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WITNESSING JONATHAN BLOW THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES ISSUE 866 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 19TH 2016

IS INDIE KING’S LATEST GAME REALLY INDIE AT ALL? P12

REALITY RUCKUS

HOO-HA

FOR VR

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! PLEASE BE SEATED! THE LONG WAIT IS FINALLY OVER! THE FIGHT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! WHO WILL WIN BETWEEN HTC’S STEAM VR, FACEBOOK’S OCULUS RIFT AND SONY’S PLAYSTATION VR? DON’T MISS OUT! TICKETS START AT JUST £500!

VR SPECIAL HARDWARE SOFTWARE ANALYSIS

VR SPECIAL THE HARDWARE

Brave New World We’re just weeks away now, and while there’s a lot of excitement, there’s still much we don’t know about VR. How do you market it? What should it cost? Who is going to buy it? What’s going to drive adoption?

Alex Calvin speaks to the people behind some of the most anticipated virtual reality hardware to find out more

T

he future is here – virtual reality is finally launching for consumers.

And this isn’t just the launch of a new product – VR’s arrival represents the starting point of an entirely new market. As of March 28th – when the first batch of Oculus’ Rift headsets ship – we are in uncharted territory.

“We simply don’t have the kind of data and business information at our disposal that might help inform the launch of, for example, a new console, PC component or game. So in marketing terms we have to make a lot of assumptions and best guesses,” HTC Europe’s marketing boss Jon Goddard says.

“But the team at HTC and Valve are able to draw on our experience both from the hardware and software worlds, which gives us a great insight into what VR enthusiasts and PC gamers will want in a consumer VR system.”

Former PlayStation VR developer Dave Ranyard – who left Studio London last week – adds: “Releasing a games console is pretty difficult, but doing it when it’s a brand new medium, it’s like a challenge on steroids.”

THE PRICE OF SUCCESS Even before it launches, virtual reality is running into some hurdles. The new tech does not come cheap. Oculus has announced a £500 price tag for its Rift headset, and it’s widely presumed that PlayStation VR and HTC’s Vive headset will have similar price points.

“As this is a brand new category it’s very hard to really say if a price is high or not because there’s no benchmark,” Goddard explains.

“So you end up dealing with perceived value, which is a

February 19th 2016

with a considerably lower price point – Gear VR costs £99; Merge has a £49.99 RRP – this could be one way in which VR is adopted by the mass market.

“It’s hard to say. Mobile experiences are much easier to show your mates down at the

tough one to overcome. What’s important is that there’s excellent content to match the demand for VR, and that’s ultimately what will drive people’s view of whether the hardware justifies the cost.”

Ranyard adds: “That higher price point just means they are able to

A high initial price point means that companies are able to balance supply and demand.

Over time, that price will come down as manufacturing costs drop.

Dave Ranyard, former Sony Studio London

pub,” Ranyard admits. “There might be a lot of people who try VR for the first time with that – it’ll be relatively easy. They can get a great experience, but it’s what those experiences are. There could be a first taste that comes through those mobile-based headsets.”

Merge VR co-founder Andrew Trickett adds: “Mobile VR is going to allow for earlier adoption, and the

balance supply and demand. Over time it can come down and they will be able to lower the cost of their manufacturing process.”

Yet there are cheaper options on the market. Samsung has teamed up with Oculus to develop its Gear VR hardware, and start-up Merge VR launched its tech last year. Both of these use mobile phones rather than integrated hi-res screens. And

HTC’s Vive headset will be available to pre-order from February 29th

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higher end systems are going to be quite expensive for a while.

“Mobile VR will continue to be the dominant player, at least in terms of numbers of devices out there.”

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY There will surely be a number of different ways in which the VR giants are going to be selling the tech to the masses. But one thing is clear – consumers need to try the hardware before they will buy it.

“The turnaround moment for most people is trying it,” Ranyard says. “And once they have, they are on board. That’s the biggest challenge. It’s the exact same one we had when we first made Singstar. Prior to that, nobody had sung at a TV set in a living room and there’s quite a few barriers to that. So that was all about sampling and getting people to play it and play it at each other’s houses. Getting it exposed on TV, the web to get people and so on.

“But also, companies need to make content that isn’t just a longform solo video game experience that’s all about twitch gameplay.

That’s not going to sell it to somebody else who comes round to your house. You need more short form, more social ‘in the room’ experiences so people get it.”

Merge tried something a little bit different in pushing its VR headset.

“Being a start-up, we used a lot of social media and PR to get the message out about Merge VR,” Trickett says.

“We had a fantastic Christmas period and a lot of that had to do with getting on gift guides, rather than the tech press. That’s the way you get the message out to the masses, making them aware of this option, even if they haven’t had

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THE HARDWARE VR SPECIAL

We promoted Merge VR in Christmas gift guides rather than the tech press. That’s how you get the message out to the masses.

the chance to experience it themselves.”

Andrew Trickett, Merge VR

LET’S GET PHYSICAL Merge launched its mobile VR headset last October, and in the UK it partnered up with High Street retailer GAME to sell the new tech in its stores.

“One thing we have seen is that VR is incredibly powerful,” Trickett says.

“When people try it they realise it’s here. Very good, affordable consumer-grade virtual reality is here. But on the other hand, it’s an experiential thing. There’s no way you can appreciate that unless you try it. We’re big believers in physical retail being a key part of introducing it to a mass market.

“That will be a lot of people’s first encounter with VR. Over the last couple of years, it’s been early adopters who’ve been seeking it out or they closely follow the tech press. They hear about it and maybe purchase it online. What we’re finding out when we’re going to more general events is that vast majority of the consumer market has not even heard about VR. If we put it on their face it’s an incredible reaction. That’s why it’s a big part of our strategy.”

HTC’s Goddard says that the firm is keen to get into physical retail, but that stores need to work hard to push the hardware.

“Having a Vive just sitting in a box on a shelf is unlikely to do much for a retailer,” he explains.

“So they will certainly need to work out the best way to excite their customers about VR with creative executions in store, opportunities for demonstration and interaction, and smart targeting of their database.”

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(Left top to bottom): Merge VR’s Trickett, Dave Ranyard and HTC’s Goddard

THE LONG GAME FORMER PlayStation VR dev Dave Ranyard does not think this year, or the next, is going to be when virtual reality takes off.

“I wonder if in 2016 or 2017 there’ll be a little bit of an anticlimax,” he explains.

“The VR market will grow, but I wonder if it’ll dip at some point where the first wave finishes. Everybody has tried it and gone ‘right, okay’ and virtual reality will stall a bit and then there’s a second surge in a couple of years. It might be the second generation of headsets that make it mainstream and not the first.

No-one has really commented on that because everyone’s so excited about it starting.

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“There’ll be a load of fanfare, it’ll be great, then there’ll be some kind of apocalyptic news stories because sales are down or there isn’t any content coming out. But then it’ll pick up again.”

“There’s still a load of things to happen after this – this is just the beginning. There’s stuff like having virtual reality headsets wireless, or having eye tracking. There’s all this other things that can add to the experience that might be in the second wave – Oculus 2, or PlayStation VR 2 – that might be two or three years down the road that solve a lot of the teething problems. They might be a lot lighter on your head, those sorts of things.”

February 19th 2016

VR SPECIAL THE DEVELOPERS

Throwing out the rule book: The aches and pains of developing for VR As virtual reality is set to finally hit stores this year, Alex Calvin speaks to some of the developers making games for the innovative tech to find out the challenges that have arisen out of building experiences for the brand new hardware

BUGBEARS AS well as shaking up the development scene, VR has changed how quality assurance works.

“The testing plans have become much bigger,” CCP’s lead designer on EVE Valykrie Andrew Willans says.

“Everything that you create and that goes in the game can be analysed from every single angle. You can’t really hide much in VR because the player can get there and see an object from any given angle, they can interact with it.

“Aside from just looking for bugs, there’s also the gameplay balance side of things which QA is heavily involved in. We get heat maps of a combat zone, and see where people are fighting, camping, and where people are hiding or

CCP has made EVE Valykrie from the ground up for VR

A

fter years of anticipation, VR is finally launching in the coming months.

And while there are some exciting games on the horizon for the tech, making these experiences has been anything but easy. Developing titles for VR has come with a long list of challenges that studios in the sector have had to overcome. And doing so has meant throwing away a long list of design conventions that we as an industry have taken for granted.

“For 30 years we have been abstracting mechanics to buttons,” Adam Schwartz of Job Simulator studio Owlchemy Games explains.

“There would be a button to jump, another to crouch, one to do this and one to do that.

Now we have removed all of the abstraction, and with motion controls and with VR where you can stand up and move around like in Job Simulator. There’s

February 19th 2016

nothing other than one to one interactions. It’s a completely different paradigm. We have people who have been playing for 30 years and haven’t quite had the introduction to VR yet and watch a video of a VR game and ask: ‘how do you crouch? What button do you hit?’ and it’s like: ‘no, you just actually do it in real life’. It’s a completely different mind space that we’re all figuring out for the first time right now.”

Elijah Freeman – who is working in Crytek’s Robinson: The Journey - adds: “Just like with any new medium, VR presents new challenges. It’s exciting for the team, because they have to think about how to deliver experiences in a 3D space.

You have to think about what’s beside you, what’s around you, what’s behind you. The industry has to pay attention now, it has to identify that VR has

particular trouble spots. All of that is amplified in virtual reality. There’s so much more to test and take in. It’s a bit of a weird one.

“The workload of quality assurance in general has probably tripled because of the very nature of VR and the fact you can’t hide behind anything – it’s all there to be seen, warts and all.”

Elijah Freeman, executive producer on Crytek’s Robinson: The Journey adds: “QA is generally only looking for bugs with regards to functionality, graphical effects and so on.

Now it’s about experience – things like motion sickness.

If you’re not dealing with virtual reality in a responsible way, you can get motion sickness quite easily, and that has various degrees of severity.”

Platformer Lucky’s Tale from Playful is bundled with the Oculus Rift

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THE DEVELOPERS VR SPECIAL

Rebellion is remaking Atari tank game Battlezone as a PlayStation VR timed-exclusive

become something legitimate in the overall experience.”

PlayStation VR Battlezone developer Rebellion has also found making games for virtual reality a challenge.

“What’s been interesting about working on a ‘proper game in VR’ is that we didn’t actually know how much we would need to do differently until we started,” CEO Jason Kingsley says. “In some way though, that’s made it especially exciting. No-one knows what size the market will be, or when really, and pretty much everyone was starting from the same island of virtual reality ignorance as each other. The best successes will be to those who are happiest leaving their entrenched game design positions and are willing to experiment and explore.”

As a result of these new constraints, it’s important for those working on VR to design their games around that platform.

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“We’ll probably support VR,” The Witness developer Jonathan Blow says. “But the best VR games are probably going to come from designing a game specifically for that platform only. If it’s a really good game for that platform it won’t even work without the VR gear.”

TOTALLY SICK ONE of the issue that has faced VR from the start is health and safety. Back in the ‘90s, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy induced headaches in users, and early headsets from this new wave of VR caused motion sickness. But Adr1ft developer Three One Zero has put functionality into its game to help those who suffer from motion or simulation sickness.

“We added in a feature to Adrift called SAS Relief,” studio founder

YOU’VE BEEN FRAMED But as well as having to figure out what mechanics work within VR there are other tech challenges.

For example, unlike console and PC games where frame rate is a concern, but not a deal breaker, VR headsets need to run at a strict 90 frames per second (twice – once on each screen) in order to not induce motion sickness.

“The games industry has been chasing 60 frames,” Adam Orth of Adr1ft developer Three One Zero says. “That’s the Holy Grail. If it runs at that, it’s great. When we were told VR needed to run at 90 we were like ‘f*ck, that’s impossible’.

Adam Orth says. “It’s a way to rest your eyes in VR. We were told that people when they get simulation sickness, it’s actually cumulative over time so the longer you play something, the more susceptible you are to it. We decided to have a button that blacks the screen out if players are feeling uncomfortable. We took it a step further and made it a feature and turned it into a cool visor that comes down over your helmet.”

Three One Zero’s Adr1ft casts players as an astronaut stranded on a space station that’s falling apart

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February 19th 2016

VR SPECIAL THE DEVELOPERS

(Below left to right): Three One Zero’s Orth, Owlchemy’s Reimer, Crytek’s Freeman, Owlchemy’s Schwartz, Harmonix’s Brezinski, CCP’s Willans, Frontier’s Braben, Rebellion’s Kingsley and Thekla’s Blow

“We struggled for a while, but we got there and are actually running quite a bit above that in some places. For VR, it was a challenge but we’re there. It was a necessary thing for developers to have that thing forced upon them because it’s just going to make everything better in the future.”

Owlchemy’s Schwartz adds: “It’s an incredible challenge. The stakes have never been higher when it comes to hitting frame rate and avoiding bugs in VR. We’ve never before had it so that if a game crashes or freezes or hiccups or even misses one frame ever, people will get physically ill. We place performance and smooth frame rate above every other metric within our game. It’s the absolute top priority all the time.”

GETTING VR RIGHT This focus on frame rate and

February 19th 2016

technical performance is imperative to VR’s success. If a game makes someone sick at this early stage in VR’s life, then it could do irreparable damage to the sector – just look at the last time VR came to the market in Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. But another part of ensuring VR’s early success is a focus on premium products. And that’s why Owlchemy’s Devin Reimer says that Oculus Rift’s high specs and equally high price tag are important to the sector’s initial launch.

“What has ended up happening is quality trumping the desire to race for the cheapest product right out of the gate,” he explains.

“We need to sell everyone on VR, and the only way to do that is to sell them good VR.” He concludes: “Price can come down over time, but you have to have a line in the sand to ensure a good experience. That’s great.”

Crytek’s Robinson: The Journey is a PlayStation VR exclusive

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THE DEVELOPERS VR SPECIAL

Frontier’s Elite Dangerous has supported Oculus Rift since the game’s launch

CHEAP AND CHEERFUL WHILE Oculus Rift has a rather high price point of £500, with speculation suggesting that PlayStation VR and HTC Vive will be in the same ball park, there are a number of cheaper options on the market. The likes of Samsung’s Gear VR (pictured) and Merge VR use mobile phones in lieu of fancy screens. These experiences – while of a lower quality than their more expensive relatives – could drive adoption in the VR space due to their lower barrier to entry.

“VR’s big hurdle is getting as many people as possible to try VR,” lead designer on CCP’s EVE Valkyrie says.

“Mobile VR is a real quality first experience for virtual reality.

I was really impressed when I tried the Gear VR for the first time

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and [mobile game] EVE Gunjack is a great example of taking something that works really well for that platform and delivering something which is really high in quality in terms of gameplay and visuals. It’s an excellent introduction to VR. Obviously, speaking more from a hardcore games side of things, full VR, the full experience is a different level.

But it’s fantastic that it’s out there.”

Harmonix product manager Jessa Brezinski adds: “What’s fascinating this time around is when you watch the way that gaming became more mainstream across the past several decades, it started pretty hardcore then became much more accessible to mainstream audiences once mobile gaming came around. This

time it looks like the VR industry is trying to do that a little backwards, and have more accessible versions of tech coming out at the same time.

“Hopefully that means that whether you are in it for the really premium VR experience on PC or console or you are looking for a more casual mobile experience, we’ll see some different types of users for VR. I’m sure it’ll do a lot to dictate what types of experiences are brought to those different platforms and how the market caters to having different tiers basically of commitment.”

But Frontier’s David Braben is not convinced.

“Mobile VR is very dangerous to the whole take-off of the business,” he explains.

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“That would drive it strongly towards to the non-interactive or mildly-interactive VR experiences over the high-end ones. They may well feel a lot more like mobile games. I do worry with some of the experiences that I’ve seen already that they very much have a mobile game feel about them. And if they do that, then there might be a problem with VR taking off. If it’s something you only play for five or ten minutes, you might go ‘okay, I’ve tried VR’.”

February 19th 2016

VR SPECIAL THE ROUND UP

Virtual Reality: The Review 2016 is the year that VR finally comes to the market, and we’ve tried them all. The MCV and Develop teams round up the pros and cons of each of the big headsets

OCULUS RIFT – ALEX CALVIN WITHOUT the Oculus Rift, its debatable whether as many people would be excited about virtual reality.

Its the first premium experience to hit the market – with the initial batch of headsets shipping next month – and will surely be the debut of real VR. But it’s not going to be cheap. Oculus named a £500 price point for the headset, which is considerably higher than the $350 ‘ball park figure’ that Oculus boss Palmer Luckey previously alluded to. That’s not the only cost, either. Unlike PlayStation VR, it requires a expensive PC to run the new tech. And what’s more, the initial Rift shipments don’t come with Oculus’ Touch controllers, instead including an Xbox One gamepad.

It’s a shame that the Rift isn’t going to be coming with Touch, at least initially, as these

February 19th 2016

HTC VIVE – MATTHEW JARVIS THE HTC Vive solves one of the biggest problems still facing its VR headset rivals: movement.

Accompanied by two sensor base stations, dubbed ‘Lighthouse’, the Vive tracks the wearer’s position in 3D, allowing them to freely walk around virtual (and physical) space. A big step up from Oculus’ relatively limited head tracking.

You might not be able to run a marathon in it yet but, combined with smart game mechanics and controls on the Vive’s motion controllers – which come with the kit – the headset provides a level of freedom to move around and interact with objects realistically that none of its competitors can yet rival.

Worried you’ll walk into a wall?

No need – the integrated frontfacing camera will phase in a grid-like overlay of reality if you get too close to any obstacles, meaning you can run, crouch and

really take the VR experience to a whole new level. Touch controllers utterly sell VR, and competitor HTC Vive does ship with motion controllers at launch. When you’ve played table tennis on the side of an asteroid or under the sea, or built a tower of blocks on a virtual table, you can see what VR could be - a platform that builds tangible and explorable worlds.

Yet there are a sizeable number of titles coming to the platform. The Rift is bundled with CCP’s EVE Valykrie and Oculus’ own Lucky’s Tale, with extra content coming from Frontier, Harmonix and Three One Zero in the coming months.

And following its purchase

by Facebook, Oculus perhaps stands the best chance of taking virtual reality beyond gaming as the social media giant waxes lyrical about the social applications of the platform.

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jump without banging your head.

You might find your foot nudging the cable occasionally, but it largely remains unobtrusive.

The difference the ability to move has on gameplay is extraordinary. Paired with the handheld controllers, which accurately track hand movements and offer intuitive grip and touchpad inputs for a massive range of in-game actions, the Vive isn’t just an immersive headset, it’s the most immersive VR currently available.

The foundation of SteamVR also means that the Vive boasts perhaps the healthiest games library and prospective audience of any VR platform. With existing PC games patching in Vive support through Steam, and a huge number VR efforts, all backed by the power of Valve, set for release on the PC’s biggest marketplace, it’s hard to doubt the Vive’s optimistic outlook for 2016.

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THE ROUND UP VR SPECIAL

PLAYSTATION VR – CHRISTOPHER DRING OUT of all the big VR headsets, PlayStation VR isn’t technically the most impressive, but it quite possibly has the most potential.

HTC and Oculus Rift require very highend PCs to power their impressive VR games. Sony’s effort simply requires a PS4, and when you consider there is already 36m of those in the market, that’s a large readymade audience to appeal to.

Though the games may not be quite as visually pleasing as the PC VR, experiences like The London Heist, Kitchen, EVE: Valkyrie and Battlezone remain as immersive as its more advanced rivals.

Sony is pushing the ‘social’ side of VR more than its competitors, too The Playroom VR experience features one player using the VR headset,

while other gamers compete against them using the TV. In fact, PlayStation’s VR line-up seems leaps ahead of its rivals, using the PS4’s larger install base to attract thirdparty support.

It is also leading the way with its own VR projects, the multiplayer game RIGS is one of the more ambitious efforts, while Gran Turismo is likely to be a big seller.

As a piece of kit, PlayStation VR boasts a futuristic look (but it does feel a bit plasticky). And the best thing about it? A button on the device’s side allows gamers to extend the visor to remove it easily. Perfect for those with glasses. Take note Oculus and HTC.

GEAR VR - JAMES BATCHELOR TECH enthusiasts might scoff at the concept of mobile VR – how can smart devices compete with a high-end PC? – but recent research by SuperData suggests that three out of four people are likely to adopt mobile VR solutions this year. And Samsung’s Gear VR is in a great position to lead that charge.

Unlike the awkward and potentially flimsy Google Cardboard, Gear VR has a sturdy design not dissimilar to the Oculus Rift or PlayStation VR, making it instantly more appealing to virtual reality fans. It’s also lighter and more comfortable than some of the more premium devices heading to shelves.

Thanks to the Oculus technology behind the headset’s design, the immersive experiences available are actually more impressive than you might expect – all the demos and prototypes I’ve

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played have been on a par or better than the Rift.

The controls are also accessible. Shunning the traditional gamepad – still daunting to many mainstream consumers – and fledgling motion controllers, it opts instead for a simple touchpad on the side of the visor, an input mechanic familiar

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to billions of smart devices users the world over. True, you’ll look like X-Men’s Cyclops when using it, but the combination of comfort, convenience and accessibility makes Gear VR a true contender for leading virtual reality platform.

February 19th 2016

NEWS

Releasing inaccurate sales info is ‘to our detriment’, says Witness developer Blow Indie Game: The Movie star and development veteran surprised that indieapocalypse didn’t happen sooner

by Alex Calvin INDIE developer Jonathan Blow has said that game industry’s ‘culture of secrecy’ around sales figures is detrimental to the market.

Speaking to MCV, Blow said that he wished that more digital sales information was released. The developer has revealed some stats to indicate the performance of his new game, The Witness and wishes that the industry as a whole would do the same. In its first week, the title generated over $5m in gross revenue and sold ‘substantially more than 100,000 units’.

“I wish digital data was made more available,” Blow said.

“It helps everybody. If you look at movies, Box Office numbers get announced after every big weekend. Movie fans and general people are interested in that. It gets

The Witness sold over 100,000 units in its first week and made $5m in gross revenue

more news and publicity for those movies, especially when they are doing well. For some reason in games we’ve decided that there’s more of a culture of secrecy around numbers.

“Sometimes, people will vaguely say some numbers, but often they won’t. It’s certainly not a regular thing, and not with as much

accuracy as it is in film. That’s to our detriment generally. In the case of somebody like me, it’s actually hard to release numbers because in some cases I have NDAs about what the numbers are with specific outlets. I wish that were not the case and I wish I could say whatever. With some places I can but I don’t need to because there’s

forecasting services like Steam Spy and things like that cover bits and pieces. Getting a coherent picture of the whole is not really possible right now.”

Blow went on to say that he was surprised that the indieapocalypse - the notion that it’s harder for indie devs to make and release games – didn’t come around sooner.

“It’s not harder to make or release games,” he says. “It’s harder for them to get anyone to buy the games. That’s absolutely true. The number of entrants, because it’s easier to make a game, is huge. You have to compete more to get noticed. It’s to be expected. I actually thought it would happen a lot sooner. But, we had a bit of a nice golden age before competition got fierce.”

You can hear more from Jonathan Blow in our interview on Page 12.

Gamescom, Bridge Media, Playwire, OPM and Curse support MCV Awards THE MCV AWARDS are just three weeks away and a flurry of names are showing their support of the big event.

Leading European games show Gamescom has signed as event partner, along with video hosting specialist Playwire.

Gamescom project manager Tim Endres is looking forward to continuing a long-standing partnership with MCV and the Awards: “MCV is one of our most important media partners and we are delighted to continue the partnership this year.”

Both recruitment specialist OPM and design agency Bridge Media will be providing table gifts.

“The MCV Awards is one of the biggest nights on our calendar

February 19th 2016

and it’s great to have a night where some of the unsung heroes in our industry get recognition for their hard work,” said OPM MD Kim Adcock.

Bridge Media added: “Bridge Media Group is delighted to be the sponsor of the 2016 MCV Awards.

“As a leading supplier of packaging, POS and merchandise to the games industry, this is a perfect opportunity for Bridge Media Group to show off its creative flair with a clever piece of visual packaging that shows off some cutting edge printing techniques.”

And online game portal and software specialist Curse is sponsoring the Games Publisher category. “Curse is

Warner Bros walked away with three prize from last year’s MCV Awards

extremely excited to once again be supporting the MCV Awards,” said the firm’s Leah Koons.

“We look forward to recognising the fantastic achievements within our industry.”

The MCV Awards 2016 take place at the Hilton Bankside,

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London on Thursday March 3rd.

A limited number of tickets are available at www.mcvawards. com/buy-tickets.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Contact Lesley McDiarmid at lmcdiarmid@ nbmedia.com or Conor Tallon at ctallon@nbmedia.com.

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NEWS

GOG: We are going to do Early Access right

by Alex Calvin DIGITAL games retailer GOG has launched its own version of Early Access with an emphasis on quality control.

Much like Steam’s Early Access, GOG’s service lets studios release titles that are still in development.

Though Steam Early Access has yielded some hits, including Bohemia Interactive’s Day Z and Wildcard’s Ark Survival Evolved, the scheme has also become known for being filled with low quality games that may never be finished. Valve also exercises no quality control – and GOG is eager to ensure that only the best games make it to its Early Access programme.

“Simply put, curation is important to us because we

THE EDITOR

don’t want to be in the business of selling poor experiences wrapped in grand promises,” GOG brand director Tomasz Nalewajk said.

“We’re about delivering quality over quantity, and we feel that it’s a much-needed alternative to what’s out there right now.

“One of the biggest complaints you’ll hear about Early Access is that few games end up delivering on their promises, or that they end up abandoned and incomplete.

“The premise behind our hand-picked selection is to prevent situations where game development stops while the game is extremely buggy or missing major features. While Early Access done right can be a great experience, there’s always the chance that the end result won’t be perfect.”

YOU’VE GOT TO BLOW THE BUBBLE BEFORE IT CAN BURST

I

t’s a shame that it feels impossible to talk about the excitement and potential of VR without dedicating just as many words to caveats. But I’ve tried not doing it and - frankly - it feels pretty disingenuous.

What is fair is to assert that trying good VR is a truly revolutionary experience.

Anyone with even a moderate interest in games will instantly fall in love with it, as will many who until now have been left largely cold by video games.

Even this is going to be a challenge, of course. Whereas millions of viewers can enjoy a trailer, the ‘one at a time, please strap yourself in, no you put on the headset like this’ nature of experiencing VR is a puzzle that has marketeers across the world scratching their heads.

But even once this obstacle is overcome, wowing the audience is, unfortunately, by far the least of the new platform’s challenges.

Let’s just get price out of the way first. £500 is a s*it load of money, even for someone who has already dropped £800£1,500 on a VR-ready gaming PC. Add all that up and you’re looking at a very narrow market.

Yep, PlayStation VR happily minimises this problem. But even if that costs, say, £200 or £300 (it could easily be £400), that’s a big ask. A far bigger one than asking someone to drop the same money on a multimedia games console.

Sure, I’ve spent £500+ on a TV for my living room before.

And on my phone, when you tot up the monthly charges.

Hell, I even forked out that on a

There are five games on GOG’s Early Access scheme, including Chuckefish’s Starbound

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Doom + Demon Multiplayer Pack (PS4)

9

Hitman (PS4)

10

Dark Souls III (PS4)

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MICROSOFT

Nintendo Sony Ubisoft Bethesda Square Enix Bandai Namco

11

There will be a launch market for VR. The worry is that it will be too small.

G-Sync monitor just this month.

But these are items I use every day. £500 on an iPhone, I think, is actually decent value. Hand on heart I’m not sure I can say the same about Oculus Rift.

But even if you pass this hurdle, there’s still another space. Remember how the internet collectively freaked out when Microsoft revealed that Kinect needed a few spare feet and that gamers might have to nudge their sofa back a few inches? Vive requires a massive vacated area, and a pair of wall-mounted units.

3D films and TV failed because asking consumers to don a pair of glasses proved too big an ask. Can VR realistically hope to prosper when it’s asking gamers to fork out for the equivalent of a small second hand family hatchback?

And have enough space in the family home to pull off a threepoint turn in said hatchback?

There will undoubtedly be a launch market for VR. The worry is that it will be so small that it will be impossible for studios to recoup their development costs. If that happens then the games dry up. Then the headset sales slow. Then development becomes harder to justify. And that’s a cycle that’s hard to escape from.

February 19th 2016

INTERVIEW JONATHAN BLOW

“The Witness isn’t an indie game” Jonathan Blow was one of the developers that helped put the independent games scene on the map with Braid. But with a near-$6m budget and a seven-year development cycle, things are very different with his second title, The Witness. Alex Calvin speaks to the man himself

I

n 2008, a puzzle platformer game called Braid hit Xbox Live Arcade.

It was made by an American developer called Jonathan Blow, and was one of the first commercial smash hits from the then-burgeoning indie scene.

Now, after a seven-year development period and blowing through a budget that’s close to $6m (£4.1m), Blow has released his second independent game – The Witness. And, so far, the title has seen its fair share of critical and commercial acclaim, selling 100,000 units in its first week and generating $5m (£3.4m) in gross revenue. That’s more sales than Braid made in its first year.

But this is not an indie title in the same way that Braid was back in 2008. Its close-to-$6m budget is a sure sign of that.

Another indication is its £30 price point - a fact that provoked the ire of the online masses.

“I’m not too surprised because people on the internet like to complain about prices, that’s just a known thing,” Blow laughs.

“When Braid came out, there was a similar price kerfuffle there. I had been expecting it to be $10 like most XBLA games and Microsoft decided to make everything in that Summer of Arcade $15 because they wanted a tier for higher-quality games.

February 19th 2016

Everyone started complaining about that.

“If people think about The Witness as an indie game, and picture it alongside a lot of other perceived indie games, you might think: ‘yeah, why does this have such a high price point?’, but I don’t think it fits very well into that category. I don’t talk about it as an indie game that much because it’s got a really high budget, in part because we worked on it for seven years. It’s a large game with a lot of stuff in it and people who are surprised at the price don’t maybe have an accurate picture of how big it is and how much stuff is in it. Then they feel that the price is too high. There are plenty of people who play the game and say they would have paid much more for it. I feel that the price is well chosen. If some people don’t complain it’s probably too low; if you don’t sell at all it’s probably too high. We’re selling it alright and people are complaining so it’s probably a good price.”

And this wasn’t something that surprised Blow.

“What surprised me more was the internet’s reaction to those tweets,” he says.

“Everyone who likes to pirate gets really mad any time you say that piracy might be bad in anyway. Or there’s this weird reaction where they feel threatened when I say: ‘Maybe we won’t make more games’.

They get mad. How do you expect me to make more games if I don’t get money for making them? It’s a weird psychology for pirates.

“People inferred things from those tweets that were not said.

A news site will post something and someone will repost it but put their own spin on it so the message gets distorted very fast. People started getting the impression that maybe the game wasn’t selling well because it Jonathan Blow, Thekla was pirated so much. That’s, in part, why I released some financial info, and to show that the game is in fact doing fine. It is a bummer that it’s being pirated because maybe it would do even better, maybe we could make more games or do even bigger scope games or something like that.”

Blow released The Witness through his own company, Thekla (that’s ‘tech-lah’). And though he might team up with a publisher

There are plenty of people who play the game and say they would have paid much more for it. I feel that the price is well chosen.

A PIRATE’S LIFE But though The Witness is selling well and drawing in plaudits from the games media, it isn’t all good news for the puzzle game.

Blow has complained on Twitter about piracy. At one point it was the most-downloaded title on ‘a certain popular torrent site’.

12

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JONATHAN BLOW INTERVIEW

for a physical release (more about that in Boxing Clever), the developer didn’t believe he needed a publisher to release the game digitally.

“There are a few things a digital partner would offer,” Blow says.

“Maybe you need someone to fund the game but I didn’t need that because we had money from Braid. So that part was not necessary for us. Obviously, physical manufacturing is not necessary because we just upload a thing to the platform.

PSN or Steam takes the place of that whole physical distribution component. So we just work directly with them. Then we don’t have to pay someone else to do that, we just do it. The bonus to that is that we can also get things done more effectively. If we have to change something on PSN or put up on a patch, giving that to a partner so that he can give it to Sony just takes longer. It’s

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annoying – why should we do that?

“The third part is marketing support, which is one of the main things that this sort of new-wave digital publisher claims to offer. I have not seen it be effective in most cases – either they don’t know how to do that better than most indie developers or they simply don’t really commit the resources that they say they will. Publishers aren’t really stepping up in doing any of those effectively I don’t think.”

THE NEXT STEP And, looking to the future, is Blow’s next game going to be another ambitious, 3D title like The Witness, or something like Braid?

“It would have been nice to make something smaller I think, after a big project like this,” he says.

“But, we took a long time to make The Witness and spent a lot of money on it, too.

There’s investments in both how many years people on the team spent putting in to the project, and how much money went in. It’s a good idea to do something that we can turnaround with the same engine, which would mean a game that’s similar in certain superficial aspects.

The fact that it’s 3D and you are walking around in first person is something we do pretty well now. If we make another game like that, we can turn it around a lot faster than The Witness.

“It can be a completely different game – I don’t think we’re making The Witness 2 – but it makes sense to make a first person game in a 3D world. It is likely we will do that, but I’m not 100 per cent sure.“

13

BOXING CLEVER THE Witness was launched in a January as a digital-only product, but it was nearly released in a box day-forday. And Jonathan Blow’s game could yet come to physical retail.

“Actually, we would like to do a boxed release soon,” Jonathan Blow says.

“We were in talks to do a physical release on the digital release date. The reason we didn’t do it was it took us long enough to finish the game that to meet the release date we had to work on it up until the day. If you’re going to put a disc out in stores, you need a fairly advanced amount of time to manufacture the discs and make sure that they are placed well in stores.

Now that there is time to do that, we hope to do it.”

February 19th 2016

CHEAT SHEET

UP & DOWN

Market Data A lack of big new game releases means software revenue dips 13 per cent last

RAINBOW SIX falls one place this week to No.6 despite seeing a 16 per cent sales rise

£10m

£5m

£9.8m 346,761 units

Week Ending January 30th

£30m

£8.7m 311,335 units

Week Ending February 6th

£7.5m 281,054 units

Week Ending February 13th

FIFA 16 sales rose 26 per cent last week due to half term and retailer promotions

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK THIS WEEK: FAR CRY PRIMAL

[INFO] FORMATS: PS4. XO, PC RELEASED: February 23rd, March 1st (PC) PUBLISHER: Ubisoft DISTRIBUTOR: Exertis CONTACT: 01279 822 822

February 19th 2016

UBISOFT has launched an ‘extensive’ media campaign targeting both hardcore Far Cry fans and ‘gamers hungry for the next triple-A experience of 2016’.

The publisher has booked a TV and video-on-demand campaign, with a live action ad running alongside key sport, comedy and lifestyle TV shows.

That’s on top of a cinema push which will see Far Cry Primal advertised ahead of films including Deadpool, Point Break and Triple 9.

Furthermore, Ubisoft has booked a digital campaign, featuring both display and video ads.

And the publisher has also promoted the game with PR stunts such as CaveBnB and a series of videos centered around Stone Age survival skills.

“The Far Cry brand has proved itself as a strong performer at retail, and Far Cry Primal is set to continue that trend,” Ubisoft UK senior brand manager Alex Friend told MCV.

Ubisoft is pushing Far Cry Primal ahead of films, including Deadpool, with a live action ad

“The title has been gathering more and more positive sentiment with both consumers and media since its announcement, and preorders have seen healthy growth since the announcement, further displaying both the anticipation and love fans have for the

14

franchise. As the first substantial triple-A release of 2016, we believe it offers a great opportunity for retail to drive footfall and purchase in a traditionally quiet sales month, especially given its combination of unique setting, premise and quality.”

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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

MAD CATZ TO LAY OFF 37 PER CENT OF STAFF

$5m

Hardware firm and Rock Band 4 co-publisher Mad Catz has announced it’s to lay of 37 per cent of its work force. This follows the firm’s CEO, chairman and SVP of business affairs all stepping down. New CEO Karen McGinnis has said that Rock Band 4 sales were ‘strong’ but ‘lower than forecasted’.

Mobile Strike dev Machine Zone spent $5m on its Super Bowl ad – starring Arnold Schwarzenegger – for the game

$1.25

@smcowley Both Rock Band and Guitar Hero revivals have failed? Thank goodness the industry isn’t looking to another peripheral as its next big thing.

@Toadsanime Activision could take the hit of Guitar Hero’s failure, but Mad Catz can’t take Rock Band 4’s. I’d be surprised if they survive this.

Simon Cowley, NCSoft, Friday, February 12th

Ryan Brown, Coin Arcade Tuesday, February 9th

GAMETRAILERS CLOSES AFTER 13 YEARS

QUANTUM BREAK COMING TO PC

The original home of game videos, GameTrailers, has closed its doors after 13 years in business. This follows its acquisition by Defy Media in June 2014, and since there have been two rounds of job losses.

Xbox One exclusive Quantum Break is coming to PC, too. This has provoked the ire of the internet.

Furthermore, the game isn’t going to be available on Steam, instead launching on the Windows 10 Store

@GamesAndKarla Sad news about GameTrailers. Been going to the site since 2008. I love the team there and I hope fantastic opportunities come their way.

Karla Pett, Bandai Namco Wednesday, February 10th

@PsychTyson Here, is Quantum Break coming to PC really such a huge surprise? Microsoft is clearly converging across all devices.

@hipposhaped So sad to hear about GameTrailers shutting down. Such an inspiration over the years - I hope everyone involved lands on their feet!

@Just_Ge0 Lordy, Phil Spencer is taking some serious heat for this Quantum Break Xbox/Win10 thing.

Anyone would think playing a rad game is a bad thing.

George Morgan, Sold Out Thursday, February 11th

Andy Mason, The Game Jar Thursday, February 11th

Chris Bond, Videogame Nation Wednesday, February 10th

For every $1 the average PS4 player spend on Ubisoft products, Xbox One owners splash out $1.25

9.6% Official PlayStation Magazine’s print circulation rose 9.6 per cent year-on-year

2 Activision has announced that Destiny 2 won’t be launching in 2016

$10m Techland is releasing a $10m version of Dying Light: The Following. Included are four signed copies of the game, and the chance to start in a Dying Light film PS4 Bluetooth Communicator - PDP Design and manufacture the PS4 Bluetooth/USB Communicator

europesales@pdp.com

www.pdp.com

GAMESAID THIS WEEK ....................................................

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

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LONDON MARATHON

GAMESAID TENNER

STAND UP FOR GAMESAID

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

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

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

In just three month’s time, Warner Bros PR and GamesAid trustee Cat Channon is running the London Marathon to raise money for the charity. The 26.2 mile endurace race is taking place on April 24th.

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.

15

Games industry comedy night Stand Up For GamesAid returns to London’s Comedy Store on May 9th. The event will be hosted by GamesAid patron and comedian Imran Yusuf. Tickets are available on thecomedystore.co.uk and cost £15

February 19th 2016

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

Hi-Rez appoints Véronique Lallier as VP of European publishing Lallier joins from Warner Bros O New gaming editor for Digital Spy O Chambers becomes Mind Candy’s CEO HI-REZ STUDIOS | VÉRONIQUE LALLIER has joined Hi-Rez Studios, following the developers’ announcement of the opening of a new office in Brighton to expand its European operations.

Lallier has been hired as its vice president of European publishing, and will also lead the Brighton office. She formerly was Warner Bros’ vice president of digital publishing.

“Hi-Rez prides itself in being a highly community-oriented company, and this move will allow us to much better serve our European players, across Smite as well as our other games,” said Hi-Rez’s COO TODD HARRIS.

February 19th 2016

The Brighton office will focus on community management, localisation and marketing operations for Europe, while key operations will still be run from Hi-Rez’s headquarters in Atlanta.

Lallier stated: “Hi-Rez has a unique and vibrant fanbase in Europe - as evidenced by the European victory at the 2016 Smite World Championship. I look forward to meeting and working with our passionate fan base here in Europe.”

“It’s a tremendous honour to join Digital Spy. It’s a website I’ve always admired and am now very proud to be part of the team. I’m eager to join a passionate crew that already has global reach and massive ambitions. It’s exciting for me to be able to put my mark on the games section,” she commented.

Loveridge previously has been a news writer, also at TrustedReviews, for nearly two years before being promoted as a gaming editor.

“It’s been such a pleasure working with the TrustedReviews team, and I really appreciate all the support and opportunities I’ve been given during my career so far,” she said.

DIGITAL SPY | SAMANTHA LOVERIDGE is now Digital Spy’s gaming editor, after a year-and-a-half at Trusted Reviews.

16

MIND CANDY | Moshi Monsters developer Mind Candy has a new CEO: IAN CHAMBERS, who previously was GAME’s head of digital.

“With the opportunity to develop established brands and with a new IP in development, the potential at Mind Candy is huge and I am looking forward to working with the team to achieve it,” he said.

Chambers is replacing DIVINA KNOWLES, who took over Mind Candy in May 2015 following the withdrawal of CEO and founder MICHAEL ACTON-SMITH, who wanted to focus on the creative side of the company.

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WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

WEEKLY CHARTS IN this week’s charts, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III is still No.1.

It is the title’s tenth week at the top of the UK listings, in spite of a 17 per cent decrease in sales.

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, published

by Warner Bros, has managed to keep its second place, despite a 35 per cent sales drop.

Meanwhile, FIFA 16 sales rose 26 per cent.

EA’s title took advantage of the beginning of the half term break and also benefited from retailer promotions.

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V and EA’s Star Wars Battlefront also climbed the ladder and are back in the UK’s Top Five, with sales rising 33 and 50 per cent.

TOP 20 INDIVIDUAL TITLES

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

LW 04 02 13 14 08 11 10 05 19 09 06 21 16 17 23 20 12 33 24

There are also two new entries in the charts this week: Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Chronicles at No.19, and Dying Light’s expansion, The Following, at No.28.

On Steam, XCOM 2 leads the charts, as expected, and indie title Firewatch, published by Panic, has managed to become No.3.

In the meantime, the Top 20 individual titles chart is still led by Call of Duty: Black Ops III for PS4, followed by the Xbox One version.

On mobile platforms, Supercell’s Clash of Clans is still No.1 on both iPhone and iPad grossing charts. Minecraft: Pocket Edition has been replaced by Sega’s Football Manager Mobile 2016 as the No.1 game on iPhone.

(UNITS)

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS III (PS4) DEVELOPER: TREYARCH PUBLISHER: ACTIVISION

TITLE Call of Duty: Black Ops III (XO) LEGO Marvel’s Avengers (PS4) Star Wars Battlefront (PS4) Grand Theft Auto V (PS4) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (XO) FIFA 16 (PS4) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (PS4) LEGO Marvel’s Avengers (360) Star Wars Battlefront (XO) FIFA 16 (XO) LEGO Marvel’s Avengers (XO) Grand Theft Auto V (XO) Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (PS4) Just Cause 3 (PS4) Halo 5: Guardians (XO) Just Cause 3 (XO) LEGO Marvel’s Avengers (PS3) Fallout 4 (PS4) Call of Duty: Black Ops III (360)

PUBLISHER Activision Warner Bros EA Rockstar Ubisoft EA Ubisoft Warner Bros EA EA Warner Bros Rockstar Ubisoft Square Enix Microsoft Square Enix Warner Bros Bethesda Activision

TOP 40 UK PHYSICAL RETAIL 02

01

TW 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

LW 01 02 04 06 07 05 08 15 09 10 13 12 14 18 03 21 29 17 NEW 32 22 19 24 27 26 38 28 NEW 31 25 11 RE 36 RE 30 37 35 RE 33 RE

04

05

Title Format Publisher Call of Duty: Black Ops III PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard LEGO Marvel’s Avengers PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, PC Warner Bros FIFA 16 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA Grand Theft Auto V PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Rockstar Star Wars Battlefront PS4, XO, PC EA Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft Just Cause 3 PS4, XO, PC Square Enix Fallout 4 PS4, XO, PC Bethesda Assassin’s Creed Syndicate PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft Minecraft: Story Mode PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Telltale Games/Avanquest Destiny: The Taken King PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard LEGO Jurassic World PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros Minecraft: Xbox Edition XO, 360 Microsoft Minecraft: PlayStation Edition PS4, PS3, Vita Sony Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 PS4, XO, PC Bandai Namco Halo 5: Guardians XO Microsoft Need for Speed PS4, XO EA Disney Infinity 3.0 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Disney Assassin’s Creed Chronicles PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft WWE 2K16 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC 2K Games The Elder Scrolls Online PS4, XO, PC Bethesda Resident Evil Origins Collection PS4, XO, PC Capcom Forza Motorsport 6 XO Microsoft Rise of the Tomb Raider XO Square Enix Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection PS4 Sony Terraria PS4, XO, PS3, 360, Vita, PC 505 Games Just Dance 2016 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Ubisoft Dying Light: The Following PS4, XO, PC Warner Bros LEGO Dimensions PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Warner Bros Life is Strange PS4, XO, PC Square Enix Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth PS4 Bandai Namco PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA Battlefield Hardline The Sims 4 PC EA Deadpool PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Konami Dying Light PS4, XO, PC Warner Bros LEGO Marvel Super Heroes PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros Killzone: Shadow Fall PS4 Sony Football Manager 2016 PC Sega Batman: Arkham Knight PS4, XO, PC Warner Bros

Source: UKIE/GfK Entertainment, Period: Week ending February 13th February 19th 2016

03

Source: UKIE/GfK Entertainment, Period: Week ending February 13th 18

www.mcvuk.com

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

UK IPAD PAID

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 05 02 03 NEW 04 NEW 08 NEW 09

UK IPHONE PAID

(UNITS)

01

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Football Manager Mobile 2016 Hide N Seek Minecraft: Story Mode Pull My Tongue Geometry Dash Haunted Legends: The Dark Wishes The Sims 3 Fear For Sale: Phantom Tide HD Terraria

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Sega Wang Wei Telltale Noodlecake Studios RobTop Games Big Fish EA Big Fish 505 Games

LW 01 03 05 04 06 RE 08 RE NEW

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: February 1st to February 7th

(UNITS)

FOOTBALL MANAGER MOBILE 2016 DEVELOPER: SEGA

Title Minecraft: Pocket Edition Heads Up! Plague Inc Monopoly Game Geometry Dash Yiannimize Racing Bloons TD 5 Worms 3 Pull My Tongue

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: February 1st to February 7th

UK IPAD GROSSING (REVENUE)

UK IPHONE GROSSING (REVENUE)

01

01

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 03 02 04 08 06 05 07 09 11

CLASH OF CLANS DEVELOPER: SUPERCELL

Title Candy Crush Saga Game of War- Fire Age Candy Crush Soda Saga The Sims FreePlay Boom Beach Hay Day Candy Crush Jelly Saga Farm Heroes Saga Gummy Drop!

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer King Machine Zone King EA Supercell Supercell King King Big Fish

LW 03 02 04 08 07 09 05 06 12

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: February 1st to February 7th

CLASH OF CLANS DEVELOPER: SUPERCELL

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

UK IPHONE FREE (UNITS)

01

01

LW 02 RE NEW 06 03 04 RE RE NEW

COLOR SWITCH DEVELOPER: SAMUEL RATUMAITAVUKI

Title Candy Crush Jelly Saga Stupid Test!

Marvel Avengers Academy Blocky Football - Endless Arcade Runner World Chef Piano Tiles 2 Scrap Yard Trucker Parking Simulator Merged!

Splash Cars

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer King Leigh Be TinyCo Full Fat Social Point Cheetah Technology Play With Games GramGames Craneballs

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: February 1st to February 7th www.mcvuk.com

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

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: February 1st to February 7th

UK IPAD FREE (UNITS)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Mojang Warner Bros Ndemic Creations EA RobTop Games iHeart Ninja Kiwi Team17 Noodlecake Studios

LW 15 02 04 RE 03 05 11 20 07

COLOR SWITCH DEVELOPER: SAMUEL RATUMAITAVUKI

Title Stupid Test!

Swing Candy Crush Jelly Saga Blocky Football - Endless Arcade Runner GyroSphere Trials Piano Tiles 2 Episode - Choose Your Story Circlify Twist

Developer Leigh Be Ketchapp King Full Fat Pronetis Cheetah Technology Episode Interactive WebAlive Ketchapp

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: February 1st to February 7th 19

February 19th 2016

INTERVIEW ENEME ENTERTAINMENT

INDIE INTERVIEW Eitr’s got Soul Two-man team Eneme Entertainment started work on Dark Souls-esque 2D RPG Eitr in 2014; the next year its game appeared on-stage at E3 during Sony’s press event. Alex Calvin meets the developers

A

s has become a sort-of tradition at PlayStation’s E3 conference, the platform holder showed a snappy sizzle reel of upcoming indie games from publisher Devolver Digital.

Last year, there were a number of interesting titles, including Eitr, a 2D RPG title – coming to PS4 and PC – with more than a passing resemblance to a certain hardcore RPG series.

This, of course, was a sizeable moment in the studio’s history.

“That was probably the best feeling in the world,” coder Tobi Harper tells MCV. “We used to watch E3 all the time on the internet and stream it and fantasise about sitting there in the crowd watching the whole thing. Then we were actually there and to have your game come up on a big screen and people are watching it – that was a dream come true really.”

Eitr only started development the year before.

Eneme - a two-man team consisting of Harper and artist David Wright – had worked together for a long time on small projects. But Eitr is the first game the duo decided to see through to the end.

“We followed tutorials and used to make little twin-stick shooters and shmups and those kinds of simple games,” Wright says.

“We even made projects that were similar to Flappy Bird and stuff like that. The problem was we didn’t play those sort of titles, we had strong backgrounds in RPGs. All of the old games I used to play were things like Diablo and Lineage. I always had this love for RPGs. Eitr was the first one we started making and in turn it was the first project that we enjoyed developing and stuck to.”

SOUL SURVIVOR Looking at the game – with its high difficulty, slow combat, red health bar and green stamina metre – Eitr has certainly taken its fair share of inspiration from the Dark Souls series.

“The idea was originally to blend elements from games like Souls and Zelda,” Wright explains. “We were also trying to blend things from the RPGs we love like Diablo, Lineage and Path of Exile. It’s a mix of all the games we

February 19th 2016

Eitr is the first game that Harper (top left) and Wright’s (left) have seen through to the end

Hard games were a strong influence. We wanted to make a game that would challenge even us. We want players to focus on what they are doing.

Tobi Harper, Eneme Entertainment

enjoyed. Dark Souls is my personal favourite game of all time and Eitr expresses that clearly.

That game shines through when it comes to Eitr’s inspirations. In the last five or ten years, Dark Souls has had a huge influence on the industry, especially on indie studios. The systems that [Souls studio] From Software designed in the game are very old school and we indies love old school games.”

Harper adds: “A lot of releases that you play these days hold your hand. Having that feeling of playing a game where you are not being led anymore and that challenges you is reminiscent of the old school games.

20

“That’s why it has such a strong influence on us especially because we wanted to make a game that would challenge even us, rather than something that you can play on autopilot.

We wanted players to focus on what they are doing. A lot of old games like Mega Man required a lot of focus. We wanted to basically make a game we wanted to play.”

The team has also been inundated with requests for code from many YouTubers. But then Dark Souls-focused content creator Vaati Vidya got in touch to see about covering the game. So Eneme gave him a code in order to reach its target audience.

“He makes a lot of Souls videos and is really into those games. So for him to play our game and give his output and feedback on it was very educational for us,” Harper says. “He was the best person to give the game to. And there’s a lot of Souls fans who already watch his videos and now are interested in the game.”

So far, Eitr has been announced for PS4 and PC. But many fans are asking for a Vita edition – and Eneme is listening.

“We haven’t made a decision yet. It’s something we are thinking about doing, but haven’t decided,” Wright says. “It’s likely going to be more looked into after the game is released.”

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The world is your workplace

)XMLWVX /,)(%22. 8 &RQWURO WKH ZRUOG RI %<2' Combining optimum mobility with an ergonomic design, the slim and lightweight )XMLWVX /,)(%22. 8 IHDWXUHV DQ HPEHGGHG SDOP YHLQ VHQVRU WR SURWHFW \RXU QRWH book and company data on and off the road. We call it the human-centric workplace. ĆŚ ,QWHOÂ&#x160; &RUHÂ&#x152; L Y3URÂ&#x152; SURFHVVRU ĆŚ :LQGRZV SUH LQVWDOOHG ĆŚ PP WKLQ 8OWUDERRNTM with full-sized ports, including VGA and LAN, at 1.55 kg

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Screens simulated, subject to change. Windows Store apps sold separately. App availability and experience may vary by market.

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MARKETPLACE Sponsored by

SHELF LIFE Graeme Taylor from Game On in Saffron Walden tells MCV about the success of LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, discusses the rise of collectible editions for big games and shares his thoughts on virtual reality How is business?

It was a bit quiet in January but February, March and April should be good, with a lot of new releases. Far Cry Primal, Tom Clancy’s The Division and Uncharted 4 are the next big ones.

What games have been selling particularly well recently?

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers.

Apparently nothing else major came out since Christmas! The top two platforms for this game

PRE-ORDER CHARTS

for us are Xbox 360 and Wii U, oddly.

depends on what kind of games they announce.

What platform performed the best last year?

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are kind of fairly similar. We do rather well on Xbox One here compared to some places. For the year to come, it is hard to say, as it depends on what games are coming out.

After E3, after June, we will know everything about what is coming out. PS4 or Xbox One success really

What challenges are you facing?

Hopefully, this year, maybe there will be fewer exclusives. People sometimes get an almost different version of a game depending on where they buy it. That can cause annoyances because customers then want a specific version of a game and work out which shop they can get it from. It is hard to compete when you can’t actually

There are many reasons why people would not want to use VR. But it was the same for the Wii and a year later everybody had one.

PRICE CHECK: MANCHESTER

TOP 10 PRE-ORDERS 1. STREET FIGHTER V Capcom, PS4

WOLFENSTEIN: THE OLD BLOOD

2. Doom inc. Demon Multiplayer Pack Bethesda ................................................................... PS4 3. Tom Clancy’s The Division Inc Beta Ubisoft ........................................................................ PS4 4. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Warner Bros ............................................................ PS4

TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE

Bethesda, XO

BATTLEFIELD HARDLINE

Ubisoft, XO

Activision, PS4

EA, PS4

£29.99

£40.99

N/A

£49.99

N/A

£21.99

£16.99

£36.99

£29.99

£9.99

£14.99

£39.99

9. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD + amiibo Nintendo..................................................................Wii U

£24.99

£11.69

£16

£20

10. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Warner Bros ................................................................XO

£46.68

£14.53

£19.58

£42.59

6. Far Cry Primal inc. exclusive Owl DLC Ubisoft ........................................................................ PS4

IN STORE

5. Doom inc. Demon Multiplayer Pack Bethesda .......................................................................XO

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS III

7. PS4 Console 1TB Uncharted 4 Thief End Limited Ed Sony............................................................................. PS4

UPLOADING The latest digital releases coming to market

DANGANRONPA: TRIGGER HAPPY HAVOC

BLAST ‘EM BUNNIES

PLAGUE INC.: EVOLVED

NIS America has launched the latest installment of the Japanese franchise

The indie endless shooter is landing on PlayStation 4 and Vita

Ndemic Creations’ title has finally left Steam’s Early Access

OUT: NOW

February 19th 2016

ONLINE

8. Tom Clancy’s The Division Inc Beta Ubisoft ............................................................................XO

OUT: MARCH 9TH

22

OUT: NOW

www.mcvuk.com

MARKETPLACE

Game On 30 High Street Saffron Walden Essex CB10 1AX

stock the product that people want.

There are more and more special and collectible editions, sometimes exclusive to certain stores, so it’s complicated to compete with these places. But to be fair we are the only game store in town here, so we have that advantage. Competing with the digital side of things is probably a bigger issue.

How do you think VR will do?

It will depend on the price. There were major feedbacks when Oculus

Phone: 01799 506070 Website: www.gameongames.co.uk Email: enquiries@gameongames.co.uk

announced their price but Sony hasn’t announced its price yet. So it is going to be a big factor. There are many reasons why people would not want to use VR also.

Like people who wear glasses, who maybe would not want to put more things on their head as part of entertainment. VR is more of a hassle. But it was the same for the Wii and a year later everybody had one! It depends on the games too.

VR could be massively popular, or it could be like Kinect and just die.

INCOMING TITLE

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

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon debuts on 3DS today and Ubisoft’s Far Cry Primal finally hits shelves at the very beginning of next week FORMAT

GENRE

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RPG

Nintendo

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01869 338 833

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The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

Wii U

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February 19th

February 23rd

February 25th

February 26th Bravely Second: End Layer

February 29th Professional Farmer 2016

March 1st Far Cry Primal

March 4th

March 8th Tom Clancy’s The Division

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23

February 19th 2016

SPARTAN GEAR

SPARTAN GEAR Enarxis launched its own brand of gaming accessories last year, Spartan Gear. Marie Dealessandri asked marketing manager George Grivas about his expectations for the company

SPARTAN GEAR was launched in February 2015, facing the difficult task of finding its place in a crowded accessories’ market.

The brand was created by Greek distributor Enarxis: “We are an entertainment distribution company that specializes in video games, merchandise and toys,” explains marketing manager George Grivas.

“Enarxis Dynamic Media was established in 1999 and in the last 16 years has grown to be one of the leading entertainment distributors in

The use of new technologies breeds new kinds of accessories, like VR goggles George Grivas, marketing manager

Europe. Today, it officially distributes the products of renowned publishers and manufacturers such as Codemasters, Deep Silver, Excalibur, Nordic Games, UIG, Mattel, Hasbro, Carrera, Ravensburger, and many more, with a total sales turnover that exceeded €32m (£24m) in 2015,” he enthuses.

Surprisingly, the economic crisis has helped the firm to grow: “It has further broadened the window of opportunity for businesses that

PC WIRED CONTROLLER For all the gamers who prefer to play their PC games with a controller, this one features a vibration function for compatible titles and comfortable hand grips for long playing periods.

SRP: £7.99 Manufacturer: Spartan Gear Distributor: Enarxis Contact: info@enarxis.eu

PS2 WIRED CONTROLLER

XBOX ONE CONTROLLER SILICONE SKIN COVER

HDMI CABLE V1.4, GOLD PLATED PLUGS 1.5M

Sony’s PlayStation 2, launched in 2000, remains the best-selling console of all time.

This case protects Xbox One controllers, as well as providing extra grip.

Spartan Gear doesn’t only sell gaming merchandise but also specialises in tech items, such as cables.

SRP: £7.99 Manufacturer: Spartan Gear Distributor: Enarxis Contact: info@enarxis.eu

SRP: £4.99 Manufacturer: Spartan Gear Distributor: Enarxis Contact: info@enarxis.eu

SRP: £3.99 Manufacturer: Spartan Gear Distributor: Enarxis Contact: info@enarxis.eu

February 19th 2016

24

www.mcvuk.com

SPARTAN GEAR Sponsored by

O

gaming merchandise uk

and the release of titles like Activision’s Guitar Hero saw the expansion of the accessories market in the past few years.

This trend unfortunately stopped and the market turned to more traditional accessories.

Thankfully, we now see a different direction altogether the use of new technologies breeds new kinds of accessories, like VR goggles,” Grivas points out.

were prepared early and are strong financially, such as Enarxis. For 2016 we foresee a further 15-20 per cent growth in revenue.”

To achieve this, the company wishes to expand Spartan Gear’s range of accessories and find new distribution partnerships.

The Athens-based company is also looking forward to virtual reality to boost the accessories industry: “The presence of Nintendo’s Wii

“Besides the existing range of accessories, we have already made deals to distribute PS4 and Xbox One controller chargers, as well as PS4 stands,” the company’s marketing manager adds.

He concludes: “We are constantly searching for innovative accessories, but we are very selective with our choices, taking into consideration the value for money aspect, as well as the overall quality of the products.”

PS3 WIRELESS SIX-AXIS BLUETOOTH CONTROLLER WITH ANALOG TRIGGERS This PS3 wireless controller uses Bluetooth technology to connect the console and boasts motion-sensing technology, which allows users to perform special actions in compatible games.

SRP: £15.99 Manufacturer: Spartan Gear Distributor: Enarxis Contact: info@enarxis.eu

UNIVERSAL SILICON THUMB GRIPS (4 PIECES)

PS4 CONTROLLER SILICONE SKIN COVER

USB CHARGING CABLE (3M) FOR XBOX ONE/PS4/MOBILE/TABLET

These thumb grips protect analog sticks and are compatible with various controllers (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, etc.).

This is the perfect way to keep a PS4 controller away from dust and scratches.

A USB cable is a key item for every gamer, or everyone owning a phone or a tablet really.

SRP: £3.99 Manufacturer: Spartan Gear Distributor: Enarxis Contact: info@enarxis.eu

SRP: £4.99 Manufacturer: Spartan Gear Distributor: Enarxis Contact: info@enarxis.eu

SRP: £3.99 Manufacturer: Spartan Gear Distributor: Enarxis Contact: info@enarxis.eu

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25

February 19th 2016

MARKETING, PR & CREATIVE AGENCIES

LEGAL

AUDIO IN

GERARD FOX LAW

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

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

BIG TOP PR Tel: 07784 778197 www.bigtop-pr.co.uk ........................................................................................................

TRADE BODY UKIE

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

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

STUDIO DIVA

PUBLISHING

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

FUNBOX MEDIA LTD

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

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

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

info@funboxmedia.co.uk www.funboxmedia.co.uk ........................................................................................................

DEVELOPMENT SERVICES & RECRUITMENT

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

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

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

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

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

OPM RECRUITMENT

QA & LOCALISATION, PAYMENT & SOLUTION

CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION

OK MEDIA LTD

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UBER

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

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

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

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

UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING

SOUNDING SWEET LTD.

PERFORMANCE DESIGNED PRODUCTS LTD

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

Tel: +44 (0) 1789 297453 www.soundingsweet.com ........................................................................................................

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

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

Tel: 01622 845 161 www.limedistribution.co.uk ........................................................................................................

TO LIST YOUR COMPANY HERE AND ONLINE EVERY WEEK PLEASE CONTACT CNANGLE@NBMEDIA.COM OR CALL 020 7354 6000

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AGENCIES AND SERVICE COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE / FLUID

KEY CONTACTS: James Glover Creative Director

Neil Roddis Operations Director

Andrew Bowyer Digital Director

james@fluidesign.co.uk

neil@fluidesign.co.uk

andrew@fluidesign.co.uk

A creative agency with a passion for visual impact and rich experiences.

Fluid is an award winning creative agency launched in 1995 offering innovative and engaging creative for some of the largest Entertainment Brands in the World.

Fluid is not only our name, but also our branding philosophy. We embrace the changing media landscape with a flexible, reactive approach enabled by a rich pool of outstanding talent from a wide range of artistic disciplines. At every stage of the creative process we guarantee flexible, comprehensive creative solutions that bear testament to the breadth of our experience and versatility of style.

We live by our ethos ‘Never Not Creating’ to ensure that every project we undertake benefits from an ingrained passion and cultural knowledge, earning Fluid a renowned reputation for consistently evolving creativity.

ADDRESS: Fluid Studios, 12 Tenby Street, Birmingham, B1 3AJ

RICH EXPERIENCES FOR BRANDS THAT ENTERTAIN DESIGN / DIGITAL / MOTION

Services: Design, Branding, Visual Identity, Art Direction, Advertising, CGI, Illustration, Packaging, Point of Sale, Motion Graphics, Web Development, Mobile, Social, Online Advertising Clients Include: 2K Games, Capcom, The Creative Assembly, eOne Entertainment, EA, Gioteck, ITV, Koch Media, MTV, Sega, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music, Square Enix, The Walt Disney Company, Universal, Warner Bros Interactive FLUIDESIGN.CO.UK

ISSUE 859 FRIDAY DECEMBER

GAMES

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believe PS4 will rule next year (above top),

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ack are bdig Charts ital e y’r the time, And this

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picked Uncharted 4 as their most anticipated game of 2016

DIRECTORY

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INSIDER’S GUIDE DC GAMES

Specialism: Import & distribution Location: 9, Hemmatian St. Takesaten St., Satterkhan St. Tehran, Iran

Contact: W: www.doostan-co.com P: +98-912-1014090 E: bahizad@doostan-co.com

DC Games Group’s Director Babak Bahizad talks about the challenges of the Iranian video games market Tell us about your company.

DC Games Group is the trading name of Gorouh Doostan Rayaneh Narmafzar Company, which was established in Tehran in 2007. We import video game consoles and accessories from all around the world and distribute them in Iran.

What successes have you seen recently?

We expanded our suppliers’ network and our sales hit an alltime record last year. Our turnover in the past 12 months was higher than the turnover of the 36 months

What are the biggest trends influencing you right now?

The country’s nuclear deal and the fact that Iran’s sanctions were removed is the biggest trend that affects us right now. We are preparing to sign long-term partnerships with major game companies and help them to access the Iranian market with their products. Also, internet connections and services improved in Iran these past few years and more people enjoy online gaming. People spend more money on game networks like PSN, Steam and Xbox Live.

before that. Our online web-store also helped us to get this result with a lot of new users making purchases through our website.

What are you working on?

We are trying to have a wider range of items to supply. We are looking for high quality products from wellknown international brands. We are looking forward to co-operating with famous games’ publishers like EA, SCEE, Activision and Ubisoft, to localize their titles by adding Farsi subtitles or voices and distributing them in Iran.

DISC REPAIR

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February 19th 2016

Web: www.totaldiscrepair.co.uk

28

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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

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Web: www.finkcreative.com

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email: sales@click-entertainment.com

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Web: www.enarxis.eu

Tel: +44 (0) 207 462 6200

29

Web: www.sonydadc.com

February 19th 2016

DIRECTORY

L3I

GAMING ACCESSORIES

Tel: 01923 881000

Web: www.logic3.com

LIME DISTRIBUTION

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Tel: 01622 845 161

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ADVERTISE WITH US

WANT TO ADVERTISE IN OUR DIRECTORY?

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

February 19th 2016

30

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SPAIN TERRITORY REPORT Sponsored by

Territory Report: Spain Spain’s video games market is increasingly moving to digital and is surprinsgly healthy considering the economic crisis that hit the country in 2008.

Marie Dealessandri reports

W

ith annual games revenues reaching $1.5bn (£1.08bn), Spain has become the ninth biggest market worldwide and the fourth in Europe last year, outperforming Italy for the first time, according to research firm Newzoo.

“The market has grown by eight per cent since 2015 and the beginning of 2016. This is mainly due to a 12 per cent increase in hardware sales, a 12 per cent increase in sales of peripherals and a 50 per cent increase in digital sales at retail,” says GAME Spain’s spokesperson.

According to Newzoo, the Spanish industry should keep on growing with a 1.5 per cent annual growth rate until 2018, reaching $1.7bn (£1.17bn) by then.

“Our expectations for the coming year are optimistic due to the increase of the install base which will suppose a large growth in software sales,” GAME Spain believes.

“We are also very positive about new products which are due to be launched such as Nintendo’s NX, access to virtual reality by PlayStation, and Oculus, PC products, as well, of course, as the growth trend of the market,” the retailer’s representative adds.

A DIGITAL MARKET The Spanish Association for the Game and Entertainment Software Development and Publishing Industry (DEV) is a major actor in the Spanish video games industry. Every year, the association publishes a white paper on video game development in the region.

www.mcvuk.com

country (MediaMarkt, Carrefour, Fnac, El Corte Ingles...) and they all sell video games. In Spain you can find up to three or four places where you can buy video games within the same shopping center.”

“But at the moment, the greatest challenge is the global economic situation and in particular some market indicators such as the high unemployment rate, which persists since the recession,” says GAME Spain’s representative.

But David Santos at BadLand

According to DEV’s White Paper for 2015, 90 per cent of Spanish game sales are digital.

“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),” the association reports.

“The market is heading toward digitalisation, but there is still a lot of potential in traditional video game sales. Our own company is active in both physical and digital distribution,” comments David

Games remains optimistic: “The spread of broadband in Spain and the process of overcoming the economic crisis that hit in 2008 mean that billing in general and digital billing in particular are growing significantly in our country.“

£1.1bn 90 per cent of Spanish game sales are digital

Santos, marketing director for Spanish distributor BadLand Games.

GAME Spain has found a good way to challenge digitalisation: “We resist by becoming part of it and by offering our customers the possibility of purchasing digital product at our stores,” states the company’s spokesperson.

“At the present time, the retail landscape is highly competitive,” he adds.

“The most important European retailers have a presence in our

31

February 19th 2016

TERRITORY REPORT SPAIN

Spain has around 23 million gamers, including 12 million players who spend money on games.

They devote an average of $130.65 (£90.21) to games per year, according to Newzoo.

As a comparison, British players spend an annual average of £112.

Most of them are aged between 20 and 40, says Euromonitor.

“With regards to market performance, Sony is the leading company in home consoles in Spain with approximately 60 per cent of the market’s total sales,” states GAME Spain’s spokesperson.

“Nintendo on the other hand is leader with regards to portable devices and accounts for 20 per cent of the market,” he adds.

A NEW GOLDEN AGE Spain had around 400 active video games companies in 2014: 70 new firms were created during the year. As a matter of fact, 28 per cent of the Spanish companies launched less than two years ago and 65 per cent of them are under five years old.

Companies that develop games for mobile devices in particular are rising, following the Spanish market’s stream towards digitalisation.

According to DEV’s White Paper, the turnover of the Spanish video games development industry hit €412.4m (£320.2m) in 2014. This figure is 31 per cent higher than in 2013 and is estimated to keep on growing with a 24.7 per cent compound annual growth rate until 2018.

56 per cent of the development industry’s turnover comes from exporting, with Europe (24 per cent) and North America (20 per cent) being the biggest markets for Spain.

“Asia and Latin America are expanding markets and present a niche of big growth opportunities,” the report concludes.

February 19th 2016

THE FACTS INFO Population: 47,066,000 Currency: Euro GDP (Per Capita): $29,863 Capital City: Madrid Languages: Spanish

Sony is the leading company in home consoles in Spain with approximately 60 per cent market share

KEY RETAILERS GAME, Alcampo, Amazon, Carrefour, El Corte Ingles, Eroski, Fnac, Hipercor, Media Markt, Toys R Us, Worten KEY DISTRIBUTORS Digital Bros, Koch Media, Namco Bandai Partners, BadLand Games, Nobilis, Spaco

32

TOP DEVELOPERS Abylight, Akaoni, Black Fire Games, Digital Legends, Enigma, Enjoy Up, Gammick, Gextech, Mercury Steam, Bitoon, FX Interactive, G4M3 Studios, Novarama, Over the Top Games, Pyro Mobile, Social Point, Unusual Studios, Virtual Toys, A Crowd of Monsters, Concano Games, Creama Games, Gato Salvaje Studio, Ilustrum, Ubisoft Barcelona NOTABLE GAMES FIRMS WITH A LOCAL OFFICE Ubisoft, EA, Take-Two, Deep Silver, ChildTopia, Friendware, Digital Chocolate, Sony, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft

www.mcvuk.com

THREE 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.

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FACTFILE ICELAND

INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: ICELAND Population: 333,000 Capital City: Reykjavík Currency: Iceland Krona GDP (Per Capita): 46,520.3 KEY RETAILERS Elko, BT, Gamestodin, Skifan, Hagkaup KEY DISTRIBUTORS SAMfilm, Dagsbrún, Sena, Myndform, Ormsson

ICELANDIC video games industry revenues increased by 600 per cent between 2008 and 2011, according to Wired UK. Iceland might not be particularly known for its gaming but the country still makes it to Newzoo’s Top 100 countries ranked on global games revenue, at No.95.

According to the data firm, the country’s industry revenue in 2015 was $13.8bn (£9.5bn), which is quite impressive considering the fact that Iceland only has around 333,000 inhabitants. It is the smallest country in Newzoo’s Top 100.

Developer and publisher CCP is one of the main driving forces of the Icelandic video games industry: according to VentureBeat, the Reykjavíkbased firm is generating $36m (£25m) in revenues every six months.

CCP Games is the company behind EVE Online, which was launched in 2003. Since then, the interstellar MMORPG has benefited from at least 20

February 19th 2016

TOP DEVELOPERS CCP, Dexoris, Gogogic, Plain Vanilla Games, Fancy Pants Global, Ymir, Skema, Lumenox, Betware NOTABLE GAMES FIRMS WITH A LOCAL OFFICE CCP

Iceland’s video game industry generated £9.5bn in 2015 expansions (EVE’s virtual world now boasts 7,500 star systems) and has become one of Iceland’s biggest exports. The game population surpassed 500,000 in 2013.

A VR version of the title, called EVE: Valkyrie, is due out later this year, following a $30m (£20.7) funding round predominantly backed by venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.

Mobile gaming is also particularly blooming in the country, thanks to developers such as Plain Vanilla Games, which released QuizUp in 2013.

The title was, at that time, the fastest growing mobile game in history, with 15m registered users just five months after launching.

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ICELAND FACTFILE

MEANWHILE IN... TURKEY Gaming Instanbul, organised for the first time by GL Events, was a success, with 50,000 visitors attenting the expo ISTANBUL has hosted its first gaming event, attracting more than 50,000 visitors.

For four days, starting February 4th, the Turkish city organised Gaming Instanbul (GIST), which gathered over 300 industry representatives from 13 countries.

“Gaming Istanbul was intended to create a bridge between markets in Europe, the MENA region and Asia – and this is exactly what we achieved. GIST 2016 was an enormous success,” enthused Cevher Eryürek, project director for Gaming Istanbul at GL Events, the company which organised the show.

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“Gaming Istanbul debuted as the MENA region’s biggest gaming expo, and ranks GIST in the top five of European gaming expos in their first year. GIST 2016 connected industry representatives

from all our target markets with each other as well as with the Turkish industry,” she added.

GIST 2017 is already planned for next February.

February 19th 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 February 19th 2016

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OFF THE RECORD

OFF THE RECORD This week MCV tries to be all grown and mature up by offering (potentially fraudulent) insurance advice, but then ruins it all by talking about a developer’s urine and persisting with that horse sized duck malarky

*INSERT FUNNY INSURANCE PUN HERE* HERE’S a tip for aspiring games writers out there – never declare your profession as ‘journalist’ when applying for insurance. Why? Because it pushes the premium up. Seriously. Such is the high-risk nature of subbing pages, playing RPGs and fending off Gamergaters on Twitter.

On that theme, insurance broker Adrian Flux has seen fit to add ‘pro-gamer’ to its occupation list. It’s also added ‘app developer’. And ‘drone operator’.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the Association of British Insurers doesn’t include pro-gamer in its official list of 2,100 occupations. What it does include, however, is ‘ostler’ (someone employed to look after horses at the inn), ‘almoner’ (people in charge of an almshouse, which in the 10th century sheltered the poor) and ‘cardinal’ (of which there is one in the UK).

Also omitted are ‘ninja’ and ‘cyborg’. For shame, ABI.

A LIKELY YARN A couple of weeks back in Off The Record we featured Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima being off on a jolly around the world visiting developers. This week we have word of another holiday – this time for EA’s Yarny. Admittedly, Yarny doesn’t boast quite the same development credentials as Hideo. But he did have his very own PR executive to carry him about for the day. And he got his hands on the Premier League trophy. When’s the last time YOU touched the Premier League trophy, Hideo?

Yarny visited a load of London attraction to promote the recent release of Unravel, including scaling all the way to the top of the ArcelorMittal Orbit in the Olympic Park, Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge and Central London. And he interfered with a cat.

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February 19th 2016

OFF THE RECORD FOWL PLAY AS we’ve explored in detail in this week’s mag, virtual reality is the nuts. But getting people to A) try it, and B) sell an internal organ so they can afford to buy one is going to be a bit of a challenge. Yes, some people would have you believe that VR porn is the key to the mass market . Other, more wisened and learned figures, however, realise that the key is actually far simpler. The key, specifically, is VR Duck Hunt.

Look at it! Programmed by computer science student Jospeh Delgado for the Global Game Jam 2016, the prototype is a superb example of how VR might appeal to a wide audience with a relatively simple concept.

Next up we’ll have VR Virtua Cop, VR House of the Dead and VR Gum Shoe please. Oh and VR Star Trek: Voyager – The Arcade Game. With VR Seven of Nine. And we guess VR Chakotay for the ladies.

TAKING THE P*SS DEVELOPMENT crunch is the thing of nightmares. 100+ hour weeks, sleeping under the desk and evil publisher overlords barking orders down phones made of diamonds and platinum.

So imagine the horror last month when Jonathan Blow, in the final days of the development of The Witness, tweeted a picture of what appeared to be a bottle of urine. Had the creator of Braid really been forced to attach a tube to his chap and piddle away at the keyboard?

“No,” he told MCV recently. “That was actually a prop for a movie within the game. But when I tweeted it, it was meant to be a bit of a joke. I was alluding to the fact of ‘haha, I’m so busy working I’m standing here at the desk not able to leave’ but I did not expect people to believe that was true. I expected people to think it was a weird joke. But apparently a lot of people thought that it was real. So I didn’t know what to make of that.”

WOULD YOU RATHER FIGHT ONE HORSE-SIZED DUCK OR 100 DUCK-SIZED HORSES? Jonathan Blow, Developer “I’m going to have to take the Fifth Amendment on this. I would just be a pacifist. I’d meet with both sides and try and get them to work it out.”

February 19th 2016

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OFF THE RECORD

For me it’s bonding with cousins I’d never met before in Trinidad over repeated sessions of Street Fighter II on the SNES.

Managing to parry an entire Super in 3rd Strike.

Either Ryu’s ShinkuuHadouken or Chun-li’s +RX\RNX 6HQ VSHFL¿ FDOO\

Matt Gardner @FuzzyPixels Without a doubt, it’s spending far too much pocket money on the arcade version of SFII & ruining everyone as Dhalsim.

Playing in a tournament in Street Fighter IV after a fantastic convention with great buddies, right after I graduated. Awesome time.

:+$7·6 <285 )$9285,7( 675((7 ),*+7(5 0(025<" #GMGASKS

HoodStrats @HoodStrats Running the table at a Street Fighter II arcade cabinet until everyone lined up to play was out of quarters

Carl Phillips @CarlPhillipsUK Daigo vs Justin Wong/ Ken vs Chun-Li - Evo 2004 - 3rd Strike. One of the greatest moments in gaming history, end of.

James Bartholomeou @Iyagovos

Ate A Tree @ateatree Playing with my cousins... and severely kicking their butts.

Crystal Boy @crystalboymusic

First time I played Street Fighter II on my Sega Mega Drive and I threw a 6RQLF %RRP IRU WKH ¿ UVW time. No idea how I had done it then.

Mom having to physically unplug my PC to stop our neverending Super Street Fighter II Turbo marathon.

Ivan Yankov @Shadowgrimmm

NayPlays @GGN_Nayplays Mine is a move – don’t remember who did it – but it sounded like he was saying: ‘Come to buy shampoo again’.

Pasha Kagan @PashaKagan

Art of Derp @r0bz0rz

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 Parfitt

Elizabeth Newton

Conor Tallon

Associate Editor bparfitt@nbmedia.com

Production Executive enewton@nbmedia.com

Senior Account Manager ctallon@nbmedia.com

Alex Calvin

Sam Richwood

Lesley McDiarmid

Staff Writer acalvin@nbmedia.com

Designer srichwood@nbmedia.com

Senior Account Manager lmcDiarmid@nbmedia.com

Marie Dealessandri

Michael Canham

Sarah Goldhawk

Staff Writer mdealessandri@nbmedia.com

Finance Manager mcanham@nbmedia.com

Account Manager sgoldhawk@nbmedia.com

Stuart Moody

Charlotte Nangle

Head of Operations smoody@nbmedia.com

Account Manager cnangle@nbmedia.com

Please address all enquiries to: Newbay Media, MCV, Saxon House, 6a St. Andrew Street, Hertford, SG14 1JA. Printed By: Pensord, Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood, NP12 2YA

Saxon House, 6a St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire, England SG14 1JA

© Newbay Media 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher.

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As well as MCV, Newbay publishes Develop, PCR, ToyNews, Music Week, MI Pro, Audio Pro International and BikeBiz. It also has two onlineonly brands: Mobile Entertainment, dedicated to the growing mass market smartphone sector, and Licensing.biz, for everyone in the global licensing industry. It also runs a number of events including the MCV Industry Excellence Awards, the London Games Conference and the Games Media Awards.

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February 19th 2016