MCV896 October 14th by Future PLC

THE PIRACY ARMS RACE ISSUE 896 FRIDAY OCTOBER 14TH 2016

TECH FIRM DENUVO ON ITS WAR AGAINST GAMES PIRATES P18

Media players The UK games press celebrates the sector’s best journalism and personalities ● Seven pages dedicated to another massive Games Media Awards P12

PLUS DO GAMERS PREFER DIGITAL OR PHYSICAL? 01 MCV896 Cover_V5.indd 1

TRION’S CHINA MOVE 12/10/2016 14:13

NEWS

ERA: 77% of UK players prefer boxed games Consumers like the tangibility of a physical release, according to latest research from retail trade body by Alex Calvin DIGITAL may be the biggest sector in video games, but research from the Entertainment Retailers Association says that 77.1 per cent of UK consumers prefer their games in boxes. Writing for MCV, ERA boss Kim Bayley explained that British gamers are hugely in favour of physical releases for a variety of reasons, including the tangibility of a boxed title and the permanence and security of owning a physical item. Those who said they preferred digital cited the medium’s immediacy and its space-saving quality. “It is clear that digital is far from winning the hearts and minds of Britain’s gamers,” said Bayley. “Hard discs have attractive traits which digital struggles to replicate. “Strikingly, when respondents are classified by social class, it is C2s [skilled manual workers], the

Tangibility and permanence are amongst the reasons why gamers prefer physical copies

biggest buyers of games overall who skew most dramatically (84.2 per cent) in favour of physical. “When quizzed on the reasons why they prefer to buy hard copies, the Top Five answers are unsurprisingly tangibility (owing something I can touch, feel, look at and collect) on 23 per cent, permanence and security on 16.5 per cent, convenience 12.9 per cent, habit 11.6 per cent and

the ability to trade titles for other games on 7.7 per cent.” “On the other hand it is worth acknowledging that those who favour digital copies also have arguments in their favour, a substantial 32.4 per cent citing ‘instant access to games’ and 17.6 per cent mentioning the fact that they are space-saving.” For more information, turn to page 24.

Virginia TV show or film would make ‘complete sense’, says developer by Alex Calvin THE co-creator of hit indie game Virginia says he would love to see it become a TV show or film. The story-driven title, by developer Variable State, draws heavy inspiration from 1990s TV programmes such as Twin Peaks and The X-Files. Thus, co-creator Jonathan Burroughs says it makes ‘complete sense’ to take Virginia into the world of linear media. “I think it would be fantastic [to make a Virginia TV show or film],” he said. “I’d love to do that if someone was interested. I don’t think we’d be the ones making it, but if someone wanted to make a

October 14th 2016

02 03 MCV896 News_V4.indd 1

TV series of film based on Virginia, it makes complete sense to me. Virginia’s inspirations were TV. It would take some re-working, but I would love to see someone take the source material and do their own interpretation.” Furthermore, the developer said that he would be excited to see Virginia come to physical retail. “It’s more a question for [publisher] 505 Games, but a boxed release would be excellent,” Burroughs said. “Physical games don’t mean as much as they once did, but that would be a cool thing to do.” You can read more about Virginia on page 25.

Co-creator Jonathan Burroughs said he’d love to see Virginia receive a boxed release

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 15:01

NEWS

THE EDITOR

The Sun ramps up games coverage Dream Team sub-brand looks to expand beyond FIFA by Alex Calvin NATIONAL newspaper The Sun is the latest mainstream media publication to significantly increase its games coverage. The new games content is part of the outlet’s football-focused sub brand, Dream Team FC, and so far has largely centred around the likes of FIFA. “Our core focus, due to the nature of our current audience and editorial position, will be still football-based and FIFA primarily,” Dream Team FC editor Harry Haydon said. “Outside of that we will focus on the games that appeal to our target demographic and promote competition and spark conversation between young

men, as this is core to the overall focus of Dream Team as a brand.” Head of social and platform Greg Halfarce added: “Our target demographic [18 to 30 yearold males] is really into gaming content and much of our initial coverage of those areas were really well received, from a video and written point of view. “To confirm our thoughts and further build the case around the investment in resources into gaming, we’ve also done several rounds of research and surveys and an incredible amount of our audience own multiple games, consoles or are in the market for them. That showed real appetite from the business from a commercial angle as well.”

ANOTHER EDITORIAL POST ABOUT DIGITAL DATA I thought this week I would give you a brief insight into my inbox over the past month or so. From: PR Exec To: MCV

From: MCV To: PR Exec Ok, so what were your digital figures, and how did they compare to the download numbers from before?

Hi Chris, I was wondering if you would be interested in a story about [INSERT GAME NAME HERE] being the best-selling game in the franchise so far! Thanks, PR Person From: MCV To: PR Exec That’s amazing news. Well done. But we had a look at the GfK figures, and actually it suggests that it didn’t quite surpass that other game in the series. Do you have different numbers?

From: PR Exec To: MCV We’re not allowed to divulge that information I’m afraid. From: MCV To: PR Exec Ok, well that makes things a bit tricky, but I understand that there is still some reticence around digital data. I hope that changes soon, because it makes it difficult for us to champion these successes. We could run a story with you stating that the game is the most successful in the series so far. Would you be able to supply a quote?

Thanks, (Left to right) Head of social Halfarce and Dream Team FC editor Haydon

Chris From: PR Exec To: MCV

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02 03 MCV896 News_V4.indd 2

From: PR Exec To: MCV Ah, we wouldn’t be willing to go on record saying that. We were hoping you could say it for us?

Hi Chris,

Yes, those numbers are right, but they only count our physical sales performance. It didn’t factor in our downloads, which were very high.

Activision Blizzard EA Sony Square Enix Nintendo

From,

Sony Activision Blizzard

From: MCV To: PR Exec You want us to make assertions on data we don’t have, based on your word that you’re not willing to put on record? I think we’ll pass this time.

PR Person

Deep Silver

cdring@nbmedia.com

Ubisoft

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 15:01

CHEAT SHEET

UP & DOWN

Market Data

Software revenue dropped by 65 per cent following FIFA 17’s massive first week £60m £15m

SALES OF Forza Horizon 3 drop by 71 per cent as the racing title falls to No.3

£58.5m 1,423,866 units

£30m £30m

£20m 531,266 units

£5.2m 181,970 units Week Ending September 24th

Week Ending October 1st

GRAND THEFT AUTO V rises six places to No.4 thanks to a retailer promotion last week

Week Ending October 8th

EVENT CALENDAR OCTOBER 2016 ........................................................................... APPS WORLD ExCel, London Wednesday, October 19th – Thursday, October 20th Europe’s largest gathering of developers, mobile and marketing professionals is taking place next month 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 The seventh edition of the Paris Games Week will be taking place at the end of October 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 MCM LONDON COMIC CON Excel London Friday, October 28th – Sunday, October 30th

October 14th 2016

04 05 MCV896 Digest_V6.indd 1

London’s Comic Con returns this October to celebrate pop culture For three days, fans will have access to numerous attractions, including VidFestUK, a memorabilia area, a games expo, a comic village and the EuroCosplay Championships

NOVEMBER 2016 ........................................................................... GOLDEN JOYSTICKS 2016 Indig02 Friday, November 18th The 34th edition of the Golden Joystick Awards will be open to the public for the first time ever The Golden Joystick Awards are being organised by Future’s GamesRadar+ and the winners are voted for by the public. ESPORTS INDUSTRY AWARDS The Brewery, London Monday, November 21st The first eSports Industry Awards will take place in London this November Media personality Julia Hardy and Gadget Show’s Jason Bradbury to host 18 categories up for grabs

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:13

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

GOOGLE ANNOUNCES NEW VR HEADSET Tech giant Google has unveiled its brand new virtual reality headset – Daydream View. The hardware is designed to work with phones, though right now just Google’s Pixel is catered for. A slew of video games are on the way for the device, including EarthShape from indie developer Mike Bithell.

$199

Oculus has confirmed that its Touch controllers are going to set consumers back $199

58.7%

@holly Google’s new VR headset is designed to work well with glasses. They know their audience.

@rclarke Daydream View looks pretty cool, almost cool enough to make you forget mobile VR is extremely bad.

Robin Clarke, AppyNation Tuesday, October 4th

Launch week sales of 2K Games’ Mafia III are 58.7 per cent higher than 2010’s Mafia II

$6.1bn

Holly Brockwell, Gadgette Tuesday, October 4th

XBOX’S SPENCER ON LOW REVIEW SCORES

WASTELAND 3 FUNDED IN JUST THREE DAYS

The head of Xbox Phil Spencer, when asked about ReCore’s middling critical performance, has said that he believes some reviewers give games lower scores in order to get more clicks.

InXile’s Wasteland 3 has hit its $2.75m goal on crowdfunding platform Fig in three days. At the time of writing $2.82m had been raised, with 24 days left until its funding campaign closes.

@tha_rami Wow, stay classy, Phil because this is not.

SuperData research says that global digital sales revenue hit $6.1bn in August thanks to No Man’s Sky and Pokémon Go

@icotom Wasteland 3 has already reached its goal, close to what Wasteland 2 raised. But, a lot fewer backers.

Rami Ismail, Vlambeer October 6th

Thomas Bidaux, Ico Partners Sunday, October 9th

@WalnutSoap Yer man Spencer there, validating the toxic opinions of whiny manbabies in comment sections everywhere.

@Hicks_206 Wasteland 2 was amazeballs - and what I’ve seen of Wasteland 3 only seems to promise even more amazing.

Paul Watson, Gamer Network Thursday, October 6th

Beyond Good and Evil creator Michel Ancel has seemingly confirmed that a long-awaited sequel is still in the works

Brian Hicks, Bohemia Interactive Friday, October 7th

Publisher Atlus has said that RPG title Persona 5 is its fastest-selling title in Japan to date with 437,929 units sold

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www.mcvuk.com

04 05 MCV896 Digest_V6.indd 2

Sonic publisher Sega once again held its Cricket Challenge at Kew Green. This time, more than 40 industry veterans gathered to play cricket, with teachers and students from charity Action For Kids coming to watch. £2,000 was raised for GamesAid.

GOLDEN JOYSTICKS GAMESAID TENNER ..................

GamesAid will be collecting money at the Golden Joystick Awards. Envelopes will be left on tables, with attendees being asked to donate £10 each. The 34th Golden Joysticks take place on Friday, November 18th at the Indigo2. 05

GAMESAID RAISES £954,000 FOR CHARITY ..................

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. October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:13

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

UKIE hires policy and public affairs officer Drake joins from the European Commission ● Pocket Gamer appoints editor ● Koch Media promotes UK PR manager UKIE | The UK games industry trade body just hired MARIANNA DRAKE as policy and public affairs officer. She is a newcomer to the industry, joining from the European Commission where she was a trainee working in the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology. CEO Dr Jo Twist stated: “We’re delighted to have Marianna join the UKIE team. She is super qualified with a tech law background, has just finished a prestigious traineeship at the Commission in Brussels, and has worked on a number of tech industry campaigns.”

Drake added: ‘I’m thrilled to be joining UKIE at such an exciting time for the industry and for the UK politically. The next few years will be crucial for ensuring the continued growth of the UK games industry, and I’m eager to be making the case for how the sector can thrive the digital economy in a post-Brexit world.”

and staff writer. He then joined Pocket Gamer as deputy editor. Fox commented: “I’m truly delighted to be appointed as Pocket Gamer’s editor and I’m proud to be a part of such an awesome team at Steel Media, who continue to thrive on the cutting edge of the industry.” MD Chris James said: “Pocket Gamer celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and is in the perfect position to grow. Glen has risen through the ranks at Steel Media rapidly because of his passion, talent and love of mobile gaming. We are all excited to see how Pocket Gamer evolves under his stewardship. The team are already working hard to come up with the best ideas for its redesign and relaunch.”

POCKET GAMER | Steel Media continues to grow its teams with a new editor at PocketGamer.co.uk following the promotion of GLEN FOX from deputy editor. He started at Steel Media as an editorial intern in 2014, before becoming Quality Index editor

KOCH MEDIA | Koch Media and Deep Silver’s PR and marketing assistant DAVE SCARBOROUGH has been promoted to UK PR manager. He arrived at Koch Media in 2014, joining from Imagine Publishing where he worked for over three years, first as staff writer and then as features editor. Scarborough commented: “It’s been an incredible couple of years working with Koch Media, and I’m thrilled to be stepping into the role of UK PR Manager. Koch Media continues to publish some of the most exciting titles in gaming, and I look forward to working alongside the team to deliver outstanding campaigns.”

Distributed by IT World Services TEL: +44 (0)17538 21122 EMAIL: sales@itworldservices.co.uk

06 MCV896 Appointments_V4.indd 1

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 15:00

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05/10/2016 10:46

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

WEEKLY CHARTS FIFA 17 was No.1 again last week, despite a 79 per cent dip in sales which is not unusual for a second week. Mafia III debuted at No.2 and has become the biggest launch in the series, with sales 58.7 per cent higher than Mafia II. Last week’s No.2, Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 3 has fallen to No.3 with sales decreasing 71 per cent. Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto V jumped six spots to claim No.4, with sales just slighly declining one per cent. There were three other new entries in the charts last week. Nintendo’s Paper Mario: Color Splash debuted at No.14, Milestone’s Ride 2 entered the list at No.20

and console versions for THQ Nordic’s Warhammer: The End Times - Vermintide landed at No.34. Warner Bros’ LEGO Dimensions performed very well last week, with a 35 per cent growth in sales, allowing the title to reach No.16 and making it the fastest growing title of the week. Over on Steam, Mafia III has taken the No.1 spot, followed by pre-orders for 2K’s Civilization VI. Meanwhile, PewDiePie’s mobile game, Outermindsdeveloped Tuber Simulator, debuted at No.2 in the iPad free titles charts. It entered the iPhone free games rankings at No.3, as FIFA 17’s companion app held onto its No.2 place.

GLOBAL STEAM CHARTS (UNITS)

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07

LW 06 03 01 04 09 RE

MAFIA III DEVELOPER: HANGAR 13 PUBLISHER: 2K

TITLE PUBLISHER Sid Meier’s Civilization VI (PO) 2K Osiris: New Dawn Reverb Triple XP Battlerite Stunlock Studios Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Valve H1Z1: King of the Kill Daybreak Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition Techland

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 01 NEW 02 10 08 04 05 06 13 12 07 03 11 NEW 09 35 24 23 15 NEW 16 34 20 18 22 21 14 30 29 27 36 37 38 NEW 31 RE RE 28 25 26

Title FIFA 17 Mafia III Forza Horizon 3 Grand Theft Auto V Rocket League BioShock: The Collection XCOM 2 Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 Fallout 4 Minecraft: Xbox Edition Destiny: The Collection LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens Overwatch Paper Mario: Color Splash NBA 2K17 LEGO Dimensions Halo 5: Guardians Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Call of Duty: Black Ops III Ride 2 Star Wars Battlefront LEGO Jurassic World F1 2016 Batman: The Telltale Series Tom Clancy’s The Division Doom Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End New Super Mario Bros 2 LEGO Marvel’s Avengers Minecraft: Story Mode LEGO Marvel Super Heroes EA Sports UFC 2 Batman: Arkham Knight Warhammer: The End Times – Vermintide Madden NFL 17 Tomodachi Life Skylanders SuperChargers Disney Infinity 3.0 Homefront: The Revolution Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Source: Steam, Period: October 3rd to October 9th October 14th 2016

08 09 MCV896 Weekly Charts_V4.indd 1

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

Publisher EA 2K Games Microsoft Rockstar 505 Games 2K Games 2K Games Konami Bethesda Microsoft Activision Warner Bros Blizzard Nintendo 2K Games Warner Bros Microsoft Sony Activision Milestone EA Warner Bros Codemasters Telltale Games Ubisoft Bethesda Sony Nintendo Warner Bros Telltale Games Warner Bros EA Warner Bros THQ Nordic EA Nintendo Activision Disney Deep Silver Square Enix

Source: UKIE/GfK Entertainment, Period: Week ending October 8th 08

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:14

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

UK IPAD PAID

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW NEW RE 03 NEW 04 NEW NEW RE 10

UK IPHONE PAID

(UNITS)

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Mystery of the Ancients: Mud Water Creek Youtubers Life Plague Inc. Pumped BMX 3 Terraria Witches’ Legacy: The Dark Throne HD Infinite Tanks Take Off - The Flight Simulator Batman - The Telltale Series

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Big Fish U-Play Online Ndemic Creations Yeah Us! 505 Games Big Fish Atypical Games Astragon Telltale

LW 02 NEW 06 04 05 08 07 RE RE

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 26th – October 2nd

(UNITS)

PLAGUE INC.

DEVELOPER: NDEMIC CREATIONS

Title Minecraft: Pocket Edition Pumped BMX 3 Trenches Heads Up! Bloons TD 5 Monopoly Game Bus Simulator Pro 2017 Take Off - The Flight Simulator Batman - The Telltale Series

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 26th – October 2nd

UK IPAD GROSSING (REVENUE)

UK IPHONE GROSSING (REVENUE)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 01 02 06 04 07 05 09 10 08

MOBILE STRIKE DEVELOPER: EPIC WAR

Title Candy Crush Saga Game of War - Fire Age Clash of Clans Candy Crush Soda Saga Gardenscapes - New Acres Clash Royale Gummy Drop! Hay Day Roblox

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer King Machine Zone Supercell King Playrix Supercell Big Fish Supercell Roblox Corporation

LW 03 05 02 04 06 07 08 10 09

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 26th – October 2nd

POKÉMON GO DEVELOPER: NIANTIC

Title Mobile Strike Game of War - Fire Age Clash Royale Candy Crush Saga Clash of Clans Candy Crush Soda Saga 8 Ball Pool Gardenscapes - New Acres Episode - Choose Your Story, feat. Mean Girls

UK IPHONE FREE (UNITS)

LW NEW 06 05 02 04 10 RE 08 RE

BOTTLE FLIP 2K16 DEVELOPER: AIDAN SABOURIN

Title PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator Rolling Sky Flip Diving Six! Faily Rider Roblox Frozen Free Fall: Icy Shot Pokémon Go Toy Blast

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Outerminds Cheetah Technology Miniclip.com GramGames Spunge Games Roblox Corporation Disney Niantic Peak Games

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 26th – October 2nd www.mcvuk.com

08 09 MCV896 Weekly Charts_V4.indd 2

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

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 26th – October 2nd

UK IPAD FREE (UNITS)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Mojang Yeah Us! Catapult Consulting Warner Bros Ninja Kiwi EA Mageeks Apps & Games Astragon Telltale

LW 02 NEW 06 01 04 03 RE 07 RE

COLA BOTTLE FLIP CHALLENGE DEVELOPER: ABHISHEK MALPANI

Title EA Sports FIFA 17 Companion PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator Rolling Sky Bottle Flip 2K16 Flip Diving Six! One More Spin! Casino Slots Pokémon Go Faily Rider

Developer EA Outerminds Cheetah Aidan Sabourin Miniclip.com GramGames Zhang Peng Wei Niantic Spunge Games

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: September 26th – October 2nd 09

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:14

MONTHLY SALES CHARTS

SEPTEMBER CHARTS FIFA 17 has taken the No.1 spot from No Man’s Sky. EA’s new title released on September 29th but still managed to be the best-selling title of the month, and by far: FIFA 17 represented 53 per cent of the September sales despite the fact it had only been out for three days. It’s therefore no great surprise that studio EA Canada was the top developer of the month and EA the No.1 publisher. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 3 debuted at No.2 and helped Xbox One to increase its software market share. In September, the console represented 39.6 per cent of the market in revenues (against 23.2 per cent in August) and 37.5 per cent in units (versus 24.3 per cent in August). Developer Playground Games also entered the studio charts at No.2. 2K’s BioShock: The Collection debuted at No.3 and helped TakeTwo to become the No.2 publisher in both revenue and units. The fourth place of chart was also taken by a new

FIFA 17 was the best-selling title in September, after only a few days on shelves

entry, Pro Evolution Soccer 2017, as is the sixth, with NBA 2K17. Overwatch managed to stay in the Top Five and enjoyed a 15 per cent growth in sales. The rest of the list was also packed with new titles. Activision Blizzard took both No.18 and No.19 with respectively Destiny: The Collection and World of Warcraft: Legion. As a PC exclusive, the latter would have probably ranked even higher if digital sales were included. The Witcher III’s Game of the Year edition debuted at No.26, while Telltale’s take on the Batman universe entered the chart at No.34 and the console versions of PC hit XCOM 2 landed at No.37. Last month’s No.1, No Man’s Sky, had fallen to No.13 with sales dipping 87 per cent. It should also be noted that the Nintendo 3DS market share has come back to its usual figures as the impact of Pokémon Go has started to fade.

TOP 40 UK PHYSICAL RETAIL 02

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

LM NEW NEW NEW NEW 04 NEW 06 03 05 08 02 07 01 12 11 10 15 NEW NEW 13 29 09 18 NEW 14 NEW 17 19 27 23 16 36 28 NEW 26 31 NEW RE 21 20

Title FIFA 17 Forza Horizon 3 BioShock: The Collection Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 Overwatch NBA 2K17 LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Grand Theft Auto V Rocket League F1 2016 Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End No Man’s Sky Minecraft: Xbox Edition Call of Duty: Black Ops III Doom Fallout 4 Destiny: The Collection World of Warcraft: Legion Madden NFL 17 Disney Infinity 3.0 FIFA 16 Star Wars Battlefront ReCore LEGO Marvel Avengers The Witcher III: Wild Hunt GOTY Edition Tom Clancy’s The Division Minecraft: Story Mode Homefront: The Revolution Minecraft: PlayStation Edition LEGO Jurassic World AOT: Wings of Freedom New Super Mario Bros 2 Batman: The Telltale Series Ratchet & Clank Far Cry Primal XCOM 2 Halo 5: Guardians UFC 2 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Format Publisher PS4, XO, PS3, 360 EA XO, PC Microsoft PS4, XO 2K Games PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Konami PS4, XO, PC Blizzard PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC 2K Games PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita PC Warner Bros PS4, XO, PC Square Enix PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Rockstar PS4, XO 505 Games PS4, XO, PC Codemasters PS4 Sony PS4 Sony XO, 360 Microsoft PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard PS4, XO, PC Bethesda PS4, XO, PC Bethesda PS4, XO Activision Blizzard PC Activision Blizzard PS4, XO, PS3, 360 EA PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Disney PS4, XO, PS3, 360 EA PS4, XO, PC EA XO Microsoft PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros PS4, XO, PC Bandai Namco PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Telltale Games PS4, XO Deep Silver PS4, PS3, Vita Sony PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita Warner Bros PS4, XO Koei Tecmo 3DS Nintendo PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Telltale Games PS4 Sony PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft PS4, XO 2K Games XO Microsoft PS4, XO EA PS4, XO Ubisoft

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: August 28th to October 1st October 14th 2016

10 11 MCV896 Monthly Charts_V5.indd 1

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:58

MONTHLY SALES CHARTS

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SHARE BY STUDIO (REVENUE)

01 TM 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LM RE 05 RE RE 04 RE 03 02 07

EA CANADA PARENT COMPANY: EA

Developer Playground Games Blizzard Entertainment Irrational Games Visual Concepts Travellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tales Konami Digital Entertainment Eidos Montreal Codemasters Birmingham Rockstar North

Parent company Independent Activision Blizzard Take-Two Take-Two Warner Bros Konami Square Enix Codemasters Take-Two

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: August 28th to October 1st

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SHARE BY PUBLISHER (REVENUE)

01 TM 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LM 08 RE 04 02 01 07 RE 03 05

ELECTRONIC ARTS Publisher Take-Two Microsoft Activision Blizzard Nintendo Sony Warner Bros Konami Square Enix Codemasters

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SALES BY FORMAT (REVENUE) TM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Title

Manufacturer

01 02 04 03 06 07 06 08 09 10

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

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

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: August 28th to October 1st

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SHARE BY PUBLISHER (UNITS)

01 TM 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LM 08 RE 03 02 03 01 RE 09 10

ELECTRONIC ARTS Publisher Take-Two Microsoft Activision Blizzard Nintendo Warner Bros Sony Konami Ubisoft 505 Games

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: August 28th to October 1st

PHYSICAL SOFTWARE SALES BY FORMAT (UNITS) TM 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LM 01 02 04 03 05 06 07 08 09 10

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

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: August 28th to October 1st www.mcvuk.com

10 11 MCV896 Monthly Charts_V5.indd 2

Market Share 49.6% 39.6% 3.6% 2.7% 2% 1.2% 1.1% 0.2% 0.1% 0%

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

Market Share 47.3% 37.5% 4.9% 3.8% 2.7% 1.6% 1.6% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1%

Source: UKIE/Gfk Chart-Track, Period: August 28th to October 1st 11

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:58

GAMES MEDIA AWARDS THE WINNERS

Press play On Tuesday, the British games press gathered to celebrate the best journalism in this sector. MCV looks back at all the winners from this year’s Games Media Awards

ore than 200 members of the UK games press descended upon the Sway Bar in Holborn for the 2016 Games Media Awards – a celebration of the best journalism from the past 12 months. This year’s show was hosted by Journalists’ Journalist 2015 winner, Simon ‘The Miller Report’ Miller, who did what he does best – truth telling and score settling. The big winner from the night was Keza MacDonald, who was on-stage back-to-back for the two final awards. First, the media veteran took to the stage to

collect the Editorial Team of the Year award with her Kotaku UK team, before returning moments later for Journalists’ Journalist – a category voted for by her peers on the night. Meanwhile, Eurogamer’s Wesley Yin-Poole once again collected the news writer gong, before Ars Technica’s Mark Walton took to the stage for the Features Writer prize. PCGamesN’s Phil Iwaniuk won Games Critic. Walking away with the Coverage by a National Newspaper award was The Telegraph’s Tom Hoggins, while Vice Gaming’s UK editor Mike

This year’s big winner was Keza MacDonald, who won the Editorial Team award with Kotaku UK, and the peer-voted Journalists’ Journalist prize.

Diver came up on stage to collect the Coverage by a Mainstream Brand prize. Official PlayStation Magazine’s Jen Simpkins – who has recently been promoted from staff writer to games editor – won the Rising Star prize. This year’s Radio/Podcast category was won by Final Games, with host Liam Edwards flying over from Japan to collect his award. Two of our recently-added categories – YouTuber and Streamer - went to GameWeasel’s Matt Cuttle and Jade Jolie respectively.

SPONSORS

October 14th 2016

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www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:16

THE WINNERS GAMES MEDIA AWARDS

NEWS WRITER WESLEY YIN-POOLE

FEATURES WRITER MARK WALTON

It was great. I wasn’t expecting to win. There were some great people in the category. I was sure Tom Phillips was going to win, he really deserved it this year. But it feels great to win.

So this is incredibly unexpected. At Ars Technica, we’ve just tried to do some really great journalism. I hope that comes through. This award means so much to us. We have worked so hard since our launch.

Wesley Yin-Poole, Eurogamer

Mark Walton, Ars Technica

GAMES CRITIC PHIL IWANIUK

COVERAGE BY A NEWSPAPER THE TELEGRAPH

It’s an absolute cliché, but I genuinely thought I had no chance of winning. There were tonnes of great writers in the category, so I’m sort of in shock. This is incredibly validating.

This is amazing. I have an excellent team of freelancers who have helped me do this. They push me and make sure I’m not neglecting what a fantastic medium this is. To be nominated by your peers is fantastic.

Phil Iwaniuk, PCGamesN

www.mcvuk.com

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Tom Hoggins, The Telegraph

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:16

GAMES MEDIA AWARDS THE WINNERS

VIDEO TEAM VIDEOGAMER

YOUTUBER MATT CUTTLE

This is really good. Colm Ahern is doing our video stuff for the next year, so hopefully we’ll retain this prize at the next awards. It’s a lot of pressure.

I just want to say thanks to anyone who voted for me. GamesWeasel has been going for ten years now – that’s a long time. Thank you very much, and well done to all of the winners.

Alice Bell, Videogamer

October 14th 2016

12 13 14 15 16 17 MCV896 GMAs Review_V5.indd 3

Matt Cuttle, GamesWeasel

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:16

THE WINNERS GAMES MEDIA AWARDS

STREAMER JADE JOLIE

COVERAGE BY A MAINSTREAM MEDIA BRAND VICE

I’m pretty shocked. I didn’t think I’d get nominated for any awards, let alone win one. Just want to say a big thanks for those who nominated me as well as my viewers and Twitch.

This is amazing. We have worked really hard to even get games into the Vice equation. This is a recognition from those who read our stuff that what we are doing is decent.

Jade Jolie

www.mcvuk.com

12 13 14 15 16 17 MCV896 GMAs Review_V5.indd 4

Mike Diver, Vice Gaming

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:16

GAMES MEDIA AWARDS THE WINNERS

RADIO/PODCAST FINAL GAMES

RISING STAR JEN SIMPKINS

I just sit in Japan recording a podcast with some amazing people. This is for all the fantastic guests I’ve had on the show - all the people who thought this was a cool idea and wanted to take part. Thanks.

This was completely unexpected even though my team has been nothing but supportive. My editor Matt Pellett believes in me like no-one else ever has. I can’t wait to keep working with our excellent team.

Liam Edwards, Final Games

Jen Simpkins, Official PlayStation Magazine

October 14th 2016

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www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:16

THE WINNERS GAMES MEDIA AWARDS

EDITORIAL TEAM OF THE YEAR KOTAKU UK

JOURNALISTS’ JOURNALIST KEZA MACDONALD

Our philosophy is to write about what’s interesting. As there’s only three of us, we really have to focus on the best stuff. So it’s great to know that what is interesting to us is interesting to other people, too.

It means a lot to have the appreciation of your peers. A lot of time in games journalism we all respect and read each other’s work so this means a lot to me. I’m really chuffed.

Keza MacDonald, Kotaku UK

www.mcvuk.com

12 13 14 15 16 17 MCV896 GMAs Review_V5.indd 6

Keza MacDonald, Kotaku UK

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:16

INTERVIEW DENUVO

Fighting the war against piracy For a time it seemed that Denuvo’s anti-piracy measures were wildly effective, to the point that groups online were flat-out giving up on trying to crack games. But since, a number of titles using the antitampering measures have been compromised. Alex Calvin speaks to Denuvo to find out more

he start of 2016 was rather positive for anti-piracy specialists Denuvo. The firm’s anti-tampering technology, which had been used on the likes of Just Cause 3, Lords of the Fallen and recent FIFA titles, was deemed so potent that in January, notorious Chinese cracking forum 3DM said that in two years there may be no more pirated PC games. The next month, 3DM halted cracking work on singleplayer games, again citing Denuvo’s technology. But the good news didn’t last – by July rumours that Denuvo’s protections on Rise of the Tomb Raider had been bypassed. The following month – 193 days after the title’s launch – an illegitimate version of the release was circulating following a Russian crack. All of this was before indie game Inside from Playdead was cracked just six weeks after launch. But Denuvo sales and marketing director Thomas Goebl says that creating software to stop a game being pirated for its entire existence isn’t the goal. “You have to have a realistic view of anti-piracy measures,” he explains. “There is no such thing as unbreakable protection. That’s something we always tell our clients to help manage their expectations. Our scope is to prevent early cracks for every title. We want to allow an initial window when a game is released to have an uncracked version and thus guarantee sales.”

October 14th 2016

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Playdaed’s Inside was cracked within six weeks of launch by piracy group CONSPIR4CY

The first few weeks after launch are the most important for any game. So while a title like Inside being cracked six weeks after release sounds pretty bad, it has in fact survived its most important sales period. Games that don’t use any form of anti-piracy protection can suffer when it comes to sales. To pick one recent example, The Witness was heavily pirated during its launch window, according to developer Jonathan Blow. Goebl continues: “Piracy has always been there on PC. Titles have always been cracked. If a title doesn’t use any kind of protection, it will be cracked before launch.”

There is no such thing as unbreakable protection. We want to allow games to have an uncracked launch period. Thomas Goebl, Denuvo

CAT AND MOUSE Piracy is very much an arms race between tech-savvy crackers and big companies trying to protect products.

“The procedure [after a crack] is the same every time,” CEO Reinhard Blaukovitsch says. “We analyse how the crack was done and then we update our protection. It’s a game of cat and mouse that we play” He continues: “There are many techniques we use to prevent people from debugging, reverse engineering and otherwise tampering with our software. We are improving that technology or those techniques on a day-to-day basis, and coming up with new ideas that are almost entirely new inventions on a monthly basis on how we improve our service.” DON’T DO IT YOURSELF Of course, anti-piracy measures are nothing new. For as long as media has existed, there’s been someone trying to copy it. In the games space, there have been numerous examples of companies attempting their own

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:17

DENUVO INTERVIEW Denuvo’s sales and marketing boss Goebl (below) and CEO Blaukovitsch (below right)

WIDER PLAN

solutions to protect products. These have historically included digital rights management (DRM) software or the requirement of an internet connection to play the game, which can have a negative impact on games. 2013’s SimCity, for example, required users to be online to play, with the game becoming unplayable if EA’s servers went down or the internet dropped out. These days, however, many companies are turning to thirdparties for support. “Many publishers tried different approaches regarding anti-piracy measures from DRM through to always-on systems,” he explains. “Many realised that outsourcing this task to a dedicated third-party makes sense as their speciality is creating and publishing games, not inventing anti-piracy measures which are non-invasive for paying consumers, easy to apply by the development studios and secure.” He continues: “Publishers do still use DRM solutions, whether

www.mcvuk.com

18 19 MCV896 Denuvo_V4.indd 2

IN March of this year, the boss of indie publisher TinyBuild Alex Nichiporchik released information about the level in which Punch Club had been pirated. Speaking to MCV following this, the exec said he didn’t believe that software solutions like antitampering measures or DRM were the answer to piracy as these ‘cripple’ experiences. Rather, Nichiporchik believes that the solution to piracy is to make your product enticing, via regional pricing in lower wealth countries or better localisation. Meanwhile, The Witcher III from CD Projekt Red launched with no built-in anti-piracy measures. Studio boss Marcin Iwinski has since said that winning over pirates with strategies including regional pricing is more effective than fighting them. “We offer our service as one piece of a puzzle of how the publishers can try to optimise their sales in order to recoup their development costs,” Denuvo Reinhard CEO explains. “Some trust in DRM solutions, ones that are user friendly.

it’s on Steam, UPlay or EA Origins. We don’t interfere with whatever DRM solutions they want to pick. Whatever their decision is when it comes to DRM, we can help companies enjoy a longer time period before their game gets cracked.” Going forwards, Denuvo is looking to take its anti-piracy knowledge outside of games. “We would like to become the first choice out in the industry when it comes to anti-tamper technology, or if publishers consider anti-tamper technology, we want to be the first choice for them,” Blaukovitsch says. “But we are also thinking of offering our services outside of the games industry. There’s quite valuable software out there in the business to business market, which also needs some form of protection or anti-tampering service. So we want to expand in that direction.”

They also trust in our solution. There may be other solutions, where you go DRM free or do different price ranges in different territories. This is a marketing decision and strategy that the publishers may want to use. If they decide on some DRM technology or techniques, we can help them.” Marketing and sales boss Thomas Goebl adds: “Service is everything. Good games sell well, that’s the bottom line. The only thing that publishers or developers have to keep in mind is that as soon as there is a pirated version of a game out there, they are competing with a free version of the same game. Even if the service is good, if it has nice community features and so on, those people who don’t want to pay for it simply won’t pay because there is free competition. “Especially for single player games, or if there’s a big single player portion to the game, it makes perfect sense to use an anti-tamper solution like ours to prevent any cracks during the launch window time frame.”

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:17

INTERVIEW SCOTT HARTSMAN, TRION

New Worlds In August of this year, MMO specialist Trion Worlds made its debut in China with voxel-styled online title Trove. Alex Calvin speaks to CEO Scott Hartsman for tips about moving to this lucrative region Trion Worlds has been behind MMOs such as Rift, Defiance and Trove. How would you assess the state of the MMO market? It is in very good health. When you look at it as a whole, it is still expanding. The thing that people are comparing it to – erroneously – is the launch of World of Warcraft. It was 2004, there were about six MMOs out there. You look across the landscape these days and there are hundreds. Players are spread across so many more games. As long as the number of titles keeps growing, they’re going to keep spreading out. What we are also seeing is that the generation of people who grew up playing MMOs for four hours a night are now more interested in games they can play for ten minutes at a time. We’re seeing a shift. Online is still strong. A lot of classic MMOs have become more approachable online. Trion made its debut in China with Trove this year. How would you assess the Chinese games market? China is maturing very rapidly. We’re seeing a lot more different, distinct types of games. If you go back just a few years, you’d see a lot of similarly-styled classic fantasy types of releases. These days it’s different. Trove had a massive presence at ChinaJoy, as did Minecraft and Overwatch. While the Chinese market is generally player vs player focused, there is this growing audience that is more interested in co-op and more creativity. Chinese games are expanding their interests very strongly.

October 14th 2016

20 MCV896 Trion_V4.indd 1

Trove is Trion Worlds’ first foray into the Chinese games market

Why was moving to China such an important decision? The size of the population is part of it. It’s just a part of our mission in general. If you look at our games over time – titles like Rift and Defiance from our first generation of tech – they were very much products of the territories they launched in and on the platforms they launched on. With our next couple of generations, we started making games so they could be taken to more locales and platforms. That has been an intentional decision. The way we make games, especially with the way free-toplay economies work, means you always want to be in front of larger audiences because then you’re making more money to invest in your games.

A lot of people in China view piracy as a normal part of how business works, which is why free-to-play took off.

What tips would you offer companies looking to launch in China? Make sure that your business model is working for that market

Scott Hartsman, Trion Worlds

and make sure it fits the culture. When I say culture, what I mean is talking to one of our producers over there. The concept of copyright, for instance, doesn’t culturally have the same meaning that it does over here. A lot of people view piracy as a normal part of how business works, which is why free-to-play took off in the way that it did – because those games can and will be freely copied as the paying happens later. That’s one of the reasons why you see in China in particular, free-toplay is super dominant. Things can be copied and everybody gets to still make money from their games. The other tip is that if you are not going to be able to be a native company in China, find and work with a great partner who knows the market and loves the games that you are making, who has great insights into the business model and what customers want. Make sure that your expectations and theirs are very similar from the outset.

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 15:02

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The games industry’s biggest secret: 75 per cent of gamers still prefer discs What is most striking from our survey, however, is the data on format preference. A massive 77.1 per cent opted for the physical alternative. With digital attracting just 22.9 per cent of respondents overall, it is clear that digital is far from winning the hearts of Britain’s gamers. When respondents are classified by social class, it is C2s (skilled manual workers), the biggest buyers of games overall, who skew the most (84.2 per cent) in favour of physical. When quizzed on the reasons why they prefer to buy hard copies, the Top Five answers are tangibility on 23 per cent, permanence and security on 16.5 per cent, convenience 12.9 per cent, habit 11.6 per cent and the ability to trade titles for other games on 7.7 per cent. It is clear that hard discs have attractive traits which digital struggles to replicate. So what do we make of all this? Digital skews towards wealthier male gamers, the group most likely to be among the keenest buyers.

ERA’s KIM BAYLEY discusses the latest results from the retail association’s unique consumer tracking study

onventional wisdom would have it that physical formats in the entertainment business are utterly doomed. Certainly the games business has been the leader in the revolution. Our annual ERA Yearbook first reported that digital had eclipsed physical as far back as 2013. And yet, physical formats refuse to die. Latest evidence comes in the form of the twelfth wave of ERA’s consumer tracking survey, which has taken place every quarter for the past three years, with between 1,200 and 1,800 respondents in every wave. The fact is that the purchase of physical console games remains remarkably resilient. Overall, some 41.7 per cent of the 1,216 respondents to Wave 12 said they buy physical or digital games, rising to 66.7 per cent among the under 25s. Interestingly, respondents revealed that most are only occasional buyers. Even the most committed gamers rarely buy more than once a month (just 4.5 per cent). A third buy less than once a year and another third buy only once or twice a year. With two thirds of buyers investing in less than two games a year, it could just be that if publishers were to spread releases out a little bit more throughout the year, the chances of tempting consumers into the market might well increase.

October 14th 2016

24 MCV896 Insight DPS_V4.indd 1

By far the greatest number of potential gamers are physical buyers who are price conscious and buy only occasionally. Kim Bayley, ERA

One possible conclusion is that games publishers have become more and more dependent on the most committed, digital savvy and wealthiest gamers. One final question, which may support this analysis concerns when buyers are most likely to buy. Compared with pre-ordering (10.5 per cent) or upon release (20.7 per cent), a massive 68.8 per cent responded that they wait until “after the price has dropped”. By far the greatest number of potential gamers are physical buyers who are price conscious and buy only occasionally. Our research suggests they offer untapped potential. Digital formats provide huge opportunity for the development of the market, but it may well be that a focus on digital to the exclusion of its mass market physical equivalent could be leaving huge amounts of money on the table. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could begin to tap into that mass market again?

“Do you prefer to buy video games as a hard copy, or digitally?” (direct to your console / PC) 100 90

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www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:17

VARIABLE STATE INTERVIEW

INDIE INTERVIEW The State of Virginia After being laid off from AI start-up DeepMind, Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny decided to go indie. Their first project, the strange narrative-driven Virginia, has just launched. Alex Calvin reports

ne of the most interesting games to launch in the last few months has been the surreal and narrative-driven Virginia. The title was made by Variable State, the indie studio set up by Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny who met while working at DeepMind – the machine-learning AI start-up purchased by Google in 2014. Prior to the company’s acquisition, DeepMind dramatically downsized the core team, with Burroughs and Kenny – who were making games at the firm – losing their jobs. Rather than being upset about this series of events, the duo decided to set up their own company and started prototyping games. “Virginia came about quite organically,” Burroughs says. “My friendship with Terry formed out of what was going on in the indie games scene. We were particularly struck by the fact that small teams were making games that were very personal and story-driven. We wanted to do something similar. We embarked on something in our spare time, which is what transitioned into the first ideas when we became Variable State. They were all hopelessly ambitious and radically different to Virginia. Then we played Brendon Chung’s Thirty Flights of Loving, and were struck by the design of that game and how it used cinematic editing like you’d see in a film but in the context of real time gameplay. It felt like that added so much to storytelling in games. That was one half of it. The other half was we love certain sci-fi shows from the ‘90s. We married the two. It has the themes and atmosphere of The X Files and Twin Peaks with Brendon Chung’s story-telling devices.” JUMP! Arguably Virginia’s most striking design choice is the aforementioned use of jump cuts. This, combined with a lack of spoken dialogue, was a constraint that put a lot of pressure on the team, especially from an animation perspective. “[Jump cuts] are a central component of film and television. You can use them

www.mcvuk.com

25 MCV896 Indie Interview_V4.indd 1

The reception to Variable State’s Virginia was ‘far more positive than expected’, co-founder Jonathan Burroughs says

Virginia mixes the themes and atmosphere of The X Files and Twin Peaks with Brendon Chung’s story-telling devices. Jonathan Burroughs, Variable State

to contrast scenes for dramatic effect,” Burroughs explains. “Games, outside of cutscenes, don’t really use that with the exception of Thirty Flights of Loving. It gives you this whole extra vocabulary for storytelling. We also wanted to do something that used Terry’s background as a 3D artist animator. We knew if we were going to do a game with a small team, that we would be exploring jump cuts and cinematic in our editing. It would also be very content heavy, which would involve a lot of scenes, 3D art and character animation. We were a bit scared of pursuing dialogue and it worked out to be a very useful creative constraint as well – writing a narrative that wouldn’t have any spoken dialogue. All the story telling would be

in the editing and in the physical performance of the characters.” So far, Virginia has been received well critically with Metacritic scores ranging from 76 to 82. But Variable State was uncertain about how well the game would be received. “We probably thought it would do catastrophically,” Burroughs laughs. “We’re quite a pessimistic bunch. We were just aware that Virginia was an unusual game and would potentially only be of interest to a niche audience. So we had all those anxieties that have been confounded in quite a nice way. It’s done well in terms of formal critical reception. It’s been far more positive than I expected. I anticipated there might be some hostility because it’s light on game mechanics. It’s not about player choice – rather its about experiencing a new kind of story. People have been kind and appear to have taken away a lot from Virginia that we didn’t necessarily anticipate. In terms of its performance, because it’s published through 505 Games, I don’t yet have access to the sales figures. But the team there seems to be very happy with it, critically at least. “Fingers crossed it permits us to do more games in the future.”

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:18

MARKETPLACE

SHELF LIFE

George Stirling from XPG Canterbury highlights the challenges every indie games retailer face and explains why it led him to just stop selling video games to focus on board games – which also appeal to video gamers How has business been lately? Very good. The students are back, so we have an influx of a few thousands young people and we’re doing very well. You decided to stop selling video games – could you tell me a bit more about this decision? We were just doing very well out of ‘analog gaming’ and we didn’t really have competition. But we were not competitive enough on video games to really make much

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and so on, just wasn’t really costeffective for us as a retailer.

money out of it so we just moved away from it at the beginning of the summer and focused on tabletop gaming. Basically, with CeX and GAME in town, and online download being such a Steam thing... A lot of our market was just second-hand games and because we weren’t specialised particularly in it, we got slowly outmatched by CeX, because obviously they’re a big company. The kind of hassle of taking in second-hand games, having cash on side for it, valuing the games,

So what have been selling well recently? Magic the Gathering is what we mainly sell because we run events and do tournaments weekly. Obviously board games are kind of constant sellers for us as well. Do you sell a lot of video gamesbased board games? We sell a few, the XCOM one is a

There’s a big crossover between board and video gamers, who like the depth a board game can bring. George Stirling, XPG Canterbury

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12/10/2016 14:18

MARKETPLACE

XPG Canterbury 13A Borough, Canterbury CT1 2DR

very famous one that came out recently. The crossover tends to be alright – but it depends on how good the designer is. Sometimes they just want to literally take the theme of the video game and just paste it over a very generic board game. Every now and then there’s a very successful one that works very well, but there are games such as The Witcher where actually playing the board game itself is quite dry unless you’re really into the theme of The Witcher. I think the mechanics of the game

Phone: 01227 634041 Website: www.xpg.co.uk Email: canterbury@xpg.co.uk

tend to be put aside to just look at the aesthetics of it, unfortunately. Do you think board games and video games appeal to the same audience? I think there is a big crossover, but we do have a lot of ‘purists’ on either side. Obviously, we also have this middle ground of people, who tend to be PC gamers who like RTS games, who like the kind of depth that a board game can bring in a shorter span of time.

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01256 385 200

Koch Media

PS4/XO/PC

Fighting

Bandai Namco

0121 506 9585

Advantage

October 21st

October 25th Farming Simulator 17 October 28th Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Just Dance 2017

PS4/XO/Wii U/PS3/360/Wii Dance

Ubisoft

01279 822 822

Exertis

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence - Ascension

PS4

Strategy

Koei Tecmo

01462 476130

Open

Root Letter

PS4/Vita

Visual novel

PQube

01462 677 844

Open

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition

PS4/XO/PC

RPG

Bethesda

0121 506 9585

Advantage

Titanfall 2

PS4/XO/PC

FPS

01216 253 388

CentreSoft

World of Final Fantasy

PS4/Vita

RPG

Square Enix

01256 385 200

Koch Media

Yomawari: Night Alone & htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary

Vita

Survival horror

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Open

PS4/PS3

Fighting

PQube

01462 677 844

Open

November 4th BlazBlue: CentralFiction

www.mcvuk.com

26 27 MCV896 Retail_V3.indd 2

October 14th 2016

12/10/2016 14:18

MIMOCO

MIMOCO Mimoco has a wide range of mobile chargers and USB fl ash drives inspired by pop-culture characters. MCV speaks to CEO Evan Blaustein about the company’s offering and why it appeals to gamers

SINCE its creation in 2005, Mimoco has specialised in mobile chargers and USB flash drives that feature iconic characters from pop-culture franchises. “Our mission is to keep fans connected to their digital lifestyle by fusing loved characters with functional tech accessories,” CEO Evan Blaustein says. “We have teamed up with IT World Services for the distribution in the UK and Europe because they have in the last 20 years established a good

Mobile AR gaming is a big trend driving nonstop power usage for smartphone gamers. Evan Blaustein, Mimoco

reputation and long experience in the gaming field so it was natural for us to join forces.” The reason why retailers and gamers should be keen on Mimoco’s range is the increasing popularity of mobile gaming, Blaustein adds. “Mobile AR gaming, like Pokémon Go and Ingress, companion apps for console games, and general increased smartphone usage and reliance are the biggest trends driving non-stop power usage for smartphone gamers,” Blaustein

STAR WARS MIMOBOT USB FLASH DRIVES From a galaxy far, far away come Star Wars-themed MimoBots USB Flash Drives. Each MimoBot includes wallpapers, screensavers, avatars, sound software and desktop icons. There are over 16 different Star Wars characters to choose from. with 8, 16, 32 and 64GB capacities. SRP: £14.99-£49.99 Manufacturer: Mimoco Distributor: IT World Services Contact: 017538 21122

EINSTEIN MIMOBOT USB FLASH DRIVE

R2-D2 AND BB8 MIMOPOWERTUBE2

REY MIMOPOWERTUBE2

This one comes preloaded with MimoDesk personalisation suite of Einstein-themed wallpapers, icons and avatars.

With BB-8, we’ve found ourselves wishing we could have a rolling droid, but let’s not forget about R2D2, as both will save your smartphone from a low battery.

Rey is ready to lead the charge and keep your smartphone and other 5V USB powered devices from turning off.

SRP: £14.99-£49.99 Manufacturer: Mimoco Distributor: IT World Services Contact: 017538 21122

SRP: £19.99 each Manufacturer: Mimoco Distributor: IT World Services Contact: 017538 21122

SRP: £19.99 Manufacturer: Mimoco Distributor: IT World Services Contact: 017538 21122

October 14th 2016

28 29 MCV896 Margin Maker_V4.indd 1

www.mcvuk.com

12/10/2016 14:18

MIMOCO