 43 14 88 00 info@lamarquerose.com ........................................................................................................

UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING

Tel: +44 (0) 1480210621 www.usspeaking.com ........................................................................................................

CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +44 (0) 208 664 3456 www.creativedistribution.co.uk/ ........................................................................................................

DC GAMES GROUP

Tel: +971-50-9287220 www.Doostan-Co.com ........................................................................................................

INCOMM

Tel: 01489 588 200 www.incomm.com ........................................................................................................

OK MEDIA LTD

FUNBOX MEDIA LTD info@funboxmedia.co.uk www.funboxmedia.co.uk ........................................................................................................

DEVELOPMENT SERVICES & RECRUITMENT AUDIOMOTION

UBER

RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION & MANUFACTURING

Tel: + 44 (0) 8701 600 504 www.audiomotion.com ........................................................................................................

Tel: 0207 688 6789 www.oklogistics.de ........................................................................................................

PLAY DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +64-9-815-3852 www.playdistribution.com ........................................................................................................

WHOLESGAME info@wholesgame.com www.wholesgame.com ........................................................................................................

OPM RECRUITMENT

PERIPHERALS, ACCESSORIES & MERCHANDISE

RAGTAG DEVELOPMENTS LTD

GAMING MERCHANDISE UK LTD

Tel: +44 (0)1295 817617 www.ragtagdev.com ........................................................................................................

hello@gamingmerchandiseuk.com www.gamingmerchandiseuk.com ........................................................................................................

REMOTE CONTROL PRODUCTS

LIME DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +44 [0] 1206 214421 http://opmjobs.com/ ........................................................................................................

Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 210 205 70 http://www.r-control.de/ ........................................................................................................

SOUNDING SWEET LTD.

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PERFORMANCE DESIGNED PRODUCTS LTD

Tel: 01628 509 047 www.pdp.com ........................................................................................................

TO LIST YOUR COMPANY HERE AND ONLINE EVERY WEEK PLEASE CONTACT CNANGLE@NBMEDIA.COM OR CALL 020 7354 6000 MCV Directory 2016 DPS.indd 1

21/01/2016 09:48

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AGENCIES AND SERVICE COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE / AUDIOMOTION KEY CONTACTS: Brian Mitchell, MD

ADDRESS: London Road, Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1JG United Kingdom

Stacey Biosselle, Producer

brian@audiomotion.com

stacey@audiomotion.com

AUDIOMOTION Studios are Europe’s leading performance capture service provider. We are a multiaward winning, multi stage studio specialising in the provision of motion capture services to Video Game developers and publishers, as well as the Film and TV industries. With premises based in Wheatley Oxford we have a mo-cap stage of 24 metres long and 12 metres wide, which means that we provide the largest capture volume available in Europe. Equipped with over 150 Vicon cameras, location shoots of 400sq meters are achievable. We offer robust real-time pre-viz, head mounted cameras and virtual cameras, we can provide everything a developer, production house or producer would need. Our most recent projects that we can talk about include our involvement with ICC Pro Cricket 2015, Ridley Scott’s epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings, Doctor Who for the BBC, Maleficent and Codemasters F1. Audiomotion are the current holders of Develops’ ‘Best Services Provider’ award which they have now won on 5 separate occasions. Audiomotion are conveniently located just off Junction 8 of the M40 motorway 50 minutes from London and approximately 80 minutes south of Birmingham. Audiomotion also offer 3D scanning, green screen, motion control and tracking vehicles as part of their extended VFX services.

INDIE THICK OF IT

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES

GAMES THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO ISSUE 859 FRIDAY DECEMBER

4TH 2015

ISSUE 860 FRIDAY DECEMBER 11TH

N SHAHID PLAYSTATION’S DEV CHAMPIO

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS COMPANY AND MANY MORE ONLINE NOW AT:

THE A TEAM

DEBBIEP16 BESTWICK TAKES US THROUGH 25 YEARS OF TEAM17 AHMAD ON 10 YEARS AT SONY 2015

P18

UK RETAIL SPEAKS OUT 55%

70%

believe PS4 will rule next year (above top),

Twist think virtual reality is doomedUKIE’s SuperData’s van Dreunen

(above middle) and Reﬂection’s Leksell (above)

ack are bdig Charts ital time, they’re And this UKIE signs partnerships for by Christopher Dring

19%

ches charts section console data Q MCV re-laun mobile and digital demand more titles in 2016

will digital data, these measures able to GfK Chart-Track’s physical bring us closer to being to MCV. our industry, listings will also return judge the successes of and clear MCV dropped its weekly and continue to grow using as part of market.” monthly charts sections information about our games which our Digital Counts initiative, SuperData CEO Joost van y full a “Getting campaigned for more transparenc Dreunen added: are selling includes around how well games picture of the market, that such as MMOs via download platforms categories like free-to-play iOS and be key to Steam, Xbox Live, PSN, and digital console, will and Google Play. the UK industry’s domestic highest it’s “Access to data is of the ternational success. Certainly,

MCV Directory 2016 DPS.indd 2 industry AT last! The UK games charts. has some digital download UKIE has signed agreements of mobile with leading providers and MCV will and digital sales data, be printing the results. will offer ection Refl rm fi Analytics which will UK mobile sales charts, ngside

41%

picked Uncharted 4 as their most anticipated game of 2016

Teaming digital gamers in the UK. to extend up with UKIE allows us and fulﬁl the depth of our coverage a clear the ambition of providing market.” picture of the digital games sector, mobile the of On the state Leksell said: Reﬂection boss Gustav in a “The market is quite immature type of data way. The fact that this attests to is not readily available back to goes only sector This that. it mature, 2007, but we are seeing p is developers

60%

hail Fallout 4 as 2015’s Game of the Year

21/01/2016 09:49

DIRECTORY

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

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

GAMING ACCESSORIES DISC REPAIR

L3I.................................................................................. 01923 881000

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

LIME DISTRIBUTION ............................................01622 845 161

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

January 22nd 2016

Web: www.totaldiscrepair.co.uk

www.mcvuk.com

DIRECTORY

ENQUIRIES CONOR TALLON Tel: 02073 546000 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 Just Flight 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

Web: www.ﬁnkcreative.com

Tel: +44 (0)203 137 3781

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: +44 207 361 8000 games@sonydadc.com

www.sonydadc.com

Tel: +302 1090 11900

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Tel: +44 (0) 207 462 6200

Web: www.sonydadc.com

January 22nd 2016

DIRECTORY

L3I

GAMING ACCESSORIES

Tel: 01923 881000

Web: www.logic3.com

LIME DISTRIBUTION

GAMING ACCESSORIES

Tel: 01622 845 161

Web: www.limedistribution.co.uk

ADVERTISE WITH US

WANT TO ADVERTISE IN OUR DIRECTORY?

CALL CONOR TALLON ON 020 7354 6000 OR EMAIL HIM AT CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM

January 22nd 2016

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INSIDER’S GUIDE

INSIDER’S GUIDE PRIF

DIRECTORY

WHO? Specialism: Gaming accessories Location: The Bluebells, Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire. AL2 3PQ

Develop is the only dedicated publication for the UK and European games development community. It reaches over 300,000 subscribers every month.

Prif CEO and owner Alan Jones discusses licensing, product innovation and his 2016 accessories line-up

FOR GREAT ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES, CONTACT CHARLOTTE NANGLE CNANGLE@NBMEDIA.COM

Tell us about your company. The Prif branded launch range of accessories was shipped to retail in the UK and Europe in October 2015 and comprises of 17 SKUs with four further lines shipping in Q1. The range covers key categories such as headsets, chargers, controllers and chairs and is targeted at gaming enthusiasts in search of rich feature sets and quality technology.

THIS MONTH’S DIRECTORY SPOTLIGHT: CRYTEK .............................................................................. www.cryengine.com

What is your biggest success so far? Launching the range into nine countries from a standing start was a huge challenge. Most importantly we are seeing strong sell-through that demonstrates our belief that consumers are willing to embrace new accessories brands that oﬀer unique, high quality solutions and are relevant to their needs. What projects do you currently have in the works? Having hired a product designer in 2015, we have already completed the 2016 line-up and are currently choosing the appropriate factories. Expect to see more licensed products with a range of partners including Sony - we launched the Freedom 1 wireless chat headset for PS4 in 2015 - more wireless SKUs and some interesting accessories for the eSports arena that will complement our existing MixSonic 1 LAN ready mixer/ampliﬁer.

W I T H C R Y E N G I N E ® , W E H AV E A S I M P L E G O A L : T O C R E AT E T H E M O S T P O W E R F U L G A M E E N G I N E I N T H E I N D U S T R Y.

L E A R N M O R E AT W W W . C R Y E N G I N E . C O M

To be included in the Develop Directory (which appears every month in Develop and now every week in MCV) contact cnangle@nbmedia.com

Our range is targeted at gamers in search of quality technology. Alan Jones, Prif CEO and owner

What are the biggest challenges you face? When you manufacture in China, stock lead times are always a big issue. We will need to work closely with our trade partners to plan stock requirements especially with so many new customers planned for 2016. We are also mindful of the other established players in our space and need to find ways to offer differentiated product to retail and the enduser. Licensing and product innovation are key in being successful.

WANT TO FEATURE YOUR COMPANY IN INSIDER’S GUIDE?

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

Contact: W: www.prifgear.com P: 0844 500 6475 E: ajones@prif.co.uk

PLEASE CONTACT MDEALESSANDRI@NBMEDIA.COM OR CALL 01992 515 303

January 22nd 2016

FACTFILE SPAIN

INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: SPAIN Population: 47,066,000 Capital City: Madrid Currency: Euro GDP (Per Capita): $29,863 KEY RETAILERS Alcampo, Amazon, Carrefour, El Corte Ingles, Eroski, Fnac, Hipercor, Media Markt, Toys R Us, Worten TOP DISTRIBUTORS Digital Bros, Koch Media, Bandai Namco

THE Spanish video games market is no.4 in Europe and no.9 worldwide in terms of game revenues, as it performed better than Italy for the first time last year. In 2014, Spain’s video game industry had a turnover of more than €412m (£307m), with a 31 per cent growth compared to the previous year, according to the White Paper on Video Game Development in Spain, conducted by DEV (the Spanish Association for the Game and Entertainment Software Development and Publishing Industry) in May 2015. According to DEV, the industry should expect a 24.7 per cent annual growth rate until 2018, reaching a turnover of one billion euros (£755m) the same year. Over the past few years, Spain’s market has enjoyed a new golden age, as 65 per cent of the companies in the sector were launched less than five years ago. The increasing number of mobile games is the main reason for the growth, says DEV’s White Paper. Digital distribution is the main driving force of the Spanish

January 22nd 2016

TOP DEVELOPERS Abylight, Akaoni, Black Fire Games, Digital Legends, Enigma, Enjoy Up, Gammick, Gextech NOTABLE GAMES FIRMS WITH A LOCAL OFFICE Ubisoft, EA, Take-Two, Deep Silver, ChildTopia, Friendware, Digital Chocolate

The Spanish market is essentially based on digital distribution market, as 90 per cent of the sector’s turnover is generated through digital channels, according to DEV. “About half of all digital sales are channelled through the direct downloading of video games (52 per cent), followed by the free-to-play model financed by advertising (25 per cent), and the free-to-play model with integrated in-game purchases (21 per cent),” says the report. Spain has around 23 million gamers, with the 20 to 40-yearold segment being the key audience, according to data firm Euromonitor. Sony has led the market in Spain since 2014, when the PS4 release saw the company overtake Nintendo.

www.mcvuk.com

SPAIN FACTFILE

MEANWHILE IN... VIETNAM DotGears, the Vietnamese studio behind viral hit Flappy Bird, has announced that they have a new game under development JAPANESE developer Obokaidem announced it has associated with the independent Vietnamese game studio DotGears to create a new mobile game. DotGears is the company behind Flappy Bird, released in 2013. The ‘touch to ﬂy’ title was the most downloaded free title of all time on the iOS App Store as of January 2014. Creator Dong Nguyen claimed that Flappy Bird generated more than $50.000 (over £34.000) in daily advertising revenue. Nguyen ﬁnally pulled the game from sale in February 2014, blaming the overly-addictive nature of his creation.

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The alliance between DotGears and Obokaidem (known for its arcade title Pick-Xell) will focus on joint smartphone game development. Their new title is only known as “N Project” at the moment, and

DotGears revealed on its Facebook page that it will be Ninja-themed. The game should be released in 2016 and a ﬁrst screenshot was revealed (pictured below).

January 22nd 2016

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTORS IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR NEW PARTNERS OVERSEAS, THEN LOOK NO FURTHER

BELGIUM

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

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

IRAN

SWEDEN

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

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

NORDIC

UAE

WENDROS AB SWEDEN, NORWAY, DENMARK & FINLAND Jakobsdalsvägen 17 12653 Hägersten Sweden Phone: +46 8 51942500 Fax: +46 8 7466790 Email: HM@wendros.se LM@wendros.se Web: www.wendros.se

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

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

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

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

WWW.MCVPACIFIC.COM

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

TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION PLEASE CONTACT CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM January 22nd 2016

www.mcvuk.com

OFF THE RECORD

OFF THE RECORD This week, Boris Johnson takes a virtual tour of London in Minecraft, GamesAid’s holds its second Games on Song concert and the Halo World Championships come to Gﬁnity’s fancy new eSports arena SING LIKE YOU’RE WINNING 30 members of the UK games industry came together for the second ever Games on Song concert on December 16th. The likes of UKIE boss Dr Jo Twist, Andy Payne, PlayStation UK’s Rich Keen, Tracey McGarrigan and ESL MD Spike Laurie were all singing their hearts out for a good cause. The set list was a mix of traditional songs with a gaming twist, video game tunes such as Tetris and original compositions. And what’s more – the event raised a whopping £11,800. All very impressive. Though you were all there for the mince pies and mulled wine, weren’t you?

BRICKING IT AT last, Boris has a PR stunt that can’t end in him getting stuck up a zip wire or ﬂooring a ten year-old boy. To announce the new London Games Festival, Boris was recreated in Minecraft by creative agency Explosive Alan. Enjoy the images of him wandering around an eerily vacant virtual London. Like 28 Days Later, but with Tories.

Images: Joe Brady Photography

HELLO HALO LAST weekend, Xbox’s Halo World Championships came to the Gﬁnity eSports Arena at the Vue Cinema in Fulham Broadway. The winning team took home a cool £7,500. Not bad for three-days work. If only our parents let us play games more. www.mcvuk.com

January 22nd 2016

OFF THE RECORD

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Daniel @Meh4321

Volugs @Volugs Send my companion in and WKHQ NHHS P\ GLVWDQFH

Neil @WingedSword

Vaughn Whiskey @VaughnWhiskey

CONTACTS Christopher Dring

Kelly Sambridge

Andrew Wooden

Editor cdring@nbmedia.com

Head of Design and Production ksambridge@nbmedia.com

Content Director awooden@nbmedia.com

Ben ParďŹ tt

Elizabeth Newton

Conor Tallon

Associate Editor bparďŹ tt@nbmedia.com

Production Executive enewton@nbmedia.com

Senior Account Manager ctallon@nbmedia.com

Alex Calvin

Sam Richwood

Lesley McDiarmid

StaďŹ&#x20AC; Writer acalvin@nbmedia.com

Designer srichwood@nbmedia.com

Senior Account Manager lmcDiarmid@nbmedia.com

Marie Dealessandri

Michael Canham

Sarah Goldhawk

StaďŹ&#x20AC; Writer mdealessandri@nbmedia.com

Finance Manager mcanham@nbmedia.com

Account Manager sgoldhawk@nbmedia.com

Stuart Moody

Charlotte Nangle

Head of Operations smoody@nbmedia.com

Sales Executive cnangle@nbmedia.com

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THE RETAIL ADVISORY BOARD Charlotte Knight GAME

Steve Moore Simply Games

Jennifer Johnson Don McCabe Shop Direct CHIPS

Jon Hayes Tesco

Sarah Jasper The Hut

Gurdeep Hunjan Simon Urquhart Sainsburyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Microsoft

Dermot Stapleton Niall Lawlor GameStop Get Games

Phil Moore Grainger Games

Igor Cipolletta ShopTo

Phil Browes HMV

Robert Lindsay Games Centre

Stephen Staley Robert Hennessy Paul Sulyok James Cooke Gameseek John Lewis Green Man Gaming Argos

Craig Watson Dixons Retail

Editorial: 01992 515303 | Advertising: 01992 535647 | Fax: 01992 535648 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS United Kingdom ÂŁ150 l Europe ÂŁ175 l Rest of the World ÂŁ250 To order your subscription via Visa, Mastercard, Switch or AMEX or to make changes to your subscription details, contact mcv.subscriptions@c-cms.com or call 01580 883848.

January 22nd 2016