MCV824 February 27th by Future PLC

FREEDOM TO PLAY

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES ISSUE 824 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 27TH 2015

THE ACCESSIBILITY FIRMS OPENING UP GAMING TO EVERYONE P20

WONDER WOMEN

IN PICTURES: The ﬁrst ever Women of the Year awards brings together over 100 inﬂuential women working in the British games industry P44 PR veteran Simon Byron joins Curve

Record year for LEGO games

by Ben Parﬁtt

by Christopher Dring

PREMIER PR’s Simon Byron is leaving the company to make a jump into publishing. The former journalist turned PR guru will join Curve Digital in July as publishing director. Curve now claims to be the largest publisher of indie games on consoles in the world. “I’ve been fortunate to have a career full of dream jobs – but joining Curve is genuinely

the dreamiest,” Byron said. “I’m really excited about working with some of the biggest names in game development and bringing new titles to console audiences. “I leave the Premier team in incredibly rude health and can’t wait to watch their continued success.” As a result of the move, Gareth Williams has been promoted to senior account director for games at Premier. Byron will remain at the ﬁrm until the end of June.

PLUS DON BRADMAN CRICKET

The LEGO video game franchise has existed since the launch of LEGO video games generated LEGO Island in 1997, but did not £42m at UK retail last year, MCV become the smash hit it is today can reveal. until Traveller’s Tales launched This means that LEGO was LEGO Star Wars the UK’s fourth most successful in 2005. physical games brand in 2014, LEGO is behind FIFA, Call of Duty and currently the sixth Grand Theft Auto. most successful The franchise’s sales were up games brand in 26.9 per cent in units last year UK history (1995 compared with 2013, while revenue to 2014). All data courtesy of increased by 43.1 per cent. GfK Chart-Track The sharp increase is due to the release of three major LEGO titles – The LEGO Movie Videogame, LEGO Hobbit and LEGO Batman 3.

MOULDY TOOF’S BREAKOUT HIT: THE ESCAPISTS

CHEAT SHEET

Take-Two and Call of Duty shine in poor February for games retail

Market Data The market is slightly down week-on-week thanks to a lower number of big releases

By Christopher Dring

£15m

TAKE-TWO was the UK’s most successful games publisher in February thanks to the launch of Evolve and the continued popularity of GTA V. But it was Activision that had the bestselling game, with Call of Duty: Advanced

£10m

£8m 308,762 units

£11.9m 400,994 units

£11.4m 392,685 units

Week Ending Week Ending Week Ending Feb 14th Jan 31st Feb 14th

Warfare scoring another No.1. The game has now sold well over 2m copies in the UK. Yet overall, it was a poor month (January 25th to February 21st) for games. 1.38m games were sold, a decline of over seven per cent year-on-year. Software sales generated just over £39m for the period. Data courtesy of GfK Chart-Track.

CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC

Evolve PS4, XO, PC

Grand Theft Auto V PS4, XO, PS3, 360

FIFA 15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS, Vita, PC

Far Cry 4 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D 3DS

The Order: 1886 PS4

Minecraft: Xbox Edition XO, 360

Assassin’s Creed Unity PS4, XO, PC

Minecraft: PlayStation Edition PS4, PS3, Vita

ACTIVISION BLIZZARD 2K Games Rockstar EA Ubisoft Nintendo Sony Microsoft Ubisoft Sony

UK RETAIL TOP 10

THE ORDER 1886

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Evolve

Far Cry 4

Grand Theft Auto V

FIFA 15

Minecraft: Xbox Edition

Microsoft

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D

Nintendo

Minecraft: PlayStation Edition

Destiny

SONY Activision Blizzard 2K Games Ubisoft Rockstar EA

Sony Activision Blizzard

SPONSORED BY

Number of physical game stores rose in 2014 AFTER years of decline, the number of physical shops selling games increased in 2014. 5,665 stores sold video game products last year, according to the Entertainment Retailer’s Association’s Yearbook. That’s an increase of 1.3 per cent year-on-year. And that number does not include every indie retailer, either. The surprise growth in physical stores has also impacted other markets. The number of DVD and Blu-ray retailers rose

18.8 per cent, while music stores increased by 20.4 per cent. The success of movies and music is due to the rise in the number of supermarket convenience stores. There has also been an increase in the number of digital stores. ERA says there are now 22 UK-based digital games retailers. ERA CEO Kim Bayley said: “This is an extraordinary result which means that UK consumers have a greater choice of outlets from which to buy music, video and games than ever before.”

PRE-ORDER TOP 10

DYING LIGHT + HANDBOOK & DLC (PS4) WARNER BROS

Amiibo Wario (Wii U)

Dying Light + Handbook & DLC (Xbox One) Warner Bros

Bloodborne (PS4)

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD + FF XV demo (PS4) Square Enix

Amiibo Charizard (Wii U)

Nintendo

Amiibo Toad (Wii U)

Nintendo

Battleﬁeld Hardline + Versatility DLC (PS4)

Battleﬁeld Hardline + Versatility DLC (XO)

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (New 3DS)

February 27th 2015

Nintendo Sony

In 2014, GAME opened its secondhand stores GameTronics

Nintendo

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CHEAT SHEET

THE EDITOR THE BATTLE FOR THE ‘MID-CORE’

hy are UK gamers so averse to spending money this year? It’s a question we’ve been asked, in varying forms, several times. And the answers are numerous: these consumers just spent lots on their consoles and they received loads of games with them. There actually haven’t been many games. And the ones that have been released have not always been up to scratch. These are all legitimate answers. But I have another theory: players are buying less because they want fewer titles. Many of today’s biggest games – Destiny, Grand Theft Auto V and Minecraft – have online modes and gameplay that last hundreds of hours, and are constantly updated. There have been titles like this before, of course, but whereas fans can blast through a few matches of FIFA or Call of Duty in 20 minutes, these new games demand serious time investment. Is it any surprise gamers are thinking twice about buying the likes of Evolve when they just spent all night trying and failing to complete a Raid in Destiny? It may sound like I’m advocating the need for fewer games – far from it. But if all the big publishers are making 1,000-hour gaming epics, is it any wonder there are fewer hardcore players around to buy the next major title? What is imperative at this delicate stage in the life of PS4 and Xbox One is bringing in a broader breed of gamer. I’m not talking about the Wii crowd, but the in-between groups – what

Allstar Game’s Wang is splashing £6.5m on marketing in Europe during 2015

Chinese mobile games giant plots £2.6m UK invasion By Alex Calvin CHINESE mobile games publisher Allstar Games will launch in the UK this year, and is splashing $4m (£2.6m) on the venture. The ﬁrm’s debut release will be mobile action strategy title Allstar Heroes for iOS and Android. The $4m spend is designed to promote both Allstar Games and Allstar Heroes. During 2015, the publisher will put $10m (£6.5m) behind its marketing across Europe. “We are aiming to become the global top-tier mobile game platform. Allstar Heroes is the best mobile game in Asian market at the moment,” said Allstars Games vice president Bea Wang. “We’re planning to make an initial investment of $4m in the UK market, and will continue to invest to make our launches successful. We have a lot of conﬁdence in Allstar Heroes’ ability to be our breakthrough launch in new markets.”

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She continued: “The global mobile market has become extremely competitive, particularly since 2013. Traditional marketing, such as Facebook and Google Adwords, is still very important, however, if game developers and publishers only focus on these channels, then it is rather risky, since competition is fiercer than ever. This requires us to find new ways of reaching our target audience. We therefore decided not only to focus on online promotions, but offline activity, too. Over the next 12 months we’ll be looking at a range of other marketing methods to engage with new and existing players, including experiential events and a one-off cosplay competition. “In China, traditionally, publishers don’t have huge budgets to spend on advertising, but we’re now seeing more mobile publishers advertising on TV, and we also intend to go down this route, too.”

If everyone is making 1,000-hour games, is it any wonder there are fewer hardcore players around to buy the next major title? the mobile industry has termed the ‘mid-core’. Smartphone game creators are doing a wonderful job of attracting this crowd right now, with titles like Clash of Clans – games that are a little more advanced than Candy Crush but not as in-depth as, say, Watch Dogs. The console space needs to make a move on this market as well. The expected announcements of a new Guitar Hero and Rock Band (two of the industry’s worst-kept secrets) are exactly what consoles could do with. Games that don’t require hundreds of hours, where people can play together and are a little more involved than just waving your hands around. This is the crucial battleground in gaming today. Not who wins over the casual player (the mobile market has that sewn up) or who controls the hardcore fans (they’re playing online via Steam or Xbox Line or PSN), but rather who can win over everyone in-between. cdring@nbmedia.com

February 27th 2015

CAN WARNER BROS KEEP IT UP?

THE RISE OF WARNER BROS Six years ago, Warner Bros didn’t even exist in video games. Today, it is on the brink of becoming one of the UK’s five biggest publishers after its most successful year yet. Can it keep it up? MCV investigates

t might be easy to dismiss the success of Warner Bros’ video games division. Warner is an entertainment powerhouse with billion-dollar brands like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Batman. It can attract the biggest talent and spend significant sums of money to secure it. But that counts for nothing in video games. Just ask Disney, or Paramount, or BBC, or Fox. These are four major entertainment businesses that have learnt the hard way that big brands and big budgets count for nothing in an industry as tricky as games. Not even Warner has found it easy; there have been plenty of flops, poor movie tie-ins and several false dawns along the way. But a few shrewd acquisitions, and the creation of a small but

Batman is Warner Bros’ most popular gaming brand

THE WARNER BROS TOP TEN UK UNIT RANK

UK REVENUE RANK

TITLE

MAIN STUDIO

FIRST RELEASE (UK)

FORMATS

LEGO Batman: The Videogame

Traveller’s Tales (UK)

October 10th 2008

360/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP/PS2/PC

Batman: Arkham City

Rocksteady (UK)

October 21st 2011

360/PS3/PC

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

Traveller’s Tales (UK)

November 15th 2013

360/PS3/3DS/WiiU/VITA/PC/XO/PS4/DS

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Traveller’s Tales (UK)

June 25th 2010

360/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP/PC

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Traveller’s Tales (UK)

June 22nd 2012

360/PS3/Wii/DS/3DS/VITA/PC/WiiU

Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor

Monolith (USA)

October 3rd 2014

360/XO/PS3/PS4/PC

Batman: Arkham Origins

WB Game Montreal (Canada)

January 30th 2014

360/PS3/VITA/3DS/PC/WiiU

LEGO The Lord of the Rings

Traveller’s Tales (UK)

November 23rd 2012

360/PS3/DS/3DS/VITA/PC/Wii

The LEGO Movie Videogame

Traveller’s Tales (UK)

February 14th 2014

360/PS3/3DS/Wii U/VITA/PC/XO/PS4

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Traveller’s Tales (UK)

November 18th 2011

360/PS3/Wii/DS/3DS/PSP/PC/VITA

“The first products under this publisher in the UK were Looney Tunes: ACME Arsenal and Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck, back in December 2007,” explains Chart-Track director Dorian Bloch. “This is

February 27th 2015

not including titles that were published prior to 2007 by other publishers – including Justice League Heroes, Eidos, 2006. “The first LEGO title published by Warner was LEGO Batman in October 2008, the year after

Warner acquired [developer] Traveller’s Tales. This title was a huge success, as you can see from the chart (above). “In 2009 the Batman Arkham series debuted. The first title in the series was Batman: Arkham

Asylum, which was published by Eidos. It has not been included in the Warner Top 10 all-time list. “The publisher’s all-time UK topselling titles – the Top 10 units and revenue – are actually the same ten titles, the order differs slightly.”

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CAN WARNER BROS KEEP IT UP?

talented games team, have paid dividends, and last year Warner Bros emerged as the UK’s sixth largest games publisher. 2014 IN REVIEW Not that last year got off to the best start. Arkham Knight – the crown jewel in Warner’s line-up – suffered a significant delay until 2015, as did its ambitious action title Mad Max. That left the publisher with lesserknown Lord of the Rings spinoff Shadow of Mordor and a slate of LEGO titles to carry its 2014 ambitions. Yet, despite the high-profile delays, Warner still delivered its best market share so far, accounting for more than seven per cent of all boxed games sold last year in the UK. The LEGO titles continued their relentless success, 10 years after LEGO Star Wars first launched. In 2014, £42m was generated from the LEGO franchise thanks to three games – The LEGO Movie, LEGO The Hobbit and LEGO Batman 3. That’s more than 43 per cent up year-over-year. For 2014, the LEGO games were the fourth most lucrative video game franchise behind FIFA, Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto (all information courtesy of GfK Chart-Track). Meanwhile, Shadow of Mordor was Warner Bros’ surprise package. Although the publisher will insist it was always quietly confident about its Middle-earth game, Lord of the Rings tie-ins (LEGO ones aside) had thus far been relatively niche successes. Shadow of Mordor was both a commercial and critical darling. The game – regularly compared to Ubisoft’s mega-selling Assassin’s Creed series – won eight DICE awards and has been nominated for multiple BAFTAs. There will almost certainly be a sequel. THE NEXT STEP Warner Bros’ next aim is to break into the Top Five publisher rankings and, barring any major delays, 2015 could well prove to be that year. www.mcvuk.com

LEGO will, once again, play a pivotal role in this. Warner will publish two LEGO movie tie-ins; the first is around Jurassic World in June, with a LEGO Avengers title due at the end of the year. It would make sense that Warner would look to create a new LEGO Star Wars around the upcoming seventh movie, too. But Warner does not always release LEGO games to coincide with a cinematic counterpart – the upcoming LEGO Avengers is scheduled for Autumn, while the film is out in April. Although LEGO may play the largest role, whether Warner Bros can crack that Top Five will come down to its triple-A brands. The biggest one is

COMING SOON... DYING LIGHT Out: February 27th Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC This new IP from the creators of Dead Island allows players to utilise parkour in a zombieinfested city

LEGO NINJAGO: SHADOW OF RONIN Out: March 27th Platforms: Vita, 3DS The third game based on the LEGO sub-brand, Shadow of Ronin is a sequel to 2014 title Nindroids

MORTAL KOMBAT X Out: April 14th Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One The tenth game in the infamous and violent beat ‘em up series, MKX features a new combat mode

In 2014, £42m was generated from the LEGO franchise thanks to three games – The LEGO Movie, LEGO The Hobbit and LEGO Batman 3. This was up more than 43 per cent year-on-year.

BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT Out: June 2nd Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC UK studio Rocksteady concludes its hugely popular Batman Arkham trilogy with the follow-up to Asylum and City

LEGO JURASSIC WORLD Out: June 20th Platforms: PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Vita, 3DS, Wii U, PC The upcoming LEGO title follows the plot of all four Jurassic Park films

Batman: Arkham Knight. The game’s predecessor, Batman: Arkham City, is Warner Bros’ second most successful game in its history, so a lot hinges on its follow-up. It’s already picked up numerous awards at the likes of E3, while UK retailers voted it the most anticipated game of 2015 in last year’s MCV retail survey. It’s due to arrive on June 2nd. On top of this, there’s the Mad Max game, created by Just Cause developer Avalanche; new zombie IP Dying Light and the latest in the hit Mortal Kombat franchise, set for release in April. If these titles can live up to their expectations, then it feels inevitable that Warner Bros will end the year amongst the biggest games publishers.

LEGO MARVEL AVENGERS Out: Autumn Platforms: PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Vita, 3DS, Wii U, PC Following LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, this game tells the story from both Avengers films

MAD MAX Out: TBC 2015 Platforms: PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC The vehicle combat title is being developed by the team behind Just Cause

February 27th 2015

MARKETING

CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK THIS WEEK: RESIDENT EVIL REVELATIONS 2

[INFO] Formats: PS4, Xbox One, PS3, 360, PC Released: March 20th Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Distributor: CentreSoft Contact: 01216 253 388

AHEAD of Revelation 2’s March boxed release, Capcom has been promoting the title via a series of PR events, including a UK premiere in January. The publisher has also been fully utilising its social media channels, with particular focus put on the Resident Evil Facebook page, which has nearly 6.5 million likes. Capcom has also supported retail with exclusive pre-order packs, and speciﬁc partnerships in place with several outlets. Post-launch, Capcom will support Revelations 2 by utilising targeted promoted posts across social media sites, bolstered by a nationwide online campaign.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

ANTOINE MOLANT Head of Marketing, Capcom

REVELATIONS 2 is a scary Resident Evil that takes the series back to its roots, but which was also created matching today’s standards. It’s a great mix of old and new – exactly what the fans want to see. We have improved Raid mode greatly, with more stages, weapons, characters, skills and gameplay options. This will be supported post launch with regular new challenges, events and additional content, allowing for a very long lifecycle. We are very conﬁdent about Revelations 2, given current preorder numbers and overall buzz.

THE CHANGING FACE OF TV ADVERTISING TARGETING This week, GameTime looks at the expansion of TV advertising beyond the stereotypical ‘gamer’ 2015 YTD

Q4 2014

140

12%

TVRs (Individuals)

120

-11%

-9%

-37%

Male 16-34

Women 16-34

Children

100 80 60 40 20 0

THE male 16 to 34 audience has long been thought of as the traditional heartland of ‘gamers’, and TV advertising for games and consoles has often followed suit. However, recent years have seen a shift in focus. A good measure of this shift is analysing the TVR

Although the conversion ﬁgures look relatively low for Q4, it must be remembered that this audience is among the most expensive to reach on TV. As such, advertisers often employ alternative access routes. Conversely, aﬃnity for the housewives audience has increased

conversion of the total games and consoles market. Between Q4 2014 and 2015 to date, the conversion of the male 16 to 34 audience has fallen when comparing the two periods, as triple-A titles become conspicuous by their absence.

Housewives

by double digits as mobile properties ﬂood the market. The strategy employed by many of these focuses primarily on the low cost airtime available during traditionally non-peak hours, which reaches a large number of housewives for a relatively low cost.

MCV GameTime is provided by Generation Media 0207 255 4650 | www.generationmedia.co.uk

February 27th 2015

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MARKETING

BRAND PROFILE BLADESTORM Koei Tecmo’s Marilena Papacosta tells us about the rebooted strategy title BLADESTORM is a strategy/ troop command IP developed by Omega Force. The original title, Bladestorm: the Hundred Years War, was released in 2007 for PS3 and, as the title implies, was inspired from real events and battles of the era dubbed ‘the Hundred Years War’, a conﬂict that raged between 1337 and 1453. Players were called to take the role of a mercenary and choose

unstable periods in European history and allows the player to assume command of different kinds of troops and army units, while also offering them the opportunity to develop their own unique character, increase their fame, gold, and private armies and complete various missions irrespective of sides and loyalty. The new instalment will also include a mode called Nightmare, featuring a scenario in an original fantasy setting not based on historical events. In the mode, Joan of Arc appears in the battlefield leading an army of mythical

to ﬁght either for England or for France in various missions. Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War was very well received by fans and its ‘troop commander’ action system set it apart from similar titles at the time. Nearly eight years later comes the release of Bladestorm: Nightmare, a re-boot of the franchise on the PS4, PS3 (digital only) and Xbox One – coming to the UK on March 20th. A PC version for Steam was recently announced and is expected in May 2015. Nightmare revisits one of the lengthiest and most politically

creatures (giants, dragons and demons). The new mode allows control of an additional 32 playable characters, based both on fictional and prominent historical figures of the time. The player can choose whether to fight for gold and fame or to restore Joan of Arc to her former self. As a historical strategy game with added action elements, Bladestorm: Nightmare aims to re-establish the franchise on the new generation of platforms, as well as open up the IP to a completely new audience with the PC version for Steam.

SERIOUS ABOUT

GAMING SERIOUS ABOUT

ACCESSORIES

Web: www.venomuk.com Phone: +44 (0)1763 284181

www.mcvuk.com

Email: darren.scott@venomuk.com sam.phipps@venomuk.com tom.hodge@venomuk.com

Venom UK Gaming @VenomGamingUK

w w w. v e n o m u k . c o m

February 27th 2015

ESPORTS PRO

eSPORTS ROUND-UP THIS WEEK’S BIGGEST NEWS FIRST UK ESPORTS ARENA OPENS NEXT MONTH Gﬁnity teams up with Vue cinemas for 600-seater venue in London

UPCOMING EVENTS

MAY 22ND – 24TH ESL UK PREMIERSHIP MCM Expo, London Excel, London, UK The ESL UK Premiership, the company’s largest tournament since 2010, has been announced. The competition will give UK-only Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends players the chance to win £12,000. The tournaments will be spread over two months of online brackets, to culminate in offline finals at London MCM Comic Con in front of an expected 110,000 spectators.

JUNE 20TH – 21ST ESL ONE FRANKFURT Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany ESL’s Dota 2 competition returns to the Commerzbank-Arena. Players will compete for a $150,000 prize pool at what has been described as the biggest Dota 2 tournament in the world. The money on oﬀer may even rise via community contributions.

GFINITY has confirmed that the UK’s first dedicated eSports arena will be opened next month. It will be called the Gfinity Arena and will be located inside Fulham Broadway’s Vue Cinema. Up to 600 spectators will be accomodated. An eSports section will be added to the Vue website. “This is an exciting time for everyone involved in eSports in

the UK,” Gﬁnity co-founder and CEO Neville Upton said. “The deal ensures we can accommodate larger crowds as the boom in the popularity of eSports as a spectator sport continues to grow.” Vue’s UK MD Kevin Styles added: “Vue prides itself on being at the forefront of cinema. This collaboration with Gﬁnity heralds a new era for eSports in the UK.”

D!ngIt takes on Twitch with eSports schedule LIVE streaming newcomer D!ngIt. TV has announced a weekly rota of tournaments for five eSports titles, in a bid to establish itself as a serious competitor to Twitch. The microtournaments, held every day of the week from the end of February, will offer up to $8,500 per month to winners of CounterStrike: Global Offensive, Dota 2,

Hearthstone, StarCraft 2 and Heroes of the Storm championships. Tournaments will range from twice-weekly CS:GO events to weekly Heroes of the Storm ‘King of the Hill’ competitions. Winning in the latter event type will initially net players $25, with an extra $25 won every week they remain the top-ranked player.

ESL to host $250,000 CS:GO tournament ESL has announced the ‘world’s largest’ Counter-Strike: Global Oﬀensive tournament, to be held this August in Cologne’s LANXESS arena with a $250,000 prize pool. The event, running from August 22nd to 23rd, will tie for the largest prize pool in CS:GO history with the previous two DreamHack Winters and 2014’s ESL One in Cologne.

However, this year the entire event is being funded from ESL’s own pocket, as opposed to a community-contributed prize pool. Ulrich Schulze, managing director of pro gaming at ESL, suggested that this was proof of the company’s dedication to developing CS:GO as a staple eSports title.

A NEW OUTLET FOR eSPORTS A new channel on MCVuk.com dedicated to competitive gaming Written by experts, and guided by an advisory board of insiders Supported by a twice-weekly email newsletter sent to over 10,000 execs Get on the mailing list - email eSportsPro@nbmedia.com to register Sponsorship packages available - email ctallon@nbmedia.com for details

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

PES VET MURPHY JOINS SPORTS INTERACTIVE Patel leaves Amazon O Gangat swaps PR for events O Two new hires to Hutch board SPORTS INTERACTIVE | The Football Manager firm has hired JON MURPHY. Murphy is best known as being senior European brand manager for Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series. He worked on the IP for 16 years, but left last October. His appointment was announced by SI boss Miles Jacobson on Twitter. Murphy will work as global brand manager for Football Manager Online. AMAZON UK | The online retailer’s category leader for video games and software KETU

firm’s account with peripherals company Razer. Before Super M, Gangat worked at PQube and Koei Tecmo in account management roles. “I am very excited to be a part of Legends of Gaming Live, as having heard about it, I couldn’t let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass me by,” Gangat told MCV. “It’s an event that is going to bring the various gaming communities, YouTubers, brands and publishers together.”

PATEL has left. Speaking with MCV’s sister title PCR, Patel said he was going to be working in ‘a different role in a different industry’. Patel joined Amazon in 2009 as head of commercial finance, before moving to the role of category leader for video games and software in August 2011. SUPER M | Freelance PR and event manager ABID GANGAT has left PR firm Super M. He has moved to Upper Street Events as senior sales executive where he will be working on new event Legends of Gaming Live. Gangat worked at Super M for two years and handled the

HUTCH | Following investment from venture capital firms Index Ventures and Initial Capital, mobile development

firm Hutch has appointed Index’s BEN HOLMES (left) and Initial Capital’s KEN LAMB (top right) to its Board of directors. Lamb and Holmes have previously invested in King, Supercell, Playfish and Mind Candy. “We’re thrilled to have Ken Lamb and Ben Holmes join our Board in time for the launch of MMX Racing Multiplayer,” Hutch’s CEO and co-founder SHAUN RUTLAND said. “The investment and strategic support from both Index and Initial have been enormously valuable to Hutch as we lay the foundations for a very big year ahead.”

AROUND THE INDUSTRY YOYO | Online gaming and betting firm PlayTech has bought GameMaker tools owner YoYo Games. The software firm was purchased for £10.65m, with the possibility of an additional £3.4m being paid out depending on performance. It also seems that YoYo Games CEO Sandy Duncan has stepped down from the firm, according to his LinkedIn and Twitter profiles. THE OUTSIDERS | Ex-DICE developers David Goldfarb and Ben Cousins have opened a new studio in Sweden called The Outsiders. Goldfarb is working as chief creative officer, while Cousins is the firm’s CEO. The developer is working on a new RPG for PC. Goldfarb previously worked on Payday 2 as game director.

February 27th 2015

TWITCH | The live-streaming firm has announced its first annual conference, TwitchCon. The event will be held in San Francisco on September 25th and 26th. “TwitchCon will be an opportunity for the entire community – broadcasters, game developers, viewers, and us – to play and learn together,” Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said. TENCENT | Chinese mobile and web firm Tencent now holds a majority stake in Swiss online game company Miniclip. Tencent already holds a majority stake in League of Legends creator Riot, as well as a minority stake in Epic Games. In addition to this, it is an investor in publisher Activision Blizzard.

www.mcvuk.com

EDITORIAL CONTACTS

EDITORIAL CONTACTS Christopher Dring Editor

Michael French Publisher

cdring@nbmedia.com

mfrench@nbmedia.com

Ben Parﬁtt Associate Editor

Alex Boucher Group Sales Manager

bparﬁtt@nbmedia.com

aboucher@nbmedia.com

Alex Calvin Staﬀ Writer

Conor Tallon Account Manager

acalvin@nbmedia.com

ctallon@nbmedia.com

Matt Jarvis Staﬀ Writer

Sam Richwood Designer

mjarvis@nbmedia.com

srichwood@nbmedia.com

Production Executive: Elizabeth Parker eparker@nbmedia.com

Finance Manager: Michael Canham mcanham@nbmedia.com

Head of Operations: Stuart Moody smoody@nbmedia.com

Head of Design and Production: Kelly Sambridge ksambridge@nbmedia.com

Circulation: Lianne Davey ldavey@nbmedia.com

your brand brand here here PROMOTE YOUR JOB EVERY WEEK THROUGH MCV PRINT AND ONLINE CONTACT CONOR TALON FOR MORE INFORMATION 01992 535 647 OR EMAIL CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM

Saxon House, 6a St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire, England SG14 1JA Newbay Media specialises in tradededicated print and digital publishing for entertainment and leisure markets. As well as MCV, Newbay publishes Develop, PCR, ToyNews, Music Week, MI Pro, Audio Pro International and BikeBiz. It also has two onlineonly brands: Mobile Entertainment, dedicated to the growing mass market smartphone sector, and Licensing.biz, for everyone in the global licensing industry. It also runs a number of events including the MCV Industry Excellence Awards, the London Games Conference and the Games Media Awards.

US Correspondent Erik Johnson ejohnson@nbmedia.com

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THE RETAIL ADVISORY BOARD MCV takes soundings from its Retail Advisory Board on the biggest issues in the industry. The current members are...

Charlotte Knight GAME

Steve Moore Simply Games

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Jon Hayes Tesco

Sarah Jasper The Hut

Gurdeep Hunjan Simon Urquhart Sainsbury’s Microsoft

Phil Moore Grainger Games

Robert Lindsay Games Centre

Igor Cipolletta ShopTo

Dermot Stapleton Get Games

Niall Lawlor GameStop

Stephen Staley Robert Hennessy Paul Sulyok Gameseek John Lewis Green Man Gaming

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February 27th 2015

DATA ANALYSIS Source Games and Charts compiled by GfK Chart-Track

DATA & RESEARCH Sony scores its ﬁrst No.1 since last year’s The Last of Us Remastered with The Order 1886 ANOTHER week, another new IP at the top of the boxed charts. This week it’s SONY’s new shooter, The Order 1886. This is the ﬁrst No.1 the publisher has had since last August’s The Last of Us Remastered. The Order deposes last week’s number one, 2K GAMES’ Evolve which falls to third place with a 66 per cent decline in sales this week. Far Cry 4 rises three places to No.4 as a result of a retailer promotion. UBISOFT’s open world shooter saw a sales increase of 28 per cent week-on-week. Meanwhile The Last of Us Remastered returns to the charts in 22nd place. This is likely the

result of Argos’ PlayStation 4 bundle last week, which included both this game and The Order. Last week was also half term, which resulted in a great sales period for Minecraft. The PlayStation Edition rose two places to No.9 with 27 per cent more units sold week-onweek. Meanwhile the Xbox Edition rose one position to seventh place with a sales boost of 31 per cent. Minecraft also topped the iPhone, iPad and Android charts. And there’s a new title at the top of the Steam charts, too. The latest version entry in the Total War series – Attila debuts in ﬁrst place. Attila also appears in 21st place in the boxed charts.

TOP 10 STEAM (GLOBAL)

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 02 05 06 03 02 01 07 RE RE

TOTAL WAR: ATTILA PUBLISHER: SEGA DEVELOPER: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY

TITLE PUBLISHER H1Z1 Daybreak Game Company Grand Theft Auto V (P) Rockstar Counter-Strike: Global Oﬀensive Valve Dying Light Warner Bros Darkest Dungeon Red Hook Studios Evolve 2K Games Besiege Spiderling Studios Total War: Rome II – Emperor Edition Sega Garry’s Mod Facepunch

TOP 40 UK RETAIL 01 TW 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 03 01 07 05 06 08 02 11 10 09 04 13 15 18 12 16 17 20 14 NEW RE 29 30 24 19 NEW 36 27 33 31 23 26 22 25 21 34 37 32 38

THE ORDER 1886 SONY FORMATS: PS4

Title Format Publisher Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard Evolve PS4, XO, PC 2K Games Far Cry 4 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Ubisoft Grand Theft Auto V PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Rockstar FIFA 15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS, Vita, PC EA Minecraft: Xbox Edition XO, 360 Microsoft The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D 3DS Nintendo Minecraft: PlayStation Edition PS4, PS3, Vita Sony Destiny PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard Assassin’s Creed Unity PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate 3DS Nintendo WWE 2K15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360 2K Games LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, DS, PC Warner Bros Terraria PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC 505 Games/Merge The Crew PS4, XO, 360, PC Ubisoft Disney Inﬁnity 2.0 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Disney Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Warner Bros Forza Horizon 2 XO, 360 Microsoft Call of Ghosts: Ghosts PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard Total War Attila PC Sega The Last of Us: Remastered PS4 Sony LEGO Marvel Super Heroes PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, DS, PC Warner Bros Halo: The Master Chief Collection XO Microsoft Super Smash Bros Wii U, 3DS Nintendo Watch Dogs PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Ubisoft Dead or Alive 5 Last Round PS4, XO Koei Tecmo The LEGO Movie Videogame PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, DS, PC Warner Bros Rugby 15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Big Ben Skylanders Trap Team PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS Activision Blizzard Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA Dragon Age Inquisition PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA Just Dance 2015 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed Rogue PS3, 360 Ubisoft The Evil Within PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Bethesda Saints Row IV Re-elected and Gat out of Hell PS4, XO Deep Silver NBA 2K15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360 2K Games Pokémon Omega Ruby 3DS Nintendo Football Manager 2015 PC Sega Tomodachi Life 3DS Nintendo

Week ending February 21st

February 27th 2015

DEVELOPER: READY AT DAWN

Week ending February 21st

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DATA ANALYSIS Source

TOP 10 IPAD PAID

TOP 40 INDIVIDUAL FORMAT

THE ORDER 1886 SONY FORMAT: PS4

DEVELOPER: READY AT DAWN

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

LW 02 03 01 05 07 06 12 08 10 22 04 11 14 13

Title Evolve Evolve The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Far Cry 4 Grand Theft Auto V Minecraft: Xbox Edition Grand Theft Auto V Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate FIFA 15 Far Cry 4 FIFA 15

Format XO PS4 3DS PS4 PS4 PS4 360 XO XO 360 3DS PS4 PS4 XO

Publisher 2K Games 2K Games Nintendo Activision Blizzard Ubisoft Rockstar Microsoft Rockstar Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard Nintendo EA Ubisoft EA

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

20 NEW 19 RE RE

Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Total War Atitila Minecraft: Xbox Edition The Last of Us Remastered Forza Horizon 2 Assassin’s Creed Unity Halo: The Master Chief Collection Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Far Cry 4 Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Terraria FIFA 15 Destiny Assassin’s Creed Unity Far Cry 4 The Crew Disney Inﬁnity 2.0 Dead or Alive 5: Last Round Destiny LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Call of Duty: Ghosts Pokémon Omega Ruby Football Manager 2015 Tomodachi Life Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

PS3 PC XO PS3 XO PS4 XO PS4 360 PS4 360 360 PS4 XO PS3 PS4 360 PS4 XO 360 PS3 3DS PC 3DS PS4

Sony Sega Microsoft Sony Microsoft Ubisoft Microsoft Activision Blizzard Ubisoft Sony 505 Games EA Activision Blizzard Ubisoft Ubisoft Ubisoft Disney Koei Tecmo Activision Blizzard Warner Bros Activision Blizzard Nintendo Sega Nintendo Warner Bros

15 25 17 29 24 34 18 21 16 39 23 37 NEW 28 35 32 30 26 36 31

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

MINECRAFT – POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

TITLE The Chase Alto’s Adventure Dino Tales Peppa Pig’s Holiday Tipping Point Terraria Flightradar24 – Flight Tracker Colin McRae Rally Plague Inc

DEVELOPER Barnstorm Snowman Kuato Games P2 Games Barnstorm 505 Games Flightradar24 Codemasters Ndemic

Week ending: February 22nd

TOP 10 IPHONE PAID

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

MINECRAFT — POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

TITLE Heads Up! Alto’s Adventure The Chase Ski Tracks – GPS Track Recorder Afterlight DVSA Theory Test The Oﬃcial DVSA Theory Test Kit Tipping Point Geometry Dash

DEVELOPER Warner Bros Snowman Barnstorm Core Coders Afterlight Collective Focus Multimedia TSO Barnstorm RobTop Games

Week ending: February 22nd

TOP 10 GLOBAL GOOGLE PLAY

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

MINECRAFT – POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

TITLE Theory Test UK 2014 Motorsport Management Worms 3 AllCast Premium Geometry Dash Scribblenauts Remix The Chase Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Ski Tracks

PUBLISHER Focus Multimedia Christian West Team 17 ClockworkMod RobTop Games Warner Bros Barnstorm Scott Cawthon Core Coders

Week ending February 21st

PRESENTS

5 SECOND FACTS

Correct as of February 23rd

Read and remember these stats so you can sound clever at the next Monday morning meeting...

$8.8M

40%

$250,000

335,000

Former Xbox veteran Elan Lee’s card game Exploding Kittens rose $8,782,571 on Kickstarter, $186,097 more than Ouya.

Market research company Strategy Analytics has predicted that the PS4 will outsell the Xbox One by 40 per cent through until 2018.

The ESL has announced the world’s largest Counter-Strike; Global Oﬀensive tournament in Cologne this August, with a prize pot of $250,000.

Nintendo has revealed it sold 335,000 units of its New 3DS consoles in the West in the week of their release. 160,000 of these were in Europe.

www.mcvuk.com

PDP design & manufacture the Oﬃcial Microsoft licensed Xbox ONE TV Kinect Sensor Clip europesales@pdp.com

www.pdp.com February 27th 2015

Interactive content marketplace Indies Investors Introduction meetings In-depth funding advice Interesting venue In London In your diary: May 14th

For more information contact Conor Tallon on 01992 535647 or email ctallon@nbmedia.com Interface DPS.indd 1

25/02/2015 13:01

Thursday May 14th 2015 A new event for developers and publishers in a unique Central London arts space Connecting content makers and investors

Guaranteeing delegates at least 10 good intro meetings

Meet an investor or sign up the next big game

Indie Zone Parner

Interface DPS.indd 2

Event Parner

25/02/2015 13:01

OPINION

INSIGHT

GAMES ARE UNDER-REPRESENTED IN OFFICIAL STATISTICS, BUT WE CAN FIX IT UKIE CEO Jo Twist explains why the UK Government doesn’t really know how big the games industry is, and what we can do about that

ast week’s MCV and UKIE figures valuing the market for games in the UK showed a growth once more in consumer hunger for games. The consumer market grew by 13 per cent, reaching £3.944bn in 2014, almost on par with its value in 2008. The strength and geographical spread of the sector was also highlighted by the ‘A Map of the UK Games Industry’ report, which identified 1,902 companies working on games across the UK. And the recent BFI Economic Contribution of the UK’s Film and Video Game Sectors report revealed that UK games development contributed £639m in GVA (Gross Value Added) and employed 9,400 people full time. SOLD SHORT But official government estimates often tell a different story. This bothers us because it’s important that we are able to use data that is accurate to make arguments for policy intervention, as well as promote the industry in the media, to decision makers, and the rest of the world. Both Nesta and the research firms responsible for the BFI report, Olsberg SPI/Nordicity, identified that official statistics are not doing a great job at keeping up with this fast-changing industry and capturing the entirety of the sector. Even the Government admits this and caveats its valuations. Looking at the 1,902 companies in the Nesta report, only a third of them were counted. There are two reasons for

February 27th 2015

this. When you set up a company, you are automatically issued with a Standard Industrial Classification – or SIC – code that describes the nature of your business. This is done based on information about your company taken from official sources. The data about firms under these codes is then added up to show the economic value and size of any given sector. There are two SIC codes that are used to describe games companies: • 58.21/0 Publishing of games • 62.01/1 Ready-made interactive leisure and entertainment software development (games development)

MCV revealed almost £4bn was spent on games in 2014

It’s important we have accurate data so we can promote the games industry. Jo Twist, UKIE

TOTAL GAMES COMPANIES IN THE UK: 1,902

35%

NOT INCLUDED IN OFFICIAL STATISTICS 1,236 COMPANIES INCLUDED IN OFFICIAL STATISTICS 666 COMPANIES

65%

If your company isn’t in one of these codes, it isn’t counted as a games business in official estimates. You can check what code you are registered under at Companies House. You also may not be counted if your company is very small and has a low turnover, and doesn’t meet the Office of National Statistics’ reporting thresholds. By ensuring you are using one of the SIC codes above, you not only improve the quality of official statistics, you help our wonderful industry as a whole to be better represented: ultimately this helps your company receive more attention and support in times of change and uncertainty. The power is in your hands: to change you code, there are several things you need to do. SIC codes rely on four different sources. In order of relevance: the Business Registers and Employment Survey (BRES); HMRC VAT registration, HMRC PAYE return and annual return Companies House. Please do take a moment to make sure your business has the right code in all of these bits of information. For help and more information, visit here: tinyurl.com/changingyour-sic-code

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ACCESSIBILITY IN GAMES

ALL TOGETHER NOW A wave of cutting-edge technology has opened up gaming to a brand new audience of disabled gamers. Matthew Jarvis talks to accessibility specialists about giving everyone the chance to play

sing the analog sticks on a controller is an action that might seem simple to many gamers. But for Mark, whose Duchenne muscular dystrophy causes reducing muscle strength, something so apparently simple can be a huge barrier. But through the use of a smaller Xbox controller, modified to include an extension to the right stick and repositioned buttons, plus additional voice controls, Mark was able to complete GTA V. Mark is one of thousands of disabled gamers who have been granted a new way to play through the development of new accessibility technology. “When we’re working one-toone with someone with a physical disability like Mark, it’s the details that become important,” says Mark Saville, communications at accessibility charity SpecialEffect, which provided Mark with the equipment. “Finding the right grip material for the tip of his analogue stick extension, for example, was important for him to be able to use the controller properly. For people with extremely limited movement, if a gaming setup slips by a few millimetres, it’ll be unusable.” Including support for technology like this might mean nothing to most players, but it can mean everything to those affected by disability. The good news is that accessibility technology is becoming increasingly prevalent in the games industry. From screenreaders and eye-tracking technology to switches that allow sip-puff tubes and blink detectors to be registered as key or button presses, the amount of hardware designed to let everyone play is growing. It’s not just technology that’s providing new routes for disabled

February 27th 2014

More titles need to cater for disabled gamers, say Ian Hamilton (far left) and Mark Saville (left)

gamers – changing attitudes among gaming communities are also playing a big part. “Five years ago, gamers with disabilities posting on forums about barriers they were encountering were met with a huge amount of vitriol from other gamers and told that their concerns weren’t important, that they were ruining everyone else’s fun and that they should go find another hobby,” recalls Ian Hamilton, an accessibility specialist and writer of the Game Accessibility Guidelines, which suggest ways games firms can be more inclusive. “Now, it’s

When working oneto-one with someone with a physical disability, it’s the details that become important. Mark Saville, SpecialEffect

completely the opposite. The same things posted in 2014 saw almost unbridled support from fellow gamers, endless offers of help and getting behind feature requests.” CONSOLE BARRIERS With accessibility tech better than ever, you might think that the latest generation of console hardware has similarly opened up the way for a more diverse audience of gamers. “It’s actually the opposite; they’ve introduced more problems than they’ve solved,” retorts Hamilton. “Lack of backwards compatibility means that the previous generation’s

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ACCESSIBILITY IN GAMES

various custom controllers are no longer usable. The Xbox One has also removed the ability to turn off vibrations across the entire system, meaning that games that don’t allow for vibration to be turned off are now inaccessible to people such as RSI sufferers who haven’t been excluded in the past. And the expansion of voice controls through Kinect and the PlayStation Camera has meant the introduction of commands that can only be executed by voice, with obvious implications if you have any difficulty speaking. “It’s not all bad though,” he adds. “The option of voice commands can be quite a boon for players who find navigating complex menus difficult for any number of reasons, including vision, motor and cognitive impairment.” Saville agrees that features such as voice recognition could be used to assist those with disabilities if implemented correctly, but to date have only introduced more obstacles. “There is potential there,” he comments. “It’s great that you can use voice controls with the new Kinect, but we often find that, due to someone being on a tracheotomy or the way that their disability has affected their mouth, only some words are recognised reliably by voice control software.” He adds that other modern additions to control schemes have thrown up problems. “There are some adaptors that allow you to use differentlyshaped controllers on a PS4, but at the moment they have no way of replicating the new touchpad movements of the DualShock 4,” he explains. “It’ll be interesting to see how developers and ourselves can tackle accessibility on the PS4’s trackpad when titles start to rely on it for critical controls.”

Lynsey Graham, senior designer at Midoki, argues that the majority of disabled gamers can be catered to with minimal effort – it just takes a little extra consideration. “A lot of issues can be remedied by solutions that are actually fairly easy to implement if planned for in advance,” she states. “Most developers who don’t take accessibility into account aren’t ignoring it because they don’t care – it’s because they simply haven’t thought about it because they’ve not encountered it themselves or don’t know anyone who has.” Graham picks out one recent franchise as a prime example of how to address this wider audience. “The Bayonetta games are a surprising source of accessibility,” she explains. Wii U exclusive Bayonetta 2 was selected as the Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year by charity AbleGamers in 2014, citing ‘excellence in accessible game design’. Graham continues: “Quite apart from the relatively simple stuff like subtitles, a range of difficulty levels and colour-blind friendly visuals, they have a really impressive array of control options, including a onebutton combat mode. “It means that a huge audience of players can strut, stab and

adaptations harder,” he says. “Furthermore, modifications made by the accessibility community on one generation are often not usable on the next gen.” Hamilton suggests that console platform holders should take a leaf from mobile’s book. “If you look at an iPhone or Android device, the levels of accessibility are staggering,” he states. “There are zoom settings,

The state of accessibility in consoles is pretty bleak, and it really needs to change. Ian Hamilton, accessibility specialist

subtitle preferences, high contrast modes, assistive touch and so on. “These firms are making really strong efforts – not just through altruism, but also because they understand the powerful business case. The state of accessibility in consoles is pretty bleak by comparison, and it’s something that really needs to change.” While a few accessibility options require highly specialised additions,

THINKING OF OTHERS Thomas Westin, a PhD student and lecturer in digital culture and accessibility in computer games at Stockholm University, highlights the restricted ecosystem of console hardware as a primary barrier to developers of accessibility software. “Consoles are generally very closed systems which makes

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shoot their way through this amazing world; hardcore gamers with super speedy reactions and players who find adventure games tough either through inaccessibility or experience. Everybody wins.” SPREAD THE WORD Accessibility is becoming a bigger area of interest in games – but there’s clearly work still to be done. “The main issue is lack of awareness, alongside the fear that implementing accessibility is too hard or too costly,” says Graham. “Admittedly, some features are harder than others, particularly if they’ve not been taken into consideration from the start. But most features already exist in numerous mainstream games – it’s just a matter of making them the norm.” And as technology continues to develop, new breakthroughs look set to get everyone, from every background, playing games. “We’re looking forward to the potential of new VR systems, and we’re involved at a research level with applications for brain control interfaces,” reveals Saville. “That’s one for the long term – in the meantime, our role is to take over where the in-game assists end, and wistfully remember the early ‘90s when controllers only had two buttons.”

Some accessibility technology can be used alongside traditional controls

February 27th 2014

DON BRADMAN CRICKET

BATTING FOR SIX The quintessentially English sport has arrived on the latest generation of consoles in the form of Don Bradman Cricket for PS4 and Xbox One. Mark Clemens, sales director at Funbox Media, tells Matthew Jarvis more

ootball video games may generate all of the recordbreaking statistics and headlines, but another of England’s national pastimes has consistently attracted players to its latest virtualised offerings. While they might not rack up the sales figures of FIFA or PES, cricket games have built up a dedicated community of followers. The latest ball-meets-bat entry to hit the market is PS4 and Xbox One release Don Bradman Cricket. “Like its real world counterpart, cricket has traditionally been a niche video gaming sport,” says Mark Clemens, sales director at publisher and distributor Funbox Media. “However, it is a very loyal niche that we believe will be very supportive of Don Bradman Cricket.” The new game is an expanded and enhanced version of last year’s PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 title Don Bradman Cricket 14, which was released to positive reviews and even referred to by games website Lazygamer as ‘the best cricket game of the generation’. In fact, Clemens adds, the success of the franchise has helped to counter the view of cricket games as ‘lesser’ in quality than their football counterparts. “In terms of consumer perspective, up until now there was a great deal of distance between the FIFAs of this world and previous cricket games,” he comments. “Don Bradman Cricket has closed the gap significantly.” This demand is set to grow further, as Bradman’s latest virtual outing rides the fervor around some of the most prominent events in the cricket calendar. “This is the biggest year for cricket in a long time with the World Cup,

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Indian Premier League and Ashes all happening in the same year,” explains Clemens. “Our advertising will reflect these opportunities, with a constant presence in specialist and related consumer areas.” ASHES TO ASHES One of the latest cricket video games to have stuck in public memory is Ashes Cricket 2013. Released a year and a half ago to widespread criticism and mockery surrounding its lackluster gameplay and broken AI, the title was delayed repeatedly and withdrawn from sale soon after release. Clemens says that the problems with Ashes Cricket drove developer Big Ant Studios to ensure that Don Bradman Cricket would not suffer the same fate. “The release of Ashes Cricket 2013 certainly lead to some confusion in the marketplace, as like Don Bradman Cricket it was even made in Melbourne,” he states. “It made it far more imperative that we gain distance from that product and differentiate ourselves from it in every way possible.” Consumer confusion isn’t the

In terms of consumer perspective, we’ve closed the gap significantly between cricket games and the FIFAs of this world. Mark Clemens, Funbox Media

While cricket video games may be more niche than other sports, they still have a dedicated following

only negative effect Ashes Cricket 2013 has had on Don Bradman Cricket. “Most of the cricket licences were held by the failed Ashes game, so we could not avail ourselves of them,” Clemens explains. But, he adds, not being able to use offical teams and grounds actually helped with the design of the new title. “Not having the licences has allowed us the flexibility to make the game that we wanted. We allow users to create and share their own content via a third-party server so this has not been an impediment.” 20:20 VISION Don Bradman Cricket includes several new additions to its PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 predecessor. “Don Bradman Cricket for PS4 and Xbox One has all of the content available to PS3 and Xbox 360, plus all of the patches that have been applied to the Steam release,” explains Clemens. “In addition to this, everything is rendered in much higher fidelity and cool functions only available to PS4 and Xbox One have been implemented, such as streaming, Remote Play on Vita, Share Play and the like.” He concludes that the new features are sure to attract new cricket fans to the Don Bradman Cricket IP, as well as bringing existing fans of the franchise across to an updated generation of hardware. “We are hoping that people see that there is a significant difference between the generation of titles and see that Don Bradman Cricket has great longevity in terms of gameplay and is great use of their entertainment pound.”

February 27th 2015

INDIE INTERVIEW CHRIS DAVIS Sponsored by

THE GREAT ESCAPISTS Microsoft has its fair share of console exclusives this year, but not all of them are triple-A titles like Halo and Tomb Raider. Alex Calvin speaks to developer Mouldy Toof (aka Chris Davis) about his game, The Escapists

longside Tomb Raider, Halo and Quantum Break on stage at Microsoft’s Gamescom 2014 press conference was a pixel-art title called The Escapists. It’s an indie game set in a prison and has been developed by oneman studio Mouldy Toof, aka former roofer Chris Davis. “Having my game shown to the world was an amazing experience,” Davis tells MCV. “It started off as a hobby that I didn’t think many would be interested in, so it was quite surreal seeing the volume of support that stemmed from having The Escapists included in Microsoft’s conference. “Development was an on-off hobby until a couple of years ago when I started putting a couple of my projects on Kickstarter - The Escapists being one of them. Once it started gaining momentum and a publishing deal was put on the table, I dropped my roofing job and focused on development.” COMING TO CONSOLE The title was initially a PC-only release, coming out on Steam’s Early Access programme in August, before launching ‘properly’ on both Xbox One and PC on February 13th. “Once the feedback on the game started coming in it became quite clear that it shouldn’t just be a game limited to PC,” Davis says. “[The game’s publisher] Team 17 has a good relationship with Microsoft, and getting into the platform holder’s ID@Xbox programme came along through that. Any company embracing the indie scene is a sensible move.

February 27th 2015

The Escapists was released via Steam Early Access last August

“Indies tend to go out of their way to break new ground and explore unique concepts, which is what the gaming scene has needed for a long time. It doesn’t hurt that the biggest game for the last few years – Minecraft – came from the indie scene either.” The Escapists has already picked up plenty of critical plaudits. And Davis says Steam Early Access played a big part in that. “Early Access is great,” Davis says. “I can’t imagine what The Escapists would have been like without it. It’s been a refining process really, having a mass of people alongside while you’re developing it, saying what they think works and what doesn’t. It’s been invaluable feedback and The Escapists is a better game for it.”

Early Access was a refining process. It’s invaluable feedback, and The Escapists is a better game for it. Chris Davis, Mouldy Toof

HELPING HANDS In this modern era, a developer can make and release a game single handedly. But Davis decided to not go it alone, and instead partnered up with publisher Team 17. As a result, The Escapists was taken to trade shows, and received

media attention it might have otherwise missed. “I wouldn’t say it’s important or essential that indies need a publisher, as it all depends on how they prefer to work,” Davis says. “But I’ve found Team 17’s role of raising awareness, setting up exhibits at gaming shows, arranging interviews and coverage, sorting out sales, campaigns, internal QA and so on, very helpful. It’s a different ball game to Early Access in terms of what help and support Team 17 can offer. “I’m useless at promoting my own things. Once I get into my ‘dev mode’ my mind is focused on that. The things indie devs need to do, such as social media promotion and marketing, get neglected. This is the main reason I agreed to go with a publisher, because I could leave all that to them while I get on with the development side.” BOXING CLEVER For all the hype about The Escapists launching on Steam and Xbox Live, it was a bit of a surprise to discover last month that the title was also getting a physical release – courtesy of Sold Out. And releasing The Escapists in a box is something that has delighted Davis. “I hadn’t really considered it at first to be honest, but when Team 17 mentioned it to me I thought it was a brilliant idea. It’s a pretty good feeling seeing your game being sold in shops you’ve frequented over the years.” He concludes: “A lot of gamers – myself included – love physical copies of their games anyway, so having a boxed release caters to such players.”

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MARKETPLACE

SHELF LIFE MCV speaks to Sam Murray, senior sales at GAME Boscombe, about the best midnight game launches of 2014, the benefits of banter and how to give customers further afield the chance to get involved What is your team currently playing? At the moment our team cannot get enough of Titanfall. It’s a slightly older one, but we still party up and love destroying each other’s mechs. There’s definitely been a few times where one side has been white-washed and not heard the end of it for a few days. Can you recall a midnight launch that stood out last year?

PRE-ORDER CHARTS

We massively enjoyed the entirety of last year’s release season, but our two favourites were Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Far Cry 4. These were amazing games that we were psyched to get into the hands of our customers, and you could tell they loved being with us to chat about their new adventures. The theatre we created heightened the experience and everyone was keen to attend another event with us.

PRICE CHECK: PETERBOROUGH

TOP 10 PRE-ORDERS 1. DYING LIGHT INC ZOMBIE MODE Deep Silver, PS4

MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR

2. Amiibo Smash Charizard Nintendo............................................................. Wii U 3. Amiibo Smash Wario Nintendo............................................................. Wii U

DESTINY

Warner Bros, XO

Activision, PS4

4. Bloodborne Sony.........................................................................PS4

Ubisoft, PC

Nintendo, Wii U

£32.99

£34.99

n/a

£39.99

£49.99

£41.99

£38.99

£25

£33.99

£34.85

£22

9. Battleﬁeld Hardline inc Versatility Backpack DLC EA ................................................................................XO

£26.85

n/a

£29.85

£39.85

10. Amiibo Super Mario Collection Nintendo............................................................. Wii U

£27.95

n/a

£34.75

n/a

6. Dragon Ball Xenoverse Bandai Namco ...................................................PS4

IN STORE

5. Dying Light inc Zombie Mode Deep Silver..............................................................XO

FAR CRY 4 SUPER SMASH BROS FOR WII U

7. Final Fantasy TYPE-0 HD inc FFXV demo Square Enix..........................................................PS4

UPLOADING The latest digital releases coming to market

DOA 5: LAST ROUND: CORE FIGHTERS

ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST

ORESHIKA: TAINTED BLOODLINES

This free version of Dead or Alive is expandable via in-game purchases

The platformer for PC and Xbox One has a mystical and magical world

A unique JRPG with a striking graphical style, this title hits Vita next week

OUT NOW

February 27th 2015

ONLINE

8. Battleﬁeld Hardline inc Versatility Backpack DLC EA .............................................................................PS4

OUT MARCH 11TH

OUT MARCH 4TH

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MARKETPLACE

GAME Boscombe Unit 28 Sovereign Shopping Centre, 600 Christchurch Rd, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH1 4SX

Phone: 01202 398 029 Twitter: @GAMEBoscombe Facebook: facebook.com/GAMEboscombe

Everyone loved dressing up in costume, and Simon in his army onsie deﬁnitely got a few jibes.

With the rise of the digital age and social media we are currently looking into raising our proﬁle so that those unable to come down and see us in person can still be a part of our community. At the moment we’re looking into hiring venues in the town centre to create a late-night gaming scene where people can come along and get a hands-on experience with new titles before purchasing them.

How else do you engage with your local community? Through a bit of banter and jokes, we’re always encouraging each other to do the very best for our local community. By constantly bouncing ideas oﬀ of each other we’re always looking to better ourselves, our store and each other.

INCOMING TITLE

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

March is full of new game releases, kicking oﬀ with chaotic rollercoaster sim Screamride and closing out with Battleﬁeld, Final Fantasy and Mario Party FORMAT

GENRE

PUBLISHER

TELEPHONE

DISTRIBUTOR

PS4/XO/PS3/360

Fighting

Bandai Namco

01215 069 590

Advantage

February 27th Dragon Ball Xenoverse Dying Light

PS4/XO/PC

Action

Warner Bros

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CentreSoft

Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart

Vita

RPG

Idea Factory

020 8664 3485

Reef

Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late

PS3

RPG

NIS America

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PS3

RPG

NIS America

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March 6th Hyperdimension Neptunia Hypercollection Screamride

XO/360

Simulation

Microsoft

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Exertis

The Arland Atelier Trilogy

PS3

RPG

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Reef

Zombie Army Trilogy

PS4/XO/PC

Shooter

Rebellion

01215 069 590

Advantage

Assassin’s Creed Rogue

Action

Ubisoft

01279 822 800

Exertis

DMC: Devil May Cry Deﬁnitive Edition

PS4/XO

Action

Capcom

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

PS3

RPG

Koei Tecmo

01462 476 130

Open

March 10th

March 13th Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams – Directors Cut

PS4/PC

Platformer

SODESCO

01902 861 527

Pavilion

Resident Evil Revelations 2

PS4/XO/PS3/360/PC

Horror

Capcom

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters

PS3/Vita

RPG

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Reef

PS4/XO/PS3/360/PC

Shooter

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

March 20th Battleﬁeld Hardline Bladestorm: Nightmare

PS4/XO/PS3

Strategy

Koei Tecmo

01462 476 130

Open

Final Fantasy Type 0

PS4/XO

RPG

Square Enix

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

Mario Party 10

Wii U

Party

Nintendo

01753 483 700

Open

Ride

PS4/XO/PS3/360/PC

Racing

PQube

0121 625 3388

CentreSoft

The Awakened Fate Ultimatum

PS3

RPG

NIS America

020 8664 3485

Open

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February 27th 2015

INDIE

INDIE Small but mighty, indie games have become a hot point of interest for players, publishers and platform holders alike in the last few years. So much so, some even have merchandise. Matthew Jarvis takes a look

INDIE games are big news. Once moderately prosperous passion projects, independentlydeveloped titles have been brought into the limelight by financial success stories such as Braid, fl0w, Super Meat Boy and the biggest indie game of all time, Minecraft, which was purchased by Microsoft last year for $2.5 billion. Indie games have been consistently popular on PC, bolstered by the ease of digital distribution.

Indie titles have been brought into the limelight by ﬁnancial successes such as Braid, Super Meat Boy and Minecraft.

Digital distribution platform Steam has nurtured the PC sector via the introduction of its Steam Greenlight service, which gives up-and-coming titles the chance to score a spot on its storefront by attracting consumers’ votes. Crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter have also helped to boost interest in indies, with donators pledging money for projects that often wouldn’t have achieved funding otherwise. Crowdfunded indie titles can

SHOVEL KNIGHT FOAM SHOVEL This full-size replica of the ShovelBlade weapon from Yacht Club Games’ retro throwback title is crafted from EVA foam. This makes it an ideal cosplay or toy accessory for those wishing to take up the chivalrous life of a Shovel Knight. SRP: $19.99 (£13) Manufacturer: ThinkGeek Distributor: ThinkGeek Contact: www.thinkgeek.com

TRANSISTOR 8 GB USB FLASH DRIVE

LUFTRASERS T-SHIRT

VELOCITY2X CERTIFIED BADASS POSTER

Modelled on the in-game weapon from indie title Transistor, this USB key features a removable ‘blade’ and up to 8GB of storage.

Aircraft from Vlambeer’s fast-paced dogﬁghting title Luftrasers adorn the front of this minimalist shirt.

This 60x90cm poster featuring Lt. Kai Tana from FuturLab’s acclaimed PlayStation title Velocity2X is printed on 170gsm silk-ﬁnish roll.

SRP: $19.99 (£13) Manufacturer: Supergiant Games Distributor: Supergiant Games Contact: www.supergiantgames.com

SRP: From $17.99 (£12) Manufacturer: Level Up Studios Distributor: Vlambeer Contact: info@vlambeer.com

SRP: From £12.99 Manufacturer: FuturLab Distributor: FuturLab Contact: +44 (0) 1273 747 534

February 27th 2015

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INDIE Sponsored by

gaming merchandise uk

also snowball – upcoming space simulation Star Citizen has raised more than $72,700,000 to date. One need only look at the marketing approach of Microsoft and Sony surrounding the launch of Xbox One and PS4 to see how smaller titles are now often attracting as much – if not more – attention as established triple-A franchises on console, too. Microsoft introduced the ID@ Xbox programme to encourage developers to create and self-

publish on the console. Games to have emerged from the campaign to date include SUPERHOT, SMITE, Goat Simulator Below and #IDARB. Sony has similarly invested heavily in bringing indie developers to PlayStation through its PS3 and PS4 home consoles, as well as the Vita handheld. The efforts have resulted in updated versions of games like The Binding of Isaac, Fez and Hotline Miami, plus deals for new titles such as OlliOlli and sci-fi epic No Man’s Sky.

HOTLINE MIAMI 2: WRONG NUMBER - COLLECTOR’S EDITION This special edition of visceral top-down title Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number includes both a code for the game and its soundtrack on three vivid vinyl discs. The 180-gram discs contain 28 selected tracks from the title’s intense soundtrack. The download code provides a Steam version of the game, and is printed on a custom phone card design. A digital version of the soundtrack is also included. SRP: $60 (£39) Manufacturer: iam8bit Distributor: Devolver Digital Contact: fork@devolverdigital.co

SHOVEL KNIGHT ALLSTARS MOUSEPAD

GOAT SIMULATOR DOVAHGOAT T-SHIRT

BASTION CAELONDIA MASONS T-SHIRT

Measuring 16x21-inch, this mousemat features the entire cast and crew of retrostyled side-scroller Shovel Knight.

This top features the titular hero of the cult zoological title, fully equipped with a jetpack and skull helmet. Like every goat.

This shirt proudly displays the logo of the mythical Masons society from Supergiant Games’ acclaimed action RPG Bastion.

SRP: $32 (£21) Manufacturer: welovefine Distributor: welovefine Contact: wlfcs@mightyfineinc.com

SRP: €19.85 (£15) Manufacturer: Spreadshirt Distributor: Coﬀee Stain Studios Contact: contact@coﬀeestainstudios.com

SRP: $19.99 (£13) Manufacturer: Next Level Apparel Distributor: Supergiant Games Contact: www.supergiantgames.com

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February 27th 2015

HOT PRODUCTS

DIRECTORY

MCV DIRECTORY KEY CONTACTS Sony DADC ............................................ +44 (0) 207 462 6200

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GAMING ACCESSORIES DISC REPAIR

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£70 per two column box (100mm x 75mm). To run weekly for a minimum of 1 year. Please phone for other size and/or position requirements.

Enarxis Dynamic Media ............................. +302 1090 11900

DISC REPAIR

TOTAL DISC REPAIR

Tel: +44 (0) 1202 489500

February 27th 2015

Web: www.totaldiscrepair.co.uk

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DIRECTORY

ENQUIRIES CONOR TALLON Tel: 01992 535647 ctallon@nbmedia.com

FINK

CREATIVE

DISTRIBUTION

CLICK ENTERTAINMENT

Artworking Mastertronic Brand Identity Ukie Localisation Rising Star Games Advertising BBFC Website Design Deep Silver Exhibition Bethesda Illustration Just Flight Appynation Digital Media IntentMedia Charity GamesAid Banners & Takeovers Konami Packaging Design Just Flight Email: info@ﬁnkcreative.com CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +44 (0) 208 6643456 ENARXIS DYNAMIC MEDIA

Tel: +44 (0)203 137 3781

Web: www.ﬁnkcreative.com DISTRIBUTION

email: sales@click-entertainment.com

CURVEBALL LEISURE

Web: www.creativedistribution.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1792 652521

DISTRIBUTION

SONY DADC

DISTRIBUTION

Web: www.curveball-leisure.com DISTRIBUTION

Empowering your creative business

Tel: +44 207 462 6200 games@sonydadc.com

www.sonydadc.com Tel: +302 1090 11900

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Web: www.enarxis.eu

Tel: +44 (0) 207 462 6200

Web: www.sonydadc.com

February 27th 2015

DIRECTORY

GAMING ACCESSORIES

L3I

GAMING ACCESSORIES

VENOM

New officially licensed products

Vibration Stereo Gaming Headset

Vibration technology for immersive gaming

Arcade Stick

Tel: + (0)1923 471 020

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For the authentic arcade experience

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“

WANT TO ADVERTISE IN OUR DIRECTORY?

” and “PlayStation” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Also, “ ” and ” ” are trademarks of the same company.

Web: www.venomuk.com Phone: +44 (0)1763 284181 Email: darren.scott@venomuk.com sam.phipps@venomuk.com tom.hodge@venomuk.com

CALL CONOR TALLON ON 01992 535647 OR EMAIL HIM AT CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM

Tel: +44 (0)1763 284181 February 27th 2015

Venom UK Gaming @VenomGamingUK

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INSIDER’S GUIDE

INSIDER’S GUIDE AM2PRO

DIRECTORY

WHO? Specialism: Online retail and events Location: 99 Front Street, Arnold, Nottingham, NG5 7EB

Develop is the only dedicated publication for the UK and European games development community. It reaches over 8,500 subscribers every month.

Carl Moore, MD of eSports outlet Am2Pro, talks about hosting the UK’s biggest Call of Duty competition

FOR GREAT ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES, CONTACT ALEX BOUCHER ABOUCHER@NBMEDIA.COM

Tell us about your company for those who are unfamiliar with your work. Am2Pro aims to be a one stop shop for gamers within the eSports community. We provide gaming merchandise, organise online tournaments, and host LAN events.

THIS MONTH’S DIRECTORY SPOTLIGHT: Epic Games .................................................. www.epicgames.com/careers

What is your biggest success to date? The LAN tournament we recently held at the Leicester Tigers Rugby Stadium. With less than 12 months trading, and it being our ﬁrst LAN event, we have been informed that we held the UK’s largest Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare tournament. What projects do you currently have in the works? We plan to hold more LAN events in the UK across 2015, and further details about these will be released over the coming months. We also have lots of surprises inbound. What are the biggest challenges you face? We are positioned against a lot of established UK companies that oﬀer parts – but not all – of what we provide, such as retailers, LAN providers, online tournament providers and so on. Tell us something about your company no one knows. We are currently the only company that provides all of To be included in the Develop Directory (which appears every month in Develop and now every week in MCV) contact aboucher@nbmedia.com

The best part of eSports is the journey from being an amateur player to becoming a professional gamer. the following: retail, online tournaments and LAN events. How did you choose your company name? We looked into what the name needed to stand for. We wanted to position ourselves into the eSports market and appeal to both amateur and professional gamers. We ﬁgured the best part of this is the journey itself: of progressing from being an amateur player to becoming a professional gamer.

WANT TO FEATURE YOUR COMPANY IN INSIDER’S GUIDE? PLEASE CONTACT MJARVIS@NBMEDIA.COM OR CALL 01992 515 303

WWW.DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET www.mcvuk.com

Contact: P: 0845 257 9991 W: www.am2pro.net E: enquiries@am2pro.net T: @Am_2_Pro

February 27th 2015

FACTFILE BELGIUM Sponsored by

INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: BELGIUM Population: 11,198,638 Capital City: Brussels Currency: Euro GDP (Per Capita): $47,787 KEY RETAILERS Saturn, Media Markt, Game Mania, Carrefour

TOP DEVELOPERS Larian Studios, Tale of Tales, LuGus Studios

KEY DISTRIBUTORS Koch Media, Big Ben Interactive Benelux, CLD Distribution, Micromedia, Level03 Distribution

PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION Sony, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo

CASUAL and online games continue to prosper in Belgium, as sluggish smartphone uptake limits the presence of mobile gaming in the region. According to market tracker and research firm yStats.com, the majority of Belgian gamers play social or casual games. This is supported by online data outlet Statista, which reports that the proportion of average time gamers in Belgium spent playing casual and online titles grew from 17 per cent to 19 per cent between 2011 and 2012. Meanwhile, the average time spent playing MMO games fell by two per cent, from 14 to 12 per cent, during the same time period. Statista additionally reports that the proportion of time spent playing games on mobile devices rose from nine to 10 per cent. However, it is unlikely this time is being spent on smartphone games.

Research firm NewZoo states that Belgium is the biggest country in the West for gaming on regular, non-smartphone, mobile devices. Almost a third (30 per cent) of gamers in the region use such devices to play games, which Newzoo attributes to the costly price of mobile internet. It is therefore unsurprising that Belgium occupies a low spot in the global rankings of App Store revenue, sitting at number 19, just ahead of Austria and Switzerland. Perhaps a lack of interest in low-priced titles for smartphones can explain why Belgian gamers are happy to splash out on traditional titles. Newzoo reports that half of Belgianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 4.6 million players pay for games, and that they spend an average of $13.10 (ÂŁ8.53) per month on games, the third-highest average spend in Europe, just behind the UK and France.

Belgian consumers spend an average of $13.10 on games each month.

February 27th 2015

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BELGIUM FACTFILE

MEANWHILE IN... CHINA Finnish mobile powerhouse Rovio is to create an Angry Birds game for Chinese audiences following a partnership with Kunlun Tech IN A collaboration of cultures, Finnish mobile behemoth Rovio and Beijing-based games organisation Kunlun Tech have joined forces to bring the lucrative Angry Birds franchise to China. Kunlun will work with Rovio to launch Angry Birds titles that have been developed speciﬁcally for its home market. The partnership marks the ﬁrst time Rovio has worked with a Chinese developer on such a venture. “I am one of the billions of Angry Birds fans around the world,” Kunlun CEO Yahui Zhou said. “We are delighted to work with Rovio. Working with Rovio

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will allow us to increase the reach of our games.” Rovio CEO Pekka Rantala added: “Forming a strategic partnership with Kunlun is an important step that helps Rovio establish an

even stronger presence in China’s game market with localised content.” Almost half a billion Angry Birds games have been downloaded in China.

Fwebruary 27th 2015

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION Sponsored by

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTORS IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR NEW PARTNERS OVERSEAS, THEN LOOK NO FURTHER

BELGIUM

CLD DISTRIBUTION Rue du Grand Champs 14 , B 5380 Fernelmont Belgium Tel: +32 81 83 02 02 Fax: +32 81 83 02 09 Email: infos@cld.be Web: www.cld.be home of www.dragonwar.eu & www.mawashi.eu

BRAZIL Sony Music Entertainment Brasil Day 1 Entertainment Brasil Rua Lauro Muller n°. 116 – 40°. Andar Salas 4001 a 4003 Botafogo Rio de Janeiro RJ CEP. 22.290-160 Tel. +55 21 2128-0771 Fax: +55 21 2128-0747 Email : rodrigo.altieri@sonymusic.com Website: www.sonymusic.com.br | www.day1e.com.br

CYPRUS

G3 GREAT GAMES LTD 4 Gregoriou Papaﬂessa Street, Oﬃce 101, Engomi, Nicosia 2414, Cyprus. Tel: +357 22 666612 Web: www.greatgames.com.cy

IRAN

SWEDEN

DC GAMES GROUP No.9, Hemmatian St., Takestan St., Sattarkhan Tehran, Iran Tel: +98-912-1014090 +98-21-44228670 Email: Bahizad@Doostan-Co.com Web: www.Doostan-Co.com

GAME OUTLET EUROPE AB PO Box 5083, S-650 05 Karlstad, Sweden Sales dept: ali.manzuri@gameoutlet.se Sales dept: andreas.lindberg@gameoutlet.se Purchase dept: hamed.manzuri@gameoutlet.se Purchase dept: david.nilsson@gameoutlet.se Web: www.gameoutlet.se

NETHERLANDS

UAE

SOEDESCO B.V. Koddeweg 13, 3194 DH Rotterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 104722462 Fax: +31 104722893 Email: info@soedesco.com Web: www.soedesco.com

ALESAYI UNITED COMPANY Video Games Distributor in the Middle East, P.O BOX 16999 Jebel Ali Free Zone Dubai U.A.E. Tel: 00971 4 883 5960 Fax: 00971 4 883 5175 Email: marketing@alesayi.ae U.A.E. Website: www.alesayi.ae Group Website: www.alesayi.com

NORDIC WENDROS AB SWEDEN, NORWAY, DENMARK & FINLAND Jakobsdalsvägen 17 12653 Hägersten Sweden Phone: +46 8 51942500 Fax: +46 8 7466790 Email: HM@wendros.se LM@wendros.se Web: www.wendros.se

MCV WORLDWIDE Editorial: + 61 (0)424 967 263 Leigh.Harris@mcvpaciﬁc.com

Advertising: + 61 (0)417 084821 Joel.Vandaal@mcvpaciﬁc.com

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MORE DISTRIBUTORS AUSTRALIA AFA Interactive, Bluemouth Interactive, Five Star Games, Mindscape, Namco Bandai Partners, Turn Left Distribution BENELUX CLD Distribution, Koch Media, Gameworld Distribution B.V. CANADA E One, Importel, Just4Games, Solutions 2 Go, Vidéoglobe CYPRUS Access, Gibareio, Zilos, Nortec Multimedia CZECH REPUBLIC Cenega, Conquest, Comgad, Playman, ABC Data DENMARK Bergsala, Elpa, Impulse, Koch Media, Nordisk Film Interactive, Nordic Game Supply, PAN Vision FRANCE Big Ben, Innelec, Koch Media, SDO, Sodifa GREECE Zegatron, CD Media, Namco Bandai Partners, IGE, Nortec, Enarxis, Beacon HUNGARY CNG.hu/Cenega Hungary, CTC Trading, Magnew, PlayON, Stadlbauer ICELAND Sena, Myndform, Samfilm, Ormsson INDONESIA Maxsoft, Uptron, Technosolution IRELAND MSE Group, Baumex JAPAN Ajioka, Happinet, Jesnet NORWAY Bergsala, Game Outlet, Koch Media, Nordic Game Supply, Nordisk Film, Pan Vision POLAND CD Projekt, Cenega, Galapagos, LEM PORTUGAL Ecoplay, Infocapital, Koch Media, Namco Bandai ROMANIA Best Distribution SERBIA ComTrade, Computerland/Iris Mega, Extreme CC SPAIN Digital Bros, Koch Media, Namco Bandai Partners, Nobilis SWEDEN Bergsala, Koch Media, Namco Bandai, Nordic Game Supply, PAN Vision, Wendros, Ztorm (digital) UAE Red Entertainment Distribution, Pluto Games (LS2 Pluto), Viva Entertainment, Gameplay Entertainment, Geekay Distribution

TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION PLEASE CONTACT CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM February 27th 2015

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LATIN AMERICA TERRITORY REPORT Sponsored by

TERRITORY REPORT: LATIN AMERICA Brazil and Mexico make up a huge proportion of the flourishing Latin American games market. Matthew Jarvis looks at the state of games in the two regions

atin America is the secondfastest-growing region for video gaming in the world, behind Asia Pacific. According to a report from Newzoo and GlobalCollect published in August 2014, the Latin America region generated a total of $3.3 billion (£2.15bn) in consumer spend during 2014. The entire territory was estimated by the report to be the second fastest-growing region globally in 2014, experiencing 14 per cent growth. Asia Pacific was narrowly the fastest-growing market, with 15 per cent growth. It’s important to note that Latin America’s games sector is still young in comparison to Asia Pacific. The Latin American territory occupies a four per cent share of the entire global games market, in comparison to Asia Pacific’s massive 45 per cent share. More than 185 million Latin Americans play games – less than a quarter of Asia Pacific’s 827 million gamers. MEXICAN MAGIC The second-largest country in the Latin America region is Mexico, and the country has played a key part in the territory’s growing prosperity. Newzoo and GlobalCollect state that Mexico’s games market generated an estimated $1.01 billion (£0.66bn) in revenue during 2014, comprising almost a third (31 per cent) of the $3.3 billion (£2.15bn) generated by the Latin American games segment. This impressive statistic comes despite Newzoo’s 2013 Global Games Market Report prediction

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The selling price of games in Mexico has in the past been high, with PS3 and Xbox 360 titles such as Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed fetching up to $83 (£54) for a standard retail SKU. However, possibly as a result of the market growing in size and attracting more international distributors, over the last two to three years, these prices have drawn closer to their counterparts in the US and Europe. For example, Mexican online

that a mere 4.9 million of Mexico’s 122.3 million inhabitants play games regularly. This is a fraction of the proportion of consumers playing in Western Europe and US and Canada, where nearly a quarter (23.2 per cent) and a third (32.4 per cent) regularly game, respectively. Despite the relative dearth of gamers in Mexico, those that are gaming are likely to invest heavily in their hobby. Spanish-language news source SanDiegoRed reported back in late 2012 that while Brazil may occupy the largest portion of the

games retailer Gamer’s Paradise is currently listing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for Mex$999 (£43), while Camelot Games has the title on offer for Mex$850 (£37). Amazon UK’s current price for the game is £32.99. MOBILE DIFFERENCES While the Mexican mobile gaming market appears to be flourishing,

14% The Latin America games market experienced 14 per cent growth in 2014 Latin American games market, with an estimated 2014 revenue of $1.34 billion (£0.87bn) and a regional market share of 40.6 per cent, Mexico sees the highest consumption per capita in the territory. This comes despite the fact that consumers in Mexico have far less free income to spend on games than in Western markets such as the US and UK – nominal GDP per capita in Mexico sits at $11,321 (£7,363), roughly a fifth of England’s $50,566 (£32,889).

February 27th 2015

TERRITORY REPORT LATIN AMERICA

with eMarketer reporting that the smartphone userbase in Mexico grew by more than a fifth (23 per cent) in 2014, reaching 34.1 million users, Brazilian players appear to be sticking to traditional platforms when it comes to games. The Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics (IBOPE) estimates that around one quarter of consumers in Brazil play games. Two thirds (65 per cent) of these prefer console platforms, with two fifths (42 per cent) opting instead for PC. In comparison to Mexico’s booming mobile sector, uptake of mobile gaming in Brazil is slow, with less than one fifth (17 per cent) of gamers using mobile as their primary way to play. In addition to this, only one per

One per cent of Brazilian gamers play mobile games on a tablet device, with seven per cent opting to play on dedicated handheld consoles. cent of gamers play mobile games on a tablet device – an audience that is dwarfed in comparison to dedicated handheld consoles, which attract seven times this amount of players. While interest in mobile may be lacking in Brazil, other modern elements of the games industry have taken hold, led by a massive interest in digital retail. SuperData predicts that digital games revenue in Brazil will exceed $2.4 billion (£1.56bn) by the end of 2015. This is accompanied by estimated revenue of $279 million (£183.3m) and $580 million (£381m) from social and mobile, respectively.

February 27th 2015

THE FACTS INFO Number of Countries: 26 Largest Cities: Mexico City (Mexico), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Lima (Peru) Population: 588,019,503 Currency: Various GNI (Per Capita): $9,536 Languages: Primarily Spanish and Portuguese

KEY DISTRIBUTORS Gamexpress, Alcateia, Incomp, NC Games, Rcell, Zap Games

KEY RETAILERS Camelot Games, Gamer’s Paradise, Gamerush, Mixup, Sanborns, Blockbuster Mexico, Coppel, JJGames, JVL Gaming, Abraão Games, Action Game, Game Mania, World Game, GameStore, Big Shop, Submarino

LOCAL PUBLISHERS Activision, EA, Microsoft, Sony, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Disney, GameMaxx

TOP DEVELOPERS Anemona Studio, Artefacto, Neggi Studio, Kaxan Games, Larva Game Studios, 8D Games, GameBlox, Hive Digital, Uplay Mobile, Braza Games

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OFF THE RECORD

OFF THE RECORD This week, we celebrate the Women of the Year, the walking dead invade UK indie retail and Koei Tecmo brings the Hundred Years’ War to London WONDER WOMEN Last Thursday saw MCV’s Top 100 Women in Games come together to celebrate the inaugural Women of the Year awards. During the ceremony at the Ham Yard Hotel in London, three outstanding members of the games industry – Gabrielle Kent, Margaret Pearson and Julie Man – were recognised with accolades for Ambassador, Pioneer and Creative Impact, respectively. Like any good awards show, nibbles and drinks followed after – there was even a birthday cake for PlayStation’s Maria Stukoﬀ, who spent part of her special day at the event.

EVENT PARTNERS

February 27th 2015

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OFF THE RECORD

THE WEEK IN 140 CHARACTERS The Tweets you might have missed in the last seven days @scully1888 Apparently The Order 1886 is getting a Photo Mode added. Devs must’ve heard the phrase “why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer.”

@TurtleGirl73 Had a lovely time at the Women of the Year awards. Its good to see so many great and motivated women in the video games industry. X

Chris Scullion, games journalist Wednesday February 18th

Diane Hutchinson, games journalist Thursday February 19th

@Doctoe Well done to @MCVonline for giving some people an excuse to meet, see, be introduced to some awesome new compadres. #top100peoplewomeningames

@GabrielleKent Celebrating my @MCVonline Women of the Year Ambassador award with @asianastroboy @rhipratchett, ramen and dirty lychees!

Jo Twist, UKIE Thursday February 19th

Gabrielle Kent, lecturer, author and Animex event director Thursday February 19th @HollyPixel Been a pretty eventful week - had both @MCVonline ‘s Women in Games Awards and the @BFI Future Film Animation in Games panel! I can’t even! ^_^

@KatBoo Amazing afternoon with @MCVonline’s top 100 women in games. Utterly inspirational. Everyone rocks but big love to these ladies especially.

Holly Pickering, A Brave Plan, LadyCADE and Indieful Thursday February 19th

Kate Booth, Preloaded Thursday February 19th @VickiePeggs Good luck to all the amazing Top 100 women in games. Proud to be counted among you! #womeningames #mcv

@mikeck Interesting to read the review scores debate in MCV, though I would say this: publishers actually DO like review scores.

Vickie Peggs, Universally Speaking Thursday February 19th

Mike Kebby, marketing and digital strategy specialist, Friday February 20th

@Espio1 Great interview with @kezamacdonald in the new MCV. Kotaku’s strategy is the future of games media. It’s what we would’ve done on CVG.

@Sreadology If the A4T Batman Arkham Knight headset turns out to be any less than a full Batman mask I will be sorely disappointed.

Andy Robinson, Bandai Namco Thursday February 19th

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Sam Read, Testology Friday February 20th

February 27th 2015

OFF THE RECORD

WHIPPING UP A BLADESTORM Koei Tecmo’s latest title, Bladestorm: Nightmare, takes place over the course of the Hundred Years’ War. But the journalists of the games industry didn’t have to wait quite so long to have a look at the upcoming game, thanks to an event last week at UKIE’s offices. Alongside Bladestorm, Koei Tecmo was also showcasing Toukiden Kiwami and Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires, with all three games having hands-on previews. Bladestorm and Dynasty Wariors figurehead, producer Akihiro Suzuki (pictured below), even made a special trip across from Japan, visiting the UK for the first time, to discuss the titles.

OH, ZOM-BEHAVE Moaning, shuﬄing and in dire need of skin moisturiser, some of the UK’s independent retailers were visited by a very diﬀerent kind of consumer earlier this month. As part of a pre-release tour for Rebellion Games’ Zombie Army Trilogy, Sold Out Sales and Marketing joined up with Advantage Distribution and Silent Studios to bring Gestapo zombie Dead Rotten (back) to life at Rebellion’s Oxford studio. In addition to getting the chance to act all tough and point guns at Mr Rotten, attendees were shown a live playthrough of the game. It was certainly a ‘dead’ good time. (Sorry.)

It depends on the game, and how well it uses that time. It also very much matters if it feels like a cohesive whole.

I spy with one eye @RenderB

DOES THE LENGTH OF A GAME AFFECT YOUR DECISION TO SPEND MONEY ON IT? #GMGASKS

Length is a factor but only versus cost and enjoyment. I’d be very happy with a good two-hour game for the price of a cinema ticket.

Meowski Catovitch @catovitch I wonder how many people complaining about length DFWXDOO\ ¿ QLVK HYHU\ JDPH they own.

BetaDaysUK @BetaDaysUK

Bill Kav #IRRÀ \

Length and replay value for sure. But if it has a solid plot and story, I can trade replayability for that.

Yes. If the game is $60 or more, I expect a long game or at least many optional side quests.

Vaughn Whiskey @VaughnWhiskey

February 27th 2015

Yes, but it’s more complex than ‘longer equals better’. I’m more likely to buy a short, cheaper game as I already have a huge backlog.

orangehead @iorangehead

Just how much to spend. I like to get $3 per hour out of my games.

Aaron Lathrop @ausnacht No. Length is not an indicator of fun. If something is good because it doesn’t outstay its welcome, that’s a good thing. Pascal @FalseShepard No, as long as it’s a good game. For example, I love Mirror’s Edge, which is also a short game.

dmr87 @dmr_87 Yes, but this is spoiled by sales. Why pay £50 for something that lasts three hours when it’ll drop in price a few weeks later? Paper Husky @DeejBruce

www.mcvuk.com

Call our specialist sales team 01279 822 822 exertis.co.uk/home exertis.co.uk/home/store

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