Demos used to be a staple part of a game’s launch cycle. Even as far back as 1994, games magazines would boast about the number of playable demos they had that month, and it was generally accepted business practice that demos were largely beneficial to a game’s overall sales. Indeed, …
Read More »Resident Evil 7 was January’s best-selling game in the US, says NPD
The US games industry spend shrunk in January 2017, according to the latest report from NPD, showing a decline of 4 per cent year on year. Total industry spend reached $611m in January 2017, with a decline in hardware sales being the main factor behind the lack of growth. The …
Read More »Take-Two’s Zelnick talks mobile, movies and GTA V’s continued success
“Better than expected” has become an accidental catch phrase for Take-Two when it reports its financials. Despite being behind the company responsible for the unstoppable Grand Theft Auto V, it continues to be surprised by just how well that title has done. The base game has shipped 75m units – …
Read More »PewDiePie apologises for offensive video, responds to Wall Street Journal coverage
YouTube superstar Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg has published a video in which he apologies for remarks people found offensive. In the post (below), the personality admitted that a previous video one which saw him pay two men to hold a sign saying ‘Death to All Jews’ above their heads, went too …
Read More »MCV Jobs Weekly: Dead Good bolsters international PR team
Milewski joins from Techland, Future’s Daniella Lucas joins OXM and Fandom adds Sam Loveridge as UK gaming editor. Dead Good Media strengthens its international PR team UK PR and creative agency Dead Good Media has expanded its international PR team with the appointment of Paul Milewski as media consultant. Previously international PR and marketing manager …
Read More »E3, Take-Two and the return of game demos headline this week’s MCV
This week, we investigate the ESA’s latest move, with E3 opening its doors to 15,000 members of the public for the first time in 2017. Will it make or break the show? The answer is in this week’s MCV. We also talk to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick about the publisher’s …
Read More »Twitch users spent 292bn minutes watching streamers in 2016, Overwatch most watched new game
Twitch has released its interactive 2016 Year in Review, revealing that users spent 292bn minutes watching Twitch last year, and that Blizzard’s Overwatch was the most-watched new game of 2016. To put that in more quantifiable terms, that’s 4.86bn hours, or 555,555 years. Twitch’s favourite shooter overall remained Counter Strike: …
Read More »Merchandise sector still ‘finding its feet’, says GM UK
We already know that 2016 was not the best year ever for the UK games market. But there’s one category within gaming that still provides growth: merchandise. GAME said in its 2016 financial report that although sales declined in the year, licensed merchandise was up 70 per cent year-on-year. But …
Read More »For Honor, For Ever? How Ubisoft designed its latest IP to last and last …
For Honor is a medieval combat game. With not a gun in sight, it immediately stands out amongst the usual multiplayer offerings. But that’s not what’s really interesting about Ubisoft’s brand new IP. Instead, here’s a game that’s been designed from the ground up for long-term competitive play, with serious …
Read More »Grand Theft Auto V reclaims UK No.1, Nioh debuts at No.2
Grand Theft Auto V has shot back to the top of the UK games charts, ending the reign of Capcom’s Resident Evil VII to claim its twelfth UK No.1. Sales of Take-Two’s mega hit rose 1 per cent week-on-week, and it’s now one of just five titles to claim at …
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