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NEWS
[LEADER] AN EVEN BREAK UNTIL WE KNOW what colour Government will be after May, there isn’t much left to say on Alistair Darling’s promise of a games development tax break. Yes, it was momentous that games – and no other industry – were singled out in the Budget as worthy of nurturing. Tiga and ELSPA (sorry, UKIE) should be likewise singled out for applause after lobbying so hard and presenting the industry so well to the people that matter during the last two years. Same goes for people like Ian Livingstone – you couldn’t interview the man of late without him (rightly) eloquently arguing for subsidies. This has been a provocative issue the industry passionately fought for. Well done. But right now the promise is still just that. There are still some uncertainties. The Government is about to dissolve before the election. We might have a different PM in a month. And after then, how long will the consultation period take? Can we help massage the tax break into 2011’s Finance Bill? Will the EC meddle? To what extent do we need to heed the ‘culturally British’ stipulation that such tax breaks hinge on? We simply don’t know yet. But in the wait for answers, the pressure is on the industry to not let any tax break message turn into one that says we were screwed until Darling gave us the nod. It’s that now with whatever government – red, blue or yellow – behind us, we can be even better as a games nation than ever before.
DIGITAL STIMULATION Activision spending £1m on marketing for the MW2 ‘Stimulus Package’ is a watershed moment. It might not seem like it, but let’s say that again. Activision is spending £1m (a million quid!) to promote some downloadable content. To put that into perspective: Sony spent £750,000 promoting God of War III. And that was a disc-based release. It even made it to No.1 in the charts last week off the back of that. DLC is not the novelty extra it was once considered. Check out our interview with Ben Feder on page 12 to see how important it is for Take-Two. Glance just to the right to see how David Reeves is championing it to sit at the heart of Capcom’s decision making. Sure, there’s the usual opportunities for retail to keep its finger in – points cards, online subs vouchers, branded faceplates, T-shirts. There’s money to be made here as the excitement splashes over the sides of the digital channel. But, ultimately, most of that money is being spent digitally. It’s another portent of the changes on the way. And I think it’s becoming more and more likely that the biggest games released outside of Christmas won’t necessarily be the ones released on disc. Michael.French@intentmedia.co.uk
Reform at Capcom calls Reeves from retirement Former SCEE boss in as COO for Capcom Europe Plans afoot to drive publisher’s DLC strategy and grow its market share MEET THE NEW BOSS: Former SCEE president David Reeves is now leading Capcom Europe
by Michael French CAPCOM EUROPE will quickly ramp up its DLC strategy and double its market share within the next few years under new COO David Reeves. The former SCEE president has been effectively called out of his retirement to head up the Japanese publisher’s European operation it was announced this week. As chief operating officer of Capcom Europe, Reeves has an active remit to pursue new growth areas for the publisher in the region. Previously Reeves was working as consultant for the publisher, but has stepped into the full time role following the sad passing of COO Mark Beaumont, who oversaw both the US and European operations. Reeves will have an active brief involved in all aspects of the business as it champions a ‘Europe for Europe’ strategy. “The new plan looks at what titles to go for, which countries to expand into, and how quickly we move into the era in which games are network delivered, looking at the detail of greenlight process, and to
some extent the structure of our teams in Europe, Middle East and Africa,” he told MCV. Dramatic restructuring isn’t necessary, he said – the firm just needs to plan ahead for the digital era. “The people at Capcom are already first class,” said Reeves. “It’s just a case of pointing them in the right direction for
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game and keep it going every three months with DLC,” Reeves added. “We need to get into that and market the great IPs that we have digitally as well as we do on disc. That’s where we’re heading for. “Capcom has seen how its contemporaries in the industry have been very profitable
Capcom hasn’t yet embraced the model where you release a game and keep it going with downloadable content. David Reeves, Capcom Europe
the future, whereas before it was run out of the US. Now it’s Europe for Europe. “Our market share is currently about two per cent now and we at least want to double that over the next four to five years. But we have to keep pace in digital where Capcom probably doesn’t even have a two per cent market share. That’s where the emphasis will have to be. “Capcom hasn’t been reluctant to go digital, but it hasn’t really embraced the model where you release a
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adding DLC or doing whole games as DLC.” But Capcom will remain Capcom at heart – famous for key franchises like Resident Evil and Street Fighter. Said Reeves: “Capcom will not change its DNA – it will be very true to the games it knows it can deliver. But at the same time we are looking for opportunities, particularly in the USA and Europe, where we can make an impact with games developed in-house but of the top quality.” Capcom: 020 8846 2566