4,5 MCV513_final:2-3 MCV461
11/11/08
16:12
Page 2
WWW.MCVUK.COM
MCV 14/11/08 5
NEWS
smashes records Christmas set to week ever for a football game in the UK
[PRE ORDERS]
drive Q4 bonanza
TOP 10
“We’re confident that this will be the biggest Q4 software sales performance in UK history,” he said. “Just looking at the installed base of the next-gen systems and the amount of heavy-hitting multi-format games coming out, it’s hard to see it going any other way. “The UK defies the economic pressure because
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR
GFK-CHARTTRACK has predicted that this year’s Christmas period will push the UK industry to its biggest Q4 ever in terms of both unit sales and value. The news comes in the week that a report from leading global sales monitor Top Global Markets showed software sales growth has flattened around the world –
360 ACTIVSION BLIZZARD
2. COD: WORLD AT WAR PS3 ............................ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
3. FOOTBALL MANAGER 2009 PC ....................................................SEGA
4. RESISTANCE 2 + GBP 3.00 VOUCHER PS3 ..................................................SONY
5. LEFT 4 DEAD 360 ......................................................EA
genre and we are continuing to work on new ways to excite the player through authenticity and gameplay innovation.” FIFA will now be backed with a season-long PR and marketing campaign, ensuring steady sales throughout 2009 – and marking it out as a firm Christmas No.1 contender. The news comes in the week that EA celebrated a whopping attendance for its Be The One event in Trafalgar
HOLMAN: Says FIFA success is down to latest game’s quality
Square on Halloween weekend. The publisher attracted over 60,000 people to the London Games Festival fixture – over double the number it pulled in during 2007. For our in-depth look at EA’s Be The One, turn to page 18
with just one per cent growth from Q2 to the July to September Q3 period. Japan in particular showed signs of decline, with software unit sales down 21 per cent from Q2. However, the GFKChartTrack director Dorian Bloch told MCV that the UK’s performance – with unit sales up 15 per cent on Q2 – bodes very well for publishers’ prospects during the festive season.
it’s a very, very strong gaming territory. “We fully expect UK consumers to drive sales for the full year to unprecedented heights, especially considering the line-up of exciting single and multi-format new franchises, not to mention the evergreen portfolio of Nintendo titles which have done a great job of expanding the market.” GFK-ChartTrack: 020 8741 7585
Rockstar races into UK malls ROCKSTAR is promoting its big Christmas release at shopping arcades across the UK – hitting a target audience of 4.3 million consumers. Midnight Club: Los Angeles’s eight-week shopping mall tour began at the Birmingham Bullring last month, and is still yet to reach the likes of the Newcastle Metro Centre, the Arndale Centre in Manchester and Bluewater in Kent. Rockstar has teamed up with Bauer Media to promote the tour, across brands including FHM, Kiss, Kerrang!, Zoo and Match – and temped consumers in with a competition to win a free car.
SHOPPING CLUB: The title is being shown off around the country
The publisher estimates the overall footfall it will get Midnight Club: Los Angeles in front of will top four million, all of whom will be
offered the chance to sample the game and win other prizes including T-shirts, caps, keychains, licence plate holders and seat belt covers.
General manager of Rockstar Games in Europe Neil Stephen told MCV: “This is an amazing opportunity for us to showcase the incredible gameplay and universal appeal of Midnight Club: Los Angeles to a huge number of people in addition to the loyal fan base in the lead up to Christmas. “We are extremely pleased with how well the game has been received so far and can’t wait to get even more people involved in all the excitement during the remaining stops of the tour.” Midnight Club: LA is out now on PS3, 360, with sister title LA Remix on PSP. Rockstar: 020 7751 2565
6. WOW: WRATH OF THE LICH PC ..............................ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
7. ROCK BAND 2 SOLUS 360 ......................................................EA
8. WOW: WRATH OF THE LICH: LT. ED PC ..............................ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
9. MIRROR’S EDGE 360 ......................................................EA
10. TOMB RAIDER: UNDERWORLD PS3..................................................EIDOS Week ending November 8th Source: SHOPTO.COM
[MARKET VALUE]
£57.8m 50
40
30
20
10
£41.8m
£47.3m
£57.8m
1,614,665 Units
1,869,095 Units
2,225,207 Units
Week Ending October 24th
Week Ending October 31st
Week Ending November 7th
0
Total UK Software Sales Source: ELSPA/ChartTrack and Intent Media