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STATE OF THE NATION: GAMING
Inset: Sales of physical games are up for the first time since August 2014.
There’s no time like game time
Below: Hideo Kojima wearing a prototype jacket from the new Kojima Productions collection.
With the global gaming industry estimated to be worth an incredible $109bn, and still growing, it’s no wonder retailers, licensees and licensors are having such a successful time with gaming brands. Here are some of the highlights of the past year and what’s still to come.
Games bright spot for physical entertainment
Insert Coin celebrates iconic Kojima studios
Sales of physical entertainment (video games, music, DVD, blu-ray) has grown for the first time since August 2014 – up 2.2% year-on-year, the latest data from consumer research company, Kantar Worldpanel shows. But it is the growth in the games market that is most impressive, with this sector growing by 26%. “It’s been a great quarter for games – a real bright spot in the physical market’s struggle against the rise of digital,” said Olivia Moore, analyst at Kantar Worldpanel. “Argos and Amazon benefited most from the gaming revival, continuing to nip at the heels of market leader GAME.” Amazon remains the largest retailer for physical entertainment, growing share by 0.3 percentage points year on year to hold 20.8% of the market. Meanwhile HMV made the biggest gains: increasing market share by 2.3 percentage points to stand at 18.1%.
Insert Coin Clothing is working with the iconic Kojima Productions on a new range of official apparel that celebrates the studio - and Hideo Kojima’s incredible contribution to the video games industry. Hideo Kojima is the creator of the Metal Gear franchise. “We've been working together over the last year to develop a selection of tees, hoodies and jackets, with the first collection of designs due to launch before the end of 2018,” said Dan Long, head of communications for Insert Coin. “We’ve already had a fantastic response from fans all over the world, and they're really excited for the impending launch. Kojima-san himself posted a photo of him wearing the first prototype jacket in the collection, and we've been inundated with requests from fans ever since. It's an honour to be working with such a legendary team on this project - and now we can't wait to launch our collection later this year.”
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LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2018