Retail

The FCC votes to overturn U.S net neutrality protections

The US Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to overturn the 2015 ‘net neutrality’ rule, which prohibits internet service providers (ISPs) for blocking, throttling or prioritising Internet traffic. This was originally put in place in 2015 over fears that ISPs would start charging more money for certain services, meaning slower game …

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Kids as young as 11 are getting into skin gambling, says UK Gambling Committee

The UK Gambling Committee’s end of year report on Young People and Gambling has suggested that 45 per cent of kids between the ages of 11-16 know about skin gambling, while 11 per cent say they’ve placed bets with in-game items. Skin gambling is a catch-all term to describe several …

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ONS report claims video games are key part of UK Inflation hike

Video games are a key part in the latest rise for UK inflation, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The figures released by the ONS say that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has hiked 3.1% in the twelve month period ending in November 2017 and is …

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Call of Duty: WWII claims its fifth successive UK No.1

Activision’s Call of Duty: WWII is aiming its sights on a possible Christmas No.1 after claiming the Top 40 UK top spot for the fifth week in a row. That equals the 2017 record set down by fellow Activision release Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy, which also achieved five weeks on …

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Amazon’s Alexa now integrates with Destiny 2

In one of the more unusual tie-ins we’ve seen this year, Activision has announced some Destiny 2-related functionality for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. Alexa will now respond to a variety of tasks with the prefix “Alexa, ask Ghost…” (Ghost being the game’s robotic AI assistant, for those not versed in …

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Black Friday creates biggest software week of 2017 thanks to bundles

Black Friday week was the biggest week of the year so far at retail.  Software sales were up 89 per cent in units and 53 per cent in revenue week-on-week, driven by the wealth of PS4 and Xbox One bundles on offer last week. GfK noted in its report that, …

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Green Man Gaming appoints McGregor as CMO

Ian McGregor has been named as the new chief marketing officer of digital retailer Green Man Gaming. McGregor’s career includes stints at Activision and EA, and he has previously worked on games including FIFA, The Sims and Call of Duty. GMG notes his involvement in launching the FIFA Interactive World …

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GAME CEO talks Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption 2, and the trailing triple-A pack

Read our full interview with GAME CEO Martyn Gibbs. Although well aware of the need to diversify, UK games retail remains highly reliant upon the success of just a handful of the biggest franchises. And while last year’s big releases let down retailers, things are looking a bit rosier in …

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GAME CEO: Nintendo Switch in ‘constant supply’ but we’re yet to hit Christmas peak

Read our full interview with GAME CEO Martyn Gibbs. Speaking to MCV today, following on from GAME’s full-year results, CEO Martyn Gibbs commented on the stock situation of Switch this Christmas, something that will have a direct impact on the bottom-line not only for many big publishers but also for …

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GameStop suspends PowerPass pre-owned program

GameStop’s new pre-owned rental scheme has been abruptly paused and possibly abandoned altogether. Kotaku reports that the chain yesterday told employees to take down all PowerPass signage. The scheme only launched last week. In a worrying sign for users, those who had already registered are being asked to return their …

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