MCV888 August 12th

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ISSUE 888 FRIDAY AUGUST 12TH 2016

7 OCTOBER 2016

IT’S 1968 AND THE RULES HAVE CHANGED. After years of combat in Vietnam, Lincoln Clay knows this truth: family isn’t who you’re born with, it’s who you die for. When his surrogate family, the black mob, is wiped out by the Italian MaďŹ a, Lincoln builds a new family and blazes a path of military-grade revenge through the MaďŹ oso responsible. • NEW BORDEAUX: A vast open world ruled by the mob and detailed with the sights and sounds of the era. • A LETHAL ANTI-HERO: Be Lincoln Clay, orphan and Vietnam veteran hell bent on revenge for the deaths of his surrogate family. • REVENGE YOUR WAY: Choose your own play-style; brute force, blazing guns or stalkCPF MKNN VCEVKEU VQ VGCT FQYP VJG +VCNKCP /CĆ“C • A NEW FAMILY ON THE ASHES OF THE OLD: Build a new criminal empire your way by deciding which lieutenants you reward, and which you betray.

International Media Partner

GET READY FOR GAMESCOM EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR THIS YEAR’S SHOW P35

ISSUE 888 FRIDAY AUGUST 12TH 2016

UK boxed video games market suffers worst month on record LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awaken is the UK’s No.1 game in July O Nintendo No.2 publisher

16,000 visited the games-themed Monopoly Board on Trafalgar square

London Games Festival 2017 set for March 30th 11-days of events to attract 50,000 visitors THE 2017 London Games Festival will run from March 30th until April 9th, MCV can reveal.

The event will kick off with EGX Rezzed, while the BAFTA Games Awards is set for April 6th.

Organisers Games London hopes to pull in 50,000 visitors over the 11 days. This year’s Festival attracted 38,000 people across 30 events.

Games London (set up between Film London and UKIE, with backing from the Mayor of London) has attracted £8.5m in potential investment to the capital.

“Games London focuses on harnessing the city’s talent, with the aim of making London the world capital for video games,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

“It’s fantastic to see the festival expanding in scope, reach and ambition, and connecting Londonbased talent with overseas investment partners – further proof that our city is open for business.”

The aim is to make London the world capital for games.

IN a month where Pokémon Go dominated the media, sales of boxed video games plunged to an all-time low. £21.4m was spent on physical video games in the UK during July - the lowest figure ever reported.

The previous low happened in July 2013, when the market made just £23m.

In total, 792,000 physical games were sold by the likes of Amazon, GAME, Argos and Tesco.

It wasn’t bad news for the entire market, of course. Nintendo saw its share of software sales spike, thanks to a new Monster Hunter game, Minecraft: Wii U Edition and a rise in sales of Pokémon 3DS titles. During July, the firm was the No.2 publisher in terms of software sold and the revenue generated.

The top publisher was Warner Bros, which continues

to ride high on the success of LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The movie tie-in was the best-selling game of the month. Other successful games during July included Uncharted 4 (at No.2) Overwatch (No.3), FIFA 16 (No.4) and Doom (No.5).

Minecraft: Wii U Edition, Carmageddon: Max Damage, Monster Hunter Generations and a Game of the Year edition of Project CARS were the only new games to break the Top 50.

Of course this doesn’t reflect the true health of video games overall, with digital sales taking an increasingly large share of the UK market. GfK is currently working with SuperData to produce a UK chart that will combine physical and digital sales information.

Data courtesy of GfK/UKIE.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London

BIOSHOCK CREATOR TO DELIVER EGX REZZED KEYNOTE KEN Levine will headline next year’s EGX Rezzed on Thursday, March 30th.

Levine is the man behind the BioShock series and details of his talk will be revealed ‘soon’. He is currently working on an unannounced narrativedriven game for Take-Two. EGX Rezzed will kick-off the London Games Festival, at London’s Tobacco Dock.

LEGO Star Wars was the best-selling boxed game in a disappointing month

PLUS TAKE-TWO’S ZELNICK ON CREATIVE TALENT WE MEET REFLECTIONS

NEWS

Xbox One hardware sales spike 75% last week as new 2TB S model sells out 1TB and 500GB models still to hit stores O Gears of War 4 2TB bundle due for release in early October

by Christopher Dring THE 2TB version of the new Xbox One S has already completely sold out, boosting sales of the console by more than 75 per cent last week.

UK retailers told MCV that stock for the machine was tight, although Xbox will release more 2TB machines in the form of a limited edition Gears of War 4 version on October 7th.

The new S model – which features a sleeker design and allows for 4K video playback – will also receive 1TB and 500GB versions. Release information for both of these will be revealed in ‘the coming weeks’.

“We’re excited by the reaction from fans for Xbox One S,” said Xbox UK marketing boss Harvey Eagle.

Only the 2TB Xbox One S has been launched – the 500GB and 1TB versions are ‘coming soon’

“While stock of the 2TB has sold out, gamers can already pre-order the Xbox One S 2TB Gears of War Limited Edition console. Our aim between now and Christmas is to drive excitement for the range of new Xbox One S consoles that will be available with great new features - including 4K video streaming capabilities. We will be sharing further details on other Xbox One S bundles, variations and pricing in the coming weeks.”

He continued: “It’s a great looking console – it is the most compact Xbox yet, 40 per cent smaller than the original Xbox One, and includes a built-in power supply.

“If you’re an Xbox 360 owner looking to upgrade or a first time console buyer, the Xbox One S offers great value.”

Gamescom targets more halls as international visitors spike THE organiser of Gamescom expects to expand into even more halls by attracting exhibitors from more countries.

Koelnmesse significantly expanded the size of Gamescom last year, increasing the available floor space for both the consumer and business areas by 16,000 square metres – a rise of ten per cent.

Gamescom 2016 will use the same hall layout, although it has managed to increase its exhibitors – with companies hailing from 53 countries versus just 45 in 2015.

“Gamescom is the largest event for interactive entertainment worldwide and Europe’s leading business platform for the games

August 12th 2016

exhibitor figures and the level of internationality.

Both Sony and Microsoft are exhibiting at Gamescom 2016.”

industry,” said project manager Tim Endres.

“It is more than a trade fair, it is a joint experience and an international industry meeting point. We will further expand upon the successful internationalisation strategy and have the long term goal, following the expansion in floor space last year, of recruiting further exhibitors and expanding the space occupancy.”

The firm has also shrugged off concerns over the fact neither Microsoft or Sony will be holding press conferences in Germany this year.

“The signs of a successful Gamescom are all there,” he said. “We will definitely set new records in terms of

We will definitely set new records in terms of exhibitor figures and internationality.

Tim Endress, Koelnmesse

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www.mcvuk.com

NEWS

THE EDITOR

Dovetail: ‘UK is the best place in the world to make games’ Low pound boosts exporters O But Brexit hits talent search

by Christopher Dring THE falling pound has made the UK an even more attractive place to make games, says Dovetail.

The Train Simulator firm says Britain is still a hugely appealing games industry, but admits attracting EU talent has been made harder since the EU vote.

“Brexit has had an interesting and significant impact on us,” said CEO Paul Jackson.

“We revel in the fact that we have a high number of foreign nationals working in our company. Brexit has made that tougher. It is something we were really thoughtful about, because we are a very multi-

UK GAMES SHRUGS OFF BREXIT GLOOM

cultural company, and we intend to stand behind our employees from different countries. We will protect them as far as is possible, and we are confident we can do that because we have close links with Government.

“That has been a challenge that we could have done without.

“On the other hand, we are a big export business and the fall in the pound has been incredibly powerful for us. With the low pound and the cultural tax credits in our industry, I have no doubt now that the UK is the best place in the world to make games.”

Dovetail is working on a new Train Simulator, Flight Simulator and its Dovetail Live service.

T

here’s a distinct UK flavour to the news section in this week’s MCV – it’s almost as if we’ve forgotten that we’re sending it to Gamescom, making it available to the thousands of international attendees that flock to Cologne.

We’ve never been ashamed of proudly flying the British flag, but we must admit that going to Germany after a huge proportion of us stuck our middle fingers up to Europe makes us a little embarrassed.

Frankly, we’re tempted to just keep our heads low and hope to get out of the week in one piece.

Of course we won’t do that, because the UK remains the best place in the world to make games. You’ll see over the coming months some serious investment into the British development scene, to match the major recent acquisitions of Jagex and Splash Damage by Chinese businesses. Brexit may be playing havoc elsewhere, but for the UK games industry, it remains an exciting period.

Games London is part of that story. The work it is doing to attract investment is already paying off, and the London Games Festival that it organises is rising rapidly. If the event hits that 50,000 visitor target, it will already be a third of the size of the London Film Festival – which has been running for 60 years.

There are challenges, of course. Brighton-based developer Relentless closed this week after 13 years, marking the end of another sizeable UK studio. There’s a job crisis brewing, with the Brexit vote

Brexit has resulted in challenges that, frankly, we could have done without.

Paul Jackson, Dovetail

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There’s a job crisis brewing post-Brexit making it harder for studios to attract European talent. making it harder for studios looking to attract EU talent.

And there’s some serious headwind in the retail space, too. The boxed games market is going nowhere and remains a strong and reliable revenue generator, but those July figures and GAME’s share price don’t paint a pretty picture.

Which is why we can’t afford to turn up in Germany this week feeling sheepish. Even if we might feel like it.

MCV @ GAMESCOM RETURNS This week’s issue of MCV is a Gamescom special, but it’s just the first part in what will be a full week of activity from us.

There will be round-the-clock coverage on MCVUK.com, but also (once again) MCV print will be going daily.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday next week, MCV @ Gamescom magazines will be distributed in the thousands to attendees at the Cologne trade fair. Each daily publication will also be available, for free, to read from the MCV website.

So whether you’re there in person, or staying in the UK, MCV will be your home for Gamescom news, features and analysis.

Enjoy the show. cdring@nbmedia.com

August 12th 2016

NEWS

GAME Digital eyes concession locations as it looks to cut costs High Street retail giant tells MCV that it is busy re-negotiating leases to lower property expenditure

by Christopher Dring GAME says it is looking to open shops within other outlets in a bid to boost its footprint, whilst lowering the cost of its store base.

The UK retailer has had a tough 2016 following a disappointing Christmas last year. GAME’s share price has tumbled by almost 45 per cent since the end of December.

The firm is now trying to reduce its property costs, with many of its leases coming up for renewal this year. That has resulted in some store closures.

However, GAME is eyeing concessions as a means of opening new low-cost outlets.

“Considerable focus has been centred on reducing property costs as leases have come up for renewal to ensure we maintain the profitability of the store estate,” said a GAME spokesperson.

“Many leases have been renegotiated on improved terms.

Where proposed new lease terms have not been attractive, the Group has relocated to lower cost premises or, on occasion, has opted to close its store, especially in areas where the Group already has more than one trading unit.

“We are exploring opportunities to open concession sites, where lower cost of occupation and more flexible terms can be agreed, too.”

GAME says it is putting a considerable focus on reducing its property costs

London Evening Standard doubles down on games

by Alex Calvin THE London Evening Standard is the latest mainstream publication to put a focus on video games.

Interactive entertainment is being covered as part of the brand’s ‘Staying In’ online section, which generally writes about TV and film. Not only that – Standard. co.uk’s features editor Amira Hashish tells MCV that gaming has been vital to the section’s growth since its launch last year.

“Staying In has seen impressive growth since we launched just over 14 months ago and it has now become an integral part of our online offering,” Hashish said.

“Games have played a big part in this. We have gone from running sporadic pieces to offering regular features, interviews, news and reviews for

August 12th 2016

Games have played a big part in the growth of our Staying In online section.

Amira Hashish, Standard.co.uk

our growing community. Judging by the reaction the content has received so far, we can see this is a strong area of interest for our readers so we look forward to further boosting the platform in the coming months.”

Staying In writer Ben Travis added: “Over the next year we will continue to build on what we’ve started – proving that games coverage is just at home on mainstream websites as it is on specialist outlets.”

Features editor Hashish (top) and writer Travis (above) are two of Standard.co.uk’s journalists tasked with covering video games

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www.mcvuk.com

NEWS

‘Mobile games? You’re better off going to Vegas’ Take-Two boss says Clash of Clans firm Supercell is the only mobile company to have a ‘repeatable hit ratio’

by Christopher Dring THE CEO of Take-Two says you’re better off gambling in Las Vegas than spending millions of dollars trying to make a smartphone smash hit.

The firm has had some success in the mobile space via its GTA ports, plus licensed games based on WWE and NBA. Yet it’s been reluctant to invest in developing original mobile properties.

The company has also questioned the logic of spending billions in an attempt to buy your way into the sector, much like Activision has done with its $5.9bn acquisition of King.

“There are not a lot of interesting acquisitions out there that are left,” said Strauss Zelnick when

asked if he’d consider acquiring a smartphone company.

“The deals that have been done are very, very big and expensive and risky. We don’t tend to do deals like that. We wouldn’t rule out the possibility of acquiring something, but so far we haven’t seen a great opportunity.

“What we have focused on so far is where we are finding success, which is bringing our IP to smartphones, bringing our catalogue games onto tablets, and we also can do free-to-play games that are available on PC, like NBA 2K Online in China. So you are going to see growth from us in our free-to-play strategy, smartphone strategy and casual strategy. But, so far anyway, we are being careful about what we are bringing to

Rovio put out 100 titles and it had one hit. It was a great game, but one per cent is a terrible ratio.

Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two

market. Because the hit ratio on smartphone and tablet is super low.

“We don’t want to waste a lot of time and energy developing things for which there will be no market. The only company that has a repeatable hit ratio in casual games is Supercell.

Everyone else has one. One is not a good thing to buy. Spending billions of dollars on a company that has one hit title makes us really nervous.

“Rovio put out 100 titles and they got one that hit. And it was a great title, but one per cent is a terrible ratio. You are better off going to Las Vegas. If you are going to take a bunch of capital and bet it on something that has one per cent hit ratio, then I might as well go to Vegas.”

Facebook: ‘We can avoid online gaming toxicity’

by Christopher Dring

GTA V returns to No.1 and soars passed 6m sales OVER 6m boxed copies of GTA V have been sold to date in the UK, retailers have told MCV. The news comes as the open world action game returns to the top of the charts, more than 151 weeks since it launched.

www.mcvuk.com

SOCIAL network Facebook believes its move into games streaming can avoid the ‘toxicity’ that exists on rival platforms.

The firm has been pushing Facebook Live, a streaming platform that is already signing partnerships with eSports firms. It is also trying to attract streamers and YouTubers to the service.

Head of EMEA gaming sales, Tarquin Henderson, believes that the fact that viewers will be leaving comments under their real name will help prevent online abuse.

“Facebook brings tremendous reach and engagement for streamers as well as social connectivity options that just don’t exist in the livestreaming world today,” he said.

“We are also hopeful that Facebook’s community standards will have a positive impact.

Unlike other channels, on Facebook you are your real self, posting under your real name, connected to your friends and your family. We hope that that

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will foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for live game content, and coupled with a history of strong moderation tools and policy expertise, we will avoid the toxicity that has traditionally been associated with this space.”

August 12th 2016

CHEAT SHEET

UP & DOWN

Market Data A lack of new releases this week sees games revenue drop by seven per cent

£5m £15m

£30m £2.5m

£5m 192,078 units £4.3m 161,395 units

Week Ending July 23rd

Week Ending July 30th

AFTER FIVE weeks on top LEGO Star Wars falls two places to No.3 as sales dip 21 per cent

£4.7m 180,790 units

UNCHARTED 4 holds second place with sales increasing 19 per cent weekon-week

Week Ending August 6th

EVENT CALENDAR AUGUST 2016

SEPTEMBER 2016

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GAMESCOM 2016 Koelnmesse, Cologne Wednesday, August 17th – Sunday, August 12st Q The biggest trade fair for video games in Europe is coming back this summer Q Organiser Koelnmesse predicts over 800 companies from more than 40 countries at this year’s show Q Ticket registrations 60 per cent higher than those for Gamescom 2015 Q Come visit MCV at booth D019 in Hall 2.2

EUROPEAN WOMEN IN GAMES CONFERENCE University of Greenwich, London Wednesday, September 7th Q The sixth edition of the European Women in Games Conference takes place at University of Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College Q Over 40 speakers will be delivering keynotes, panel discussions and workshops on subjects including careers, eSports and BAME diversity

INSOMNIA58 NEC Birmingham Friday, August 26th – Monday, August 29th Q As well as a main stage, Insomnia features 24-hour LAN areas, panel talks, retro and indie zones, console tournaments and a massive retail zone Q For the first time, High Street retailer will be holding GAMEFest at this iteration of Insomnia Q Multiplay is also holding a League of Legends event, League Fest, at the event for the first time

August 12th 2016

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LEGENDS OF GAMING LIVE 2016 Alexandra Palace, London Saturday, September 10th – Sunday, September 11th Q For two days next month, fans will be meeting the stars of YouTube. Almost 20,000 gamers are expected to be in attendance EGX NEC, Birmingham Thursday, September 22nd – Sunday, September 25th Q EGX returns for its second year at NEC Birmingham

www.mcvuk.com

CHEAT SHEET

PRESENTS

5 SECOND FACTS

THE NEWS IN 140 CHARACTERS The Tweets you might have missed in the last seven days

Your shortcut to sounding clever in the pub, we take you around the industry in under 30 seconds

GRAND THEFT AUTO V IS ONCE AGAIN NO.1 IN THE UK 151 WEEKS AFTER LAUNCH

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Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V is once again the best-selling game in the UK for the week ending August 6th. This is 151 weeks after the smash hit first launched back in September 2013.

The last time the crime blockbuster was No.1 was in March 2015.

XCOM 2’s PS4 and Xbox One release date has been pushed back from September 9th to September 30th

$5m

@VG_Dave GTA V getting back to No.1 almost three years after launch must be a first, right?

@MikerDiver If I had a wingman I’d have them down at GAME and Argos etc to find out who the fuck is still buying GTA V, new, in August 2016.

David Scammell, Videogamer Monday, August 8th

Mike Diver, Vice Gaming Monday, August 8th

RELENTLESS IS CLOSING

DEUS EX CRITICISED FOR ‘AUGS LIVES MATTER’

The Brighton-based creator of Buzz has announced its closure after 13 years in business. Founder Andrew Eades stated that all employees have been made redundant.

Upcoming Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has come under fire after ‘Augs Lives Matter’ appeared in some concept art. This seems to be a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement, and is seem by some as insensitive.

@djbteamsters Very, very sad to hear about Relentless – all the best all. I know we aren’t local, but Team17 has a few vacancies if it helps.

@justicar My opinion on Deus Ex’s latest materials? My opinion is that you should listen to people of colour on this issue. Amplify those voices.

Debbie Bestwick, Team17 Friday, August 5th

Glenn White, EA Friday, August 5th

@patrickol Really sad to hear the news about Relentless - a fantastic studio who made some really special games.

@RichStanton People are overreacting to a piece of concept art.

Nothing wrong with [developer] Eidos Montreal referencing contemporary life

Patrick O’Luanaigh, nDreams Friday, August 5th

Rich Stanton, freelance journalist Tuesday, August 2nd

Owlchemy labs, the developer behind VR title Job Simulator, has raised $5m in Series A Investment funding

$50bn Developers have now made over $50bn through the App Store, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said

£816 The UK price of the HTC Vive headset has increased by £70 to £759. That rises to £815.60 with the £56.69 delivery

15m Blizzard has revealed that its new online shooter IP Overwatch has 15m players

LVL 5 Afterglow Headset – PDP Design and manufacture the LVL 5 Afterglow Headset for PlayStation 4 europesales@pdp.com

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GAMESAID THIS WEEK CHARITY VOTING OPENS THIS MONTH

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PLAY YOUR PART BECOME A MEMBER AMBASSADOR TRUSTEE WWW.GAMESAID.ORG

www.mcvuk.com

GAMESCOM TO BRIGHTON CYCLE RIDE

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GamesAid members will soon be voting to see which charities receive funds it has raised this year. Voting opens on August 15th and closes on September 5th. Becoming a GamesAid member is free of charge.

Following Gamescom, a number of GamesAid members will be cycling 352 miles from Cologne to Brighton for charity. You can donate here www. justgiving.com/teams/ gamescomtobrighton2016

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GAMESAID GOLF DAY RAISES £30,OOO ..................

The annual GamesAid Golf and Spa Day returned for the ninth time on Thursday, July 14th. The event raised a whopping £30,000. This year it was once again held at The Grove.

August 12th 2016

MARKET MOVES

APPOINTMENTS

New social media manager for Wired Productions Broadhead joins from GAME O Eurogamer hires guides writer O Gamer Network bolsters US team WIRED PRODUCTIONS | The indie publisher has appointed NEIL BROADHEAD as social media and community manager.

He joins from Multiplay where he was an event manager for five months. Before that, he worked at GAME, starting as a local marketing manager in 2008 before being promoted to UK events executive in 2015.

Wired MD LEO ZULLO commented: “We’re heading into an incredibly exciting time here at Wired Productions, with Super Dungeon Bros and the reboot to the hugely popular We Sing IP. “The experience Neil has accumulated during his time

August 12th 2016

and grow as a site - but they won’t come at the expense of the news, reviews and reporting Eurogamer is known for.”

at Multiplay and GAME will be invaluable as we continue to grow our publishing division.”

EUROGAMER | Following the appointment of guides editor MATTHEW REYNOLDS (not pictured), Eurogamer has named CHRIS TAPSELL (above) as its new guides writer.

Editor OLI WELSH commented in a blog post: “Chris is very new to professional games writing, though you might have come across his work on a site called Pixel Dynamo.

“Guides attract new readers through search and are a great way for us to expand our reach

GAMER NETWORK | JULIA LORANGER has been hired as West Coast sales director to increase Gamer Network’s reach into North America.

She will be working on campaigns across the firm’s portfolio, including VG247, GI.biz, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, USGamer and Eurogamer.

Loranger previously held the same position at Playwire for over a year. She initially joined that company in 2013 as account executive.

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“I’m delighted to be joining Gamer Network at such an exciting time for the business,” she said. “It has established an enviable reputation globally and it’s a tremendously exciting prospect to harness the firm’s huge growth in the US.” Sales director DAN ROBINSON stated: “Julia brings valuable experience from her time at Ubisoft, Bandai Namco and most recently, Playwire.

Her deep understanding of how to deliver meaningful and measurable games media campaigns is a perfect fit for our diverse and fast-growing gaming portfolio and will see us better represent the US games industry as it gears up for another busy Q4.”

www.mcvuk.com

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

WEEKLY CHARTS 151 WEEKS after its September 2013 launch, Grand Theft Auto V once again claims the top spot in the UK charts.

This is the first time that Rockstar’s crime title has reached No.1 since March 2015.

The game saw a sales increase of 31 per cent.

It also ends LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens run at the lead of the Top 40. That game managed five weeks at No.1, but it falls to No.3 with a 21 per cent dip in sales.

Meanwhile, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End holds onto second place with a 19 per cent sales dip.

Sony’s adventure title was just a handful of units from outselling Grand Theft Auto V. Over in the Steam charts, there’s still clearly

a lot of excitement surrounding Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky. Pre-orders for that title are the most-purchased item on Steam for the second week running, so we can expect strong launch sales for the ambitious sci-fi title.

Bethesda’s Doom returns to No.2 due to a price promotion while Telltale’s Batman title and 505’s Abzu debut at No.7 and No.9 respectively.

And Pokémon Go fever continues. For the week ending July 31st, Niantic’s hit was the most downloaded free game on both iPhone and iPad. Not only that – it was once again the mobile title that generated the most revenue on iPhone.

GLOBAL STEAM CHARTS (UNITS)

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW RE 08 RE 10 05 07 NEW NEW 03

NO MAN’S SKY (P) DEVELOPER: HELLO GAMES PUBLISHER: HELLO GAMES

TITLE Doom Ark: Survival Evolved Fallout 4 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege RimWorld Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Batman: The Telltale Series Abzu Grand Theft Auto V

PUBLISHER Bethesda Studio Wildcard Bethesda Ubisoft Ludeon Studios Valve Telltale Games 505 Games Rockstar

TOP 40 UK PHYSICAL RETAIL 02

01

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

LW 03 02 01 05 04 07 06 08 10 09 21 12 13 16 23 24 11 17 14 18 19 15 20 22 26 RE 28 26 30 RE RE RE 32 RE 34 29 37 35 38 25

04

05

Title Format Publisher Grand Theft Auto V PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Rockstar Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End PS4 Sony LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens PS4, XO, PS3, 360, 3DS, PC Warner Bros Overwatch PS4, XO, PC Activision Blizzard FIFA 16 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA Rocket League PS4, XO, PC 505 Games Doom PS4, XO, PC Bethesda Call of Duty: Black Ops III PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard Ratchet & Clank PS4 Sony Minecraft: Xbox Edition XO, 360 Microsoft Tom Clancy’s The Division PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft Star Wars Battlefront PS4, XO, PC EA LEGO Marvel’s Avengers PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, PC Warner Bros Minecraft: Story Mode PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Telltale Games EA Sports UFC 2 PS4, XO EA Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft Pokémon Alpha Sapphire 3DS Nintendo LEGO Jurassic World PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros Fallout 4 PS4, XO, PC Bethesda Pokémon Omega Ruby 3DS Nintendo Minecraft: PlayStation Edition PS4, PS3, Vita Sony Homefront: The Revolution PS4, XO, PC Deep Silver Mario & Sonic: Rio 2016 Olympic Games Wii U, 3DS Nintendo Monster Hunter Generations 3DS Capcom Heavy Rain & Beyond Two Souls Collection PS4 Sony Disney Infinite 3.0 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS Disney WWE 2K16 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC 2K Games New Super Mario Bros 2 Wii U Nintendo Bloodborne PS4 Sony Batman Arkham Knight PS4, XO Warner Bros Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 PS4, XO, PC EA The Sims 4 PC EA Tomodachi Life 3DS Nintendo Forza Motorport 6 XO Microsoft Deadpool PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard Pokémon Y 3DS Nintendo Far Cry Primal PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft Minecraft: Wii U Edition Wii U Nintendo LEGO Marvel Super Heroes PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros Pokémon X 3DS Nintendo

Source: Steam, Period: August 1st to 7th August 12th 2016

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Source: UKIE/GfK Entertainment, Period: Week ending August 6th 12

www.mcvuk.com

WEEKLY SALES CHARTS

UK IPAD PAID

01 TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

LW 11 07 NEW NEW 03 05 04 NEW 09

UK IPHONE PAID

(UNITS)

01

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Minecraft: Story Mode Soccer Physics Nevertales: Legends - A Hidden Object Adventure Myths of the World: The Whispering Marsh Terraria Plague Inc. Octodad: Dadliest Catch Shopkins: Shoppie Dash!

Ultimate Shark Simulator

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Telltale Otto-Ville Ojala Big Fish Big Fish 505 Games Ndemic Creations Young Horses Mighty Kingdom Gluten Free Games

LW 02 03 05 07 11 08 09 RE RE

(UNITS)

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

Title Heads Up! Plague Inc. Monopoly Game Football Manager Mobile 2016 Bloons TD 5 Backflip Madness Geometry Dash Neo Monsters The Chase

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: July 25th to July 31st

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: July 25th to July 31st

UK IPAD GROSSING (REVENUE)

UK IPHONE GROSSING (REVENUE)

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MOBILE STRIKE DEVELOPER: EPIC WAR

Title Candy Crush Saga Game of War - Fire Age Clash of Clans Candy Crush Soda Saga Pokémon Go Hay Day Gummy Drop!

The Sims FreePlay Minecraft: Pocket Edition

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Developer King Machine Zone Supercell King Niantic Supercell Big Fish EA Mojang

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POKÉMON GO DEVELOPER: NIANTIC

Title Mobile Strike Candy Crush Saga Clash of Clans Game of War - Fire Age Candy Crush Soda Saga CSR Racing 2 8 Ball Pool Episode - Choose Your Story, feat. Mean Girls: Senior Year Clash Royale

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: July 25th to July 31st

UK IPHONE FREE (UNITS)

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POKÉMON GO DEVELOPER: NIANTIC

Title Slither.io Diep.io CSR Racing 2 Farm Heroes Super Saga Dunkers Big Bang Racing Color Switch Talking Tom Gold Run Roblox

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Developer Steve Howse Miniclip.com NaturalMotion King Colin Lane Traplight Fortafy Games Outfit7 Roblox Corporation

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: July 25th to July 31st www.mcvuk.com

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

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: July 25th to July 31st

UK IPAD FREE (UNITS)

TW 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

Developer Warner Bros Ndemic Creations EA Sega Ninja Kiwi Gamesoul Studio RobTop Games NTT Resonant Barnstorm Games

LW 02 NEW 03 04 06 09 NEW 19 NEW

POKÉMON GO DEVELOPER: NIANTIC

Title 50 50 - The Addictive Slicing Game PokeWhere - Live Radar Map for Pokemon GO Talking Tom Gold Run Slither.io CSR Racing 2 Color Switch Eden: The Game Dunkers Pharaoh’s Party: Coin Pusher

Developer App Design Company Vylar Outfit7 Steve Howse NaturalMotion Fortafy Games Channel 4 Colin Lane Mindstorm Studios

Source: UKIE/Refl ection, Period: July 25th to July 31st 13

August 12th 2016

The future of motorcycle racing!

OUT OCTOBER 7th 2016

Ride hard or go home!

RIDE 2 © 2016. and

by Milestone S.r.l. Videogame All rights reserved.

All manufacturers, accessory suppliers, names, tracks, sponsors, MXGPPublished - The official FIMDeveloped Motocross World Championship © 2016 developed and published

by Milestone s.r.l. All rights reserved. brands and associated imagery featured Copyright in this game areYouthStream trademarks- and/or materials of their respective owners. © 2016 All rightscopyrighted reserved

STRAUSS ZELNICK, TAKE-TWO INTERVIEW

Strauss Zelnick: “I’ve never once lost a creative talent I didn’t want to lose” The Take-Two CEO discusses the art of keeping hold of your best developers and why he’ll keep taking risks on new IP with Christopher Dring

K

en Levine, Sid Meier, Haden Blackman, Sam and Dan Houser... when it comes to celebrated video games luminaries, Take-Two has more than its fair share on its books.

Yet the real achievement is not in attracting this talent (after all, who wouldn’t want to work for a publisher that is happy to spend millions on big game franchises?), it’s the fact that some of those names have been part of the TakeTwo family for decades.

It’s one thing getting the Housers to make a game for you, it’s an entirely different challenge getting them (and their team) to do it again, and again, and again.

“In every entertainment business I’ve worked in, and in over 30 years of doing this, I have never once lost a piece of creative talent I didn’t want to lose,” boasts TakeTwo chief Strauss Zelnick.

“So why is that? Well certainly not because we pay more... we also don’t pay less. We pay competitively. We bring a lot of great creative people on-board and we give them a lot of latitude, we actually encourage them to pursue their passions and we mean it. And when we are tested on that, we step up. We don’t torture people, we don’t have endless meetings... we focus on the things that really matter.

“If you have our creative folks in the room right now, and you asked them what it’s like to work with me, I’m afraid they would not give you a long list of all my wonderful attributes. More likely, what they would say is: ‘We have

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to do our work for one of these big companies if we want to have worldwide marketing and distribution, and the capital to do our job. And on balance, this is a pretty good place.’ I am hopeful that they would say that. But they wouldn’t be saying: ‘Strauss is the most awesome guy ever,’ because big corporations are hard places to do great creative works. We try to make it as easy and productive as possible. Even so, I would say we fall short often. But I think we fall short less often than many of our big competitors.”

We are pressing our teams to innovate, to think outside of the box and to take risks.

Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two

He continues: “For these talented people, they look at it and say: ‘We have great IP, if we leave we don’t get to take that with us. We have all the resources we need. We are not only allowed to take risks, we are encouraged to take risks. We get to do what we love every day and we are kind of left alone. We don’t get bothered.’ Bad staff don’t like that environment because it is scary and your work has to stand on its own. Good people really love that. I think that is the reason we are able to keep our talent.

“Most diversified media companies really aren’t like this.”

QUALITY CONTROL Zelnick isn’t really a gamer, although he knows the industry intimately. He was the CEO of Crystal Dynamics in 1993 - “I was the pre-revenue CEO,” he jokes – before he worked for media giant BMG. He launched BMG’s games division [BMG Interactive] where GTA was first commissioned – although he was later forced to close it (selling GTA to Take-Two long before he was involved in the company).

Zelnick is a rare businessman that isn’t afraid to sacrifice shortterm financial gain for the greater good of the product. In his investor calls, he frequently bats back any suggestion that the firm should be looking to release its big IP more frequently.

“I really do believe that if you look at the long history of entertainment, the only companies that succeed over time are the ones that focus, first and foremost, on the quality

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August 12th 2016

INTERVIEW STRAUSS ZELNICK, TAKE-TWO

Zelnick has high hopes for Mafia III and thinks it can outsell its predecessor

of the entertainment,” he explains.

“I think we can also do that and be efficient and run a solid business at the same time.

“I started in the creative side of the business. I am lucky to have been running entertainment companies since I was in my 20s.

And if you are going to run one of these businesses, you have to put the creative folks out in front.

If you try to take credit for what they do, you are not going to have any good creative people on your team. I don’t want to be front and centre, I already get enough credit for anything that goes well.

“On the other hand, the culture is set by the top of the organisation - so when I say I want us to be the most creative, most efficient, and most innovative company in the business, I have to make decisions and interactions that are consistent with that, otherwise they are just empty words.”

Zelnick also takes pride in the company’s willingness to invest big money in new IP – BioShock and Borderlands were once huge risks and are now amongst the company’s most lucrative brands.

August 12th 2016

Yet the firm’s more recent creative gambles haven’t quite paid off to the same degree.

2015’s Evolve and 2016’s Battleborn have been wellreceived but haven’t quite hit the mark from a commercial perspective. Take-Two is certainly not giving up on either title – in fact Evolve has just become free-to-play and immediately attracted over 1m users (although, Zelnick says, the key metric will be how many of those users will keep coming back).

Nevertheless, when risks fail to take off, there must be an urge for a bit of conservatism.

“We are pressing our teams to innovate, to think outside of the box and to take risks” insists Zelnick.

“Sometimes those risks don’t pay off, but more often than not they do.”

We have a culture of creativity and openness and honesty.

It is very unusual. Is it perfect? Of course not.

It’s totally imperfect.

Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two

2K’S MASSIVE 2016 Although risks remain a big part of Zelnick’s vision for Take-Two, the firm’s upcoming release slate reads a little safer.

There is the BioShock Collection on September 16th, while the acclaimed PC game XCOM 2

16

is coming to consoles on September 30th.

Yet those are just the warmup acts. Civilization VI arrives on October 21st, the last numbered game in the series sold an impressive 8m units and it’s expected to be one of the biggest PC games of the year.

Then there are the sports titles, WWE 2K17 (October 11th) and NBA 2K17 (September 16th).

These two games are a little more US-focused, although 2K expects to see some European growth.

“WWE used to sell six to seven million units,” Zelnick says. “It is now not doing that, although it is doing a lot better than it did at THQ. We think we have only scratched the service on NBA 2K outside of the US, and we still think there is a lot of upside within the US. This past release was 7.5m units, virtual currency sales were up 70 per cent year-over-year. That’s pretty great, but we think there’s room to go.”

However, Zelnick doesn’t expect to widen Take-Two sports range anytime soon.

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STRAUSS ZELNICK, TAKE-TWO INTERVIEW

A NEW INDIE PUBLISHER EMERGES A new Civilization title is coming out in October and is expected to be one of the year’s biggest PC games

“We would love to build a bigger portfolio, but we have to be realistic. FIFA is the standard bearer in soccer, or football, whatever you call it. Madden is the standard bearer in American Football. NBA 2K is the standard bearer in basketball. I don’t see us competing in soccer or football.

That leaves baseball, and we made no secret of the fact that the contract we had for baseball was not favourable, to say the least. So there may be some opportunity, but sitting here today, not a lot.”

Perhaps the biggest opportunity for Take-Two this year, however, is with Mafia III (October 7th). The series has always been quite popular, although you can’t help but feel it’s a brand with a lot more potential than it’s currently exhibiting. Already there has been some significant marketing investment, including a major presence at E3 in June.

“The last iteration did fine,” Zelnick observes. “It sold 7m units. We think there is way more opportunity. It is a great name, the timing is right, it looks right, the gameplay is great, the story is

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great... we have really high hopes for it. It’s pretty hard to argue that the last release wasn’t very successful. Do I think there is more potential? I do, yes. I really do think it can be bigger.”

for Barry Diller [founder of Fox Broadcasting] and I worked for Rupert Murdoch for four years... I’ve worked for some of the best guys in the business. But I left to set up

TWO’S COMPANY A lot of the talk around Take-Two within the gaming community is centered on Rockstar, and when it will announce its next game – it’s been three years since it first released Grand Theft Auto V. Zelnick will not be drawn on any of its labels announcements, although the firm’s latest financials assure shareholders that a new product will be announced soon.

Yet Take-Two has long moved beyond a reliance on one label and one franchise, and 2K’s line-up of six big releases in five weeks only cements that further.

Its risks may not always pay off, but the management team at TakeTwo are at least saying the right things, and judging by the loyalty of its talent, it’s doing the right things, too.

“I worked for some of the best,” concludes Zelnick. “I worked

WWE used to sell six or seven million units.

It’s not doing that now, though it is doing better than with THQ. Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two

on my own because I wanted to create a unique culture, and I think we have a pretty unique culture. A culture of creativity and openness and honesty. It is very unusual.

Is it perfect? Of course it’s not perfect. It’s totally imperfect. And if you interview all my folk and ask them for a list of things that are imperfect, you’ll get a frustratingly long list of things we haven’t been able to make perfect.

“But we’re always improving.”

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TAKE-TWO told MCV back in May that it was looking at signing projects from independent developers.

The company has yet to detail its plans around this, although it is a surprising move. Up until now, Take-Two has shown little interest of working with smaller teams, and it focuses almost entirely on triple-A boxed games. So why do it now?

“We expect these to be triple-A products,” TakeTwo boss Strauss Zelnick counters. “Our goal is to work with the best and brightest independent developers, and to bring their creative passion to market. The reason we chose to do it in this way is because we already have two big labels that are focused on their existing IP and new IP. We thought there may be an untapped opportunity to work with independent developers, and as we started looking into it, we realised there were a small number - but a number nonetheless - of really high quality developers that we could work with, and that is what we are trying to do. So while the type of products may differ, and I hope they will because I want us to be open minded and experimental, I do believe we are squarely within the triple-A area.”

August 12th 2016

INTERVEW REFLECTIONS

In Reflections This week, Christopher Dring travels up to Newcastle to visit Ubisoft’s Reflections studio and meet its MD Pauline Jacquey. What he discovered was three triple-A projects, an indie-like hit and no shortage of ambition

M

CV had a certain perception of Ubisoft Reflections before it visited the Newcastle-based developer.

The firm hasn’t led its own triple-A games project since Driver: San Francisco five years ago. Since then, it has been largely used in a support capacity, helping out with the likes of Just Dance, Watch Dogs and The Division.

It felt like a shame, even a waste of talent, when you consider Reflections’ history, which is littered with great IP such as Driver, Destruction Derby and Shadow of the Beast. The developer ought to be more than just a Ubisoft B-team.

Perhaps this is why MCV had been invited to the studio. Because after a day with the company and its employees, we soon realised our perception was wrong.

THE THREE TEAMS Reflections’ enigmatic and eccentric MD Pauline Jacquey explained to us that there are three strands to the studio.

The first strand is all about vehicles, which speaks to Reflections’ 32-year history of making driving games. This department works with other Ubisoft studios in implementing vehicles into their games – it is currently working on Watch Dogs 2 and Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Yet far from being frustrated for not working on its own driving game, the team quite enjoys the multiple projects.

“It heightens the excitement for us,” says producer Will Musson.

“It is still our driving, it is still our vehicles, and instead of launching

August 12th 2016

Grow Up – the sequel that arrives next week. This unit is now prototyping other concepts that may become its next game.

one product every three years or so, we have something new coming all the time. Last year we had Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, then we’ll have Watch Dogs 2 and then it’s Ghost Recon.”

The second team is focused purely on The Division. That game is led by Ubisoft’s Massive studio, but Reflections played a major role in its creation. The UK firm was eager to point out how it built half the districts, worked on the UI, created main mission content – including the final mission – and it was also the sole developer of the first DLC pack: Underground.

“Massive trusted us a lot,” says level design director Manny Diaz.

“We had a big involvement in what is a huge game.”

The third team is a small unit devoted to experimental concepts and prototypes, and last year it built the platform adventure game Grow Home. It was intended for internal use only, but its popularity within the company inspired the management team to release it, and the critics loved it.

“We were acutely aware when we were going through development of this game that Ubisoft had not put out a title like this,” says producer Pete Young. “Games like [other small Ubisoft titles] Child of Light and Valiant Hearts are fantastic experiences, but Grow Home is almost a different tier altogether.

So we really didn’t know what to expect. What players would make of it... the character takes a bit of getting used to. The surprise was pretty acute for us.”

That team was just eight people strong at the time and has since expanded to ten when creating

Ubisoft Reflections MD Jacquey (above) and The Division level design director Diaz (below)

The beauty of being a co-development studio is there’s less pressure on you than if you were a lead studio.

Pauline Jacquey, Ubisoft Reflections

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IDENTITY PARADE On the face of it, all three strands – The Division team, the vehicle experts and the prototype unit – look like entirely separate studios, with projects, challenges and tech unique to each of them.

Yet Pauline Jacquey says there is a unifying identity that runs through the entire company.

“It is certainly not attached to one IP like it has in the past,” she tells us.

“It’s not Driver. But I think our identity today is defined more by the values that our governing us, rather than an individual game, which it is better in terms of sustainability.

“You said that the three strands are very different, and you’re right, but they have a common heart, a common core. We like frugality, so we don’t just throw money and people at problems, and we like to solve things in a very ingenious way.

You can see this in The Division: Underground, and in Gone Home and in our vehicle expert team as well. We are extremely considerate with our teams, we don’t think of them as just ‘resources’, and everyone is working in areas where they are strongest and most motivated to do so. There is a lot of respect and empowerment given to the teams. The strategy of the studio came from the grassroots level.

“On top of all this there is transparency. Everyone knows everything that’s going on here.”

Yet surely it’s hard to imprint that identity on projects where Reflections is just the support

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REFLECTIONS INTERVIEW

‘DIVERSITY IS KEY’

Refl ections has acted a support studio on titles including Just Dance, Watch Dogs and The Division

studio? There must come a time when it wants to emerge from the shadows and lead its own Division or Far Cry. “But we lead in what we do,” replies Jacquey. “It may not be the consumer perception, but when you have found a niche where you are better than anyone else in the world [vehicles], and it is what you want to do, and you organise yourself and you choose your partners and you choose your technology... then you are leading in what you do.

When you lead the development of a full piece of DLC, like The Division: Underground, it is the same as well.

And of course we have Grow Home, which we create internally.

“I see what you mean. But it is a bit of a naive view to think that because you are the lead studio, then it is easy, or that you have your hands free. You have to work with PR, marketing, journalists, finance, technological constraints, first parties... all of these are constraints.

Working through all of that is our job, regardless of whether you’re the lead or associate studio.

“To you it may look like a lead studio with a collection of

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associate studios, but it’s actually more a global co-operation.”

It was here that we brought up Ubisoft Annecy. Like Reflections, the French outfit has its own specialist area – multiplayer – and has spent much of its career contributing that to other Ubisoft games (including Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell). Yet over the years, that studio has developed tech and expertise which enabled it to pitch its own project, Steep, an open world extreme sports game that was unveiled at E3.

“That is the beauty of being a co-development studio,” explains Jacquey. “There’s less pressure on you than if you were a lead studio. You can think longer-term, and harmonise your short-term decisions with your long-term visions. And you can also do stuff under the radar.

“I’m sure when the skills of our core teams and our methodology has developed enough, then we can bring together the three strands and do something together. That could lead into something like Steep. It could. But it’s not like I have a masterplan and

things are pre-defined, it will need to come from the team.

She added: “You’ve seen what we’re working on, and we don’t have a Steep-like game hidden somewhere in the toilets.”

GROWING UP The Reflections team has seen plenty of change over its history.

Will Musson has worked at the studio for over 20 years, while Grow Up’s Pete Young joined back in 1999.

Ubisoft, by comparison, is a relative fresh face. It bought the studio ten years ago; Reflections had been operating for 22 years by that point, working for the likes of Superior, Psygnosis and Atari.

However, Young in particular has a fondness for the latest owners.

“Grow Up would never have been possible in the Atari days,” he says. “It’s great that Ubisoft has these little teams making experimental stuff. There’s one in all of its studios.”

He continues: “It is endemic of how Ubisoft work. Not every game is mandated down where we are told to make another

19

REFLECTIONS boss Pauline Jacquey is an internationally experienced studio boss, with stints in France, India, Canada and China.

Yet she’s become particularly fond of the way the British do things.

“I don’t know how much this is the UK or how much it is Reflections, but I find the consideration of the way we do things, the thought process and the anticipation, to be extremely refreshing,” she says. “I love the fact we hate working under crisis. We do things stepby-step, knowing what we are doing and we go at the right pace. It is organised, it is not chaotic, but it is very powerful at the same time.”

She admits other territories can be quite ‘disorganised’ but says a bit of chaos is important to any creative process.

“We have around 30 nationalities [at Reflections], and around 25 per cent of our staff are international, so there is a bit of chaos that goes on in this studio,” she adds. “It’s all about balance.

If you do not have a diverse profile within the core team, if everybody is the same, if everybody is British, male, 27-years-old and all loving the same game, our output will have no complexity, no depth, no innovation... so diversity is key.”

August 12th 2016

INTERVIEW REFLECTIONS

Grow Up is the latest indie-style project from Refl ections

shooter or whatever. A lot of it does come from the bottom and from the passion of the teams. We have proved that this model can work, that we can take an idea and blossom it into a small game.

It doesn’t need to be a massive blockbuster. Now we have people with all sorts of ideas.”

The existence of these teams within Ubisoft that experiment and develop indie-style games is one of the publisher’s more interesting quirks. Grow Up, Valiant Hearts and Child of Light are three popular games that emerged from these teams, while Ubisoft’s Montreal studio has an entire department – named the Fun House – devoted to creating experimental products. “[These projects] are a necessity,” Jacquey says. “The frequency of the iterations means you learn faster because you keep shipping on a timeline completely unlike a triple-A product. It also keeps us on our toes in terms of release strategy, product strategy, marketing and so on.

These are things that you lose a bit when you work for four or five years on a triple-A product.”

However, Ubisoft hasn’t always offered its creators such freedom.

“Ubisoft was way less decentralised when it started,” continues Jacquey. “When it started

August 12th 2016

it was very messy, and the decisions were made by top management.

“The tipping point was when the Guillemot brothers decided that Yves would be the CEO, which was 15 or so years ago. I’m just making psychological assumptions, but Yves was so used to working collaboratively with his four brothers that, because he was now by himself, he needed some form of collective decision making.

So he started a pretty long-term operation of decentralisation. Yves was, is, obsessed with staying agile and keeping creative freedom.

“I remember one of the first things he told me back in 1999. I think he heard me say to my team: ‘We need to do this’. He said: ‘Never tell people to do something, convince them. Never use your authority to make something happen, it is just wrong.” And I was: “Whoa shit, he’s right.” That’s the kind of CEO he is. Empowerment and creative freedom are in his personality, and I think that is broadcasted throughout the company.”

GREAT EXPECTATIONS A cynical part of us couldn’t help but think that MCV’s presence in Newcastle was so we would go back and write, effectively, a threepage job ad for Reflections.

Ubisoft Reflections producers Young (top) and Musson (above)

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Jacquey openly discussed how hard it was to find talent in the UK – a situation worsened after Brexit.

There were also posters plastered throughout the studio that offered incentives to staff that helped fill any number of vacancies.

This probably isn’t helped by the perception – at least from our end – that Reflections is a B-team.

Nevertheless, after visiting the studio, it’s hard to be negative about what we saw. It may not lead its own triple-A project, but Reflections is still a developer that co-created the biggest new IP launch of all time, it is still working on two of the most anticipated titles of the next six months. Oh, and it has the freedom to mess around with wobbly, gardeningobsessed robots.

And most importantly, it’s a game maker that won’t let its ambition get in the way of doing things properly.

“I have multiple goals for Reflections,” Jacquey concludes.

“I don’t want it to be the most successful studio on earth, or to make the most money. I want it to do the rights things the right way. It should never justify the means by the goal.

“We want to work in an ethical way. I want this more than success.”

www.mcvuk.com

INTERVIEW FACEBOOK

The Face of things to come With 1.71bn users, Facebook is one of the world’s biggest ad platforms. But historically, games have been among the worst-performing when it comes to marketing on the social network. Alex Calvin speaks to the web giant’s head of EMEA gaming sales, Tarquin Henderson, to see how this has changed

This is not limited to marketing, however. We recently teamed up with Blizzard across marketing and engineering, ensuring not only a highly successful launch for Overwatch, but also on the integration of Facebook features like Facebook Login and Live API into its Battle.net service.

Just this month, we’ve also seen Friend Finder functionality come to Xbox One, after seeing it roll out earlier this year on PS4. We also recently announced the integration of Facebook Login in League of Legends, enabling 15 million friend connections. We’re also excited that more than 30m people have connected their Facebook accounts with PSN and Xbox Live.

These kind of feature integrations have a huge effect on engagement levels of millions of players, and we’re happy to help our partners implement them.

When we spoke last summer, you talked about the increased commitment Facebook was putting into games. How would you say this has gone?

From meeting with partners and attending industry events over the last 12 month or so, there’s been a clear shift in how Facebook is viewed by games marketers.

As a marketing channel, our solutions have grown significantly compared to even a year ago.

We’ve seen video consumption continue to sky-rocket on Facebook – more than 100 hours are viewed daily on the platform. Beyond that, the last 12 months have seen the worldwide rollout of Instagram ads, as well as our immersive Canvas ad format, 360 photos and videos and Facebook Live.

Marketers have really embraced these new offerings. We’re seeing Facebook and Instagram become a much more important part of the media plan, and our teams are being increasingly involved early in planning conversations.

At LGC 2014, Facebook’s global director of sales Rick Kelly said that game ads were the worst performing on the platform, in part due to their overly sexual nature. Has this improved at all?

Two years is a long time in Facebook terms and the creative landscape has improved dramatically. While the comment in question was referring to a more aggressive mobile app install ad, we’ve seen a huge increase in creative quality across the board We actually tackled the topic of sexualised content with our

August 12th 2016

Games marketing boss Henderson says Facebook is working with advertisers to produce relevant marketing

branding up front and designing for the sound-off experience.

partners at our recent Women in Gaming event, of which I’m immensely proud.

But it’s not just a question of content, either. A couple of years ago, most publishers would be happy to just re-run their TV spot on Facebook, ignoring the dynamics of a mobile, feed-based environment. Today, where we see publishers have most success is where they ‘feed-proof’ creative for the News Feed. It’s still early days, but we’re working with marketers to understand how to create what we call ‘thumbstopping’ creative – like putting

Kelly also said at LGC that Facebook was working with games firms to produce better marketing. How has this gone?

To meet our commitments to deliver real business value for marketers, we’ve continued to expand the team both here in Europe and across the globe, ensuring we’re capable of meeting increasing demand. We’re on the ground meeting with brands on a constant basis, keeping them in the loop of the latest updates and hearing their feedback.

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What’s your investment in virtual reality marketing?

We’re entirely focused on the consumer experience in Oculus right now, and for Facebook generally, VR is part of our longerterm, 10-year strategy. That said, the advent of 360 video and photo has certainly demonstrated an appetite for immersive formats, and we now support these in marketing campaigns, too. And with Gear VR, if a user is served 360 content on their news feed, they can put on their headset and view that content in VR. The challenge, as with any new ad format, is to find the most engaging use case and to tell a story in a new and interesting way, while providing utility to

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FACEBOOK INTERVIEW

Facebook teamed up with Blizzard for the launch of Overwatch

the consumer. There can be a tendency for marketers to gravitate towards what’s new, but when there’s still so much potential to be realised in existing solutions, we are focused on what we call ‘brilliant basics’ – making sure the fundamentals are mastered to drive business objectives.

Based on anecdotal evidence, younger audiences appear to be gravitating to other platforms like Snapchat and Instagram.

Why should game companies advertise on Facebook?

Facebook and Instagram are two of the most important mobile ad platforms in the world. It’s where people are spending the majority of their time on mobile – one in five mobile minutes are spent across these two platforms, and on average 50 minutes a day are spent across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. For the 18 to 34 demographic, Facebook leads other social networks in terms of both audience penetration and time.

Video is also becoming increasingly popular on both Facebook and Instagram – and for game marketers, especially console marketers, the growth of the visual format is extremely compelling. In addition to the 650m people who play games with or on Facebook every month, we’re also seeing

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impressive gamer engagement on Instagram as well.

It is also true that Instagram is showing incredible growth overall, now with 500m people active on the platform every single month.

That’s up from 300m a little over a year ago. Our research shows that console gamers visit Instagram nearly every day and consume twice as much content than the average global Instagrammer.

But there is an even bigger point to make, and that’s that the days of thinking of your audience as a particular demographic should be behind us. Most gaming advertisers would traditionally address a broad male 18 to 34 audience, whereas our research shows a huge number of people outside that demographic, from young women to older males, are discussing and engaging with games content on our platforms.

These audiences can’t be ignored.

the industry; by monitoring industry trends like eSports and VR, by better understanding the gaming audience through data, and by listening to game marketers through forums like our client council.

Unlike other channels, on Facebook you are posting under your real name.

We hope that will foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for live game content.

Tarquin Henderson, Facebook

How are you evolving your maketing offering?

We’re really in the middle of a paradigm shift in how brands can communicate with their audiences, and whether that is 360 or live video, Canvas ads or Messenger bots, we’re very excited to be a part of that.

We will continue to listen to feedback and better understand

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Facebook has revealed it is livestreaming eSports events. What is your ambition for this area?

We’ll look to be present at those major events and have those streamed live, but when we think about live game streaming, we want to serve the entire pyramid.

As well as those events, Facebook brings tremendous reach and engagement for streamers as well as social connectivity options that just don’t exist in the livestreaming world today. We want people to be able to share games content they are most passionate over with the people they care about.

We are also hopeful that Facebook’s community standards will have a positive impact. Unlike other channels, on Facebook you are your real self, posting under your real name, connected to your friends and your family. We hope that that will foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for live game content, and coupled with a history of strong moderation tools and policy expertise, we will avoid the toxicity that has traditionally been associated with this space.

August 12th 2016

INNOVATION. COLLABORATION. EXPERIMENTATION

THE INNOGAMES‘ GAME JAM: 2010 - NOW The InnoGames Gam Jam, a haven for game designers, graphic artists, programmers and sound designers.

The place to be if you want to test your skills in the ultimate challenge: creating a game from scratch in 48 hours.

While InnoGames has hosted game jams for years, this gamescom they will host the first ever large-scale game jam in Cologne. More than 200 participants from all over the world will team up and develop several entirely new games – from the very first idea to a playable product. With the event just around the corner let’s take a trip through memory lane from 2010 to now.

2010 : THE BEGINNING

2013: GOING GLOBAL

The brainchild of an employee, InnoGames lets its staff host the first game jam in a meeting room. Although only 10 people attended, the company decides to continue the event.

The organizers opt to participate in the Global Game Jam for the first time. InnoGames participates with 32 registered users and makes games around the theme: the sound of a heartbeat.

2015: REACHING NEW HEIGHTS The company breaks a new record in 2015 by attracting over 170 people to its headquarters in Hamburg, Germany.

2016: LARGEST IN GERMANY The word spreads and in 2016 InnoGames becomes the largest host in Germany.

160 participants attend an create 23 playable games around the theme: rituals.

2014: A NEW HIGH SCORE Game Jam #6 is the first time the event reaches over 100 participants with the game theme: ridiculous.

NOW: OFF TO GAMESCOM The company teams up with Intel Corporation and Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (BIU) to bring the first large-scale game jam to gamescom.

XXX XXX INTERVIEW LEO ZULLO, WIRED

Sing like you’re winning There are two sides to Wired Productions. One is trying to crack the family market with a new We Sing karoaoke title. The other is on the hunt for the next indie hit.

Alex Calvin speaks to MD Leo Zullo

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fter a six-year break, Wired is bringing back the We Sing karoake game brand.

The firm has teamed up with publisher Nordic Games and developer Le Cortex to form a brand new company, the aptly titled We Sing Productions, entirely focused on this venture.

“Sometimes a break from an IP or franchise is needed,” Wired CEO Leo Zullo says.

“The people involved get stale.

Ideas run out. The commercial landscape changes and things need a reassessment. That was the case with We Sing.”

We Sing is primarily a family game, a market not served to a great degree by the PS4 and Xbox One. Yet Zullo believes that there is enough of an audience there to make We Sing work.

“The Xbox 360 and PS3 surprisingly didn’t have a casual tail like the PS2, although many people expected them to,” he says.

“Thankfully the Xbox One and PS4 are features of the living room.

There hasn’t been a barrage of badly made casual titles, but there is definitely room for fun, nonhardcore genres.

“At the end of the day the consoles are entertainment devices. Fewer but better quality titles is the way forward.”

He continues: “We are expecting the first console version of We Sing to be a marker title.

“We are re-establishing distribution channels and PR channels and so far the response has been overwhelming. A lot of effort has gone into the game, the songs, the look, feel, packaging, and peripherals.

August 12th 2016

“We produce and co-develop lots of music games, but our 2016/2017 financial year is when publishing becomes the larger share of our company’s turnover,” Zullo said.

“Our policy has been slow and steady, and growing with the right resources in place. It is too easy to make mistakes and run out of cash, or over commit and not have the right people for the job.”

One of its upcoming titles is the long-in development Super Dungeon Bros. That title is hitting shelves in Q4 of this year. “[Our expectations are] bloody huge,” Zullo says.

“We supported [developer] React so that it wasn’t rushed out. It is our showcase title to demonstrate to the industry and other studios the range of activities that Wired offer to developers in terms of publishing.”

Zullo says the firm is taking an ‘old school’ mentality when it comes to publishing, making sure that every game gets the attention it needs.

“We love publishing,” he says.

“And we are bringing an old school mentality of retail publishing to our approach to each title. Every game needs a tailored solution, but they also need a good effort. So our approach is fewer titles, focused efforts and doing a good job for all partners. Our game selection should give players confidence that we will choose an eclectic but great set of gameplay experiences.

“Our ambition is to grow the indie publishing side, and develop our reputation in the industry and with gamers so that the Wired brand is a trusted icon.”

“Traditionally singing games don’t review well, but thankfully We Sing punched above its weight. All of us involved are excited, and also a little nervous, but that’s what drives us on.”

THE NEXT BIG THING As well as working on We Sing, Wired Productions is one of the many companies in the UK looking to release the next indie hit.

For the last four years, the company has been establishing itself as an indie publisher. But this financial year is when that side of the company becomes the lion’s share of Wired’s business.

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ONE YEAR OF ARK

Surviving Ark’s first year Having generated $150m in gross revenue and sold 5.5m copies, it’s fair to say that hit PC and Xbox One game Ark: Survival Evolved had a pretty good first year. Alex Calvin speaks to studio co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz

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efore launch, there was little to suggest Ark: Survival Evolved would become one of the biggest games of the year.

Even its developer, Studio Wildcard, was taken aback by the title’s massive success. After all, the market isn’t exactly short of open world survival adventures.

Yet today, 14 months after it first launched, Ark has sold a whopping 5.5m copies and generated $150m in gross revenue. The developer hasn’t even fully finished making the game, yet it has remained in the top five best-selling games on Steam, and has had up to 130,000 concurrent players across PC and Xbox One. “The launch was an unexpected success,” Wildcard co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz says. “But that’s also a double-edged sword because when it succeeds at that level, it kind of raises expectations about how ambitious the game is going to be, how large of a scope it is going to have when it is finished. We have blown the doors open on what we had originally planned in terms of the number of creatures, features and technical complexity. When we launched we didn’t even plan on having modding, which has become a huge aspect of the game’s appeal on PC. It’s been interesting to raise ourselves and our level of work to match the expectations that this very large audience has.”

JURASSIC WORLD The games industry, particularly Steam Early Access (the part of the PC download store where studios release games

August 12th 2016

Ark: Survival Evolved has a ‘Pokémon appeal’, the studio says

before they’re fully complete), is saturated with open-world survival titles. Perhaps inspired by the likes of Minecraft, DayZ and Rust, a myriad of developers are launching their take on the genre.

Of course, all those games lack one think Ark can boast: dinosaurs. “[Our success in the survival genre] comes down to a few different things,” Stieglitz says.

“One was without a question the Pokémon aspect. People love dinosaurs, but there are other dinosaur games out there. Ark isn’t the most realistic of them all, but what it does have that doesn’t exist in other games is the collectible aspect, the feeling of a Pokémon game where you can go out into this virtual world and find your very own velociraptor. And it’s yours, it’s not someone else’s.

It has unique stats, colours and even behaviours. That ownership

We want to get it to that retail release that players are expecting, which we’ll do sooner rather than later.

Jeremy Stieglitz, Studio Wildcard

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that people feel over their creature is not represented in any other title. A game can often be successful if it doesn’t do a lot of things unique so long as it does one thing that is unique.”

The other big attraction has come with Ark’s array of mods on PC - which add new weapons and modes that transform the gameplay for everyone.

“Ark has tens of thousands of mods now that completely change the nature of the game, such as surviving on the moon,” continues Stieglitz “We won’t be making a sci-fi game any time soon because they’ve already made it. There was also a pirate mod someone made. On PC there’s so much variety, and almost every user-hosted server lets you combine the mods together to create collections that are all running at the same

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ONE YEAR OF ARK A QUESTION OF ESPORTS WHEN MCV spoke to Studio Wildcard last year, co-founder Jesse Rapczak said the developer wanted to make Ark the next big eSport. It has moved into the space, but it’s not been easy. “eSports is more challenging than I’d anticipated, though that’s pretty obvious in hindsight,” says co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz. “It’s a competitive – no pun intended – field. Players have expectations that things will run smoothly in terms of operations, because the likes of Valve and Riot have a lot of experience in running events. Those guys didn’t figure out how to do it overnight. It took years of trying.

“It’s not possible to just arrive on the scene and master how to do eSports successfully. Logistics are something that we are not experienced with and are still figuring out. We made a lot of missteps. For example, balance changes that do the wrong thing and the community dislikes them, or tournaments that don’t have clear entry requirements, or events that don’t start on time or have accusations of foul play that we need to follow-up on.”

time. So you get interesting new experiences. That on PC is a huge part of the appeal.”

He continues: “On console, we don’t have mods yet, but that community has still managed to benefit console players. We have added a sentient programme by which we run periodic mod contests, choose the best one and incorporate that mode into the console directly. We can’t have automatic modding like on PC because the pipeline has to go through certification ultimately.

But by taking the best mods and officially incorporating them into the console version ourselves in co-ordination with the original mod author, you can have those mods playable by Xbox owners, too. We have done that so far with one mod that’s already been released called The Centre – it’s a huge new map and we’re actually

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Studio Wildcard has taken popular Ark PC mods to console

going to release another mod on console called Primitive Plus, which adds a bunch of content that’s all about living off the land.

Mods really have added more content and more life to the game than we could by ourselves.

We’re tremendously grateful to our community.”

challenges with the PC game.

It simply didn’t run well enough, and still doesn’t run as well as it will do when we’re done. But getting the console version out there has helped us iterate on the performance and will continue to do so as we get closer to shipping on different platforms.”

After a blockbuster year, it’s fair to assume that Wildcard wants the next to be even better. But Stieglitz says he just wants to finish the game.

“The most important thing to do with Ark in the next 12 months is get it done,” he says. “We want to get it to that retail release that players are expecting, which we will do sooner rather than later.

We want it to be feature complete in a sense of having the things that people expect when you launch, and have it meet quality expectations that people no doubt

GOING TO CONSOLE Not only has the PC modding community helped the Xbox One version of Ark, but the console edition has returned the favour.

“The reception to the console version has been great - it has enabled us to do a lot of optimisation,” Stieglitz explains.

“On console we are able to see where the hardware performance is going. Because of the work on Xbox, we have been able to make the PC better month by month.

That was one of the major launch

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have in their heads. We won’t please 100 per cent of people all of the time, but to really have the vast majority of the player base say that we delivered and it was really good and what they had hoped for is our goal for this next 12 months.

“Beyond that, what I hope we can achieve is making a game that people will remember years from now. Aside from the acclaim or the money or the fun of development, it’s hard work and we do it because we want to make something that is remembered, to have a legacy so that ten years from now people will say: ‘Those were good times and I feel like playing Ark again’.

That’s only going to happen if the game really wraps in a nice way that stays true to its ideal of being a creative and open-ended dinosaur survival experience.”

August 12th 2016

THE BIG GAME WORMS WMD

Worms of mass destruction The 21-year-old British icon returns this month, and it has brought a few friends along for the ride.

Christopher Dring chats to Debbie Bestwick about Worms: WMD

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here’s something reassuring that a game as bizarre as Worms can endure for so long.

Team17’s famous series, which sees team of annelids attempt to annihilate each other with shotguns, hand grenades, boxing gloves and exploding elderly people, is now 21-years-old. There have been more than 22 games released in the series, not to mention toys, clothes and a whole lot more.

“Great gameplay will always do well and Worms has that in an abundance,” says Team17 chief Debbie Bestwick, discussing the series’ longevity. “That temptation to have ‘just one more go’ is what Worms was built on along with many other great titles. Worms also isn’t a game that’s dependent on certain technologies to be accessible, it’s a game you can play on any screen size and with the emergence of mobile [Worms launched on mobile in 2001] we’ve benefited greatly by bringing in a new younger audience.

“Add to that the emergence of digital delivery of games on PC and console – we’ve been at the forefront of this space, launching digitally on PC in 2000 and on console in 2007 – we have managed to broaden the game’s audience by doing things differently from early on.

“Finally, Worms is just an absolute gaming classic. It doesn’t always get the attention it deserves for the success it’s had, but we’re fine with that. Part of the success of our label is down to the success of what Worms has achieved. Building a franchise is hard enough, building one that’s been successful for 21 years, well, that’s inspirational to many.”

August 12th 2016

Team17’s Bestwick says the aim of WMD was to make ‘the best Worms game ever’

a Mech. They can now hide from sight in buildings, which is a game changer and a genius addition to the strategy. Also, players can craft weapons, and can even do so between taking turns. This adds a boatload of variety on top of the default weapons, and opens up even more attacking options for the player.”

Bar a handful of exceptions, Worms has been mostly a 2D series, and one that pretty much nailed the gameplay when it first arrived in 1995. So in many ways it’s remarkable that the studio has been able to keep people interested in buying each iteration. For WMD, the studio has tried to up the ante.

“This year was always going to mark a special release,” Bestwick says. “It’s three years since we shipped our last Worms game on PC and just over two years on console. We wanted to do something special for the series’ 21st anniversary, and WMD is about bringing back the very best of Worms whilst making some solid additions to the gameplay.

“The core pillars of the game remain the same: typical British sense of humour, 2D graphics and gameplay, turn-based multiplayer, weird and wonderful weapons, but this time we’re introducing vehicles, buildings and crafting.

For the first time ever the worm can drive a tank, fly a helicopter, or – my personal favourite – pilot

WMD is about bringing back the very best of Worms whilst making some solid additions.

Debbie Bestwick, Team17

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FAN SERVICE Bestwick says the aim is to create ‘the best Worms game ever’, and the team has spent a lot of time talking with the fans over what they’d like to see.

“We decided to add features that would complement the existing game; they give the player more toys to play with, but are never forced upon them and still have to be used carefully to get the most out of them,” she continues.

“For example, we didn’t want to make using a vehicle a guaranteed benefit, because we didn’t want to unbalance the game. We’ve made sure that what we have added is a considerate evolution of the game’s

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WORMS WMD THE BIG GAME

OPENING A BOX OF WORMS

Worms WMD has a plethora of pre-order extras based on the likes of Saints Row, Rocket League and Yooka-Laylee

mechanics, we’re nurturing what’s made past games so successful.”

EARLY BIRDS CATCH THE WORMS One of the more interesting additions to Worms WMD is the involvement of other big game IP. Players that pre-order the title will get access to the All-Star pack, which includes weapons, levels and costumes based on other hit franchises. Games involved include Goat Simulator, Rocket League, Saints Row, Payday 2, YookaLaylee, Broforce, Orcs Must Die, The Escapists and more.

“We wanted to do something special with some good friends of ours and give something extra to gaming fans in general,” continues Bestwick. “So, we had a few conversations and studios have a way of making it work. It turned out pretty painless for all sides.

“Working on the additional content was a great exercise for us.

We identified items and weapons from other games that were an absolutely perfect for Worms: the

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Dubstep Gun from Saints Row, the ‘Goat on a Rope’ from Goat Simulator, and a plethora of cool customisation items like the masks from Payday 2.

“What surprised us was how proposals were received. Worms really is a much loved IP and many of the developers we reached out to had grown up playing the games.

These cameos are something we’re really proud of, and I personally think that cross-promotion between gaming IPs is good for both the industry and for gamers. It helps us to share an audience, you can bring new people into the mix and so far the feedback we’ve received from the announcement has been incredible. We’re looking do more on this in the future, but only if and where it’s appropriate.”

It’s clear in the build-up to Worms WMD that although Team17 has expanded rapidly as a games label, it has no plans to dial back on supporting its most famous (and distinctly British) IP. Time to stockpile those exploding sheep.

Worms is an absolute classic.

It doesn’t always get the attention it deserves, but we’re fine with that.

WORMS has been a digital product for the best part of a decade, and a mobile game for even longer. Yet it remains a success at physical retail as well, and Worms WMD will be coming to traditional shops via publisher Sold Out. “Worms is a franchise with a long legacy and a huge fan base,” says Sold Out’s Garry Williams.

“It is as much a part of the UK games industry’s culture as Tomb Raider, and as such is an essential retail release alongside some of the most loved brand by consumers across the globe.

“Driven by a big fanbase, the demand at retail has been excellent, and we’re delighted with the response from key retail partners.”

He adds: “Our focus will be on bolstering Worms WMD’s marketing presence in international territories such as the US, Germany and France, along with other major markets across Europe and Asia Pacific regions, to ensure that Worms WMD not only reaches the hands of fans, but is introduced to more players than ever before.”

Debbie Bestwick, Team17

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August 12th 2016

MERCHANDISE

Meet us at Gamescom, Hall 2.1, B-020 17th–19th August 2016

GAMESCOM GUIDE

Welcome to Gamescom Europe’s biggest games trade fair is about to kick off. MCV has spoken to both Gamescom’s organisers and the industry to see what we can expect from this year’s massive show

www.mcvuk.com

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August 12th 2016

GAMESCOM GUIDE KOELNMESSE

‘Gamescom is more than a trade fair’ As Gamescom is ready to unfold, Marie Dealessandri speaks to project manager Tim Endres about this year’s record figures, what we can expect from the show and why he doesn’t feel threatened by other events

Gamescom registrations were up 60 per cent this year and advance day tickets sold out pretty quickly – were you expecting such a success?

We are very satisfied with the development of Gamescom and it is not easy to beat one’s own record figures every year. But as we can see from this year, it is also not impossible. Way over 800 companies will be exhibiting in the Cologne exhibition halls.

Furthermore, as Europe’s leading business platform of the games industry, it also convinces with its high degree of internationality: exhibitors from 53 countries – compared to 45 countries in 2015 – will present their new products at Gamescom 2016 – pavilions from 25 countries are represented in the business area alone. We will be setting new records in terms of the number of exhibitors and the level of internationality this year, which delights us of course, because it shows that we are meeting the demands of the participants with the Gamescom concept.

On the theme of ticketing: yes, that’s a fantastic development, too. The popularity of Gamescom is growing unabated. This year the tickets for private visitors were sold out earlier than ever before in the advance sales – over three weeks before the start of the event.

As usual, we are offering private visitors who were unable to secure themselves a Gamescom ticket in the advance sales, afternoon tickets on-site. Queues should be expected.

I can’t really say whether we had expected this development for 2016, because I wasn’t and

August 12th 2015

European games industry.

The trade fair underlines its importance as the business platform for the game industry year after year with a growing number of exhibitors and visitors.

At the same time, the level of internationality of the exhibitors and the visitors continually increases. Gamescom has established itself as a fixed part of the industry calendar and its unique concept makes it the only one of its kind in the world.

am not able to look into the future. But I can say that the entire team worked towards this result being reached.

Why do you think sales were so strong this year?

Since being staged at the Cologne location, Gamescom has achieved positive, two-digit growth in all key figures. Since 2009, we’ve seen a 76 per cent increase in the number of exhibitors, a 92 per cent rise in the number of trade visitors and a 61 per cent jump in the amount of exhibition space. As such, it has established itself in Europe as the leading business platform for the games industry and is a must-attend industry event. It is an important platform for our exhibitors for presenting their new products to the trade audience, but also to the consumers, from whom they receive direct feedback.

Gamescom has established itself in Europe as the leading business platform of the games industry.

Tim Endress, Koelnmesse

Microsoft isn’t doing a press conference at Gamescom this year and instead is holding Xbox FanFest. Sony isn’t holding a conference either.

Will this have an impact on Gamescom’s success?

The signs of a successful Gamescom are all there. We will definitely set new records In terms of exhibitor figures and the level of internationality. Both Sony and Microsoft are exhibiting at Gamescom 2016.

Last year, Sony chose the Paris Games Week over Gamescom for its post-E3 press event - do you feel threatened by Paris Games Week’s offering?

Gamescom is the gate to the

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What would you say are Gamescom’s strengths?

We offer a diverse array of companies and content on the show floor. That’s on top of numerous other events around the show.

In terms of exhibitor figures, we will achieve new record results and at the same time exhibitors from all segments are represented: consoles, PC, online, mobile and so on. This variety was always a strength and particular characteristic of Gamescom.

Furthermore, the event programme offers fantastic highlights. The winners of our Facebook campaign ‘16 minutes Gamescom fame’ will make an appearance on the social media stage in Hall 10.1. The Gamescom Award for the best products on show will be handed out, too.

All contents of the social media stage will be streamed live by our partner, YouTube.

In Hall 5.1, indoor events such as Lasergame or the RC Drift Games will take place and for the first time this year on P8 [outdoor

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KOELNMESSE GAMESCOM GUIDE

Since 2009, Gamescom has seen a 76 per cent increase in exhibitors

area behind Hall 8], Red Bull will impress the spectators with the F-Fighters FMX Show.

A programme is once again available for families in the Family and Friends area (Hall 10.2).

Gamescom campus will provide infotainment (Hall 10.2), and those who want to inform themselves about career opportunities in the industry, as well as in thematically related industries, are at exactly the right place in the Jobs and Career fair (Hall 10.2).

Events like Gamescom congress, the Women in Tech Day and the Gamescom licence day provide added value for the trade visitors.

What distinguishes the strengths of Gamescom is the combination between new product presentations and the programme at the trade fair and in the city. It is Europe’s number one leading business platform and a 360-degree experience.

What has changed compared to last year’s edition?

As in 2015, Gamescom is covering 193,000 square metres again this year. The business area

is located in Halls 2, 3.2 and 4, while the entertainment area is in Halls 5 to 10. For the first time in 2016, in addition to Activision and EA, further exhibitors will be moving into Hall 4.1, including Digital River, Nordic and Sandbox.

This further heightens its significance. The fan shop area is additionally in Hall 5.2 this year.

What are your prospects for the years to come? What would you like Gamescom to become?

Gamescom is the largest event for games worldwide. It is more than a trade fair, it is a joint experience and an international industry meeting point.

We will continue to expand upon these trademarks through a dialogue with the industry and work together to formulate new concepts for making the show even more attractive. We will further expand upon the successful internationalisation strategy and have the long-term goal, following the expansion in halls last year, of recruiting further exhibitors and expanding the space occupancy.

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GAMESCOM GUIDE

Blood, sweat and beers: Our guide to Gamescom 2016 Alex Calvin took a break from packing his bags for Cologne to speak to people from around the UK games industry to discover their top tips for getting the most out of this year’s Gamescom

WHAT TIPS DO YOU HAVE FOR GAMESCOM NEWBIES? Drink lots of water, wear comfortable shoes and don’t stay up late drinking ridiculous amounts of alcohol.

Ian Richardson, Sumo Digital Take sun cream. Seriously. You might be indoors most of the time, but you will need to go outside every now and then. If it’s like 2015, this means too much sun. So very, very too much.

Mike Diver, Vice Gaming Get out before the weekend hits. The noise, the smell, the crowds oh my. But otherwise, comfortable shoes are a must. Look smart but be realistic, it’s as hot as hell in Germany so wear breathable fabrics and drink plenty of water.

Alex Verrey, Big Boy PR European games associations like UKIE and BIU know how to throw a party, so their happy hours are always solid and packed with interesting people.

Joost van Dreunen, SuperData Pack sunscreen and shorts/skirts to get your legs all cool. Also, work hard, party hard. Network your tiny game-loving butt off.

Make your way around the Business Halls, and when you get tired, head to UKIE’s booth because they usually have sweets and tea.

Kate Gray, freelance journalist Get in, focus, get out. Seriously, I believe the main thing is staying focused and plan all in advance. All of us are in back-to-back meetings and the best thing I would suggest is plan in advance. Try to have a break every now and then and drink plenty of water.

Debbie Bestwick, Team17 Don’t book any appointments outside of the business halls. If you absolutely have to, don’t. Eat some food. Apparently this year everyone’s taking something called a ‘lunch break’, so maybe do similar? This kind of thing would never have flown in days gone by.

Joel Gregory, PCGamesN Get a scooter. Gamescom is pretty big and on the trade-only days it’s manageable to get from one end to the other in decent time.

Andy Tudor, Slightly Mad Studios

August 12th 2016

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GAMESCOM GUIDE

WHERE IS GOOD TO EAT AND DRINK? The best place to get a burger is at Freddy Schilling on Eigelstein 147 – open till 10pm every night. Also, look out for German football players eating there.

Tracey McGarrigan, Ansible PR One of the nicest places I’ve ever eaten is Enoteca la Cantina, on Marzellenstrasse, It’s a simple Italian deli, no menus, just a chalk board with today’s options. Very relaxed, funny staff and amazing food.

Dave Ranyard, indie VR developer Kolsch and pork knuckle at the Haxenhaus always goes down a treat. And as for a night out... There can be only one Irish Bar. Lucy James, GameSpot UK Pork Knuckles all the way... all in all the food is very good in Cologne and not overly expensive. This year, in an historical move, we are trying to organise industry drinks in a different place, Jameson Pub in Friesenstr. 30-40 Cologne. Come say hello.

Stefano Petrullo, Renaissance PR One short free train stop on from Cologne and you can find an all-you-can-eat Brazilian restaurant called Pantanal Rodizio.

The food is a fixed fee per head, unlimited and superb. A red yes ‘more food’ or no ‘enough for now’ card on your table ensures you can pace yourself, before leaving stuffed with either seafood, steak or a host of healthy options. Ideal venue for team dinners.

Garry Williams, Sold Out Buy some kolsch and microwave currywurst from a local supermarket and enjoy a night in abusing your AirBnB host’s internet connection. Life lived to the max.

Ian Dransfield, Lick PR Don’t eat the pork knuckle. Don’t eat the pork knuckle. Don’t eat the pork knuckle.

Joel Gregory, PCGamesN Haxenhaus does unbelievable pork knuckle and not only that, they do versions of it with cheese. For drinks and dancing, go to Friesenstrasse, there’s a ton of bars and clubs there.

Dan Kilby, IGN Café Especial, opposite the main train station, is where I’ll go if I have to have a lunchtime meeting, with outdoor seating and a decent burrito. Walk south from there, and you’ll find a handful of really good supermarkets tucked away, both traditional and organic, where you can stock up on anything you like, and be back at the conference within ten minutes.

Steve Bailey, IHS

OUR PANEL...

Steve Bailey HIS

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Debbie Bestwick Team17

Mike Diver Vice Gaming

Ian Dransfield Lick PR

August 12th 2016

GAMESCOM GUIDE

AROUND THE SHOW – OTHER THINGS TO SEE On the off chance that you have the luxury of an extended period of time between appointments and fancy trying something a little bit different, there’s a wealth of weird and wonderful things to do at Gamescom: UKIE’S STAND (HALL 3, D014/C015) UK GAME OF THE SHOW 2016 For the fourth year running, UKIE is running an award for the UK Game of the Show. Judges will be playing British-made, but not yet released, projects from the event. A prize is given to the winner at the trade body’s drinks reception on Thursday evening.

UKIE DRINKS RECEPTION On both Wednesday and Thursday, UKIE is holding drinks receptions at its stand. These start at 6pm and end at 8pm and are a great chance to network.

RETRO GAMING Gamescom’s celebration of old-school video games is bigger than every before. This year, 1,200 square meters has been dedicated to clubs, retrothemed projects and private collectors showing off their consoles and games.

OUTDOOR AREA GAMESCOM BEACH German radio station BigFM is once again staging a beach in Koelnmesse’s outside area, where users can relax and enjoy the sun to the docile sounds of the broadcaster’s DJs.

HALL 10.2 HEADIS Table tennis played with one’s head. Simple.

GAMESCOM CAMPUS A variety of speakers will be offering their thoughts on issues that face the interactive entertainment sector, including protection of minors, the state of media and, of course, video games. Meanwhile, the Gamescom Jobs and Careers Fair is taking place with attendees able to speak to companies from around the games, tech and IT space.

RED BULL X-FIGHTERS SHOW This team of motocross mavericks will be doing tricks, stunts and generally putting themselves in danger for the entertainment of those around.

VIDEO GAMES LIVE Want to hear your favourite video games music played by a full-blown orchestra? Then you better get over to Blizzard’s booth on August 19th and/ or 20th at 6pm for a performance from Video Games Live.

SECURITY CONCERNS DUE to the current political climate in Europe, and a number of acts of violence and terror across the continent, Koelnmesse has increased security at this year’s Gamescom.

Bag checks will be in effect at the entrance to the venue, with Koelnmesse insisting that attendees not bring bags and rucksacks to the show if they are not absolutely necessary. As a result of bag checks, the time it will take to get into Gamescom will be increased – so this is

something that you may have to factor into the meeting schedules if you have appointments early in the day Furthermore, Koelnmesse has asked cosplayers to not bring imitation weapons onto the site as part of their costume, saying that these will not be allowed onto the site. The event organiser also asks that cosplayers don’t have imitation weapons whilst walking around Cologne in order to not scare children and family.

OUR PANEL CONTINUED...

Kate Gray Freelance journalist

August 12th 2016

Joel Gregory PCGamesN

Lucy James GameSpot UK

Dan Kilby IGN

42

Ben Lawrence Brown Betty PR

Tracey McGarrigan Ansible PR

Alex Nichiporchik TinyBuild

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GAMESCOM GUIDE

WHAT DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE AT THE SHOW? What I would love to see is an announcement of Red Dead Redemption sequel and a really big mainstream killer app on VR. Debbie Bestwick, Team17 No press conferences might mean Gamescom will be a more low-key affair this year, but I imagine there’ll be some surprises on the horizon.

Lucy James, GameSpot UK I’m not sure we’ll see much new stuff at all, beyond new footage for already announced games - certainly anything out between now and October, so more Forza, more Recore, more Mafia III and so on.

Mike Diver, Vice Gaming We’ve been chatting to so many indie and mobile firms attending with their new wares. The quality of them suggests we might see some really good break-out indie titles this year.

Ben Lawrence, Brown Betty VR curiosity will have dampened a good amount. Smaller developers and publishers will still be highly frustrated, in terms of marketing their games. Lots of people will want to discuss Pokémon Go. If anyone asks me about the Brexit, I’ll shrug and affect an Australian accent.

Steve Bailey, IHS Sony will have a great show with VR launching not long after the event. Hoping for some surprises... wouldn’t it be nice if it pulled NX out of the bag during the show?

Alex Verrey, Big Boy PR Games will be announced. People will be like: ‘What no way!?’ but actually none of the surprises will be that surprising. At least one journalist will not make their appointment because of a hangover.

Kate Gray, freelance journalist

OPENING HOURS BUSINESS HALLS Wednesday, August, 17th Thursday, August 18th Friday, August 19th

09:00 - 19:00 09:00 - 20:00 09:00 - 20:00

CONSUMER HALLS Thursday, August 18th Friday, August 19th Saturday, August 20th Sunday, August 21st

10:00 - 20:00 10:00 - 20:00 09:00 - 20:00 09:00 - 18:00

Stefano Petrullo Renaissance PR

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Dave Ranyard Indie developer

Ian Richardson Sumo Digital

Pretty much nothing. Nobody’s having a conference, everyone’s either aready made their announcements or is waiting for Paris Games Week. Lots of people will turn up, it will be unbearably warm at times, We’ll all have a good whine about how our pounds are worth f*ck-all against Euros thanks to that Brexit horseshit.

Ian Dransfield, Lick PR I’m hoping for more info on the ‘next gen’ consoles, or upgrades of hardware that are coming up. It would be great to finally see the lid come off the NX - considering recent information and speculation and see where that console goes.

Alex Nichiporchik, TinyBuild

Andy Tudor Slightly Mad Studios

43

Joost Van Dreunen SuperData

Alex Verrey Big Boy PR

Garry Williams Sold Out

August 12th 2016

INTERVIEW JULIAN GOLLOP, SNAPSHOT

INDIE INTERVIEW Alien resurrection The original creator of iconic ‘90s sci-fi strategy game X-COM is returning to the genre that made him famous with a spiritual successor. Christopher Dring asks Snapshot Games’ Julian Gollop why now?

J

ulian Gollop is making a new XCOMstyle game.

To a certain group of PC gamers, that’s an exceptionally exciting sentence.

Gollop is the man who led the creation of the very first X-COM game back in 1994 – the acclaimed turn-based strategy game known in the UK as UFO: Enemy Unknown.

He then went on to create 1997’s hugely ambitious, and brilliant, X-COM Apocalypse.

After that, things didn’t quite pan out for Gollop and his studio Mythos Games.

Publishers began to drift away from the genre and towards more lucrative sectors. Even the X-COM series tried to reinvent itself with illfated moves into flight simulation and the thirdperson shooter genre.

Gollop continued to make strategy games, although primarily for portable machines.

These included the 3DS launch title Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, which was a turn-based strategy-take on Ubisoft’s shooter series.

“I have tried to remake X-COM or reinvent it several times,” Gollop says. “The first attempt was actually back in 1999 when we were doing a game called Dream Land Chronicles for Virgin Interactive. Virgin Interactive was taken over

by Interplay, and then in very quick succession Titus Interactive bought it. But Titus was only really interested in Interplay’s IP, so the project got cancelled.

“We also did a few pitches to publishers to make an X-COM-style game, but it never gained any traction, they weren’t interested. Complex turn-based strategy games were not really seen as having a big market. Even with Ubisoft, when I pitched the Ghost Recon game [Shadow Wars on 3DS], it was ‘Ghost Recon-meets-X-COM’. But the ambition of the game was somewhat scaled down. It just never happened. So Phoenix Point is a long time coming for me.”

ON POINT Ah yes, Phoenix Point is the X-COM-style game that Gollop is currently building, and it is due on PC and consoles towards the end of 2018.

Gollop, and his new team at Snapshot Games, have renewed faith in the genre today –

August 12th 2014

Gollop’s new game Phoenix Point is very similar to his ‘90s PC hit, X-COM

Phoenix Point is a little bit Walking Dead in a sense.

There’s a constant threat – the aliens - but often the biggest problems are the other groups of people.

Julian Gollop, Snapshot Games

44

thanks in no small part to the successful reboot of XCOM (now with no dash) in 2012. A reboot that Gollop wasn’t involved with.

“I was a little bit disappointed not to be involved,” he admits. “Nobody tried to contact me, sadly. I have spoken to [XCOM creative director] Jake Solomon on several occasions.

I met him at GDC a few years ago and we did some interviews together after the reboot launched. That team did very well.”

The title, created by Firaxis Games, was such a hit that a critically adored sequel was released earlier this year in the form of XCOM 2.

“To give Firaxis its credit, it has rescued the turn-based squad battle game from where it was languishing in obscurity,” Gollop says. “I know people always remembered the original XCOM, but it had never been explored as a game genre in itself. So there is definitely an audience for this style of title, and Firaxis has proved that. Hopefully this will persuade some publishers to back something that is going to take it to the next level, beyond XCOM 2, and be something even more interesting.”

Phoenix Point looks a lot like XCOM. Players must defeat an alien threat by utilising teams of soldiers in turn-based battles. These soldiers can be trained up and given more powerful weapons. Back at base, gamers will need to

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JULIAN GOLLOP, SNAPSHOT INTERVIEW

Gollop might still take Phoenix Point to Kickstarter in order to raise funding

build ships, establish other bases, develop political allegiances with factions and research new technology. It’s a bit of a cross between classic X-COM and the more modern variation.

Yet there are differences, too. For starters, the aliens are huge and will mutate and evolve – somewhat randomly – based on how you play. For instance, if you have a love for using flamethrowers, the aliens might develop some form of flame-resistance, or the ability to burrow underground.

“If the aliens are on the back foot, they will come up with some way to respond, Gollop says.

“Then you’ll need to figure out some new tactics.”

The political element to the game is also deeper. The title will have multiple human factions that you may (or may not) want to side with, and each faction will offer you a different advantage.

You’ll need to manage these relationships, with each group having their own agenda, objectives and resources. You may need to fight them, or intervene in their disputes.

“It is a little bit Walking Dead in a sense, because there is a constant threat – in the form of the aliens - but often the biggest problems you have to deal with are the other groups of people,” says Gollop. “On the one hand you rely on them, but they may not want to do what you want to do.”

TO KICKSTART OR NOT TO KICKSTART Gollop mentioned the desire to sign with a

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publisher earlier, which is interesting because his last game – the critically well-received Chaos Reborn – didn’t have one. Snapshot Games released the title (which is based on another of Gollop’s former games) itself after raising £210,000 on Kickstarter.

Phoenix Point is clearly a more ambitious (and therefore expensive) project. Gollop tells us that his team (based in the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia) is nine people strong, and he wants to triple his headcount. However, Snapshot has already proven itself in the crowd-funding sphere and the type of game it is making is likely to appeal to a large group of people. So why not go to Kickstarter again?

“Well I am not going to rule anything out,” Gollop insists. “There are different ways you can fund a project, and it can be Kickstarter and publisher combined, it could be investors...

From my point of view, whichever way is going to let me do the game that I want to do, that is probably what I am going to go for. Even if we did a Kickstarter campaign, it is fairly certain we would try and get a publisher involved fairly early on. If it’s the right publisher, it will have reach, its own audience and resources to market and distribute games that would otherwise be difficult for us to do.

“To try and raise a lot of money on Kickstarter is very risky. A few companies have raised a lot of money, but they’re generally the exceptions and not the rule.”

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Surely, however, Gollop is one of these exceptions. He has a fan base and the prestige of a classic game behind him – just like the Banjo Kazooie team did when it raised £2.1m for Yooka-Laylee, and Yu Suzuki did when he attracted $6m for Shenmue III. “Maybe, but I don’t know,” he answers. “The fact that the game is getting a very good reaction from press and publishers is quite encouraging, because maybe a Kickstarter campaign would be very good for us.

“The thing with a Kickstarter campaign is that you have to decide how much money you will need upfront, and it is very hard to make that decision in a complete vacuum.

We need to gauge a reaction. So we have been building up some game concepts, some assets, there is a website, a newsletter... we are building up a list of people who would be interested in the project. Inviting press to look at it. You need to build awareness before you start a campaign, because Kickstarter is not going to bring you that audience itself. You need to do it all by yourself.”

Regardless of whether he chooses to go with Kickstarter or not, it doesn’t look like Gollop will be short of offers. He was busy meeting publishers at E3 and, he tells us, the reaction has been extremely enthusiastic.

It looks like after almost two decades, Gollop will be finally returning to the genre that made him famous.

August 12th 2014

ADVERTISING FEATURE

CDP.pl: Poland’s most experienced distributor Today CD Projekt’s name is recognised worldwide thanks to The Witcher, but the firm began life as a Polish games distributor – and that company still exists today in the form of CDP.pl. MCV finds out what it’s up to

E

ver wonder where the name CD Projekt comes from?

In 1994 - at the birth of CD-based gaming - school friends Marcin Iwinski and Michal Kicinski started importing popular CD-based games and localising them for the Polish market. The firm also added artbooks and soundtracks to encourage users away from piracy. Thus CD Projekt was born.

The firm received its first big break in 1999, with Baldur’s Gate – which it fully localised with Polish voice talent. Wholesalers, desperate to get at it, rushed to the firm’s HQ on launch day and even got into fights with each other – forcing CD Projekt staff to intervene. In the end, 100,000 units were sold.

Since then CD Projekt invested in development (including its studio CD Projekt RED), in online retailing (through GOG.com) and localisation. Yet it remained a force in distribution, and in 2014, Michal Gembicki and Robert Wesolowski performed a management buy out of the distribution arm and named the new legal entity: CDP.pl.

EASTERN LEADERS CDP.pl is Poland’s leading games distributor, handling games from Activision Blizzard, Focus, Giants, NCSoft, Anuman Interactive and a whole lot more. It currently has close ties with all of Poland’s top retailers, including Empik, MediaSaturn, RTV, Euro AGC, Media Expert and Neonet.

The firm doesn’t just ship boxes to stores, however. It also offers production services, PR, marketing localisation, and sales, too.

It remains closely tied to its friends at CD Projekt, and it

August 12th 2016

handled the launch of The Witcher 3: Wild Hund in Poland - including both expansion packs. In total, the firm has sold over a milion units of The Witcher games in the country In 2014, the firm was picked

by Activision to handle the distribution of Call of Duty, Destiny and other major games. There’s a lot of anticipation in the country for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (due at the end of the year) as it will include full Polish voice acting. Generally, there’s plenty of optimism in the Polish games sector, with game revenue up 11 per cent in 2015.

Four games that CDP.pl have distributed have appeared in the Top Ten All Time Sales from Polish media retail giant Empik.

What’s more, its reach extends beyond Poland, with subdistributor relationships in Czech, Slovakia and Hungary.

CDP.pl sold in 375,000 copies of The Witcher 3, while expectations are high for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

In total, the firm has sold over a milion units of The Witcher games in the country.

FUTURE DIRECTION Alongside the distribution

46

business, there are two other strands to CDP.pl..

The first part is a full e-commerce website (which can be found at CDP.pl). The site launched in 2012 and initially sold digital video games and movies, but it has expanded into physical media in 2015.

The site also sells merchandise, accessories, board games and hardware. The e-commerce site is a fully authorised store of PlayStation and Nintendo, and its traffic reaches almost one milion visits per month.

The third strand is the company’s new indie publishing label - Klabater – which aims to release games on a global stage.

More about that in the article to the right.

To discover what CDP.pl can do for you and your business - and to meet the team at Gamescom 2016 – please contact Michal Gembicki at: michal.gembicki@cdp.pl.

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

CDP.pl launches indie publishing division

COMING SOON...

Klabater already has several titles coming to market, and these include:

Alice VR is one of Klabater’s first releases

L

eading Polish games distributor CDP.pl has formed a new publishing arm with worldwide ambitions.

CDP.pl is the name of the distributor that spun out from CD Projekt in 2014 (you can read more about that on the left), and its new division is called Klabater.

This is a full publishing service that includes investment, PR, marketing, localisation and distribution. The company can manage both digital and physical releases.

“In legends from the Baltic Sea, Klabater is a friendly ghost, or a kobold, who takes care of the ship”, says CEO Michal Gembicki.

“If necessary, it can patch a hull or lead the crew through even the toughest storms thanks to a small lantern”.

The company is targeting indie games, with a particular focus on Polish output. There are around 300 developers in the country, and Klabater wants to push these games on the global stage.

“Of course, we are not ruling out developers from other countries,”

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selection of promising projects (see coming soon).

“Klabater is a startup project within a bigger company, but the whole experienced CDP.pl team is there to help”, continues Gembicki. “We have more than 20 years of experience in publishing, promoting and distributing games and we offer it to the developers, so they can focus on the best part: making games. We will take care of everything else.”

You can contact Klabater at contact@klabater.com.

adds Gembicki. “We treat every offer individually. Still, promoting Polish games will always be our main goal. We have been involved in the constant development and rapid growth of Poland’s market for a very long time, so being able to help those who are smaller than us is a pleasure and a privilege”.

Studios can submit their games via Klabater’s website (Klabater.com), regardless of where it is in development. The firm is already working on a

Regalia pays homage to classic JRPGs

47

Alice VR Developer: Carbon Studio Release: October 2016 Platform: PC This sci-fi game is playable both with and without Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. It is powered by Unreal Engine 4, boasts multiple paths and has puzzles inspired by Alice In Wonderland.

Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs Developer: Pixelated Milk Release: Spring 2017 Platforms: PC This homage to classic JRPGs looks great with handdrawn 2D backgrounds, over 20 characters and some 30 hours of gameplay.

Symmetry Developer: Sleepless Clinic Release: 2017 Platforms: PC, Mac Symmetry is a basemanagement game with an involving plot and impressive vector graphics.

August 12th 2016

XXX XXX INTERVIEW DAVID PAIN, PQUBE

It’s hip to be PQube PQube has its fingers in many different pies. It’s publishing both niche Japanese titles and racing games, it’s looking to release games on PC via Steam Greenlight and releasing retro hardware. MCV speaks to CEO David Pain

P

Qube is not afraid of controversies.

The UK-based publisher and distributor just released Gal*Gun: Double Peace, a Japanese shooter that is unusual to say the least: using pheromone shots, the player has to subdue schoolgirls until they faint of ecstasy. Yes, you read that correctly.

And like many games, Gal*Gun: Double Peace has DLC – only this one is not a new map or a stealth mission. It allows players to see through clothes.

“The PR for the game has been phenomenal,” PQube’s CEO David Pain tells MCV. “The core concept alone has seen the major games press outlets and the most influential YouTubers covering it extensively. Download and preorder figures for the US are looking incredibly healthy – while many would consider Gal*Gun to be a niche title, we actually exceeded our forecast through pre-orders alone, before we even launched the title.”

Japanese games are a key segment of PQube’s business.

For the remainder of 2016 alone, the publisher has five of these niche titles scheduled: the (equally controversial) Valkyrie Drive, plus FATE/Extella, Steins;Gate 0, BlazBlue and Root Letter, a visual novel described by Pain as ‘Phoenix Wright for adults.’

“We continue to be amazed by the market for Japanese titles,” he adds. “These fans are among the most passionate you could find, with a real hunger for new content.

“For a long time niche Japanese games have long been overlooked by the market. Right across Europe, there’s a steadily growing fan base

August 12th 2016

and WRC 6 position themselves away from the crowd and have their own, strong and dedicated fan bases to serve.

“Other titles like MXGP2 offer up a different gameplay style to other racing titles. By engaging with the fans on an ongoing basis well beyond launch, we are continuing to see good re-order business through the full life of the product.”

PQube is launching fighting game BlazBlue Central Fiction this November

for genres like visual novels, or titles with a more colourful style.

Ultimately, Japanese games often provide a unique style away from the more dour, serious style of many western-developed games.”

SHUT UP AND DRIVE PQube’s offering is not limited to Japanese titles as the firm is also known for its racing titles, having published Ride, WRC and MXGP. And there’s more to come in 2016, with Ride 2 and WRC 6.

“Ride was a phenomenal success for us, so we’re thrilled to be working on Ride 2 which has a incredible amount of content and is shaping up to be one of [developer] Milestone’s best titles,” Pain enthuses. “We are also delighted to be working on the World Rally Championship franchise again with the stunning looking WRC 6.”

He continues: “Racing is a genre we’re particularly strong in. There’s always room for new racing titles, as long as they offer experiences that differ from Forza or Gran Turismo. Both Ride 2

The first half of 2016 has been our best yet.

We predict 100 per cent growth year-on-year.

David Pain, PQube

00 48

STEAM POWERED This is only a preview of what lies ahead for PQube. The firm will also distribute a dozen titles in the UK in the second half of 2016. Not only that – it is launching retro consoles, including the Sega Mega Drive console, Sega Mega Drive handheld and Atari Flashback 7. And it’s moving to the digital market, with two games currently on Steam’s Greenlight program - Hunger Dungeon and Don’t Disturb.

“As we continue to grow, we are constantly on the look out for new product across console, handheld and Steam,” Pain explains.

“We’re interested in tapping into the creativity of emerging markets.

We’re finding with platforms like Steam becoming more crowded, too many self-published projects fail to get noticed. A role publisher’s is becoming more important to studios who want to make themselves more visible and successful.”

With so much going on, it’s no wonder PQube is having its biggest year so far, Pain says: “The first half of 2016 has been our best yet, achieving our full 2015 revenues in just six months.”

He adds: “We anticipate 100 per cent year-on-year growth.”

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INSIGHT

OPINION

Sold Out on the power of Gamescom least six months of hard work around discovery, publicity, presale promotions and in store activity – that’s if we want to hit our forecasts. Gamescom plays a pivotal role in this.

Sold Out’s sales director James Cato explains how Gamescom has played a vital role in publisher’s growth since its February 2014 return

FOR a salesperson, issuing that first invoice out of the business is a happy feeling. At Gamescom you tend to recreate this pleasant atmosphere, as you know the team is leaving to a ‘selling show’ – you know you are coming back with orders. E3 is good, but Gamescom is more easily justified.

Both trade and consumers are at Gamescom, but the key difference is that all of our European partners are focused on the seasonal run in, and this is the point where orders are placed, stock is topped up and forward planning turns into invoice generation, shipping and sales.

Looking at our previous quarter, console versions of Carmageddon, Prison Architect and soon-to-be-released Worms WMD has kept us very busy.

Now Gamescom is a fantastic opportunity to get the re-orders in writing. Meanwhile, Worms WMD will need an ‘order now’ focus (because once the day one promotional version is gone, it is gone).

Also at Gamescom, the support from our growing band of publishing partners means a whole new batch of releases are added to this process.

Gamescom is also a springboard to kick off a major sales process, such as for Sniper Elite 4. The boxed sell-in for a game of this scale demands at

August 12th 2016

HOW GAMESCOM MADE A DIFFERENCE From our first invoice back in February 2014, we hit £4m in revenue during our first year, and by not forcing excessive amounts into the market, we avoided the common year two issue of having to take stock back. Our focus in year two was to build a presence in the USA – a process that started at Gamescom 2015.

Now well into our third year, the performance of Rebellion’s Zombie Army Trilogy in the USA has created a true brand.

Through the support of our partners, we know our year three revenue figures will at least double. That financial solidity gives us the base to sit down at this year’s Gamescom and to discuss our plans for our fourth year, a year where we can utilise

Gamescom is just too good an opportunity to miss. We can sit down in one place and discuss everything we have coming up.

James Cato, Sold Out

a ‘war chest’ built up over the previous 12 months. It is fair to say that we have quite a few surprises up our sleeves.

We are too busy finalising our Gamescom schedule to become complacent. After all, you are only as good as your last release.

But with a portfolio of partners delivering triple-A titles, we continue to evolve. This will be the first Gamescom where we will be taking floor space in the main public area, for example.

Gamescom is just too good an opportunity to miss, we can sit down in one place discuss our past and new releases, extend our co-publishing deals and demonstrate our existing portfolio of console titles to press.

We can sit down with our European and USA PR agencies, but more than this, we get to take orders from all our European and USA partners.

If you like what we are doing and you are not already on the list for a meeting, please come along to see us at Stand C-015/D-014 in Hall 3.2.

Sold Out’s line-up includes indie hits like Prison Architect and titles like Carmageddon and Worms 50

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MARKETPLACE

SHELF LIFE Stephen Staley, founder and CEO of online retailer GameSeek, tells MCV about why Microsoft has lost the console war in Europe and shares his expectations for the NX and virtual reality How has business been lately?

Fantastic, thanks. We are constantly improving our systems and building foundations for rapid accelerated growth for 2017/2018.

What games have been selling particularly well recently?

At the moment, on PS4, I would say UFC 2, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour and Grand Theft Auto – the latter on PS3 as well. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are

PRE-ORDER CHARTS

doing well on Wii U, as is Red Dead Redemption on Xbox 360.

What games are you looking forward to this year?

I am not really looking forward to any games other than maybe No Man’s Sky. I am more interested in older games. So I am keen to see Nintendo’s NES Classic Mini Edition.

What platform do you think will perform the best this year?

PS4. Because not only is it the best console, the better looking console and the better technical console, it’s also the players’ console. Xbox One never recovered from the E3 disaster from years back. They lost customers’ trust, which they will never win back on this cycle. It’s too late, especially in Europe. Sony won.

What are you expecting from Nintendo’s NX console?

I would love it if it was the power of the PS4 Neo so it caters for the hardcore, but also has a huge retro download library... however it

PRICE CHECK: YORK

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UPLOADING The latest digital releases coming to market

ABZÛ

ALIEN ON THE RUN

THE TURING TEST

Journey’s spiritual successor, Abzû, has landed on PlayStation 4

Two years after the US, the title is now out on the 3DS European eShop

Bulkhead’s first-person puzzler is launching on Xbox One and PC

OUT: NOW

August 12th 2016

IN STORE

EA, PS4

ONLINE

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OUT: NOW

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OUT: AUGUST 30TH

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MARKETPLACE

GameSeek Unit 16, Premier Park, Winsford Industrial Estate, Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 3PH

seems that Nintendo is going in a different direction.

Speaking about retro games, how is that performing for GameSeek?

It’s fine but to be honest this is more of a passion, I wouldn’t make a business out of it. It’s just fun.

What are your prospects for the remainder of the year?

Extremely exciting. I believe Q4 2016 will be incredibly busy and

Phone: 01606 226460 Website: www.gameseek.co.uk Facebook: /gameseek Twitter: @GameSeek

difficulties we face is trying to keep up with all the orders. I am also very keen to see the success of PS VR. How do you think VR will do?

I don’t think it will do that well. I hope it does and, yes, I always look forward to new tech. But I fear it might go the same way as 3D. Great at first, then disappear. I think we need better tech. We need to experience VR but without putting a headset on. Who wants to put on a bulky headset?

INCOMING TITLE

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

Hello Games’ highly-awaited No Man’s Sky is arriving on PC today, a few days after the PS4 version, and Codemasters’ F1 2016 hits shelves next week FORMAT

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August 12th 2016

SPACE

SPACE GAMES To celebrate the release of the highly anticipated No Man’s Sky, Marie Dealessandri has chosen some of the best space gamerelated merchandise

RARELY has a game caught the players’ attention as No Man’s Sky has done.

Probably one of the most awaited titles of the year, Hello Games’ space exploration project finally landed on PS4 just two days ago – and launches on PC today.

It’s too early to say whether No Man’s Sky will live up to everyone’s huge expectations, but the title is definitely full of promise.

In an interview with GameSpot, Hello Games’ MD Sean Murray

It’s hard to say whether No Man’s Sky will live up to expectations, but the game is full of promise.

said there were about 18 quintillion planets to explore in No Man’s Sky. “If you discover one planet every second, it would take 500 billion years to find all of them,” he said.

Fans are ready to shell out big money in order to play the game: a Reddit user paid $1,300 to have an early copy of the title. In a long post describing his experience with the game, he revealed that he reached the galaxy centre in about 30 hours,

NO MAN’S SKY VINYL SOUNDTRACK Instrumental band 65daysofstatic is behind No Man’s Sky’s algorithm-generated soundtrack, guiding the player through the 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets in the game. Developer Hello Games partnered with iam8bit to create this vinyl version of the soundtrack, which features artwork by Simon Stalenhag and Kuldar Leement.

SRP: $35 (£26) Manufacturer: Hello Games/iam8bit Distributor: Iam8bit Contact: store@iam8bit.com

RETRO ELITE COMMANDER T-SHIRT

SPACE ENGINEERS VALUE POSTER PAPER (MATTE) - ASTRO

EVE VALKYRIE HC

Go back to space games’ roots with this tribute to 1984’s Elite, created by Frontier to celebrate the release of Elite Dangerous.

Sandbox title Space Engineers has already sold over 1m units in spite of the fact that it’s still in Early Access.

Ahead of the release of VR title Eve Valkyrie, writer Brian Wood created a comic series to introduce new players to Eve Online’s universe.

SRP: £14.99 Manufacturer: Frontier Distributor: Frontier Contact: 01223 394 300

SRP: £7.30 Manufacturer: KeenSWH Distributor: Zazzle Contact: 0800 6929 953

SRP: £13.48 Manufacturer: Dark Horse Comics Distributor: Diamond Comics Distributors UK Contact: 01928 531 760

August 12th 2016

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SPACE Sponsored by

O

gaming merchandise uk

which put a damper on some gamers’ expectations.

But No Man’s Sky remains full of possibilities and has to satisfy a rabid fan base. To satisfy some consumers, Hello Games has partnered with production company iam8bit to create No Man’s Sky goodies, including postcards and vinyls.

Space games are not a new trend but they’re growing in popularity, with games such as Frontier’s Elite Dangerous and

CCP’s Eve games. Meanwhile, Imperium is hard at work on the wildly ambitious Star Citizen.

The coming months will be packed with space-set entries: Destiny’s new expansion, Rise of Iron, launches in September, CCP’s VR shooter Eve: Valkyrie releases alongside PSVR on October 13th and Mass Effect Andromeda will hit shelves in March 2017.

Of course, each one of these titles will launch with its fair share of merchandise for fans to collect.

KERBAL IVA BUNDLE Developer Squad has partnered with 3D printing company Shapeways to create these Kerbal Space Program figurines. This bundle includes the four original kerbonauts - Jeb, Bill, Bob and Val. They are printed on demand in full colour sandstone.

SRP: £155 Manufacturer: Shapeways Distributor: Shapeways Contact: service@shapeways.com

THE ART OF DESTINY

MASS EFFECT ALLIANCE CRUISER SILVER-PLATED LIMITED EDITION

NO MAN’S SKY ECLIPSE GICLÉE PRINT

Fans who are eagerly waiting for Destiny’s next update can fill the time with this 216-page book dedicated to the art behind Bungie’s title.

This Alliance Cruiser from Mass Effect is limited to 1,500 pieces and is around 24cm long and 8cm wide.

This is one of the two high-quality print possibilities iam8bit created to celebrate the launch of No Man’s Sky.

SRP: £19.99 Manufacturer: Titan Books Distributor: Titan Books Contact: sales@titanemail.com

SRP: $60 (£45) Manufacturer: Dark Horse Comics Distributor: Diamond Comics Distributors UK Contact: 01928 531 760

SRP: $50 (£37) Manufacturer: Hello Games/iam8bit Distributor: Iam8bit Contact: store@iam8bit.com

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August 12th 2016

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THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AGENCIES AND SERVICE COMPANIES

COMPANY PROFILE / EXEQUO KEY CONTACTS: Stéphane Bonfils CEO Exequo Corporation

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ADDRESS: Suite 110, 2101 112th Avenue NE, Bellevue WA 98004 USA

EXEQUO is a premier multilingual localisation services provider for the video games industry. Over 17 years we have contributed to the worldwide success of more than 1,800 titles – having worked on franchises such as Mass Effect, Halo, Batman or Diamond Dash.

We have forged an image that resonates for the quality of the services we provide. With offices and production sites in Paris, Berlin, Seattle, Tokyo and Taipei we service up to 30 languages. Whether you are in need of translation, voice recording, localisation testing or adapting audio or video assets to a target culture, we can get it done. Whether you’re an triple-A title developer or an indie dev just launching on Kickstarter, we help your game reach millions of gamers worldwide.

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO ISSUE 859 FRIDAY DECEMBER

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Specialism: Creative agency Location: 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH

Contact: T: 0207 421 9400 E: hello@smalljapanesesoldier.com W: www.sjslondon.com

Small Japanese Soldier’s creative director Andy Hunns talks about his expectations for mobile gaming Tell us about your company.

Launched in 1999 by our parent company Clinic, Small Japanese Soldier had one mission: to disrupt the then large agency model and offer fast, dynamic creative solutions to business problems, particularly targeting the games industry that was rapidly changing itself. We felt an agency like ours could offer a service that publishers would need.

What successes have you seen?

Our brand work for Universal Music’s catalogue repertoire

What are you looking forward to in games over the next year?

The launch of The Legacy of The Beast. I firmly believe this will become, literally, a game changer in the mobile marketplace.

product UDiscovermusic.com has been successful and has helped grow an area of its business that provides a huge part of its revenue.

What are the biggest trends in the games industry right now?

Mobile, obviously. Traditional channels are no longer the focus, we are always looking for the next platform that consumers will migrate to and there are some really interesting developments in this space that we think we could formulate a plan for our clients.

How did you choose your company name?

The way that anybody should come up with a name: went to the pub, got drunk and came up with a name that we thought would get people asking us this question.

DISC REPAIR

TOTAL DISC REPAIR

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August 12th 2016

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FINK

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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

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BRAZIL Sony Music Entertainment Brasil # 1 Physical Distributor in Brazil 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

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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

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TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION PLEASE CONTACT CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM www.mcvuk.com

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August 12th 2016

FACTFILE AUSTRIA Sponsored by

INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE: AUSTRIA Population: 8,570,000 Capital City: Vienna Currency: Euro GDP (Per Capita): $51,296.5 KEY RETAILERS MediaMarkt, GameStop, Saturn, Video Game Store, Müller, Videogames Pilko, GameWare, Toys ’R’ Us TOP DISTRIBUTORS Koch Media, Play Art, Sony DADC, Stadlbauer, Xendex

THE Austrian games market is a small one. According to Newzoo, it is the 27th biggest market worldwide, with revenues reaching $326m (£243m), as of June 2016. Within Europe, Austria ranks at No.10, behind countries that are yet smaller in size and population, such as Switzerland.

According to Statista, revenue generated by the Austrian games market should continue to increase with an annual growth rate of 7.04 per cent until 2020.

Austrian gamers increasingly play on mobile, Newzoo further says. In its 2015 report on the mobile games market, the data company pointed out that “Belgian and Austrian mobile gamers had the highest Day 7 retention rates on Android and iOS in November.”

Statista adds that mobile gaming currently represents $51m (£38m) in revenue in Austria – a figure that should increase at an annual rate of 5.14 per cent during the 2016 to 2020 period.

The latest DESI (Digital Economy and Society Index) report from the European

August 12th 2016

TOP DEVELOPERS Redox Game Labs, Sproing, BongFish, DonkeyCat, Broken Rules, Clockstone Studios, Egon. cx, Mi’pu’mi Games, Still Alive Studios, Xendex, Zeppelin Studio PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION Nordic Games, Koch Media/Deep Silver, Microsoft, Xendex, Sony, Ubisoft

The Austrian games market was worth £243m as of June 2016.

Commission shows that Austria is ahead of its fellow European countries in terms of internet penetration. However, the country is surprisingly below the European average when it comes to using the internet to access music, videos and games: only 42 per cent of Austrians do so, versus 49 per cent across the EU. Austria is the country behind the Central European Games Conference (CEGC). It is organised by not-for-profit organisation Games Austria, which represents the interest of the Austrian games development community.

Last year, the CEGC gathered over 300 people from 17 countries.

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AUSTRIA FACTFILE

MEANWHILE IN... AMERICA Industry giant GameStop has made a massive investment in the US mobile sector with its purchase of over 500 AT&T retailers US games retail giant GameStop has stepped up its investment in the US mobile space and has acquired more than 500 AT&T Mobility stores.

The firm has purchased three authorised national AT&T retailers – Cellular World, Midwest Cellular and Red Skye Wireless.

Overall, this deal covers 507 physical stores.

“Today’s announcement showcases the strength of our relationship with AT&T and fortifies our diversification efforts,” GameStop CEO Paul Raines said.

“With the continued investments in our Technology Brands

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63

business, we are on track to achieve our goal of generating $200m of operating earnings in this growing segment by the end of 2019.”

The move follows GameStop’s purchase of

another AT&T retailer, Spring Mobile, in a deal that included around 90 stores. Currently, the retail giant owns 1,421 AT&T Mobility stores.

August 12th 2016

OFF THE RECORD

OFF THE RECORD This week, No Man’s Sky is finally coming out... that’s pretty much it, actually COMEDY GOLD NO MAN’S SKY is finally here. Feels like it’s been coming forever, right? And hasn’t all the social media fun in the run up to launch made these last couple of weeks just fly by.

Among all the tortuous agony about release dates, patches, framerates and completion times, however, there has been some genuine frivolity.

On July 7th, the boss of developer Hello Games, Sean Murray, tweeted that the game had finally gone gold. Just look at the absolute, manic joy in his eyes (right). The internet immediately got to work, of course, leading to some especially pleasing results (below).

August 12th 2016

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OFF THE RECORD

BEARDY WEARDY THE story of No Man’s Sky development is a fascinating one, actually.

The way in which the small team behind indie platformer/racer Joe Danger, Hello Games, has become the centre point of one of the current generation’s most anticipated triple-A games is quite wonderful, but has not come without a price.

Look at poor Sean Murray [Hello Games boss, right], for instance. This week marks a wonderful culmination to his tremendous achievement. But dear god can’t you see it. Time for a holiday, Sean. A long, lazy holiday.

NAME CALLING ONE of the things we’re most looking forward to in No Man’s Sky is the ability to christen discovered planets.

Players have been at it all week, of course, so a delightful selection of colourful creations already awaits us. Among those already spotted by Hello Games are ‘Planet McPlanety Face’ and ‘Poopland’. Some suggestions from us: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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Rimmerworld Darth Vader’s Gusset Gearth Bernard Brexit Baked Beanz Basingstoke Planet of the Japes Susan’s Wistful Machinations Penus

August 12th 2016

OFF THE RECORD

Green Man Gaming Asks...

With Pokémon Go hitting in such a huge way, what are other big franchises you’d like to see on mobile and why? #GMGasks

Each week Green Man Gaming asks the Twitter community what they think about the biggest gaming topics trending today.

Tag your reply with #GMGasks to have your say!

Chao Garden Go

Pikmin GO. I want all WKH ȵ RZHU PLQLRQV 0D\EH RI GL΍ HUHQW ȵ RZHU EUHHGV

@SlinkyDreams

@SekojoSZS

Animal Crossing Go please. To get you out gardening and learning DERXW ȴ VK DQG LQVHFWV

Europa Universalis Go

@lifeofholly

@Mikey_kr

Another Pokémon game where you actually care about your Pokémon and don’t grind them into candy and feed to other Pokémon

Halo Go – catch all the grunts

@SuperWae

@FerzoN670

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