MCV893 September 23rd by Future PLC

< Coming November 15th />

Play as Marcus Holloway, a brilliant young hacker living in the San Francisco Bay Area, birthplace of the tech revolution

Team up with hacker execute the biggest bring down ctOS 2.0 manipulation of the

group Dedsec to hack in history; and stop the populace

Explore an incredible variety of gameplay possibilities in the massive, dynamic, varied and colourful world

Hack into every connected device and take control of the city. Combine different hacks for more elaborate and powerful outcomes Use hacking and stealth to complete missions without killing a single enemy or go guns blazing for a more ferocious approach

Stay connected to your friends in the single-player campaign with a new multiplayer experience including coop and Player vs. Player activities

< Coming November 15th />

©2016 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Watch Dogs, Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. “2“ and “PlayStation” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Ø“ is a trademark of the same company. Xbox, Xbox One, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft.

FALLOUT BOY ISSUE 893 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23RD 2016

BETHESDA’S HINES ON THE PUBLISHER’S MASSIVE GROWTH P14

Retail banks on FIFA 17 to rejuvenate stagnant market Stores optimistic for Xbox One S launch after another disappointing week of sales by Christopher Dring RETAIL buyers are banking on FIFA and Xbox One S to revitalise a struggling physical games market. Last week’s major releases including the new PS4 and PES 2017 - failed to rejuvenate the sector after a summer of low sales. No Man’s Sky was a bright spot in a difficult period for boxed games, which included the worst sales month on record in July, and the lowest weekly figure for physical games - £3.9m was generated in the week ending September 10th, over half a million below the previous all-time low [GfK figures).

Sales were expected to improve last week with the arrival of an updated PS4, plus seven new games. Yet fewer than 85,000 new boxed releases were sold for the week ending September 17th. But leading retailers are expecting a huge improvement over the coming weeks thanks to the Xbox One S launch and arrival of FIFA 17. Furthermore, retailers tell MCV that early pre-orders of the PS4 Pro in November are ‘extremely positive’. “Xbox One S interest seems high. We may see 25,000 sales Week One,” said one leading games retail boss. “FIFA 17 pre-orders are also ahead of the curve our end.”

Retail buyers say they are counting on FIFA 17 to revitalise the market

Creative England appoints Rob Crossley as head of games

Jon Edwards jumps from Konami to PlayStation

FORMER Develop, CVG and GameSpot editor Rob Crossley has joined Creative England as its new head of games. Creative England is the organisation that supports and invests money into small and start-up studios across England. It has worked with the likes of Microsoft and PlayStation in supporting games and teams. “England carries a proud history of producing innovative, inspiring, and

PLAYSTATION has bolstered its UK marketing team with Jon Edwards joining as UK product manager. Edwards is an experienced marketing exec, having worked as brand and communications manager on Metal Gear Solid V and Pro Evolution Soccer. At Sony, he will be working initially on Gran Turismo Sport, Horizon Zero Dawn and the PlayStation FC activity.

influential video games for more than 30 years,” said Crossley. “I could not be more delighted to join Creative England as it looks to support and collaborate with the country’s next generation of bold and brilliant games creators. “With my experience I want to further unify Creative England with the industry, find the best undiscovered talent, and use my knowledge in publishing to help our partners break through the noise and turn heads.”

He will report to group marketing manager, Lauren Bradley. “The PlayStation UK team has achieved some great things since the launch of the PS4, and I am thrilled to be a part of its future,’ said Edwards. Bradley added: “Jon’s not only an excellent software product manager but he brings with him a wealth of football experience, which will lend itself perfectly to the PlayStation FC activity.”

PLUS UBISOFT TALKS WATCH DOGS 2 n WHY MAFIA III IS DEALING WITH RACISM 03 MCV893 Cover_V6.indd 1

20/09/2016 17:53

NEWS

Konami expects PES sales bounce following critical acclaim Publisher insists that it won’t rest on its laurels as it plots to turn around falling sales of the football series by Alex Calvin ITS week one physical sales may have been lower, but Konami believes that the quality of PES 2017 will turn things around for its famous football franchise. The firm told MCV that it is on a mission to change perceptions about the series, which for a period had fallen behind FIFA in terms of quality. This year’s PES 2017 has received a very positive reception with a Metacritic score of 89 for the Xbox One SKU and 87 on PS4. “We are delighted with the critical reception PES 2017 has received,” the series’ global product and brand manager Adam Bhatti told MCV. “We naturally believe in it as a product and where it is

Konami’s Bhatti says the firm needs to sustain a high level of quality for PES

headed, but the level of love for the game this year is staggering. Our stated intentions have been universally well received and the review scores are mind-blowing. Such reviews help justify the big improvements and the overall direction we’re taking the series. We will never underestimate EA

Our goal is to establish PES as the definitive football title. Adam Bhatti, Konami

and the talented FIFA team, but our goal is naturally to establish PES as the definitive football title. “To do this, we need to sustain this level of quality for a long time to come – and we genuinely believe this will equate to more users and, in time, increased sales. We have managed to change perceptions of the series in a few years, but cannot afford to rest on our laurels, though, and will be looking into where we go from here and addressing how we can further enhance the game via download elements during the coming year. We focused on always improving and looking to grow the series.” PES 2017’s physical sales were down slightly by three per cent, although these figures do not factor in digital downloads.

Charities shocked as GamesAid raises nearly £1m for children TEN children’s charities were left stunned by last week’s GamesAid event, which revealed that the industry had raised £954,000 for disadvantaged young people. Access Sport, Accuro, Action For Kids, Aidis Trust, Blackpool Carers Centre, The Clock Tower Sanctuary, Lifelites, MAPS, Solving Kids’ Cancer and Special Effect each received cheques for £95,400 at a special ceremony held at Warner House, London. One charity told the assembled attendees: “Wow, I wish other industries were as generous as the games industry.” It’s a massive jump in funds raised by UK games business, which generated £564,000 for eight charities in 2015. In total, more than £2.7m has been raised by GamesAid since it was set up in 2007.

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The industry raised £954,000 for disadvantaged young people. Much of this year’s funds came from Humble Bundle, alongside events such as the Golf and Spa Day, the Stand Up For GamesAid comedy night, the GamesAid Christmas Party, The Develop Poker Night, plus individual activities such as marathons, mountain climbing, cycle rides back from Gamescom and a whole lot more. To get involved, visit http:/ /www.gamesaid.org/join-us/

The moment charities discovered they’re receiving £95,400 each

www.mcvuk.com

20/09/2016 18:03

NEWS

THE EDITOR

Ubisoft: Watch Dogs 2 boosted by six-month PR campaign Shorter turnaround between announcement and launch means gamers know what they’re getting by Christopher Dring THE senior producer on Watch Dogs 2 says that the titles has been bolstered by a ‘shorter communication cycle’. The first Watch Dogs was announced in June 2012 and released almost two years later, in which time the title had changed slightly – particularly visually. It resulted in criticism from fans who felt they had been misled by the development team. Watch Dogs 2 was first unveiled in June this year, and is due out on November 15th. “Games are interactive, and people really get into it for a

CHRISTMAS LINE-UP IS LOOKING UNCHARACTERISTICALLY UNPREDICTABLE

long period of time, so their expectations become very important,” said Dominic Guay. “For us, one of the big benefits we had with Watch Dogs 2 is that we had a shorter communication period. When we announced the game, we pretty much had a full alpha of the title in place. We were able to show a lot of the missions, we could show gameplay right from the start. It was easier for us to say: ‘This is the game that you will be playing, in its final state, in six months time in your home’.” Turn to page 18 for more on Watch Dogs 2

already know of at least one person who’ll be sending me an angry email once they’ve read this week’s cover story. The story addressing yet another disappointing run of results for the High Street is not a reﬂection of the wider market – it’s just what’s happened in the boxed space over the last few months (basically, not a lot). Yet the months ahead are what really matter, and this Q4 is shaping up to be more intriguing than usual. Sure, FIFA, Call of Duty, Battlefield and Watch Dogs will find themselves at the top of the charts. But there’s a number of less predictable launches, too. Such as Dishonored 2. Bethesda has proven to be a bit of a hit machine in recent months, but it’ll be interesting to see if this rather unusual IP can break out amongst a larger audience. Square Enix is spending significant money on Final Fantasy XV in an effort to reclaim the glory days of the series. There’s no shortage of ambition, but in this age of Skyrim and The Witcher, it’s not going to be easy. What about Titanfall 2? A game from the former makers of Call of Duty seems like a safe bet, yet it arrives just a week after Battlefield 1 – which means it could easily get lost in the noise. And then there’s Mafia III. The series has always been popular, but Take-Two believes it should be doing even better and is spending big to establish it as one of the industry’s larger triple-A brands. The game’s

Watch Dogs 2 was revealed in June and launches in November

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www.mcvuk.com

04 05 MCV893 News_V4.indd 2

Sony 2K Games Square Enix Microsoft EA Sony Activision

It’s been a difficult summer. Christmas is shaping up to be quite different. critical reception might be crucial here. Over on 3DS, there’s Pokémon Sun and Moon. The console is entering its twilight phase, so you might expect sales to be a little weaker than usual. Except, of course, Pokémon Go happened. We’d be fascinated to see the impact that has had. It’s also hard to predict if PS4 fans will rush out for Rise of the Tomb Raider following its yearlong exclusivity on Xbox One. Or how Ubisoft’s new IP Steep might perform. Can Sony’s The Last Guardian live up to the hype and actually deliver in Europe (previous games from the same team have always performed better in the US)? After a fiveyear gap since the last main game in the series, is Gears of War 4 going to find it still has an audience? Are we going to get enough stock of PlayStation VR? And we’ve never had midgeneration console upgrades, either, so how PS4 Pro is going to do is anyone’s guess. They may all sound unpredictable, but it’s these sorts of risks the market needs to inject some much-needed excitement into retail. It’s been a dull and difficult summer. Christmas is shaping up to be quite different. cdring@nbmedia.com

September 23rd 2016

20/09/2016 18:03

NEWS

Mafia III writer: ‘I hope more games tackle serious subjects like racism’ William Harms says we need more non-white characters and protaganists in major game releases by Alex Calvin THE writer behind Mafia III believes games are ready to tackle heavier subject matter, such as racism. Bill Harms also calls on studios to increase the number of nonwhite characters in their releases. Harms was keen to emphasise that Mafia III is not a game about racism, but given the title’s New Orleans-inspired location and 1968 time period, it would have been insensitive for the development team at Hangar 13 to not talk about racial tensions. “[Mafia III] is not a game about racism, but it would be disingenuous if we didn’t include

that and explore it in some fashion,” Harms said. “The thing we strove for is authenticity. So we did a lot of research across a wide spectrum of topics. We read interviews and we watched documentaries about the civil rights movement.” He continues: “As a general statement on the industry, I’m excited that we are doing this with Mafia III, that we are exploring the subjects and it’s something I hope more games approach. Even having an African American hero, or more main characters of any race, would be great.” You can read more about Mafia III on page 20

Mafia III explores racial tensions in 1960s America

Gamers flock to help Paignton retailer following robbery by Alex Calvin INDIE retailer GamesNation received massive support from gamers after it was burgled. On the morning of Thursday, June 23rd, the Paignton store was broken into with thieves making off with the shop’s safe, till, stock and even its laptop. Althought insurance covered the stolen stock, the firm had to pay £2,000 due to damage and the missing cash. Gamers rallied in support, offering up second-hand stock to sell, while a GoFundMe page saw customers donate £1,188 to the outlet. “Two robbers broke into the store in the middle of the night and cleared out our laptops, our safe and our stock,” manager Sammy

September 23rd 2016

06 07 MCV893 News_V4.indd 1

Paignton’s GamesNation was robbed by two individuals in late June

He continued: “We have a really strong following here. We’re the only indie games store for miles around.” It was positive news for the retailer, which is hoping to

Drysdale said. “But we set up a GoFundMe page and hit our target on that. The insurance paid out for the stock that was lost. Everyone felt sorry for us I guess so we had loads of stock donated to us.”

expand to three stores over the next 12 months. “We have a site in the next town over, Brixham, lined up,” he said. “And in Newton Abbot we hopefully have another site lined up.”

www.mcvuk.com

20/09/2016 17:46

NEWS

Bethesda teams up with pro-gamers for new Quake Upcoming competitive shooter Quake Champions is built with eSports in mind, says publisher’s marketing boss by Christopher Dring PUBLISHER Bethesda has enlisted the help of pro-gamers in the creation of Quake Champions. The shooter was unveiled at E3 and is the first Quake game in ten years. The firm then took the game to QuakeCon in August, and allowed professional Quake players to get hands-on with the new title. “I get really weary talking about eSports stuff, only because it is such a buzz word now that everyone seems to drop it when talking about their games,” said Bethesda’s PR and marketing chief Pete Hines. “Quake’s DNA is eSports. QuakeCon exists

because Quake was a competitive eSports title and we’ve been doing tournaments for decades. “We showed Champions for the first time at this year’s QuakeCon, and we also had behind-closeddoors, by invitation only, play tests with Quake pro players. We had them in to get their feedback and involved them in the process early on. We showed them our maps, our modes, how stuff works... Then we asked: ‘how does it feel? What feedback do you have?’ Because it will be a competitive eSport thing in the way that Quake still is.” For more from Pete Hines on Dishonored 2, Prey and VR, turn to page 14

Quake Champions is the first new Quake game in a decade

Developer of Minecraft console editions joins Team17 board THE co-owner of 4J Studios has joined Team17 as a nonexecutive chairman. Chris van der Kuyl joins the firm following LDC’s £16.5m investment in the Worms creator. 4J Studios is best known for making the console versions of Minecraft. “I’ve known Chris for a few decades and this is the perfect time for us to start working together to take Team17 to the next stage of growth,” said Team17 boss Debbie Bestwick MBE. “Next

Wargaming’s event was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of tanks being used in war

Wargaming parks tank on Trafalgar Square PUBLISHER Wargaming took over the centre of London to celebrate both World of Tanks’ fifth birthday and the 100th anniversary of the first tank on the battlefield. Last week on Thursday, September 15th, the firm drove a First World War tank to Trafalgar Square. 90 foreign journalists came to witness the event. “It’s been brilliant,” PR manager Frazer Nash said. “The media has gone away saying this was an amazing

www.mcvuk.com

06 07 MCV893 News_V4.indd 2

moment. We did something that will never happen again. “It was covered by the BBC and everybody else and we had people walking past taking pictures and putting it on Twitter. I couldn’t ask for better PR if I tried.” He continued: “September 15th, 2016 was the anniversary of the first tank on a battlefield. We are the biggest tank game in the world, if we did not get a PR aspect on this moment, we will miss the opportunity to be part of it.”

year is going to be one of the most exciting times for us and for all our label partners.” Van der Kuyl said: “It’s an honour to be able to invest in and play a part in the Team17 story. Debbie and her team represent a pillar of the British games industry and I can’t wait to see where this new and exciting chapter takes the company.” Alongside LDC, 4J Studios founders have invested in a minority stake in Team17 as part of the aforementioned deal.

As well as joining Team17’s board, van der Kuyl has invested a minority stake in the indie label 07

September 23rd 2016

20/09/2016 17:46

CHEAT SHEET

UP & DOWN

Market Data

Seven new releases in the Top 40 helped software revenue rise 69 per cent last week £10m £15m

£30m £5m

£6.5m 238,432 units

Week Ending September 3rd

£3.9m 145,953 units

Week Ending September 10th

OVERWATCH falls three places to No.4 as sales dip 17 per cent weekon-week

£6.6m 213,457 units

Week Ending September 17th

SALES OF Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End rose 23 per cent week-on-week as it holds steady at No.7

EVENT CALENDAR SEPTEMBER 2016 ........................................................................... EGX NEC, Birmingham Thursday, September 22nd – Sunday, September 25th n EGX returns for its second year at NEC Birmingham n This year’s expo features panel discussions, a career fair, a cosplay stage, retro and board game ones, and merchandise to purchase

OCTOBER 2016 ........................................................................... PLAY EXPO EventCity. Manchester Saturday, October 8th – Sunday, October 9th n Play Expo returns for its fifth year at Manchester’s EventCity exhibition centre n The event will offer features, tournaments, exhibitors, industry guests, panels and more for two days GAMES MEDIA AWARDS 2016 Sway Bar, London Tuesday, October 11th

September 23rd 2016

n This year’s Games Media Awards will be held at London’s Sway Bar n 12 prizes are up for grabs, including Journalists’ Journalist, which is voted for on the night n The GMAs 2016 are being hosted by The Miller Report’s Simon Miller APPS WORLD ExCel, London Wednesday, October 19th – Thursday, October 20th n Europe’s largest gathering of developers, mobile and marketing professionals is taking place next month n Representatives from Microsoft, Facebook and Time Inc will be speaking at the show PARIS GAMES WEEK Paris Expo, Paris Thursday, October 27th – Monday, October 31st n The seventh edition of the Paris Games Week will be taking place at the end of October n Amongst the key attractions this year are an emphasis on video game jobs and careers, eSports, Paris Games Week Junior, a focus on French games, a video game bookshop and a retro gaming area

www.mcvuk.com

CHEAT SHEET

PRESENTS

5 SECOND FACTS

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

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

DIGITAL HOMICIDE BOOTED FROM STEAM AFTER DEMANDING FIRM RELEASE USER INFO

$1m

Indie developer Digital Homicide has been kicked off Steam after demanding Valve release the information of users who left negative user reviews on its games. This follows the company taking legal action against media personality Jim Sterling for criticising its games.

Survios’ Raw Data is the first VR game to generate $1m in just one month

600,000

@Wesley_Copeland Exactly where did Digital Homicide make enough money to be able to sue everyone?

Mobile title Reigns has sold more than 600,000 copies, the majority of which were on iOS and Android

@AlexanderBirke Digital Homicide at it again. There’s a similar lawsuit going on with Yelp reviews as well. Potential for dangerous precedent

Wesley Copeland, freelance journalist Sunday, September 18th

Alexander Birke, indie developer Tuesday, September 20th

KOJIMA COMMENTS ON NEW METAL GEAR GAME

YOSHIDA RESPONDS TO NO MAN’S SKY PR

Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has weighed in on new Metal Gear Survive, which features zombies. Says the developer: “Metal Gear games are about political fiction and espionage. Where do zombies fit in?”

Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida has admitted that mistakes were made in the marketing push for No Man’s Sky. Yoshida said that Hello Games’ Sean Murray didn’t have a PR person helping him promote the title.

@ScarletCatalie “Zombies are lame and boring” says Kojima, adding that “Robots are cool. I’d add robots”

@Toadsanime Sony laying all of the blame of No Man’s Sky’s poor marketing on Hello Games is bullshit. You were the publishers, or have you forgotten? Ryan Brown, Daily Mirror Friday, September 16th

Natalie Clayton, game developer Monday, September 19th @MckKirk Best thing about that Kojima quote is: MGSV already has fucking zombies in it.

100m

Blockbuster MOBA League of Legends now has over 100m players, according to developer Riot Games

2017

South Park: The Fractured But Whole has been pushed back to 2017 from its December 6th release date

@tha_rami The main lesson here is that indie and triple-A are different industries, and moving between them will hurt.

Kirk McKeand, freelance journalist Monday, September 19th

13.2m

The beta for upcoming shooter Battlefield 1 was played by 13.2m people, making it the biggest in publisher EA’s history

Rami Ismail, Vlambeer Friday, September 16th

AG Prismatic Controller - PDP Design and manufacture the Afterglow Prismatic Controller for Xbox ONE Officially licensed by Microsoft europesales@pdp.com

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GAMESAID THIS WEEK GAMESAID GOLF DAY RAISES £30,OOO

GAMESCOM TO BRIGHTON CYCLE RIDE

GAMESAID RAISES £954,000 FOR CHARITY

The annual GamesAid Golf and Spa Day returned for the ninth time on Thursday, July 14th. The event raised a whopping £30,000. This year it was once again held at The Grove in Watford.

A number of GamesAid members cycled 352 miles from Cologne to Brighton for charity, raising £3,430 in the process. You can still donate here www. justgiving.com/teams/ gamescomtobrighton2016

UK games industry charity GamesAid raised a massive £954,000 in the last year. This was shared between ten different organisations, who each walked away with £95,400. Over nine years, GamesAid has raised £2.7m.

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

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

www.mcvuk.com

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September 23rd 2016

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

Green Man Gaming hires new EVP of marketing M&S and Nike vet joins online retailer ● OXM’s Castle to head up Xbox On ● New business dev boss for Heaven GREEN MAN GAMING | The online retailer has announced the hire of its new marketing boss. MURRAY BECKETT joins Green Man Gaming as its EVP of marketing having held senior positions at the likes of Marks and Spencers, British Airways and Nike. Before that, Beckett worked at marketing agencies OgilvyOne Worldwide and Liquorice, working on accounts including American Express, Johnson and Johnson and BSkyB. “Murray’s global online eCommerce expertise with some of the most forward thinking customer facing brands

September 23rd 2016

10 MCV893 Appointments_V3.indd 1

will allow us to accelerate our award-winning growth as a technology company” said CEO and founder PAUL SULYOK. “With his proven skill, drive and entrepreneurial determination, Murray is going to push Green Man Gaming’s marketing into overdrive for our publishing partners and consumers.”

to this role, he worked for eight years on Future’s Nintendo titles. Yogcast also announced that ADRIAN RUIZ-LANGAN, who is currently head of production, will move over to the channel. CEO MARK TURPIN said: “We’re really excited to be partnering with Microsoft on the Xbox On channel. We have agreed a bold new future for the Xbox On brand and can’t wait to get started on it. “It’s a real mark of confidence from Microsoft - our knowledge of the market, wealth of talent and experience in building branded channels put us in a unique position to deliver original gaming content on social video channels like YouTube and Twitch.”

YOGCAST | The YouTube network has been chosen by Microsoft to run Xbox UK’s YouTube channel, Xbox On, and appointed MATT CASTLE to run it as editor-in-chief. Castle formerly was editor at Official Xbox Magazine, where he worked for over two years. Prior

HEAVEN MEDIA | Games marketing agency Heaven Media has hired DAVID PATCHING (above left) as head of business development, based in the UK office. He joins from Mad Catz where he worked as director of marketing. CHRISTIAN HESSE (above left) is also joining Heaven Media’s European team as marketing manager, based in the firm’s German office in Leipzig. He previously worked for the likes of eSports organisations Meet Your Makers, Evil Geniuses, Counter-Logic Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

www.mcvuk.com

20/09/2016 14:38

COMING OCTOBER 7TH Pre-Order From

RIDE 2 ÂŠ 2016. Published and Developed by Milestone S.r.l. All rights reserved. All manufacturers, accessory suppliers, names, tracks, sponsors, brands and associated imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners.

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20/09/2016 09:50

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

WEEKLY CHARTS LAST week was a strong sales period for 2K Games. BioShock: The Collection – a visuallyimproved compilation of the three BioShock titles for PS4 and Xbox One – debuted at No.1 in the UK All Formats chart. Furthermore, the publisher’s basketball title NBA 2K17 debuted at third place. Meanwhile, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 debuted at No.2. Despite strong reviews for the football title, Week One sales in fact dropped three per cent year-on-year. The PS4 and Xbox One editions of PES 2017 made up 93 per cent of week one sales compared with just 86 per cent for the 2016 edition.

Other new titles in this week’s chart include Microsoft’s new IP ReCore, which debuted in fifth place, and Square Enix’s 3DS title Dragon Quest VII: The Forgotten Past, which went straight to No.12. In the Steam Top Ten, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is back on top ahead of new RPG title Divinity Original Sin 2 from Larian Studios. Meanwhile, Mad Max, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Batman: Arkham Knight return to the Top Ten due to a price promotion on Warner Bros games. Over in Reflections’ mobile charts, Gram Games’ puzzle title Six takes the top spot in both iPhone and iPad free charts.

GLOBAL STEAM CHARTS (UNITS)

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW NEW RE NEW 01 04 05 RE RE NEW

COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE DEVELOPER: VALVE PUBLISHER: VALVE

TITLE Divinity: Original Sin 2 Mad Max NBA 2K17 Ark: Scorched Earth Grand Theft Auto V Rocket League Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor GOTY Batman: Arkham Knight Everspace

PUBLISHER Larian Studios Warner Bros 2K Games Studio Wildcard Rockstar Psyonix Warner Bros Warner Bros Rockfish

TOP 40 UK PHYSICAL RETAIL 02

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 NEW NEW NEW 01 NEW 06 07 05 14 03 04 NEW 02 10 NEW 09 12 18 NEW 11 19 13 11 23 15 16 14 21 24 26 27 29 22 39 RE 17 25 40 39 RE

Title BioShock: The Collection Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 NBA 2K17 Overwatch ReCore Rocket League Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Grand Theft Auto V No Man’s Sky Deus Ex: Mankind Divided LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens Dragon Quest VII: The Forgotten Past F1 2016 Call of Duty: Black Ops III NHL 17 Doom Minecraft: Xbox Edition Fallout 4 Batman: The Telltale Series FIFA 16 Homefront: The Revolution Madden NFL 17 Minecraft: Story Mode Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars Battlefront LEGO Marvel’s Avengers The Witcher III: Wild Hunt GOTY Edition LEGO Jurassic World Far Cry Primal Minecraft: PlayStation Edition New Super Mario Bros 2 Pokémon Omega Ruby Tom Clancy’s The Division Ratchet & Clank Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege AOT: Wings of Freedom Worms WMD Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Tomodachi Life Pokémon X

Source: Steam, Period: September 12th to September 18th September 23rd 2016

12 13 MCV893 Weekly Charts_V3.indd 1

Format PS4, XO PS4, XO, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO, PC XO PS4, XO PS4 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4 PS4, X0, PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360 3DS PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO PS4, XO, PC XO, 360 PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360 PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 PS4, XO, PC PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 PS4, XO PS4, PS3, Vita 3DS 3DS PS4, XO, PC PS4 PS4, XO PS4, XO PS4, XO 3DS 3DS 3DS

Publisher 2K Games Konami 2K Games Blizzard Microsoft 505 Games Sony Rockstar Sony Square Enix Warner Bros Square Enix Codemasters Activision EA Bethesda Microsoft Bethesda Telltale Games EA Deep Silver EA Telltale Games Disney EA Warner Bros Bandai Namco Warner Bros Ubisoft Sony Nintendo Nintendo Ubisoft Sony Ubisoft Koei Tecmo Team17 Nintendo Nintendo Nintendo

Source: UKIE/GfK Entertainment, Period: Week ending September 17th 12

www.mcvuk.com

20/09/2016 14:39

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

UK IPAD PAID

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW NEW NEW NEW 13 NEW NEW 02 NEW 14

UK IPHONE PAID

(UNITS)

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Octodad: Dadliest Catch Living Legends: Bound by Wishes Bus Simulator Pro 2017 Samorost 3 Dark Romance: Kingdom of Death HD The Chase Cartoon Network Superstar Soccer: Goal Goat Simulator Tipping Point

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Young Horses Big Fish Mageeks Apps & Game Amanita Design Big Fish Barnstorm Cartoon Network Coffee Stain Studios Barnstorm

LW NEW 03 05 02 04 10 11 06 RE

(UNITS)

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Bus Simulator Pro 2017 Heads Up! Plague Inc Reigns Monopoly Game The Chase Limbo New Star Soccer G-Story Hitman: Sniper

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 5th – September 11th

UK IPAD GROSSING (REVENUE)

UK IPHONE GROSSING (REVENUE)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 02 03 04 05 06 09 07 08 11

CANDY CRUSH SAGA DEVELOPER: KING

Title Mobile Strike Candy Crush Soda Saga Game of War - Fire Age Clash of Clans Gardenscapes - New Acres The Sims FreePlay Roblox Hay Day Farm Heroes Saga

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Epic War King Machine Zone Supercell Playrix EA Roblox Corporationl Supercel King

LW 03 02 04 05 06 07 08 12 09

POKÉMON GO DEVELOPER: NIANTIC

Title Mobile Strike Candy Crush Saga Game of War - Fire Age Clash of Clans Candy Crush Soda Saga Clash Royale Episode - Choose Your Story, feat. Mean Girls: Senior Year Clash of Kings Marvel Contest of Champions

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 5th – September 11th

UK IPHONE FREE (UNITS)

LW RE 03 02 05 08 NEW 12 RE NEW

SIX!

DEVELOPER: GRAM GAMES

Title Flip Diving Pokémon Go Gardenscapes - New Acres Roblox Rolling Sky Stretch Dungeon Splitz.io Vertigo Racing Fury Roads Survivor

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Miniclip.com Niantic Playrix Roblox Corporation Cheetah Technology Nitrome Diego Lattanzio Chillingo Tiny Games

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 5th – September 11th www.mcvuk.com

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Developer Epic War King Machine Zone Supercell King Supercell Episode Interactive Elex Wireless Kabam

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 5th – September 11th

UK IPAD FREE (UNITS)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Mageeks Apps & Games Warner Bros Ndemic Creations Devolver Digital EA Barnstorm Games Playdead Five Aces Publushing Square Enix

LW NEW 01 03 04 06 08 07 12 RE

SIX!

DEVELOPER: GRAM GAMES

Title Water Bottle Flip Challenge Flip Diving Pokémon Go Stony Road Fit The Fat 2 Rolling Sky 50 50 - The Addictive Slicing Game Bingo Pop Party in my Dorm - Best Friends Forever

Developer Southwest Social Influence Miniclip.com Niantic Ketchapp Five Bits Cheetah App Design Company Uken Games A Thinking Ape

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 5th – September 11th 13

September 23rd 2016

20/09/2016 14:39

INTERVIEW PETE HINES, BETHESDA

After the Fallout Bethesda is enjoying a run of hits that has made it the world’s fastest growing triple-A games publisher. Can it keep it up with Dishonored 2? Christopher Dring speaks to VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines

e thought the games industry had moved past the sort of opulent, decadent E3 events like the one Bethesda put on this year. The publisher - one year on from its 2015 press conference held in the same venue as the Oscars - threw a massive event in Los Angeles this summer. It featured a number of big announcements and an after-show party containing extravagant demo booths, cocktail bars and a performance from stadium American punk act Blink 182. “I wanted to have a hands-on component for some of our stuff, and not just show games,” explains PR and marketing chief Pete Hines. “VR stuff in particular – there was not much we could do on stage to show off VR that would have meant anything. “So, it was an evolution from us wanting to show off VR, Elder Scrolls Legends, some Doom stuff, and we said: ‘If we’re going to do all that, why not have a party?’ We did an after party last year for employees and a few guests, and so we thought, what if this time we invited everybody and gave them stuff to do?”

THE RISE OF BETHESDA It’s been a rapid rise for Bethesda, less than a decade ago it was mostly known for The Elder Scrolls, today it has half a dozen triple-A studios putting out multiple major franchises that are worthy of a huge E3 presence. Last year it launched its biggest game thus far in the form of Fallout 4, which has gone on to claim multiple awards

September 23rd 2016

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Bethesda is launching a new Dishonored game in November

(even a couple of MCV Awards) and generated $750m in its first 24 hours. The firm then followed that up with the return of Doom in May. Initially, the game struggled. Bethesda had banked on the multiplayer to shift units, but the reception to the beta was lukewarm. But things picked up significantly once fans discovered the game’s single player component. “I was surprised a little bit by just how much folks liked and got the single player,” admits Hines. “If you are at Bethesda and play the single player, you might think it’s really fun and different. But you don’t know if you’re drinking your own kool-aid... is it really fun? Or are people going to play it and dislike the fact there’s no voiced protagonist, or the fact there’s no real story, and will they say: ‘Id Software hasn’t got out of the 1990s. Same old,

We’re not saying Doom or Dishonored 2 has to do as well as Fallout 4. I think would be unfair to those games and studios. Pete Hines, Bethesda

same old. 6/10’. You never know which of those two scenarios you’ll end up getting. “We did the single player demo after launch. We had showed off the multiplayer, but we hadn’t managed to show as much of the single player. So giving folks the chance to try it... well it turned out to be a good idea.” After striking it big with two games back-to-back, Bethesda’s next big challenge (aside from a Skyrim remake) is Dishonored 2. Bethesda believes the sequel has the potential to do a lot better than the much loved original game, but it’s not going to be easy. This franchise is a quirky, stylised, steampunk stealth adventure series, it doesn’t have the legacy of Doom or the sheer popularity of Fallout, and it’s also launching in November - pitting it against the likes of Call of Duty and Watch Dogs 2.

www.mcvuk.com

20/09/2016 14:39

PETE HINES, BETHESDA INTERVIEW THE ORIGINAL ESPORT ANOTHER game unveiled at E3 was Quake Champions. The original Quake is viewed – and indeed still played – as one of the original eSport titles. Bethesda aims to keep the IP in the pro-gaming arena with this new title, too. “I get really weary talking about eSports stuff. It’s such a buzz word that everyone seems to drop it when talking about their games now,” admits PR and marketing chief Pete Hines. “Quake’s DNA is eSports. QuakeCon exists because Quake was a competitive eSports title and we’ve been doing tournaments for decades. “We showed Champions for the first time at this year’s QuakeCon, and we also had behind-closed-doors, by invitation only, play tests with Quake pro players. We wanted their feedback and involved them in the process early on. We showed them our maps, our modes, how stuff works... Then we asked: ‘how does it feel? What feedback do you have?’ Because it will be an eSport thing in the way that Quake still is.”

“With Dishonored 2 being the sequel to the game of the year, it is the biggest, most important thing we have,” says Hines. “Even though I think Skyrim is going to do tremendously well, I don’t think we need to spend a whole lot of time explaining what that is. “But with Dishonored 2, we want to spend time highlighting the fact that it is not just the same game. We want to show that the team has been really ambitious.” He continues: “Dishonored was the only new IP released in the holiday of 2012. It made it seem different and some folk even said it was like an indie game. But now we’ve established its credibility, we think Dishonored 2 will get much more attention and focus.” But don’t expect Fallout 4 numbers, Hines adds. “We are pretty good at looking at each game and understanding what its potential is. We’re not

www.mcvuk.com

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PR and marketing boss Hines on stage at Bethesda’s second E3 showcase

saying that Doom or Dishonored 2 has to do as well as Fallout 4. I think that would be unfair to those games and studios. I don’t think someone like yourself would ever look at Dishonored 2 and say: ‘Absolutely, that is the same as Skyrim in terms of its potential’. It is a different game from a different studio. It can still achieve enormous success and not be Skyrim.”

BETHESDA’S VR VISION AT E3, Bethesda showcased two VR projects – one, Doom, was more a tech demo experience. The other was Fallout 4, which is a full game coming to HTC Vive next year. It means Bethesda now joins a relatively small crowd of triple-A publishers that are seriously investing in the virtual reality scene. “This isn’t a new thing for us,” said Bethesda’s PR and marketing boss Pete Hines. “Back on Doom 3: BFG, it was a thing we were working on and interested in. We don’t go chasing after every new trend or idea. But when there are ones that we think will particularly resonate well with the sort of things we make, or the desire to try new things and be innovative... this felt appropriate. To take a really

A NEW PREY The other major game Bethesda unveiled at E3 was Prey. The firm had cancelled the planned Prey 2 in 2014, but developer Arkane resurrected the concept with its own title. However, fans were somewhat confused - this new Prey seemed to have very little to do with the 2006 original. Why even call it Prey at all? “First of all, we absolutely looked at a whole host of other options,

immersive game like Fallout 4 and create a really cool VR experience, it was something that - from a development perspective - excited people.” However, there’s no expectation for all the studios to create VR experiences. Hines adds: “We can’t go to Arkane and say: ‘Do Dishonored 2 in VR.’ or ‘Give us a new VR IP’. There is interest, and has been for years now, across all of our studios. These guys buy VR headsets. They are gamers, they love gadgets, they’re enthusiasts. But which projects we decide to do, or not do, comes down to the people who make the games and the ideas we have and whether we think it is a good fit for the studio and the platform and all of that stuff.”

September 23rd 2016

20/09/2016 14:39

INTERVIEW PETE HINES, BETHESDA

After cancelling Prey 2, Bethesda is publishing a new Prey game by Dishonored studio, Arkane

with perhaps calling it something else,” Hines says. “We ended up on Prey because it fit the tone of the vibe of the thing that they are making. We didn’t tell the team that they had to have a portal gun or the same characters or stuff like that, so they were good with it. “For folks who may have played the original Prey a decade ago, they’re going to have to take this new one in and of itself, and not hold on to anything from the previous game. If you don’t know what Prey is, then it doesn’t matter. It is a cool name that captures the essence of what they’re making. “Our belief is that, regardless of which camp you fall in, ultimately we are going to get judged on what we put out. Not to bring up bad memories, but we cancelled a Doom game that was in development, that wasn’t living up to our expectations, and we started over with the game we shipped this year. Ultimately, whether or not that was a good idea was entirely judged by the quality of the product that came out. If it’s great, then nobody is talking about the cancelled title, or asking why we didn’t call it Doom 4. None of that matters when it’s a

September 23rd 2016

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really good game. The same holds true for Prey.” KEEPING MOBILE There’s more to Bethesda, however, than just triple-A console titles. The firm has invested in mobile, too. Last year it released Fallout Shelter on smartphones, which has been downloaded more times than the combined sales of all prior Fallout titles. It’s also preparing the Elder Scrolls Legends card game. It’s something else paying off for the publisher, but Hines insists that Bethesda’s not about to devote more resource to the platform. It is all down to what the developer wants to do. “With Fallout Shelter, we thought it was a really cool, interesting idea that could bring that franchise to an even wider audience - on a platform that we hadn’t done a bunch on,” he concludes. “Developer Id had done some things on mobile, but it wasn’t like something we had done yearon-year. “It reaffirmed that we have some ideas that can resonate well with that audience, even if that audience hasn’t played a Fallout game. Elder Scrolls Legends has that same potential - there is

We’re not saying: ‘Ok, where’s Prey or Dishonored’s mobile game?’ If we have a developer or idea that works really well then we’ll do it. Pete Hines, Bethesda

definitely the opportunity to go outside and reach an audience that didn’t buy Skyrim or Elder Scrolls Online. “But it’s not like we’re saying: ‘Ok, where’s Prey’s mobile game? Or Dishonored’s mobile game?’. If we have a developer, or an idea, that works really well in a certain medium - whether it is mobile or VR or whatever - then that is a thing that we will do. We don’t force it on a franchise, we don’t say that a game has to have a mobile component.” It’s a notion Hines comes back to. Sure, Bethesda knows how to promote itself and its games – its E3 presence proved that – but it’s the developers that lead the way. Yet the company doesn’t get to this size by always playing nice. It has had its run-ins in the past, and it’s made a few wrong turns. Prey 2 was one we discussed earlier, but then there’s also Battlecry, the multiplayer action game that has been shelved and its development team reassigned. It’s ruthless, sure. Yet this insistence on the highest quality is why the company is commanding such attention, and is now beginning to sit side-by-side with the biggest names in the industry.

www.mcvuk.com

20/09/2016 14:39

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19/09/2016 17:08

INTERVIEW DOMINIC GUAY, UBISOFT

Top Dog Billed as one of the biggest new games ever, Watch Dogs arrived in 2014 with a level of hype and expectation it couldn’t possibly meet. But it was still a hit, and now Ubisoft is determined to establish the franchise as one of the biggest in games. Christopher Dring speaks to senior producer Dominic Guay

hen Watch Dogs arrived in May 2014, it was the biggest IP launch of all time. From the moment it was unveiled at E3 2012, it had an almost unobtainable level of hype and expectation surrounding it. Ubisoft ended up releasing an excellent action game, but it wasn’t quite enough for some. Sales figures and its Metacritic score paints the picture of a successful game, but it wasn’t quite the unsurpassable masterpiece that gamers had been hoping for. “At the time, there were a lot of different reactions from different people,” remembers Dominic Guay, senior producer on Watch Dogs 2. “You could see that a lot of people enjoyed the game, but others had certain expectations for Watch Dogs, and it had become something in their minds that it was never even trying to do. That’s often the case with a new IP, because people don’t have a clear reference to what the game is. So some people had to adjust to what the game was. Ultimately, what’s interesting is that still to this day – particularly after we announced Watch Dogs 2 – we have seen a lot people going back to the first Watch Dogs.” He continues: “On the one hand it was exciting to get a new IP out, but at the same time we had to balance out that excitement, and the fact that a lot of people loved the game, with the fact that some had a lot to say, they had a lot of feedback. We wanted to listen to that

Septemnber 23rd 2016

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Watch Dogs 2 swaps the first game’s Chicago setting for San Francisco

feedback in order to make a better sequel.” THE SECOND ATTEMPT Ubisoft has taken on-board the feedback to Watch Dogs, and not just in terms of gameplay. One criticism the game faced was because the project that was unveiled at E3 2012 was a little different to the one that emerged two years later. This time, the publisher decided not to show the game until it was already approaching its final few months of development. “One of the big benefits we had with Watch Dogs 2, is that we had a shorter communication period,” Guay says. “When we announced it, we pretty much had a full alpha of the game in place. We were able to show a lot of the missions, we could show gameplay right from

We wanted to listen to people’s feedback to the first Watch Dogs in order to make a better sequel. Dominic Guay, Ubisoft

the start, and we could say: ‘This is the game that you will be playing, in its final state, in six months time in your home’.” Changing the release strategy for Watch Dogs was clearly a sensible move – Ubisoft doesn’t want to mislead its fans with early concept ideas that end up on the cutting room floor, or visuals that will inevitably need toning down. Also, with an almost finished product, the studio was able to show exactly what it has done to improve the Watch Dogs gameplay. “One thing that became clear is that, and it seems small but was actually really important, is that the driving in the first Watch Dogs was not suited for a lot of people to the kind of game that we made,” continues Guay. “People enjoyed the driving, but some said it was keeping them from enjoying the game – which to us was unacceptable for a title of this scope. So we completely re-worked the driving with our colleagues at Reflections (studio in Newcastle), who have huge experience with driving. It was difficult to take, to scrap what we did and rebuild, but we were quite happy that we did. “There were also bigger things. Some players enjoyed the freedom of the first game, but they wanted to play in their playstyle every mission. So if they wanted to play stealthily, non-lethal, every mission, they should be able to do that. We shouldn’t force a mission where a player has to gun down loads of people if that’s not how they want to play. That was something we definitely kept in mind during the whole time

www.mcvuk.com

20/09/2016 16:01

DOMINIC GUAY, UBISOFT INTERVIEW

This entry in the Watch Dogs series has players cast as young hacker Marcus Holloway

we built the missions in Watch Dogs 2. We made sure you could be aggressive, or a trickster, or stealthy, or completely non-lethal – right from the beginning to the end of the game.” He continues: “Another thing I would point out, is that we built this big open world and we want it to be exciting and fun to explore. A lot of things that players said was: ‘Ok, you have a structure that is very similar to past Ubisoft games.’ On the one hand, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, but on the other hand, gamers were asking: ‘Give us more surprises in the way you exploit the open world and how we discover content’. We realised why people were saying that. So we revisited how people find content in the world, and what the relationship is between that open world and the narrative with Watch Dogs 2.” ONE TO WATCH The first game was a dark, broody, noir-like adventure, with a lead character that was a little nondescript. With Watch Dogs 2, Ubisoft decided to take a very different approach. “This was not just based on feedback, it was us wanting to take a different angle on the universe

www.mcvuk.com

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we had created,” Guay explains. “We wanted to explore that universe from the perspective of DedSec, the hacker group from the first game, because we thought it would allow us to focus more on the core themes that were always very important to us – technology and how it can be abused in different ways for control, and the consequences of that and how technology surrounding us can impact our lives. The first game we were telling a more personal story. “We also decided to move to San Francisco Bay, which is obviously a sunny place and a beautiful area, compared with our version of Chicago in the first game – where we were going for a more noir approach. It means we created a lighter tone, and an environment that is a bit more fun, dare I say. That was something that we as developers wanted to do after creating the first Watch Dogs, we wanted that contrast and felt that creating a world that had a lighter tone would be fun to do. When you spend a very long time in a world, you need to have balance, you want something a bit lighter to balance out the darker moments.” This really just scratches the surface on the differences within

Unlike the first title, when we announced Watch Dogs 2, we pretty much had a full alpha of the game in place. Dominic Guay, Ubisoft

Watch Dogs 2. The multiplayer, too, has been changed. The competitive elements have been toned down in favour of more co-op experiences. Now gamers can run into fellow players in the world and either ignore them, or team up on missions. The changes are going down well internally, Guay says, and the team is certainly feeling more relaxed over what it has created this time. The studio isn’t working with new platforms anymore, or a new brand, and that means the developer feels more in control of the product it has been building. In reality, it was perhaps inevitable that the first Watch Dogs wasn’t going to live up to all the hype. After all, it was a new IP trying different things, Ubisoft wasn’t going to get everything right. In fact, you don’t have to look too far to find another major series that started with a game that was full of promise that didn’t quite deliver on everything – Ubisoft’s biggest IP, Assassin’s Creed. The first game was good, but it was the second title that improved on ever facet and turned the series into a major, entertainment behemoth. Ubisoft will be hoping that Watch Dogs 2 follows the same pattern.

Septemnber 23rd 2016

20/09/2016 16:01

THE BIG GAME MAFIA III

MAFIA III

Crime does pay Mafia III takes the franchise to a fictional version of New Orleans and this time itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dealing with racial tension and the Civil Rights Movement. Alex Calvin talks to lead writer Bill Harms about getting this heavy subject matter right where others have failed

Release Date: October 7th Formats: PS4/XO/PC Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Hangar 13

September 23rd 2016

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www.mcvuk.com

20/09/2016 14:40

MAFIA III THE BIG GAME

afia should really be 2K’s biggest franchise.. It has a brilliant name and is an open-world crime game, which is perhaps the most popular genre in the world. It certainly sounds like it has more potential than 2K’s other huge sellers, such as the stylised, and frankly unusual, Borderlands and BioShock. Yet, although Mafia is popular (the last game did around 7m units), Take-Two acknowledges that the series has a lot more potential. CEO Strauss Zelnick said just last month that the firm really thinks Mafia III could be much, much bigger. “It’s always exciting when people put your game in that light,” lead writer Bill Harms tells MCV. “For me the real pressure comes from the fact that Mafia is a beloved franchise, so the stress comes from making sure

www.mcvuk.com

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money to cause problems for people up the chain. It ties into that aspect of things.”

it’s a great game that builds on the pillars of the previous title: rich characters, deep narrative and a cinematic experience.” But as well as maintaining what made up the core of the original Mafia titles, new developer Hangar 13 has put its own mark on the franchise. For starters, Mafia III is an openworld release, compared with the more linear previous games. “It’s the next natural evolution of the franchise I think,” Harms explains. “But the way we have done it ties into the narrative. It’s not just random stuff that is sitting there waiting to be done, it all ties into the story. [Main character] Lincoln is out to destroy the Italian mob and by doing that he’s attacking their foundation and structure. Even though you are starting at the bottom, in the mob the money flows up. So you have to take out the people who make

It’s not a game about racism. But it would be disingenuous to not include and explore it in some fashion. Bill Harms, Hangar 13

RACE WARS The Mafia games have always involved some form of historical realism, and have reflected the mood of a particular time and place in American history. With Mafia III, the team at Hangar 13 has opted to take players to New Bordeaux (more on that in Why New Orleans?) – a fictional version of New Orleans – during 1968, towards the end of the Civil Rights Movement. Thus, race is a core theme for the title and not something that the studio is shying away from. Trailers for the game even depict members of the Klu Klax Klan “We simultaneously developed the city, the

September 23rd 2016

20/09/2016 14:40

THE BIG GAME MAFIA III

character of Lincoln and settled on a year at the same time,” Harms says. “The hero, Lincoln Clay, is biracial. By having a character like that during that time period provides a very unique lens. It provides a way for players to see the world. Also, maybe more importantly, it impacts the way that the world views Lincoln. “It’s not a game about racism, but it would be disingenuous if we didn’t include that and explore it in some fashion. The thing we strove for is authenticity. So we did a lot of research across a wide spectrum of topics. We read interviews and we watched documentaries about the civil rights movement.” He continues: “As a general statement on the industry, I’m excited that we are doing this with Mafia III, that we are exploring the subjects and it’s something I hope more games approach. Even having an African American protagonist, or more main characters of any race, would be great.” DOING IT RIGHT Not that other games haven’t attempted to cover heavy subject matter like racism. Earlier this year, Deus Ex Mankind Divided hit shelves – a title for which race and racial segregation were central themes. That title came under criticism; complaints included that the handling of the subject matter was clumsy, and that the use of phrases like ‘Augs Lives Matter’ – seen as riffing off the ‘Black Lives Matter’ anti-racism movement in America – was inappropriate “It was no question that people were going to react differently to Mafia III based on their experience,” Harms says. “It all comes back to the authenticity. Just to get into specifics, Jim Brown, who played football for the Cleveland Browns, gave a famous interview with Playboy in 1968 where he talks about being pulled over by the police [for getting dust on white people - really]. James Baldwin was a civil rights

September 23rd 2016

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Mafia III’s hero is Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam veteran who has become involved with the black mob

activist who wrote a lot of stuff, and he also wrote a documentary called Take This Hammer where he walks around San Francisco and all he does is talk to other African American about their lives. And it’s fascinating and depressing. There’s a wide array of people. He talks to one person who says that the only job they could get was tearing down the building where he lived. Once the job was done, he would lose his job and his home, but it was the only job he could get. It’s about authenticity. We put a lot of effort into that.” Not only is racism part of Mafia III’s narrative; racial tensions are reflected in the title’s gameplay. For example, police will respond faster to crimes that happen in nicer – whiter – areas. “Again, it’s striving for authenticity,” Harms explains. “In Delray Hollow, which is the African American neighbourhood where Lincoln grew up, if you commit a crime, people will call the police because they love their neighbourhood, but the response

WHY NEW ORLEANS? WHEN looking for a setting for Mafia III, developer Hangar 13 found its perfect inspiration in New Orleans. The title’s setting, New Bordeaux, is based on that city and with good reason: New Orleans has had a long history of organised crime. “In fact, it was one of the first cities in America to have organised crime, way back in the 1800s,” lead writer Bill Harm says. “The French Quarter was originally Little Italy. So it has 150 years of Italian mafia, going up to Carlos Marcello who was the godfather of New Orleans in the 1960s. “New Bordeaux is our version, so we’ve had to take some liberties with it to support gameplay, like having wider streets so players can drive through the city really fast, power slide around corners and things like that.”

from the cops is going to be very different. They may not respond at all. By contrast, if you are in a nicer area like Downtown, police will respond much faster. If you do something in Frisco Fields, which is a big white area, the police will respond immediately. Even people on the street will respond. It’s about capturing a specific time and place and letting that inform how the world would act.” This narrative focus, combined with the changes that Hangar 13 has made to the series’ formula, mean that Harms is in high spirits about Mafia III. “It’s a very beloved franchise so it’s a lot of fun to work on. But it’s also a big responsibility,” he says. “I hope that when people, especially fans of the series, play it, they’ll see that we have kept all the things that they loved – a strong narrative and cool characters, but that we moved forward and put our own spin on it. It’s that convergence of narrative and characters with gameplay that’s really cool.”

www.mcvuk.comJ

20/09/2016 14:40

"Overcooked is the best chaotic, co-operative culinary game you've ever played" 4/5

"the real fun comes from playing with others due to the screams that occur when everything 8/10 inevitably sets on fire."

Includes Lost Morsel DLC

Time to experience the Culinary Co-op Sensation

14 OCT 2016 £19.99/€19.99/$29.99

Sold Out - Sales & Marketing Ltd. 36 Whitefriars Street London EC4Y 8BQ +44 (0)203 405 4585 www.soldout.uk.com Sales@SoldOut.uk.com Overcooked Developed by Ghost Town Games Ltd. and published by Team17 Digital Ltd. © 2016. Team17 is a trademark or registered trademark of Team17 Digital Limited. All other trademarks, copyrights and logos are property of their respective owners.

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13/09/2016 09:44

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13/09/2016 09:43

In Bu 42 Ri Te in

Thank you to all participants! The world‘s largest event for computer and video games in Cologne. gamescom 2016 inspired across the board: · 877 exhibitors (+9%) from 54 countries · Around 345,000 visitors, 30,500 of whom were trade visitors from 97 countries · The gamescom week attracted more than 500,000 visitors to Cologne

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13/09/201610:04 09:43 08.09.16

INTERVIEW WILL BARR, BILLYGOAT

INDIE INTERVIEW Making Britain great again Before the EU Referendum divided the country, William Barr was working on a game about a UK that has isolated itself from the rest of the world. Now he is billing his title as the Official Brexit Game. Alex Calvin reports

t’s often strange how life imitates art. For example, Irish indie developer BillyGoat Entertainment’s latest game, adventure title Her Majesty’s SPIFFING, tells the story of a Britain increasingly isolated from the rest of the world... actually, developer Will Barr can probably do a better job of explaining the game. “The Queen decides to take control of the country again in a bid to make Britain as great as it once was,” he says. “But instead, Her Majesty has decided to explore space instead with this organisation called SPIFFING – Special Planetary Investigative Force Force Inhabiting New Galaxies. Players have to jet around the galaxy to find new planets to claim for a Galactic British Empire. Hilarity ensues.” Before Her Majesty’s SPIFFING, BillyGoat was an animation company that dipped its toes into games development with some iPhone titles and outsourcing work. The firm then turned to Kickstarter not once but twice to fund their quirky political adventure game. “The first Kickstarter failed awfully,” Barr says. “We knew it was always going to be difficult, we didn’t have a proper back catalogue and we were this obscure Belfast-based indie developer. We were always going to struggle. It didn’t work out and we needed to lay some people off. The plan was always to try and do it again. “Ten months later we did a second Kickstarter and scraped over the line. We only asked for £30,000. We also had help from Northern Ireland Screen, who provided some match funding. We were able to use the UK video game tax breaks, too. We also had some money from the work-for-hire stuff and a substantial overdraft. We are at the point where we have now exhausted all that money and we are close to release. Come hell or high water, it’s coming out on PS4, Xbox One and Steam.” Due to the Brexit vote in June, BillyGoat had to rewrite parts of the game and some jokes in order for the title to make sense post-referendum. “Some of our references to Brussels just didn’t make any sense anymore,” Barr says. “One of the things we quickly decided to do was there was a button on the character’s

September 23rd 2016

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Her Majesty’s SPIFFING sees the Queen trying to explore the galaxy to build a new British Empire

spaceship called the ‘Self Destruct Switch’ so we crudely put an ‘Article 50’ sticker up the side of it. This stuff just writes itself. There are references to Farage in there as well. We were genuinely a bit concerned that due to the tone of the game, for a European audience, it may have come across as somewhat arrogant and we were worried they wouldn’t get the satire and sarcasm. The way we have been pitching the title is the ‘Official Brexit Game’. The way I see it is someone has to benefit from this.”

We’ve been pitching the game is the ‘Official Brexit Game’. The way I see it is someone has to benefit from this. William Barr, BillyGoat Entertainment

FOREIGN RELATIONS The game’s sense of humour is very British. But Barr says the team has made tweaks to the title for an international audience. These are in keeping with the game’s satirical tone. “We have actually thought about this and in the game itself you have the opportunity between using an English voice and an American voice,” he says. “If you use the US one, after all the appropriate jokes, we have a laugh track just so the audience is aware of whenever a joke is happening. “We are confident that it’ll find a big enough market that we won’t be bankrupt at the end of the year. Possibly.”

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20/09/2016 14:42

OPINION

ANALYSIS

A new social revolution – what’s not to Like? the consumer data or insights associated with that activity. In short, simply being a tenant on a mainstream social network will not work in the long term for brands. Brands need a new type of social community platform, with higher engagement and bespoke data sets.

The boss of social network company Grabr TONY PEARCE discusses the challenges facing brands in the social media space today

wo years ago Facebook began to throttle back the organic reach of brand page posts, compelling marketers to invest in paid ad campaigns in order to reach the audiences they had so carefully curated up until that point. But look, that’s absolutely fine. Facebook has invested millions of dollars in building its social network and all the delicious consumer demographics it has collected - so it has every right to seek return on that investment. And paid campaigns can be very successful - with Facebook’s ad revenue standing at $6.24bn in its latest quarterly earnings, that return on investment is rolling in nicely for them. However, the bottom line is that established social networks (and I include the likes of Twitter) are making it difficult for companies to engage directly with their consumers - estimates show that Facebook posts reach just one per cent of a brand page’s audience organically. More importantly, brands using third party social networks for their marketing also don’t have any control over

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DOING IT YOURSELF This got us thinking – if a brand could own and operate its own social network, what would be on its functionality wish list? For starters, you would want to focus on your most active fans, building those relationships with customised content, offers,

Social networks are making it hard for brands to engage with their customers.

BOX OUT – SOCIAL MEDIA BY NUMBERS ■ 63 per cent of millennials say they stay updated on brands via social networks ■ 51 per cent say social opinions influence their purchasing decisions ■ 46 per cent “count on social media” when buying online (Leaderswest, 2014) ■ Ecommerce sales in 2015 estimated at $1.5tn (Criterio) ■ Internet advertising made up 35 per cent of the entire ad market in 2015, worth $15bn (Social Fresh)

advertising and rewards. But you’d also want real time analytics across demographics, ecommerce and search trends. The goal, ultimately, would be to create a ‘user pathway’ that matches individual consumer behaviors with the brand’s goals, using a combination of tailored content, email notifications and community product recommendations. Such an approach would drive sales revenues and customer insights in a whole new way. We thought the idea was so good, we built it in the form of GamesGrabr. It’s essentially a niche social network in a specialist interest, secure environment. We’ve since extended the concept with BookGrabr (in beta) and now we’re giving brands the opportunity to utilise the platform to launch their own ‘white label’ social and discovery networks. Discussions are underway to build niche social networks with world wide brands in beauty, travel, music and sports, but the list could be endless. The macro trends show that social media is having a profound impact on the consumer and retail landscape – 63 per cent of millennials say they stay updated on brands via social networks, while 51 per cent say social opinions influence their purchasing decisions. Isn’t it about time that brands, retailers and publishers started to take some of that social power back?

September 23rd 2016

20/09/2016 16:51

MARKETPLACE

SHELF LIFE

GamesNation’s store manager Sam Drysdale talks about whether his consumers are excited for the new consoles from PlayStation and Xbox, and what virtual reality hardware he is going to be stocking How has business been? Really good. Though we actually got broken into a few months ago and they cleaned us out. We set up a GoFundMe page and our audience helped us out lots. The insurance paid out for the stock that was lost and people donated lots of games to sell. Since then business has been great; the summer holiday was really good for us. What’s been selling well? A mix of everything really. It’s

PRE-ORDER CHARTS

much information coming out about the new consoles it’s just confusing. People aren’t sure what to do with themselves. Some people are just thinking about upgrading to the PS4 and Xbox One, not the slims or pro versions. It’s a great time to be a gamer, but it’s expensive. These new consoles have also drowned out VR. Who doesn’t want to play that? The focus should be launching VR and they have been drowned out by the new consoles. We hardly get

mostly been pre-owned stuff. I guess with kids being off for the holiday, they’re spending what little they have on second hand stock. There’s just been no new releases lately. Pre-owned gets us through the summer. Has there been much demand for the mid-gen upgrades Microsoft and Sony are doing with Scorpio and PS4 Pro? Not so much on the PlayStation side of things. There’s been so

We’re definitely demoing PlayStation VR. You need that to generate interest in virtual reality. Sam Drysdale, GamesNation

PRICE CHECK: CARDIFF

TOP 10 PRE-ORDERS 1. PS4 PRO 1TB Sony, PS4

2. PES 2017 Konami ...................................................................PS4

FORZA MOTORSPORT 6

3. FIFA 17 EA .............................................................................PS4 4. FIFA 17 EA ................................................................................XO

7. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Activision ..............................................................PS4

N/A

£35

N/A

£41.99

N/A

£32.99

£25.99

£27.41

£21.13

£31.99

£23.74

£25

£18

£35

£25

N/A

£17.99

£32.85

£22.85

9. Battlefield 1 EA ................................................................................XO 10. BioShock: The Collection 2K Games .............................................................PS4

THE BUNKER

DESTINY: RISE OF IRON

HUE

Splendy Games’ live-action adventure title is out now

The latest expansion for Destiny hit PS4 and Xbox One earlier this week

This colourful puzzle game from Fiddlesticks launched last month

OUT: NOW

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Bandai Namco, XO

EA, PS4

ONLINE

8. PES 2017 Konami ......................................................................XO

September 23rd 2016

NEED FOR SPEED

IN STORE

6. Mafia III + Pre-order bonus 2K Games .............................................................PS4

The latest digital releases coming to market

Ubisoft, PS4

Microsoft, XO

5. Battlefield 1 EA .............................................................................PS4

UPLOADING

PROJECT CARS: GOTY EDITION

THE CREW WILD RUN

OUT NOW

OUT: NOW

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20/09/2016 14:43

MARKETPLACE

GamesNation 32 Hyde Road, Paignton, TQ4 5BL

anyone asking about the different VR headsets. What are your plans for VR? I’m not sure if we’re going to be stocking Oculus Rift, we’re focused on PlayStation VR. We have had interest in that. It’s expensive, we’re only going to get a handful in and see how they go. Are you going to be doing in-store demos for PlayStation VR?

Phone: 01803 411 730 Facebook: /onegamesnation

Yeah, we definitely are. People will be able to check it out in our games room. You need to get that extra interest in VR. Are you still looking to expand into other towns and sites? We have a location in Brixham, the next town over, lined up. And in Newton Abbot we hopefully have another site lined up. By next summer we should have at least three stores, which is exciting.

INCOMING TITLE

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

The end of year line-up is starting to fill up with new entries in the Forza, FIFA, Gears of War and Tomb Raider series, before PlayStation VR hits shelves FORMAT

GENRE

PUBLISHER

TELEPHONE

DISTRIBUTOR

Vita

RPG

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Open

Racing

Microsoft

01279 822 800

Exertis

PS4/XO/PS3/360/PC

Sport

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice

3DS

Action

Sega

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

Steins;Gate 0

PS4/PS3/PC/Vita

Visual novel

PQube

01462 487373

CentreSoft

XCOM 2

PS4/XO

Strategy

2K Games

01279 822 800

Exertis

September 23rd Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors September 27th Forza Horizon 3 September 29th FIFA 17 September 30th

October 7th Mafia III

PS4/XO

Action

2K Games

01279 822 800

Exertis

Mario Party Star Rush

3DS

Kids

Nintendo

01753 483 700

Open

Paper Mario: Color Splash

Wii U

RPG

Nintendo

01753 483 700

Open

Ride 2

PS4/XO

Racing

PQube

01462 487373

CentreSoft

WRC 6

PS4/XO/PC

Racing

PQube

01462 487373

CentreSoft

Action

Microsoft

01279 822 800

Exertis

October 11th Gears of War 4 Rise of the Tomb Raider

PS4

Action

Square Enix

01462 487373

CentreSoft

WWE 2K17

PS4/XO/PS3/360

Wrestling

2K Games

01279 822 800

Exertis

PS4

Hardware

Sony

01462 487373

CentreSoft

October 13th PlayStation VR

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September 23rd 2016

20/09/2016 14:43

Q4 2016

Q4 LINE-UP We’re now hurtling towards the latter stages of the year which means that some of 2016’s biggest titles will be hitting shelves soon. Alex Calvin looks at what merchandise is accompanying these blockbusters

THERE’S a lot to be excited about during the last quarter of 2016. As well as a wealth of new hardware, including virtual reality headsets, slim versions of existing consoles and a more powerful PlayStation 4, there’s a rather diverse line-up of blockbusters coming to shelves in the coming months. For starters, there’s several follow-ups to popular new IP, including Watch Dogs, Dishonored and Titanfall. And franchises such

As well as a wealth of new hardware launching this year, there’s a diverse lineup of games.

as Gears of War and Mafia III are making their debut on Sony and Microsoft’s new machines. There are also a number of new franchises altogether: Ubisoft is launching its open-world extreme sports game Steep, while Koei Tecmo is releasing its Ninja Gaidenflavoured Dark Soulsinspired new IP Nioh. On top of all that, there are several long-

NEW NINTENDO 3DS XL – POKÉMON SUN AND MOON EDITION Nintendo is releasing special versions of its New 3DS XL console to celebrate the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon. This hardware will be coming out alongside those new entries in the series on November 23rd. It features artwork depicting the mascot creatures for the two titles, Solgaleo and Lunala. There’s also special 2DS consoles launching. SRP: £179 Manufacturer: Nintendo Distributor: Open Contact: 01753 483 700

GEARS OF WAR 4 XBOX ONE WIRELESS CONTROLLERS

THE ART OF DISHONORED 2

As well as a special edition Xbox One console, Microsoft has released not one but two Gears of War-themed gamepads ahead of Gears 4.

Arkane’s Dishonored series – which returns in November – is known for its unique art direction and is featured in this book.

SRP: £59.99 Manufacturer: Microsoft Distributor: Exertis Contact: 01279 822 800

SRP: £41.99 Manufacturer: Dark Horse Distributor: Diamond Comic Distributors UK Contact: 01928 531 760

September 23rd 2016

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DEAD RISING: WATCHTOWER 2016 has seen Ratchet & Clank, Angry Birds and Assassin’s Creed films, but a film based on Dead Rising launched last year, which ties in nicely with this year’s Dead Rising games. SRP: £11.99 Distributor: Animatsu Contact: www.animatsu.com

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20/09/2016 17:47

Q4 2016