UBISOFT’S EURO CHIEF ON ITS E3 FIGHT BACK P04

PLUS INTERVIEW: SLITHERINE ON WAR GAMING THE BIGGEST F1 GAME IN YEARS

CORRE DE FORCE

THE BUSINESS OF VIDEO GAMES

ISSUE 840 JULY 10TH / JULY 17TH 2015

10,000 consumers flock to London’s Minecon ‘We want to be on every platform,” says Mojang

LAST week’s huge Minecon event proved that Minecraft is in safe hands with Microsoft.

Mojang COO Vu Bui says the firm is happy under new leadership, and that Xbox’s money has helped it expand.

“It’s surprising to some, but opportunities have opened up for us,” he said.

“Minecon is the first time we are able to show that. We’re all still the same team, now we just work with other teams. That brings us extra resources so we can do things we couldn’t do before.

“Minecraft in Education is huge. Mojang is a tiny company, and education is a complex thing. Having that partnership with Microsoft allows us to do things that previously would have been much more difficult.”

MOJANG says that Microsoft’s new AR tech is ‘like being in the future’.

Minecraft was the first game confirmed to being in development for HoloLens, and was shown during an impressive on-stage demo at E3. Fans will be able to take their Minecraft creations and place them in the real world.

“All those reviews out there that say HoloLens is mind-blowing and like being in the future are correct,” Mojang COO Vu Bui enthused.

MINECRAFT is already huge on mobile, PlayStation, Xbox and PC, but developer Mojang says there are more platforms to come.

And it dismissed concerns that being owned by Microsoft will hinder expansion to other consoles.

“If I had my way, we’d be on everything,” COO Vu Bui said.

“We want to continue to be available to all players, and that means being on new platforms because everyone uses something different.”

Could that include Nintendo machines?

“I’ve never heard a reason why we haven’t ended up on Wii U or 3DS. It just hasn’t happened yet.”

MOJANG says it wants to get Minecraft into as many schools as it can.

The firm has already launched the Minecraft in Education programme, which includes a special version of the game. The scheme is designed to help pupils in subjects such as coding, science, history and art.

“I don’t really see a limit for Minecraft in Education,” Mojang COO Vu Bui said.

“I want to enable people to use Minecraft to enhance education, because people are already doing that. What we want is to inspire it to go further. I guess we’d eventually run out of schools to go into, but there is really no limit.”

MOJANG TARGETS NEW PLATFORMS FOR MINECRAFT

‘MINECON SHOWED WHAT WE CAN DO WITH MICROSOFT’

‘HOLOLENS IS MIND-BLOWING’

‘NO LIMIT’ TO MINECRAFT’S EDUCATION PLANS

Our mission is to make Minecraft the most amazing game we can and to let people play it how they want..

Vu Bui, Mojang

CHEAT SHEET

02July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com

by Christopher Dring WATCH out Skylanders, Anki believes it can become a new force in toys-to-life with its upcoming racing game: Anki Overdrive.

Co-founder and president of Anki, Hanns Tappeiner, accused toys-to-life rivals such as Disney Infi nity and LEGO Dimensions of ‘just copying Skylanders’, and said that his game will off er retailers something diff erent when it arrives on September 20th – just fi ve days before Skylanders Superchargers.

Overdrive is a combat racer controlled via a smartphone, but the actual racing takes place in real life, utilising robotic cars and a track that gamers build themselves.

The fi rst game, Anki Drive, was a hit in the US, becoming the second most popular toy on Amazon over Christmas (beaten only

by Frozen). The fi rm is now ramping up its European eff orts for the sequel, and has recruited former Nintendo marketing boss Shelly Pearce to help the charge.

“We are putting a lot of eff ort in the UK and Germany,” Tappeiner told MCV.

“[Toys-to-life] is becoming crowded, but everyone is just copying Skylanders. We’re less interested in doing a game and more interested in bringing what we love about games to the physical space. That sets us apart.”

Overdrive launches with a £150 price tag, which makes it the most expensive toys-to-life product on the market.

“That’s how much we charged for Drive, and that worked well,” he said. “People have been playing Drive for months, even years. As people get used to the idea you can play it for a long time, then the view on price changes.”

BATMAN and LEGO have helped Warner Bros rise to the top of the publisher rankings once again, according to GfK Chart-Track.

The fi rm published 27.6 per cent of thephysical games sold in June with Batman: Arkham Knight at No.1 and LEGO Jurassic Park at No.3.

In second place is Bethesda, which saw its market share rise on the back of The Elder Scrolls Online (last month’s No.2 games). In total 1.72m games were sold last month, down from the 2m shifted in June 2014. Last year’s June numbers benefi tted from the launch of Watch Dogs in late May.

Anki targets Skylanders with September launch

Warner Bros and Bethesda rule June charts

Anki’s Tappeiner says that the toys-to-life sector is fi lled with Skylanders copy-cats

£10m

£15m

£20m

£5m

Market DataWithout a game to rival the huge Batman this week, the market decreases in value

Week EndingJuly 4th

£18.3m492,664

units

Week EndingJune 26th

£8.4m276,869

units

Week EndingJune 20th

$8.7m271,420

units

UK RETAIL TOP 10

PRE-ORDER TOP 10

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT WARNER BROS12 LEGO Jurassic World Warner Bros

3 The Elder Scrolls Online Bethesda

4 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Bandai Namco

5 Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar

6 Yoshi’s Woolly World Nintendo

7 Minecraft: Xbox Edition Microsoft

8 FIFA 15 EA

9 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Activision Blizzard

10 Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Sony

FALLOUT 4 (PS4) BETHESDA12 Fallout 4 + Fallout 3 (XO) Bethesda

3 Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (PS4) Sony

4 Gears of War Ultimate Edition (XO) Microsoft

5 Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain Day One Ed (PS4) Konami

6 Rare Replay (XO) Microsoft

7 Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) Square Enix

8 Amiibo Pikmin & Olimar (Wii U) Nintendo

9 Amiibo Bowser Jr (Wii U) Nintendo

10 FIFA 16 (PS4) EA

SPONSORED BY

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT (XO, PS4) WARNER BROS12 The Elder Scrolls Online (XO, PS4, PC) Bethesda

3 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (XO, PS4, PC) Bandai Namco

4 LEGO Jurassic World (XO, 360, PS4, PS3, PC) Warner Bros

5 Grand Theft Auto V (XO, 360, PS4, PS3, PC) Rockstar

6 FIFA 15 (XO, 360, PS4, PS3, Vita, 3DS, Wii, PC) EA

7 Splatoon (WiiU) Nintendo

8 Battlefi eld: Hardline (XO, 360, PS4, PS3, PC) EA

9 Farming Simulator 15 (XO, 360, PS4, PS3, PC) Focus/Koch

10 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (XO, 360, PS4, PS3, PC) Activision

UK RETAIL TOP 10 – JUNE

CHEAT SHEET

03www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 2015

by Christopher Dring ALMOST 150,000 UK console gamers downloaded The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in May, the latest numbers from SuperData revealed.

The UK download chart – which launched last month in Beta and MCV ran exclusively – shows just how successful games are in terms of both individual unit sales and total revenue.

SuperData compiles this information based on data received from payment fi rms and direct from publishers. It does not include sales of digital PC games.

The data shows that The Witcher 3 was No.1 – boosted by a digital bundle with the Xbox One console – followed by Grand Theft Auto V in terms of revenue or Minecraft in terms of units.

The Witcher 3 UK console downloads hit 144,000 in May

We all know that Minecraft is a big game.

We have seen the numbers. Tens of millions of units of the sandbox game have been sold worldwide.

Entire careers have been created out of people uploading videos of themselves playing the game online via YouTube.

The books alone have sold in the millions. No wonder Microsoft spent $2.5bn acquiring Swedish developer Mojang.

But those are just numbers. Its success was most tangible when Minecon – the annual celebration of all things Minecraft – reached the UK last weekend at London Excel.

Minecraft appears to defy gravity. Surely, six years after it launched in alpha, we should be seeing some erosion by now?

But a record-breaking 10,000 people shelled out £129 each to be at Minecon, many dressed up as their favourite Minecraft characters, queuing for hours to see panels of developers or YouTubers, and to check out the latest Minecraft merchandise. For one weekend, London Excel was Disneyland for Minecraft.

At the event, Mojang vowed to develop and evolve the core game by itself while giving other developers access to build spin-off s (such as TellTale’s Story Mode). It is currently taking the game to Windows 10 and to HoloLens. Even Nintendo platforms could

be on the horizon, too. And the biggest and most

popular game in the world is going to breach some new frontiers, too.

Schools for a start. Mojang keeps hammering on about its Education programme and its dream of being in every education institute in the world.

It is also teaming up with the likes of the UN to help build houses in Nairobi with its Block by Block scheme.

All of this, Mojang tells us this week, would not have been possible without the huge cash injection it received from its new owners at Microsoft. There were fears at the beginning that Microsoft’s acquisition might have a negative impact on Minecraft, but there was no evidence of that at Minecon.

For now it seems Microsoft is helping Mojang stay in keeping with the game it created. The developer is knocking down the blocks that separate video games from the real world.

And it is continuing to build in some unexpected places.acalvin@nbmedia.com

THEWRITER

There were fears that Microsoft might negatively aff ect Minecraft, but there was no evidence of that to be seen at Minecon.

YOU’VE MADE THE BIGGEST GAME ON EARTH – NOW WHAT?

THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT (CD PROJEKT RED) REVENUE: £5,682,655 UNITS: 144,11712 Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar) Revenue: £1,967,776 Units: 16,101

3 FIFA 15 (EA) Revenue: £1,753,382 Units: 10,983

4 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Activision) Revenue: £1,663,748 Units: 12,883

5 Project CARS (Slightly Mad) Revenue: £1,183,281 Units: 35,407

6 Minecraft (Mojang) Revenue: £716,872 Units: 49,348

7 Destiny (Activision) Revenue: £711,818 Units: 10,469

8 Battlefi eld: Hardline (EA) Revenue: £624,922 Units: 17,532

9 Bloodborne (Sony) Revenue: £465,193 Units: 12,190

10 Battlefi eld 4 (EA) Revenue: £256,586 Units: 11,509

Witcher 3 digital sales were boosted by the title being bundled digitally with Xbox One consoles

TOP TEN UK DIGITAL CONSOLE CHART (REVENUE)

On paper, 2014 looks like one of the most successful years in Ubisoft’s history.

It smashed its targets by generating over a £1bn in software revenue – thanks to its biggest new IP launch (Watch Dogs), and major sellers such as Far Cry 4, The Crew and Assassin’s Creed.

Unfortunately, that isn’t what Ubisoft’s 2014 will be remembered for. Instead, it was a time when the publisher had to put out a seemingly never-ending number of PR fires, and contend with the botched launch of Assassin’s Creed Unity – a blockbuster beset by bugs.

“We are very sensitive to what fans are saying,” says Alain Corre, Ubisoft’s EMEA executive director. “When [Unity] happened, we had to react and we decided to be as transparent as possible. The change in mood has been rapid among our fans because we corrected the issues quickly. Today, fans are very happy with Unity, and the number of players is growing, which is good for our next game.”

That next game is the Victorian-set Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, which has the unenviable task of righting some of the perceived wrongs of its predecessor.

“We always try to make the most polished game possible,” says Corre. “We respect our fans. Our company motto is quality and innovation. But we’re also creating very large, open-world games that are increasingly complex. It’s a lot of work. It’s worthwhile, but we are trying to push the limits and surprise people, and that comes with a set of risks.” GOING INDIE For a multi-billion dollar business with over 9,000

employees, Ubisoft is a surprisingly personable business.

It’s not that its rivals don’t care, it’s just that Ubisoft really cares. The firm’s CEO Yves Guillemot is someone you’ll often see loitering outside game demos or mingling with journalists, trying to discover what they think of his latest titles. His enthusiasm for the industry is evident in every interview he does.

This personality is evident in some of Ubisoft’s output. The publisher doesn’t force its creators to make blockbuster followed by blockbuster, and encourages them to make their own indie-like projects. Games such as Valiant Hearts, Child of Light and Grow Home are hardly billion-dollar behemoths, but they were still successful, acclaimed projects by the creators of The Crew, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.

“Our creative people sometimes want to try something different before they come back to what they know best,” explains Corre. “With Child of Light, for example, a creator wanted to do something different than a shooter, so came back with this story of a little girl in a poetic environment with lots of piano. We said great, let’s go, let’s try it, and it proved to be very successful.

“More recently we had Grow Home, which came our studio in Newcastle, and we saw it was a super fresh ecological idea for gameplay, and it’s been super successful on PC. It’s a way to let creators breathe,

step back a bit and think differently, before they can come back with new ideas for our big IP.”

Not that Ubisoft’s triple-A efforts are all ‘big franchises’. The publisher has made a habit of showing new IP at E3 (see Watch Dogs, The Division and The Crew), and it continued that this year with the medieval combat game: For Honor.

“It’s in Ubisoft’s DNA to bring out new IP,” insists Corre. “In two years we’ve released four major new IP. We are taking more risks than our colleagues, and that’s because we believe that our market will grow, and that we’ll be able to convince more people to join the category. For Honor, for example, has melee combat and co-op. It’s a game that used to be popular, but there

have been none in recent years, so we’re bringing it back.”

BROAD SPECTRUM For Honor was one of a handful of reveals from Ubisoft at E3. There was also a new Ghost Recon and a South Park sequel.

The latter came as a particular surprise. Last

year’s South Park: The Stick of Truth for PS3 and 360 suffered a

difficult development. Ubisoft acquired the game

after THQ’s collapse, but wasn’t happy with its quality,

so delayed it until March 2014. The title arrived after the launch

of PS4 and Xbox One, hindering its commercial potential.

The process frustrated South Park creators

Matt Stone and Trey

Straight to the Corre

Ubisoft headed into E3 2015 to show the world how it will bounce back from a troubled 2014. Did it succeed? Christopher Dring speaks to EMEA executive director Alain Corre

It’s in our DNA to bring out new IP. We are taking more risks than our colleagues because we believe our market will grow.

Alain Corre, Ubisoft

04July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com

INTERVIEW ALAIN CORRE, UBISOFT

New medieval combat IP For Honor was announced on-stage at Ubisoft’s E3 conference

UBISOFT released three open world games last year: Far Cry 4, Assassin’s Creed Unity and Watch Dogs.

At E3 this year, the trend continues, with open world action titles such as The Division, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate and the newly announced Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Some critics have complained that the focus on open world has made some of these games a bit too similar to one another. But this is simply what fans expect from their games today, says the publisher.

“Open-world is becoming the norm, because the fan wants to be free to explore and do what they want in a game,” says Ubisoft’s EMEA boss Alain Corre. “We are trying to organise the games so that fans can find a

lot of pleasure in different things, different actions and different game play.”

Yannis Mallat, Ubisoft Montreal CEO added: “We have been at the forefront of this shift, but we are not alone anymore. Five of the ten best-sellers last year were open world titles. We are seeing series like The Witcher and Metal Gear Solid go open world, it is because of the new power of the new consoles. Gamers are benefitting from what developers are able to do by another jump in CPU power.

“Open world will allow us to continue and adapt our games with the evolution of the platforms. We like to see ourselves as world builders, because it allows us to transcend the platform.”

OPEN SEASONParker, who vowed to never make another game.

What changed?“We were very pleased with The

Stick of Truth’s success,” Corre answers. “It was a challenge as we took the game from THQ and had to refurbish it, so it required a bit of work. But at the end of the day, fans were happy.

“From then, we saw it was a hot IP, and there’s a lot of things that we can do in the future. We needed to convince Matt and Trey to do another one, and it took a little while, but finally they were okay. We’re happy to have that kind of game in our portfolio because we want to propose diversity.”

‘Diversity’ is a word Ubisoft likes to use, and for good reason. Its line-up of games has historically looked after all types of players, from families (Just Dance) to kids (Rabbids) to the most hardcore of players (Assassin’s Creed).

Yet attracting broader users has proven challenging recently – particularly on consoles, which have struggled to coax casual players from their phones and tablets.

“We are looking at how the consoles are evolving in terms of the mass market,” admits Corre. “We have a lot of IP that have been successful with the casual market in the past that we are ready to bring back as soon as there are

enough people from this audience on the PS4 and Xbox One.”

BEYOND GAMES Ubisoft has found other avenues to explore with its IP. It is broadening out via toys, TV shows and – as of next year – its own movies like the upcoming Assassin’s Creed film.

Corre hopes that these can help introduce more people to the world of games, and is already seeing some success with the Rabbids.

“The Rabbids TV show has helped increase awareness and sustain the brand’s popularity,” says Corre.

“We have just launched a new comic in France, which is now No.1 in the charts. There are a lot of things happening with Rabbids, just not in games because we’re waiting for the mass market.”

2015 may not have been the most noteworthy of E3s for Ubisoft, but it was a reassuring one. This is a publisher that is known for risk taking – it constantly experiments with new IP and tech – and those risks don’t always pay off. We saw that last year, and after the backlash it suffered, Ubisoft would have been forgiven for being a bit more conservative this year.

But judging by its E3 line-up – plus the firm’s investment in VR – it’s clear that Ubisoft is still unafraid to take a chance.

And that’s a good thing.

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 2015

ALAIN CORRE, UBISOFT INTERVIEW

05

DATA ANALYSIS

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com06

Source

Games and Charts compiled by GfK Chart-Track

The Dark Knight is again top of the charts as Warner’s winning streak continues

FOR the second week running, WARNER BROS’ Batman: Arkham Knight is top of the charts. It maintains this top spot in spite of a 74 per cent dip in sales. This is the publisher’s third No.1 in a row following LEGO Jurassic World’s time in the top spot two weeks ago. That title holds second place after an 11 per cent sales dip, with the Xbox 360 SKU continuing to be the most popular version. And sales were aided this week by the launch of the Wii U version. Meanwhile, both the Xbox and PlayStation Editions of Minecraft re-enter the Top Ten due to excitement built around

London-based Minecon. The Xbox SKU is back in seventh place, while the PlayStation Edition sits at No.10. Meanwhile in the Steam Top 10, Early Access darling Ark: Survival Evolved is No.1 for the fi fth week running. And four months before launch, pre-orders for BETHESDA’s upcoming Fallout 4 made it the ninth best-selling item on Valve’s store. In the Xbox Live charts, Goat Simulator continues to sit at No.1 ahead of long-time top spot holder Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. This is the fi fth week out of six that Goat Simulator has been No.1.

TW LW Title Format Publisher 02 02 LEGO Jurassic World PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros03 03 The Elder Scrolls Online PS4, XO, PC Bethesda04 05 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt PS4, XO, PC Bandai Namco/CD Projekt RED05 06 Grand Theft Auto V PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Rockstar06 04 Yoshi’s Woolly World Wii U Nintendo 07 11 Minecraft: Xbox Edition XO, 360 Microsoft08 08 FIFA 15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS, Vita, PC EA09 07 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard10 12 Minecraft: PlayStation Edition PS4, PS3, Vita Sony11 09 Destiny PS4, XO, PS3, 360 Activision Blizzard12 16 Dying Light PS4, XO, PC Warner Bros 13 14 Payday 2: Crimewave Edition PS4, XO 505 Games14 15 Farming Simulator 15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Koch Media15 19 Splatoon Wii U Nintendo 16 17 Halo: The Master Chief Collection XO Microsoft17 22 Far Cry 4 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Ubisoft18 13 MotoGP 15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC PQube19 25 Terraria PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC 505 Games/Merge20 21 Mortal Kombat X PS4, XO, PC Warner Bros21 20 Project CARS PS4, XO, PC Bandai Namco/Slightly Mad 22 27 WWE 2K15 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC 2K Games23 23 Wolfenstein: The Old Blood PS4, XO, PC Bethesda24 26 LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros25 32 Watch Dogs PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Ubisoft26 31 Disney Infi nity 2.0 PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii Disney27 29 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS, Vita, PC Warner Bros28 24 Battlefi eld Hardline PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC EA29 34 The Sims 4 PC EA30 33 Super Smash Bros Wii U, 3DS Nintendo31 18 J-Stars Victory VS+ PS4, PS3, Vita Bandai Namco32 38 Batman: Arkham Origins Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Warner Bros33 36 Mario Kart 8 Wii U Nintendo34 30 Assassin’s Creed: Unity PS4, XO, PC Ubisoft35 37 Skylanders Trap Team PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, Wii Activision Blizzard36 RE The Amazing Spider-Man 2 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard37 RE Pokémon White 2 DS Nintendo38 35 Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Konami39 RE Call of Duty: Ghosts PS4, XO, Wii U, PS3, 360, PC Activision Blizzard40 39 Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Warner Bros

TOP 40 UK RETAIL01 BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT WARNER BROS

FORMATS: PS4/XO/PC DEVELOPER: ROCKSTEADY

Week ending July 4thWeek ending July 4th

DATA & RESEARCH

TW LW TITLE PUBLISHER 02 02 Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar 03 03 Counter-Strike: Global Off ensive Valve 04 04 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt CD Projekt RED05 RE Terraria 505 Games 06 RE The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited Bethesda 07 07 Elite: Dangerous Frontier Developments 08 RE Rust Facepunch 09 NEW Fallout 4 (P) Bethesda 10 RE Styx: Master of Shadows Focus Home Interactive

01 ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVEDPUBLISHER: STUDIO WILDCARD DEVELOPER: STUDIO WILDCARD

TOP 10 STEAM (GLOBAL)

PRESENTS5 SECOND FACTS

PS4 Bluetooth Communicator - PDP Design and manufacture the PS4

Bluetooth/USB Communicator

europesales@pdp.comwww.pdp.com

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

$7.45mYouTube superstar

PewDiePie has doubled his earnings in 12 months – he is now reported to make $7.45m a year, up

from 2014’s $4m

220Australia has banned 220

games since March, the majority of which were

mobile titles

10,000London Minecraft event

Minecon attracted 10,000 visitors and has won a

Guinness World Record for the Largest Convention for

a Single Game

8mThe Dark Souls series has surpassed the eight million global sales mark. 3.25m

units have been for PC

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 201507

DATA ANALYSISSource

TW LW Title Format Publisher 02 03 Batman: Arkham Knight XO Warner Bros 03 02 LEGO Jurassic World 360 Warner Bros04 04 The Elder Scrolls Online XO Bethesda05 05 The Elder Scrolls Online PS4 Bethesda06 07 LEGO Jurassic World Wii U Warner Bros07 06 Yoshi’s Woolly World Wii U Nintendo08 08 LEGO Jurassic World PS4 Warner Bros09 09 LEGO Jurassic World XO Warner Bros10 10 LEGO Jurassic World PS3 Warner Bros11 12 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt XO Bandai Namco/CD Projekt RED12 11 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt PS4 Bandai Namco/CD Projekt RED 13 16 Minecraft: Xbox Edition 360 Microsoft14 14 Grand Theft Auto V PS4 Rockstar15 13 Splatoon Wii U Nintendo16 17 Halo: The Master Chief Collection XO Microsoft17 18 Grand Theft Auto V XO Rockstar18 15 Minecraft: PlayStation Edition PS3 Sony19 20 LEGO Jurassic World 3DS Warner Bros20 19 Dying Light PS4 Warner Bros

TOP 20 INDIVIDUAL FORMAT

01 BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT WARNER BROS

FORMAT: PS4 DEVELOPER: ROCKSTEADY

TW TITLE PUBLISHER 02 Storage Hunters UK: The Game UKTV Media 03 Football Chairman Pro Underground Creative 04 Dr Panda and Toto’s Treehouse Dr Panda 05 Bloons TD 5 Ninja Kiwi 06 Football Manager Handheld 2015 Sega 07 You Must Build A Boat EightyEight Games 08 Lifeline 3 Minute Games 09 Scribblenauts Remix Warner Bros 10 Geometry Wars Activision

TOP 10 GLOBAL GOOGLE PLAY

TW TITLE DEVELOPER 02 The Elder Srolls Online Bethesda 03 LEGO Jurassic World Warner Bros 04 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Bandai Namco/CD Projekt RED 05 Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar 06 Dying Light Warner Bros 07 Payday 2: Crimewave Edition 505 Games 08 Minecraft: PlayStation Edition Sony 09 Destiny Activision Blizzard 10 Mortal Kombat X Warner Bros

TOP 10 PLAYSTATION 4

01

01

01

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHTPUBLISHER: WARNER BROS DEVELOPER: ROCKSTEADY

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHTPUBLISHER: WARNER BROS DEVELOPER: ROCKSTEADY

MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION DEVELOPER: MOJANG

TW TITLE DEVELOPER 02 The Elder Srolls Online Bethesda 03 LEGO Jurassic World Warner Bros 04 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Bandai Namco/CD Projekt RED 05 Halo: The Master Chief Collection Microsoft 06 Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar 07 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Activision Blizzard 08 Destiny Activision Blizzard 09 Payday 2: Crimewave Edition 505 Games 10 Minecraft: Xbox Edition Microsoft

TOP 10 XBOX ONE

Week ending July 4th

Week ending July 4th

Correct as of July 6thWeek ending July 4th

TW LW TITLE PUBLISHER 02 02 Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Microsoft03 RE Chivalry: Medieval Warfare Activision04 RE Peggle EA05 03 CastleMiner Z DigitalDNA06 05 ApocZ Sick Kreations07 06 Avatar Warfare DigitalDNA08 RE Trials HD Ubisoft09 RE Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Sega10 07 Terraria: Xbox 360 Edition 505 Games

TOP 10 XBOX LIVE (UK)01 GOAT SIMULATOR MICROSOFT

DEVELOPER: COFFEE STAIN STUDIO

Week ending July 4th

INSIGHT

ESports events blur the lines of live entertainment by blending the excitement of a concert

with the intense competition and unpredictability of a sports tournament, and broadcasting the resulting mix to a global audience.

But the magic of a great eSports event doesn’t come together without a huge amount of planning and organisation. Here are six things that an organiser should consider when planning an event.

OBTAINING A LICENCEUnlike Valve, Riot and Blizzard, who own titles that have established fanbases and lend themselves to competitive gaming, most eSports events organisers won’t own the rights to the games featured. An organiser needs to obtain a licence from the rights owner. Obtaining a licence is key as it provides organisers with the rights it needs to include the game in its

the venue before, during and after the event – who is responsible for health and safety, the availability of lighting, water, heating and Wi-Fi, procurement and use of any equipment, obtaining necessary licences and each party’s respective insurance obligations.

SPONSORSTo raise finance for, and awareness of, events, organisers may wish to consider obtaining sponsors. The amount of finance that organisers raise through sponsorship depends on the commercial value of the rights they are prepared to offer sponsors. Bigger eSports events like the League of Legends World Championship or the Dota 2 International attract internationally-recognised brands, while smaller events need to consider looking to peripheral firms and games brands.

A great eSports event doesn’t come together without a huge amount of planning and organisation.

Nic Murfett and Derry Coughlan,

Harbottle & Lewis

How to stage an eSports event

NIC MURFETT and DERRY COUGHLAN of law fi rm Harbottle & Lewis reveal the six big things to consider when hosting a live eSports tournament

TICKETSOrganisers need to determine how many tickets are going to be made available, whether to sell them at a fixed price or different prices depending on the seat, and the ticket price(s). It will be important to ensure tickets are not sold at price points that will dissuade a significant proportion of the target market, and are not sold undervalue.

AGE RESTRICTIONSSome games best-suited to eSports may be age restricted. If organisers intend to have competitors playing an age-restricted game at its event, they need to consider the implications of allowing underage competitors and viewers to attend. Doing so may, arguably, not be a criminal offence, but it would be a breach of the Code of Conduct of PEGI administrator Video Standards Council (VSC). Organisers have no legal obligation to sign up to the VSC’s Code of Conduct, but allowing a breach could have long-term implications for the maturation of eSports and how it is perceived.

BROADCASTINGTo maximise exposure, and thereby commercial value of sponsorship rights, organisers need to consider how events are broadcast. Until the UK’s existing TV realise eSports are credible, or a new broadcaster emerges, the most effective means of broadcasting will be via streaming networks such as Twitch.

INSIGHT

Showing underage viewers age restricted games could damage the maturation of eSports

event, advertise its inclusion and broadcast the proceedings.

VENUE Organisers need to procure a suitable venue by entering into a venue use agreement with the owner. Such agreements should clearly define each party’s responsibilities with respect to

In its native Korea, NCSoft is one of the top three games publishers alongside rivals,

Nexon and SmileGate. The firm has long had a

presence in the West, and has been behind MMO titles such as Guild Wars and WildStar.

But now the company is looking to accelerate its growth in the West by expanding the products it’ll have on offer. The firm is making a considerable investment in mobile and tablet gaming with two game developers: the Canadian ThisGameStudio and a new currently-unnamed outfit in San Mateo, California.

“Mobile is a natural evolution of what we are doing as a company,” NCSoft West SVP of publishing and business services John Burns says.

“If we’re are going to look to grow and be more successful in the West, then mobile is a space we need to be active in. One of the core components is the desire to bring premium, high-quality games to mobile.”

NCSoft is also working on bringing one of its Korean MMO properties, Blade and Soul, to the West. But there have been a few high profile failures in the MMO market. Even the genre’s poster child World of Warcraft has lost large numbers of subscribers. So how does Burns view the health of MMO gaming?

“You have to look at it through the lens of the PC market, and that’s growing,” Burns says. “It’s a very engaging platform. And we see it as a continued part of our portfolio. It depends on the products you focus on, but really

across the platform and across the product portfolio, there are successes out there and a lot of opportunities in that market.”

Blade and Soul is being released as a free-to-play product. It’s not NCSoft’s first free-to-play title. In fact, WildStar went from subscription fees to free earlier this year. Some media state this was due to disappointing sales of WildStar, but Burns refutes this.

“WildStar has done very well. We’re very happy with its performance,” he says. “In January, we started to talk about what WildStar’s next step would be. We listen to our player base and make changes and requests based on what they are asking us for. One of the top requests we had was to change the business model. The transition to free-to-play is a reply to that.

“If you look at the film industry, as a movie transitions through its lifecycle, it ends up on cable or on download and that’s just seen as a natural expansion to a larger audience. That’s what the games

industry is doing with a lot of different initiatives. Even in mobile, where it used to be paid, and now is mostly free-to-play. That’s what we’re seeing with WildStar.”

LOST IN TRANSLATION Burns says that Blade and Soul will be one of many brands that will make the leap from Korea to the West – but doing so is not without its own set of challenges.

“Part of our strategy will be bringing more IP from Korea to the West,” Burns says. “Lineage Eternal – one of our biggest IP – will also launch in the West. There’ll be more of that.

“When bringing games to the West, you’ve got the translation challenges, but then you also have to make the content local. You need to make some changes that means you stay true to the core parts of the game and what makes the game fun, but give Western audiences a bit more of what they may like. Then you have the whole positioning and marketing effort. But frankly what you need is a great game. If you have that, then those other elements become easier to deal with.”

What’s more, NCSoft is hoping to bring Korean hits from rival publishers to the West.

“As part of our acceleration that expanding our product flow is going to be important,” Burn explains. “We have ThisGameStudio, and you can expect that we’ll have more of that. We are also going to look to partner, invest and help bring other developers globally and launch their products in the West.”

Journey to the West

NCSoft is one of Korea’s biggest gaming companies, and now the firm is investing huge sums into its Western outfit, too. Alex Calvin finds out more from NCSoft West’s

SVP of publishing and business services, John Burns

If we are going to look to grow and be more successful in the West, then mobile is a space we need to be active in.

John Burns, NCSoft West

NCSoft announced that its sci-fi MMO WildStar was transitioning from subscription to free-to-play

JOHN BURNS, NCSOFT INTERVIEW

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 201509

Slitherine could very well be the biggest publisher you’ve never heard of.

Formed 15 years ago, the Epsom-based firm has long been the flagbearer for war gaming titles in the UK – so much so that it doesn’t even fully consider the complex strategy titles in its catalogue video games, instead aligning them with their tabletop counterparts like Warhammer.

“Our world is not the video games world, per se,” Slitherine Group director JD McNeil explains defiantly. “We operate in a different sector. What we used to say is that we’re not in the video games industry, but in the war games industry.”

Development director Iain McNeil agrees: “We know that our market’s different. It doesn’t obey the same rules as the mainstream industry. Some of the things just don’t apply to our sector.”

Purposefully placing itself outside of the games industry has helped Slitherine to attract an audience that differs from the traditional 16 to 32 age demographic enjoyed by traditional games. But JD retorts that war gaming’s reputation as a genre for older players is an outdated view.

“One of the concepts that is often put to us is that we’re dealing with an ageing audience and that the business will decline because our fan base is getting older,” he recalls. “That’s a perception, and the data proves it quite wrong; we’ve grown fivefold over the last five years. The audience isn’t dying – it’s evolving.”

In fact, Slitherine estimates the entire strategy genre – everything from niche hardcore titles such as

Pike & Shot to more mainstream efforts such as XCOM and Civilization – to now be worth $1.25 billion (£0.8bn) – a figure that trumps the $194 million (£124m) value of the eSports sector outlined by market tracker Newzoo for 2014.

Slitherine’s own contribution to this figure has been driven by its steadfast confidence in its pricing strategy. While price tags of £50 and above may be off-putting for casual gamers browsing for a new title to try out, war game devotees are more than happy to shell out.

“Our market tends to be short of time – rather than money – and not so price-sensitive,” explains Iain. “If they see something that

they really like, then they will buy it – the price is not really the issue.”

BEYOND THE WALLSlitherine’s purity in its war gaming vision has endeared it to its existing fan following. But it has also alienated it somewhat from the mainstream audiences enjoyed by more accessible strategy titles such as Civilization and XCOM.

It’s this group that the publisher is now zeroing in on.

“There’s no question that we need to try and appeal to the players watching on Twitch and so on,” admits Iain. “We’re a long way from being direct competitors with games like XCOM, but that’s the goal. Civilization, XCOM: those are the games that we want to be competing with, and that’s the direction that we’re headed towards.”

One publisher from which Slitherine might take heed is close rival Paradox Interactive, which has found mainstream success with its complex strategy series Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis.

Winning strategyStrategy games are thriving on PC again, with the likes of XCOM, Civilization and Total War flourishing. But what

about the niche titles at the edge of the spotlight? Slitherine director JD McNeil, development director Iain McNeil and marketing director Marco Minoli tell Matthew Jarvis about fighting a perception war on two fronts

Civilization, XCOM: those are the games that we want to be competing with.

Iain McNeil, Slitherine

ALTHOUGH digital sales comprise the majority of Slitherine’s sales, boxed products contribute around a third of the publisher’s figures.

In fact, the popularity of its physical software is such that Slitherine is flying in the face of the industry’s transition from boxed to digital.

“We allow customers to pay an extra $5 or $10 to upgrade to a boxed copy if they already own the download,” details marketing director Marco Minoli.

The boxes that are sold are printed on demand, a strategy that has big benefits, as Slitherine Group director JD McNeil explains:

“In the days of retail, the minimum order you’d go for would be 5,000 units. Then you’d have to store them. We don’t have any stock issues at all, because there is no stock – except the manuals.”

BACK TO THE BOX

It’s not all WW2 and Vietnam – titles like Star Hammer take war gaming beyond Earth

12July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com

INTERVIEW SLITHERINE

Gamers’ growing obsession with how good games look has been a challenge for war gaming developers

“Civilization, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings show you the potential for complex strategy games,” acknowledges Slitherine marketing director Marco Minoli.

EASY ON THE EYESOne of the biggest barriers facing Slitherine and the 200-odd developers it represents is gaming’s growing superficiality.

Take a look at a Slitherine title and you’re likely to be struck by how antiquated it appears. It comes down to a question of focus and resource – for games to look as good as they play would obviously be a plus, but realism in gameplay mechanics trumps visual flair for war game creators.

“Every game would benefit from better graphics, absolutely,” Iain concedes. “The difference between our best- and worst-selling games has been magnified over the last three to five years. The titles that get things right – the level of complexity, the look and so on – their sales are going up significantly, whereas those that don’t keep up-to-date with modern expectations have seen a decline.”

One close competitor to have played into the hearts of PC fans is Creative Assembly’s Total War series. Criticised among the war gaming crowd for its preference for allure over accuracy, the series has nonetheless become a hit, partially on the back of its ability to render historical battles with visually-impressive fidelity.

Iain counters by arguing that, for the compact teams creating the majority of war games, resources can only stretch so far.

“The teams are generally quite small – they can’t jump from where they are to competing directly with XCOM,” he explains. “We know we can do better, but we don’t want

to push too far and have it all collapse around our ears.”

THE NEXT MOVEIs Slitherine planning to sand the rough edges of its intricate, but impenetrable, war games down to a mainstream-friendly sheen?

“Simplifying?” responds JD. “No. Absolutely not.”

Herein lies the rub; flirting with the mainstream means risking the very thing that has driven five years of growth – an intimate relationship with its market, games or otherwise.

This doesn’t mean that the company is static, content with the dedicated fans it has. On the contrary: it’s ready to embrace a brand new set of gamers.

“We can move and change direction and create new ideas as they enter our heads,” enthuses JD. “We’re never afraid of taking a risk.

“We fully realise that the war gaming cult could be better. At this moment in time, it doesn’t get recognised because it’s not really that attractive. It’s our job to make it more attractive – it’s a whole new world out there.”

SOME may consider the war gaming sector as a genre historically rooted to the PC. But for Slitherine, at least, mobile has been a huge driver behind strategy’s prosperity, so much so that it had actually trumped the PC – for a time.

“When we released Battle Academy it was our first, big flagship strategy game on iPad,” recalls development director Iain McNeil. “That sold far better on iPad than it did on PC: about five to one. It was hugely successful. Based on this, we started putting more games into production for iPad and encouraged developers to do iPad versions of things that were relatively complex strategy games.

“Over the last two or three years, the iPad market has changed significantly. When we came to the market there was very little competition – there were a lot of apps, but very few premium apps. When Battle

Academy came out it was one of, if not the, most expensive, games in the store. A $20 app was very unusual at that time. But since then, the iPad sales have not increased in the way that PC sales have – if anything, they’ve plateaued and are declining. That’s mainly due to the level of competition; there’s far more choice now on iOS and iPad is no longer the place to be for strategy games.

“We’ve sort of done a U-turn – whereas before we were encouraging developers to be on iPad, we’re now saying because we’re seeing such a high percentage of our revenue from PC, PC comes first. Make sure it’s the best PC game it can be – don’t make any compromises for iPad.

“The problem is that things are changing so fast; in two to three years’ time, it may be that we’re telling everyone that SteamOS is the way to go. It’s really hard to predict.”

POCKET COMMANDER

Slitherine’s Iain (top) and JD McNeil (above) see war gaming’s perception as a barrier to attracting mainstream gamers

The war gaming cult doesn’t get recognised because it’s not really that attractive.

JD McNeil, Slitherine

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 2015

SLITHERINE INTERVEW

13

This year’s F1 has a great deal going for it.

After F1 2014 disappointed fans by not coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, this year’s entry is debuting on those newer platforms. The title boasts a brand new game engine that aims to make the most of the new hardware.

Not only that, it is launching in July, far earlier in the F1 season – which runs from March through to November. Previous entries came out in September and October.

So developer Codemasters has every right to be rather optimistic about F1 2015.

“Pre-orders are strong and we think that this will be our biggest F1 title for some time,” Codemasters VP of publishing Jonathan Bunney.

“It’s the first outing on the new consoles, we’ve built a brand new game engine from the ground up and our relationship with Formula One is better than ever. While we can show the incredible graphical fidelity of the game through videos and screenshots, it’s the racing experience that really shines – allowing players to race like a champion whether they’re a novice, a core racing gamer, or even a professional driver. Over the last few weeks we’ve had a number of the leading F1 drivers take the wheel and the reactions have been universally positive.”

DIPPING SALES As Bunney says, this year’s F1

title is coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for the first time – and it has left behind the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Sony and Microsoft’s older machines are owned by roughly 15 million gamers in the UK, while around 3.7 million UK consumers have picked up the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. As a racing franchise, F1 has a broad appeal. So does Codemasters expect to miss out on sales by focusing on the latest consoles?

“The market seems very buoyant and based on pre-orders and the response of our community, it appears that we’ll comfortably outsell F1 2014,” Bunney says. “The game is a huge step-up, there’s excitement around the new platforms and launching in July gives us many more Grand Prix to promote the game in the run up to Christmas – and we know from all our data that every Grand Prix results in a sales spike.”

Yet surely, we asked, developing for both generations of console would have been more lucrative?

“It’s simply a question of focus and prioritisation,” Bunney answers.

“We wanted to have our entire F1 development team working on the current-gen platforms and not have to compromise to meet the lesser hardware capabilities of the legacy platforms.”

FALSE START In May, F1 received a delay from its proposed release date – albeit a slight one. The racing title was initially set to hit stores in early June, but was pushed until its current mid-July date. Bunney insists that the small changes the team was able to make were worth the wait for the hardcore F1 fans.

“As anyone who follows Formula One knows, there are always a number of pre- and early-season changes that impact the sport – from car performances and liveries, through to entire teams appearing,” Bunney says.

“When we were due to launch in June there was no way we could accommodate the Manor team and the new Maclaren livery in time – but now both of these will be available via a day one patch plus numerous other improvements to the gameplay itself. An extra month at the end of a project feels like an extra three months at the start.”

One for the road

After a short delay, F1 2015 has finally made its last development lap and is racing into stores this week. Alex Calvin catches up with Codemasters VP of publishing Jonathan Bunney to

find out more about this year’s game

Codemasters is not making F1 2015 for the PS3 and 360

Based on pre-orders and the community’s response, it appears we’ll comfortably outsell F1 2014.

Jonathan Bunney, Codemasters

14July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com

INTERVIEW JONATHAN BUNNEY, CODEMASTERS

The team used F1 2015’s one month delay to add in a new team and Maclaren’s livery

IN April, Codemasters launched the latest entry in its Dirt series – Rally (pictured) – into Steam’s Early Access scheme.

“It’s been an amazing experience but it was definitely a little scary at first,” says Codemasters’ VP of publishing Jonathan Bunney.

“We only announced the game five minutes before we put it on sale, and we actively asked players for feedback and so that we could make it the best it

could be. But the response has been phenomenal and we feel as if we’re on a journey of discovery with our community, making the game better every day.

“By the end of the year we plan to have delivered seven content and feature packs, including iconic rally locations, a new motorsport in the form of Rallycross and synchronous multiplayer – all for free. The final package will be something pretty special.”

TEST DRIVERight now the racing sector is booming. Project CARS (published by Bandai Namco just as F1 2015 will be) came out and sold 1m copies globally in its first three weeks. There seems to be renewed health in the genre.

“We see racing as a growth sector,” Bunney says.

“The processing power of the new consoles has allowed us to much more accurately model the cars both visually and in terms of how they drive – which makes the experience better for everyone. We firmly believe that racing will be one of the best genres for VR and it offers tremendous opportunity for the future as we can finally completely immerse players into the race. And the success of film franchises such as The Fast and Furious show that there’s a huge global interest in car culture.

“People will always dream about driving fast cars.”

Huge film franchises like The Fast and the Furious show there’s a massive global interest in car culture.

Jonathan Bunney, Codemasters

BANDAI Namco is handling marketing and distribution for F1, and has been using the hype around the F1 season to help excite racing fans.

F1 and Codemasters’ social media channels have been talking about the game with support from the likes of Sky Sports personality and in-game commentator David Croft.

Bandai Namco also has digital ads and video pre-rolls across Sky Sports website and its F1 portal. The publisher is also looking to use the Sky Sports app to push the title.

It is aiming to reach its gaming audience via pre-roll footage on PS4 and Xbox One dashboards, in addition to pre-rolls on IGN and YouTube.

MARKETING RACE

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 2015

CODEMASTERS, JONATHAN BUNNEY INTERVIEW

15

Traditionally summer is a little lighter for major titles, but people don’t stop playing games, and we shouldn’t stop releasing them.

Karla Pett, Bandai Namco

When it comes to Japanese pop icons, nothing comes bigger

than Godzilla.First landing on cinema

screens in 1954, the gigantic creature has been through a number of cinematic reincarnations – most recently in last year’s American reboot of the franchise, which garnered positive reviews and record-breaking revenue. It achieved the best opening weekend debut of all time for a ‘creature feature’.

But Godzilla’s video gaming history is as storied, beginning in the early 1980s on the Commodore 64 and continuing right through to the present day.

For the last eight years, however, Godzilla’s colossal presence has been confined to the relatively miniscule screens of mobile and browser games, with 2007’s Godzilla: Unleashed serving as his last

full-size console outing on PS2 and Wii.

That changes this year, as Bandai Namco brings the iconic kaiju back to PS3 and PS4.

HAVING A SMASHING TIMEThe new title is Godzilla by name, Godzilla by nature.

“Godzilla is an action game and the idea is to smash and smash some more – causing ultimate destruction,” enthuses Karla Pett, product manager at Bandai Namco.

“There are lots of different modes, such as Destruction mode, in which the player controls Godzilla as he busts through certain stages, and King of the Monsters mode, where you play six different stages as six different monsters.”

That’s right – Godzilla isn’t the only big beast gamers will be able to control. He’ll be joined

A monster releaseFresh from wreaking havoc on cinema screens, Godzilla is stomping back onto consoles after almost a decade of mobile and browser releases. Matthew Jarvis teams up with

Bandai Namco product manager Karla Pett to track down the legendary creature

GODZILLA

Release Date: July 17th Formats: PS4, PS3 Publisher: Bandai Namco Developer: Natsume Atari

by iconic creatures from throughout Japan’s cinematic history, with players’ destruction attracting rival monsters for Godzilla to do battle with, such as fellow Japanese cinematic icon Mothra.

“In total there are 30 stages, lots of famous monsters like Mothra and King Ghidorah, and you can power up Godzilla, which makes him grow taller,” explains Pett. “The game also has lots of great functionality on the PS4 where you can control Godzilla’s destructive beam with the touch pad or share your rampages online.”

In many ways, the game harkens back to popular 1990s mass-destruction and monster-brawler titles such as Rampage. These types of game,

THE BIG GAME GODZILLA

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com16

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 2015

GODZILLA THE BIG GAME

17

where players are able to cause widespread chaos in a destructible environment, have become a rarity in recent years, meaning that there’s likely to be plenty of gamers waiting for their chance to let loose.

“I think it’s the gameplay style that’s the most true to what Godzilla is,” says Pett. “The Godzilla universe has some of the best, most iconic monsters going – if you had to smash up cities, surely you’d want to do it as Godzilla? And what could be better for letting off steam then smashing game cities to pieces?

“Personally, having done my London commute this morning, I think there’s a space for Godzilla in lots of people’s lives.”

MOVIE MONSTERGodzilla is currently in the midst of a reinvention.

As well as the upcoming game, there are already two sequels to last year’s movie in the works. Like 2014’s entry, both new releases are slated to be directed by Gareth Edwards, once he has finished with Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One.

But while interest in Godzilla’s return to the silver screen is sure to drive fans in-store looking for their chance to take control of the super-sized star, Pett sees the title as relating more to the entirety of Godzilla’s 50-year legacy.

“Our game doesn’t really have anything to do with the movie, and we’re not too worried about what came out recently, it’s more of a homage to the classic Godzilla,” she responds. “I think this game is more about celebrating Godzilla through the ages than tying itself to something recent.”

One way in which Bandai Namco is celebrating the whole of Godzilla’s history is via the appearance of his alter-egos from throughout the years, including both his classic 1950s and 2014 appearances, as well as his technology-infused counterpart Mechagodzilla.

“Godzilla is faithful to the original licence not the recent movie, so we wouldn’t class it as a movie tie-in,” continues Pett. “Although, there are some fun nods to Hollywood in there.”

SUMMER SCHEDULEThe focus on the whole Godzilla franchise means that the gap between last year’s film and this year’s game isn’t a concern for Bandai Namco.

“The movie last year can only help to bring Godzilla back to the front of people’s minds,” says Pett. “But, as the two aren’t connected in any way, we’re not concerned about launching the game at the time we are.”

She concludes that bringing the game to market during the relatively quiet summer release period could entice players awaiting the late-year rush of titles. After all, who wouldn’t like to fill the time by stomping their way through virtual cityscapes?

“Traditionally, summer is a little lighter for major titles than Q4 and Q1, but people don’t stop playing games, and so we shouldn’t stop making or releasing them,” Pett observes.

“Personally, I think it’s nice to have a little breathing room when you release a title; it gives people the chance to discover something they might normally miss out on.”

This game is more about celebrating Godzilla through the ages than tying itself to something recent.

Karla Pett, Bandai Namco

Godzilla isn’t just based on last year’s film – the game encompasses the monster’s entire cinematic legacy

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.comJ18

THE BIG GAME GODZILLA

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July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com22

MARKET MOVES

EA | There has been another high profile departure from Nintendo.

Industry veteran RICHARD STICKLER has left the platform holder and joined EA as senior commercial manager digital for EMEA retail.

Stickler comes on board with a wealth of experience in sales, having held senior roles in the sector at Nintendo UK, THQ, and distributor Exertis.

This follows the departure of UK marketing and PR boss SHELLY PEARCE and Mario brand manager ROGER LANGFORD in the last month.

“This is an exciting time for retailers that look to embrace and develop their online and

in-store experience around digital,” Stickler told MCV.

“As revenues and opportunity within digital continues to grow, players will also continue to expect and demand more - I am thrilled to join EA in this new role and look forward to working with retail partners across Europe to jointly develop and drive industry leading digital programmes that meet those demands.”

UKIE | The UK games trade body has hired a new community and

communications officer. SOPHIE DENSHAM arrives

following the departure of RICHIE ENTICKNAP who left to

join indie publisher Curve Digital in May.

Densham comes on board following a ten-month stint at charity SpecialEffect, where she worked in its events and fundraising department.

“I am thrilled to join the UKIE team,” Densham said. “It’s a really exciting time to start working in the UK games industry and I can’t wait to get stuck in to this new role – hopefully I will fill Richie’s shoes with the legacy he deserves. I look forward to working with the wonderful team over here and meeting many of our members in the coming months.”

UKIE boss DR JO TWIST added: “We’re delighted to welcome Sophie to the UKIE

team. I have worked with Sophie on a few events through her previous work with SpecialEffect and I am really pleased that she will be joining us full time.”

WARNER BROS | 2K PR manager MATT ROCHE has left the BioShock publisher.

He has joined Warner Bros as international PR manager having spent six years at 2K Games. He joined in 2009 as international PR executive before being promoted to UK PR executive in 2011, then UK PR manager in 2014.

He has also held marketing roles at BAFTA, Agency:2 and Hewlett Packard.

Nintendo’s Richard Stickler joins EA Stickler takes on digital retail role New comms offi cer at UKIE Roche leaves 2K for Warner

APPOINTMENTS

DOVETAIL GAMES | The Medway-based developer behind simulation titles like RailSimulator has been named Technology Business of the Year in the Kent Excellence in Business Awards 2015.

It follows its award for Business of the Year in the 2014 Medway Business Awards.

WARNER BROS MONTREAL | The developer behind 2013’s Batman: Arkham Origins is working on a new IP for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

That’s according to jobs listings that show the firm is seeking 15 new roles, including animators, QA leads and level designers.

RIOT | The League of Legends giant has invested in games media firm Curse. “Riot really believes in what we’re doing and where we’re

going,” Curse CEO Hubert Thieblot said. “This investment boosts our efforts to continue creating what I believe to be the best communication tool in gaming – Curse Voice.”

SONY | The tech giant has launched a crowdfunding platform called First Flight.

Only Sony employees can pitch their ideas for funds, and only Japanese consumers can put money forward for now.

MAG INTERACTIVE | The Swedish company has acquired Brighton-based developer Delinquent.

Delinquent was formed by former PopCap senior game designer David Bishop, Relentless co-founder David Amor and investor Chris Lee. It is home to 12 staff and brings Mag’s employee count up to 50 across Sweden and the UK.

AROUND THE INDUSTRY

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 201523

EDITORIAL CONTACTS

EDITORIAL CONTACTS

Production Executive: Elizabeth Parkereparker@nbmedia.com

Head of Operations: Stuart Moody smoody@nbmedia.com

Circulation: Lianne Daveyldavey@nbmedia.com

Finance Manager: Michael Canham mcanham@nbmedia.com

Head of Design and Production:Kelly Sambridgeksambridge@nbmedia.com

US CorrespondentErik Johnsonejohnson@nbmedia.com

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Editorial: 01992 515303 | Advertising: 01992 535647 | Fax: 01992 535648

Ben Parfi tt Associate Editorbparfi tt@nbmedia.com

Matt Jarvis Staff Writermjarvis@nbmedia.com

Michael FrenchPublishermfrench@nbmedia.com

Sam Richwood Designersrichwood@nbmedia.com

Laura WestBusiness Development Consultantlwest@nbmedia.com

Conor Tallon Account Managerctallon@nbmedia.com

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

Charlotte Knight GAME

Steve Moore Simply Games

Jon Hayes Tesco

Sarah Jasper The Hut

Phil Moore Grainger Games

Igor Cipolletta ShopTo

Dermot Stapleton Get Games

Niall Lawlor GameStop

Phil Browes HMV

Craig Watson Dixons Retail

Jennifer JohnsonShop Direct

Don McCabe CHIPS

Gurdeep Hunjan Sainsbury’s

Simon Urquhart Microsoft

Robert Lindsay Games Centre

Stephen Staley Gameseek

Robert Hennessy John Lewis

Paul Sulyok Green Man Gaming

James Cooke Argos

Christopher Dring Editorcdring@nbmedia.com

Alex Calvin Staff Writeracalvin@nbmedia.com

“Everybody’s a critic,” goes the old adage and, in the age of the customer

review, rarely has it been truer.Examine the Steam or Amazon

page for any title and you’ll find hundreds – if not thousands – of players offering their helpful insight into how the game can be improved.

“In reviews, it’s not hard to say what you think of a game, and it’s not hard to describe what a game is; the tricky part is saying why it’s good and why it’s bad,” observes developer Tom Francis.

Francis knows what he’s talking about; for nine years he was one of PC Gamer’s foremost writers, known for his rigorous approach to games criticism. This scrutiny, and his lifelong obsession with the way games are – and should be – made, manifested into his own creations.

“Once I started making games, I had the accumulated weight of all of the opinions that had built up over the years – ‘quicktime events are bullshit’, ‘I hate unskippable cutscenes’, ‘I hate losing progress’, – all these frustrations and gripes that I wanted to solve or do differently in a game of my own.”

PULLING THE TRIGGERThat game was 2013’s Gunpoint, a noir-inflected stealth title featuring electrical rewiring mechanics partly inspired by BioShock and Deus Ex.

It was a critical success, praised for the very gameplay elements Francis set out to revolutionise.

“I just felt very validated,” Francis recalls. “For years I had been working on this game thinking ‘this seems like a really cool idea and people should like it’. Then when it came out, people did like it – to a

vastly bigger extent than I could’ve possibly have dreamed.”

Gunpoint flourished, leading Francis to depart PC Gamer a mere 10 days after the title’s PC launch. He had made it – so what was next for the newly independent developer?

“There were a lot of people asking me to do Gunpoint 2,” he says. “Funnily enough, its success sort of encouraged me to not do sequels. If I was struggling, then I would probably want to cash in on Gunpoint as much as possible, porting it to every platform under the sun, making DLC and then making a sequel. I haven’t had to bleed it dry, thankfully.”

Instead, Francis began work on his next project – Heat Signature.

SPACE RACE In Heat Signature, players are set loose in an infinite galaxy, piloting an assault craft with the sole intention of breaking into larger ships and taking control.

As with Gunpoint, Heat Signature boasts a number of distinctive gameplay mechanics. But its sci-fi

environment also sees it compete with bigger fry, including expansive big-budget titles Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen.

“It’s a bit scary,” Francis admits of the competition. “There are loads of space games. I’ve seen a couple that overlap quite heavily with what Heat Signature is doing, but they do everything else in the universe, as well.

“That’s intimidating at first, but then I realised it’s not actually that worrying. Because they’re not as focused, it’s harder to know what they’re about. They all seem vaguely exciting, but there’s lots of them, so they’re interchangeable.”

HEATING UPIt’s been two years since Francis was able to transition to full-time game development. Now working on the other side of the fence, does he feel differently about his time as a critic?

“I did have a newfound appreciation for what things are difficult and what things are easy,” he says with certitude. “But I don’t think a developer gets extra credit for a game being hard to make; I don’t care if it took you 15 years – you’re still asking £30 for it, and if it’s shit, then I’m going to say it’s shit.”

Gunpoint proved Francis could walk the walk, and many would sympathise if he had cashed in on the game’s success. But it’s the desire to have his say on the industry that continues to push him.

“I have no reason to believe Heat Signature has less commercial potential than Gunpoint, but that just didn’t enter into my mind when I was coming up with ideas. It was purely just: I’m excited by this, so I’m going to make it.”

Critic to creatorFor more than a decade, journalist Tom Francis dissected games, pulling them apart

into their base components. Then he decided to try his hand at building the very things he had spent so long deconstructing. But could he walk the walk, too?

Matthew Jarvis finds out

I don’t care if your game took you 15 years to make – you’re still asking £30 for it, and if it’s shit, then I’m going to say it’s shit.

Tom Francis

Heat Signature sees players breaking into spaceships in order to take them over

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com24

INDIE INTERVIEW TOM FRANCIS

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com26

MARKETPLACE

How has business been recently? It’s been great. We had a slow start to the year, but business has really picked up in the last month. E3 generated a lot of buzz back into the industry. Everyone has remembered that they love games.

What’s been selling particularly well for you? The new releases have been great. The Witcher 3 and Batman: Arkham Knight sold really well, and The Elder Scrolls Online was huge for us.

How are your plans for expansion going? Great. We have been checking out a location in Torquay that used to be a GameStation store. Fingers crossed we’ll open up a GamesNation in GameStation. It will have a huge impact I think.

Do you have many events planned? We have two big events coming up. Later this month we have a Call of Duty championship, which

is going to be huge. We have 55 players down right now – we’re hoping to reach over 100 players. Then we have an event for the gaming charity SpecialEff ect. Joe [Marshall, GamesNation co-founder] and I are doing a 24-hour Call of Duty marathon on Twitch.

Pre-orders are in decline in the UK. What has your experience been of this? GAME killed them. I was a store

MCV speaks to Sammy Drysdale of Paignton-based GamesNation about the store’s plans for expansion, what events it has planned for the summer and the role that GAME has had in the UK pre-order decline

SHELF LIFE

TOP 10 PRE-ORDERS

PRE-ORDER CHARTS

1. FALLOUT 4Bethesda, PS4

2. Fallout 4 and Fallout 3Bethesda ..................................................................XO

3. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake CollectionSony .........................................................................PS4

4. Gears of War: Ultimate EditionMicrosoft ..................................................................XO

5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Day OneKonami ...................................................................PS4 6. Final Fantasy VII RemakeSquare Enix ..........................................................PS4 7. Rare Replay CollectionMicrosoft ..................................................................XO

8. Amiibo Pikmin and OlimarNintendo ............................................................. Wii U

9. Amiibo Bowser Jr Nintendo ............................................................. Wii U

10. FIFA 16EA .............................................................................PS4

PRICE CHECK: NORWICH

IN STOREO

NLIN

E

PROJECT CARSBandai Namco, PS4

MOTOGP 15PQube, Xbox One

THE CREWUbisoft, Xbox One

DRIVECLUBSony, PS4

£37 £35.94 £26.99 £19.95

£44.99 £39.99 £19.99 £22.99

£49.99 £49.99 £34.99 £19.99

£44.99 N/A £29.99 £27.50

£44 N/A N/A £46

UPLOADINGThe latest digital releases coming

to market

TRIALS FUSION: THE AWESOME MAX EDITION

Fans will be able to play as a cat riding a unicorn in this Trials Fusion DLC

RedBedlam’s genre-hopping shooter is set for launch next month

After launching in beta, the medical simulation title is offi cially out

BEDLAM BIG PHARMA

OUT: NOW OUT: AUGUST 13TH OUT: JULY 14TH

GAME single-handedly killed pre-orders in the UK by force-feeding them down people’s throats.

Sammy Drysdale, GamesNation

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 201527

MARKETPLACE

manager in GAME Torquay for six years and it has single-handedly killed pre-orders in the UK by force-feeding them down people’s throats. That’s where it went wrong. When I fi rst started in GAME, pre-orders were for consumers who were really keen for a release and wanted to get them in early. But over time, the targets rose – the staff had to get so-many pre-orders in a day. So every customer that goes into the

shop is asked to pre-order a game and over time people got sick of it.

What is your approach to pre-orders at GamesNation?We advertise we are doing them on social media and talk to customers about them in-store. And if someone comes in we’ll take their pre-order. We just have a more laid-back approach towards them. When it’s forced on people that’s when they’ll wait.

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

GamesNation32 Crossways Shopping CenterHyde RoadPaigntonTQ4 5BL

Phone: 01803 411730Website: www.onegamesnation.com/

INCOMING August sees a plethora of re-releases for the newer machines hitting stores – fi rst up is Rare Replay, followed by Dishonored and Gears of War remasters

TITLE FORMAT GENRE PUBLISHER TELEPHONE DISTRIBUTOR

July 10th

F1 2015 PS4/XO/PC Racing Bandai Namco 01215 069 590 Advantage

July 17th

Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess PS4/PS3/Vita Strategy Koei Tecmo 01462 476 130 Open

God of War III Remastered PS4 Action Sony 01216 253 388 CentreSoft

Godzilla PS4/PS3 Action Bandai Namco 01215 069 590 Advantage

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour PS4/XO Sports EA 01216 253 388 CentreSoft

July 24th

Fishing Expert PC Simulation Ravenscourt 01256 385 200 Koch Media

July 31st

Adams Venture Chronicles PS3 Adventure Soedesco 01902 861 527 Pavilion

I Am Bread PC Comedy Ravenscourt 01256 385 200 Koch Media

August 4th

Rare Replay XO Action Microsoft 01279 822 800 Exertis

August 28th

Devil’s Third Wii U Action Nintendo 01753 483700 Open

Dishonored: Defi nitive Edition PS4/XO Action Bethesda 01215 069 590 Advantage

Gear of Wars: Ultimate Edition XO, PC Shooter Microsoft 01279 822 800 Exertis

Until Dawn PS4 Horror Sony 01216 253 388 CentreSoft

September 1st

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain PS4/XO/PS3/360 Stealth Konami 02089 875 730 Open

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com28

MOVIES

Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed and The Last of Us are just a handful of the big-brand adaptions on the way.

NO longer are video games merely described as having ‘cinematic qualities’ – many of the industry’s biggest franchises have flourished in the medium of film.

The highest-grossing video game adaptation to date is 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, based on the Ubisoft IP. Sporting a star-studded cast, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley, helmed by Harry Potter director Mike Newell, and produced by

legendary movie exec Jerry Bruckheimer, the film made over $335 million at the Box Office.

With an average critic rating of 5/10, Prince of Persia is also the second-highest-rated game movie of all time on Metacritic, behind 1995’s Mortal Kombat, which has an average score of 6/10.

While game film adaptations have become notorious for their varying quality, mixed critical reception doesn’t deter fans from checking out their favourite

STREET FIGHTER: ASSASSIN’S FIST

Originally created as a hit YouTube web series, Assassin’s Fist follows the iconic battlers from Capcom’s fi ghting franchise, Ryu and Ken, as they unveil the secrets of their master Gouken and master the art of Ansatsuken. This release features all 12 episodes from the fi rst series of the show, and is available in the form of a limited edition steelbook, as well as DVD and normal Blu-ray.

SRP: £12.99 (DVD), £29.99 (Ltd Edn Blu-ray)Manufacturer: Assassin’s Fist Limited, Evropa Films, Gloucester Place Films, Lonely Rock ProductionsDistributor: Manga Entertainment/StarzContact: info@mangauk.com

The summer movie season is in full swing, meaning cinephilic gamers will be settling down with popcorn and the latest fl ick. Matthew Jarvis checks out the games that made it to the silver screen

HALO: NIGHTFALL

Produced by Ridley Scott, Nightfall introduces the pivotal character of Locke to the shooter’s universe in time for Halo 5 later this year.

SRP: £12.99 DVD, £29.99 Collector’s Blu-rayManufacturer: Anchor BayDistributor: Manga Entertainment/StarzContact: info@mangauk.com

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION

The fi fth entry in the biggest video game movie series of all time sees Alice battle against Umbrella and its undead hordes.

SRP: £19.99 (DVD), £29.99 (3D Blu-ray)Manufacturer: Constantin Film, Impact PicsDistributor: Sony Pictures Home Ent.Contact: 020 7533 1111

HITMAN STEEL PACK

Agent 47’s silver screen adaptation stars Timothy Olyphant as the bald assassin and Bond girl Olga Kurylenko as his companion.

SRP: £25.99 (Blu-ray)Manufacturer: 20th Century FoxDistributor: 20th Century Fox Home Ent.Contact: 020 7437 7766

MOVIES

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 201529

Sponsored by

gamingmerchandise uk

MOVIES

franchises on the big screen, with the sector

earning big bucks.Indeed, the next 12

months will see several game series take on the Box Office.

These include Hitman: Agent 47, the second Hitman film after 2007’s effort, set for release this August. On the family-friendly side of things, an Angry Birds movie is slated for early 2016, starring Games of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage and Frozen’s Josh Gad.

Moon and Source Code director Duncan Jones is lending his talent to a silver screen adaptation of Blizzard’s MMO World of Warcraft set for release next summer, potentially signalling an end to the critical struggle of game films.

Movies of Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed and The Last of Us are just a handful of the big-brand adaptions also on the way, meaning that now is the perfect time to remind players of games’ cinematic success.

ANGRY BIRDS TOONS: SEASON 1 - VOLUMES 1 AND 2

This bumper set contains all 52 episodes from the fi rst two volumes of the Finnish kids’ cartoon based on the massively popular mobile game. Following the narrative of the app, the show sees avian projectiles Red, Chuck, Bomb, Matilda, Terence and the Blues take on the evil swine of Piggy Island as they fi ght to protect their precious eggs. The collection also includes a soft plush toy of Red, which talks when squeezed.

SRP: £15.99 (DVD)Manufacturer: Atomic Cartoons, Rovio Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television, Telepictures, Walt Disney TVDistributor: Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentContact: 020 7533 1111

WRECK-IT RALPH

This animation proves that baddies aren’t all bad, as Ralph sets out to become a hero with the help of characters like Pac-Man and Sonic.

SRP: £14.99 (DVD), £25.99 (3D Blu-ray)Manufacturer: Walt Disney Animation StudiosDistributor: Walt Disney Home EntertainmentContact: 0208 222 2707

THE BASEMENT COLLECTION + INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE

Nine award-winning games accompany this Sundance-recognised documentary about the creators of Braid, Fez and Super Meat Boy. SRP: £14.99Manufacturer: Merge GamesDistributor: Merge GamesContact: 07885 723 353

NEED FOR SPEED

With an ensemble cast including Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, this high-octane racer is inspired by EA’s eponymous driving franchise.

SRP: £17.99 (DVD), £24.99 (3D Blu-ray)Manufacturer: DreamWorksDistributor: E1 EntertainmentContact: 0203 691 8600

30

HOT PRODUCTS

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com

Sponsored by

HOT PRODUCTS

AMD R9 FURY X

AS PC players prepare to enter virtual reality with the upcoming launches of the Oculus Rift and Valve HTC Vive, AMD has released a new graphics card it hopes will be the pick of the bunch for VR.

The R9 Fury X is the fl agship entry in the brand new R9 300 line of graphics cards.

It’s a dual-GPU card with a unique design called HBM, or ‘high-bandwidth stacked memory’. What this means is that unlike traditional graphics cards, where memory chips are placed next to one another, the Fury X sees its memory components stacked atop one another.

AMD claims that this new placement bumps up the GPU’s speed by up to three times versus standard GDDR5 memory, making

the Fury X suitable for the power-hungry requirements of virtual reality headsets like the Rift and Vive. It’s backed by AMD’s LiquidVR technology, which specifi cally aims to boost framerates and decrease latency while head-tracking for smooth, plug-and-play virtual reality experiences.

The Fury X is also well placed for players looking to run 4K displays, with a 4096-bit interface providing better performance and more effi cient power consumption. 1440p 6K ‘surround view’ can also be displayed.

Other features include DirectX 12, Vulkan, OpenGL 4.5 and Mantle support, as well as Eyefi nity 3x1, which stops frame-tearing and stuttering on compatible FreeSync monitors.

XBOX ONE ELITE WIRELESS CONTROLLER

HAVING already redesigned its original Xbox One controller, Microsoft is preparing a premium version of the pad aimed at high-level gamers on both console and PC.

The Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller allows players to customise their control scheme by swapping out a variety of metal thumbsticks and D-pads. This allows gamers to build their controller to optimise speed, accuracy or reach as they see fi t, plus adapt the pad for their hand size. The new dish-like faceted D-pad (pictured) allows fi ghting game players to pull off combos easier, while the traditional four-way selector is best for switching weapons or enabling support in shooter titles.

On the back of the controller sit four ports into which interchangeable paddles can be connected. These allow players to pull off moves without adjusting their fi ngers, meaning actions

like jumping, shooting and aiming can be executed much faster. The function of each paddle is assigned via an accompanying app on Xbox One or Windows 10.

Hair Trigger Locks integrated into the pad’s triggers can be enabled to let players fi re much faster in-game, restricting each trigger’s movement only to the point where it is registered as an in-game action, in order to save time.

The Elite controller can save up to two profi les on-board, and comes with a selection of accessories, including a carrying case, four paddles, six thumbsticks and two D-pads.

[INFO]

RRP: £129.99Release Date: October 2015Distributor: ExertisContact: 01279 822 822

MCV takes a look at the best accessories heading to UK retail. This week, AMD shows off its latest fast and furious graphics card and Microsoft up its performance with the

Xbox One Elite controller

[INFO]

RRP: From £509Release Date: Out NowDistributor: VIP ComputersContact: 01925 286 900

TO LIST YOUR COMPANY HERE AND ONLINE EVERY WEEK PLEASE CONTACT CTALLON@NBMEDIA.COM OR CALL 01992 535647

DIEGO MANCA MURATel: +44 (0) 2032909246 (UK) +39 328 2730697 (Italy)www.diegomancamura.com

........................................................................................................

PRESSXTRA.NET(Part of the Indigo Pearl Group)Tel: 0208 964 4545http://PressXtra.net

........................................................................................................

PERFORMANCE DESIGNED PRODUCTS LTDTel: 01628 509047www.pdp.com

........................................................................................................

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

GAMING ACCESSORIES & MERCHANDISE

CREATIVE & PROMOTIONAL STUDIO DIVATel: 0117 214 0404www.studiodiva.co.uk........................................................................................................

BRIDGE MEDIA GROUPTel: 020 3283 8466www.bridgemediagroup.com........................................................................................................

FLUIDTel: +44 (0)121 212 0121www.fl uidesign.co.uk........................................................................................................

GAME ROOMTel: +44 (0) 20 7729 3033www.gameroom-agency.com........................................................................................................

BY FRONTROOM

CLD DISTRIBUTIONTel: +32 81 83 02 02www.cld.be........................................................................................................

GAMING MERCHANDISE UK LIMITEDTel: 0207 167 6997www.gamingmechandiseuk.com

........................................................................................................

SOUNDING SWEET LTDTel: +44 (0) 1789 297453www.soundingsweet.com........................................................................................................

STUDIO CO2Tel: +44 (0)1483 414 415www.studioco2.com........................................................................................................

SUPERHEROTel: +4020 3031 6180www.superheroscreen.com........................................................................................................

THE AUDIO GUYS LIMITEDTel: +44 (0) 1934 710024www.theaudioguys.co.uk

........................................................................................................

ÜBERTel: +44 (0)114 278 7100www.uberagency.com

........................................................................................................

CLICK ENTERTAINMENT LIMITEDTel: +44 203 137 3781www.click-entertainment.com

........................................................................................................

Wholesaler and distributor of video games, consoles and accessories

DEAD GOOD MEDIATel: +44 (0)7780 600 728www.deadgoodmedia.com........................................................................................................

KENNEDY MONKTel: 020 7636 9142www.kennedymonk.com........................................................................................................ MANUFACTURING

OK MEDIA LTDTel: 02076886789www.okmedia.biz........................................................................................................

KEYWORDS STUDIOS GROUPTel: +353 1 902 2730www.keywordsstudios.com

........................................................................................................

U

LOCALISATION, QA & TESTING

LOCALSOFTTel: +34 952 028 080www.localsoftgames.com........................................................................................................

POLE TO WIN EUROPE LTDTel: +44 (0) 20 8607 7900www.poletowineurope.com

........................................................................................................

Localization Services

UNIVERSALLY SPEAKINGTel: +44 (0) 1480210621www.usspeaking.com

........................................................................................................

VMCTel: +44 (0)1753 849 700 (UK)www.vmc.com........................................................................................................

MONETISATION & PAYMENT

MILLENNIAL MEDIATel: +44 (0) 207 151 3320www.millennialmedia.com........................................................................................................

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS COMPANY AND MANY MORE ONLINE NOW AT:

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDETO INTERACTIVEENTERTAINMENTAGENCIES AND SERVICE COMPANIES

AMIQUSTel: 01925 839700www.amiqus.com........................................................................................................

RECRUITMENT

MEDIA & MARKETING

LIS WELSH SEARCH & SELECTION LTDTel: +44 (0) 7968 114812www.liswelsh.com

........................................................................................................

SPECIALMOVE CONSULTANCY LTDTel: +44 (0) 141 530 4555www.specialmove.com

........................................................................................................

WAYFORWARD RECRUITMENT LIMITEDTel: 020 7734 4664 (London) 0117 966 6038 (Bristol)www.way-forward.com ........................................................................................................

CURSE, INC.Tel: +1 415 856 0056www.curseinc.com........................................................................................................

IGNTel: 0203 701 5682www.ign.com........................................................................................................

KEY CONTACTS:

Stu Taylor, Founder and El Presidentestu@deadgoodmedia.com

Rosie Topps, Media Consultantrosie@deadgoodmedia.com

Deborah Henderson, Media Consultantdeb@deadgoodmedia.com

ADDRESS:69 Knowl PieceWilbury WayHitchinSG4 0HY

HELLO! We’re Dead Good Media. A boutique, multi-award winning entertainment PR agency based just outside London, we’ve been making waves since we opened in 2012, off ering services including record-breaking, pan-European Kickstarter campaigns; VR entertainment consultancy and strategy; and indie and mobile game launches.

With 19 years of games industry experience behind us, Dead Good’s remit is to provide clear, focused and engaging PR campaigns to suit any budget; targeted at consumer or games media; spanning print, online and broadcast; and delivering results that speak for themselves.

COMPANY PROFILE / DEAD GOOD MEDIA

DIRECTORY

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com34

CREATIVE Fink ................................................................. info@finkcreative.com

DISC REPAIR Total Disc Repair ..................................+44 (0) 1202 489500

DISTRIBUTION Click Entertainment ............................ +44 (0) 203 137 3781

Creative Distribution ......................+44 (0) 20 8664 3456

Curveball Leisure ................................... +44 (0) 1792 652521

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

Sony DADC ............................................ +44 (0) 207 462 6200

GAMING ACCESSORIES L3I............................................................................+ (0)1923 471 020

Venom ............................................................... +44 (0)1763 284181

MCV DIRECTORY KEY CONTACTS

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

TOTAL DISC REPAIR DISC REPAIR

Tel: +44 (0) 1202 489500 Web: www.totaldiscrepair.co.uk

DIRECTORY

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 201535

ENQUIRIES

CONOR TALLONTel: 01992 535647ctallon@nbmedia.com

SONY DADC DISTRIBUTION

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

www.sonydadc.com

Empowering your creative business

Tel: +44 (0) 207 462 6200 Web: www.sonydadc.com

CLICK ENTERTAINMENT DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +44 (0)203 137 3781 email: sales@click-entertainment.com

FINK CREATIVE

Artworking Mastertronic Brand Identity Ukie Localisation Rising Star Games Advertising BBFC Website Design Deep Silver Exhibition Bethesda Illustration Appynation Digital Media IntentMedia Charity GamesAid Banners & Takeovers Konami Packaging Design Just Flight

Just Flight

Email: info@fi nkcreative.com Web: www.fi nkcreative.com

CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +44 (0) 208 6643456 Web: www.creativedistribution.co.uk

CURVEBALL LEISURE DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +44 (0) 1792 652521 Web: www.curveball-leisure.com

ENARXIS DYNAMIC MEDIA DISTRIBUTION

Tel: +302 1090 11900 Web: www.enarxis.eu

DIRECTORY

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com36

L3I GAMING ACCESSORIES

Tel: + (0)1923 471 020 Web: www.logic3.com

VENOM GAMING ACCESSORIES

Web: www.venomuk.com

Phone: +44 (0)1763 284181

Email: darren.scott@venomuk.comtom.hodge@venomuk.com

Venom UK Gaming

@VenomGamingUK

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

Twin Docking Station

Twin Docking Station

Power Up!

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

WANT TO ADVERTISE IN OUR DIRECTORY?

ADVERTISE WITH US

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

37www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 2015

INSIDER’S GUIDE

Tell us about your company.Dead Good Media is a multi-award winning boutique PR agency that was established in 2012 by the rather brilliant Stu Taylor. We work with both a domestic and international focus for our clients and specialise in the video game, film and tech spheres. We’re currently working on The Bard’s Tale IV’s Kickstarter success, the UK PR for Focus Home Interactive and international PR for EuroVideo Medien.

What is your biggest success to date?Where to begin? There’s been so many in almost three years. Managing the international PR for number one title Dying Light on behalf of Techland – we worked with Paddy Power on the zombie-proof house collectors’ edition story – has been a particular high.

What projects do you currently have in the works?We are hugely excited to be filming our first feature-length documentary, as well as looking ahead to Gamescom – it’s going to be a busy one for us in Cologne this year.

What are the biggest challenges you face?The changing media landscape is an exciting challenge that PR companies face at all times, and we love to work closely

with writers and publications that are constantly diversifying, together telling creative and compelling stories about our clients.

Tell us something about your company that nobody knowsSome may not already be aware that this is actually the third time Stu and I have worked together in the last six years – we’re a winning combo. Also, we’re rather ace when it comes to pub quizzes, coming first last year and second this year at the Develop Quiz. We’ll be back to get that trophy.

MCV speaks to Dead Good Media’s Kayleigh Watson about the firm’s foray into documentary film-making

Specialism: Consultancy, PR and marketing

Location: Hitchin and London

Contact: W: deadgoodmedia.comE: hello@deadgoodmedia.comP: 07780 600 728T: @DeadGoodMedia

INSIDER’S GUIDEDEAD GOOD MEDIA WHO?

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INTERNATIONAL DAILY 2015

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by Christopher Dring

ACTIVISION surprised Gamescom this week by resurrecting the Sierra Games publishing business.

A subsidiary of Activision, Sierra is to publish a range of titles from independentstudios. This includes classic Sierra IP like King’s Quest and Geometry Wars, as well as new IP and possibly HD remakes.

It’s surprising because Activision has a reputation for just publishing triple-A billion-dollar franchises such as Call of Duty, Skylanders and Destiny.

“The indie movement is happening,” said Sierra’s MacLean Marshall. “And for Activision not to be involved in that... it has the big brands sure, but I think it would be a miss if we didn’t look at the indie movement as well. For us, it is about finding the right

devs with the right ideas – whether that is bringing back an old Sierra IP or something entirely new.”

Senior director of external development Bob Loya

added: “We wanted to do this stuff for a long time, and unfortunately there wasn’t a path in Activision to do it because we were focused on the big blockbusters.

“With digitally distributed games becoming bigger every year, we were able to make a compelling business argument that we could be financially successful doing this, while working with really cool indie talent on great IP.”

BILLION DOLLAR BABIES: WHY ACTIVISION IS FUNDING INDIE GAMES

It would be a miss if we didn’t look at the indie movement

MacLean Marshall, Sierra

Sierra’s Loya (far left) and Marshall (left) are bringing back Geometry Wars this year

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15TH 2014 DAY THREE

@ THURSDAY, AUGUST 14TH 2014 DAY TWO

07.10.2014

Hall 4.2 Stand A052 www.mxvsatv.com

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05/08/2014 14:11

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13TH 2014 DAY ONE

06/08/2014 12:51

@THURSDAY AUGUST 14TH 2014 DAY TWO

In America everything is bigger – and its games market is no exception.With $19.8 billion (£12.6bn)

in sales this year across all categories (excluding hardware) it is clear that Americans love gaming.

As a consequence, the US also serves as a tastemaker for other international markets. For most publishers and developers, it is the most important Western market, and they’ll do anything to impress this massive consumer audience.

So as the industry continues

to soar on the back of an exciting E3, let’s take a look at the US games market and do a quick status update.

GAMING IS BIG – AND MAINSTREAMFor a long time, the US games industry catered to a much more narrow demographic. But today, around 163 million Americans – half of the total population – play games. This is up from 145 million just two years ago.

This much larger market has dramatically changed the playing field for publishers, since now that so many more people play games, the overall audience is also a lot more diverse. In the United States,

58 per cent of the mobile gamer population is female.

It’s ridiculous, of course, to suggest that women simply didn’t play games up until recently – rather, the games industry failed to properly cater to them instead. But now that the business itself has levelled up and become more inclusive, we expect the content offering to follow suit.

US-BASED PUBLISHERS ARE STILL GOING STRONGDespite the growing dominance of Asian publishers like Tencent, Nexon and NCSoft, and their persistent pursuit of the US market, the top American publishers still run the show. The big US-based

TERRITORY REPORT: AMERICA

The US games market saw $19.8bn in sales

(excl. hardware) in 2014

$19.8bn

Sponsored by

It might be the land of the free, but is it the land of free-to-play? As the industry recovers from another huge E3 showing, SuperData CEO JOOST VAN DREUNEN examines the state of games in the US of A

AMERICA TERRITORY REPORT

publishers generated a cool $10.2 billion (£6.5bn) in total sales in 2014, and franchises like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto maintain a strong position among the top-selling titles worldwide.

DIGITAL GAMES ARE A THING NOWTraditionally, the US has been a retail-based market. Both specialty chains like GameStop and general retailers like Walmart make a mint selling games, especially during the holiday season. But even so, in just a few years a growing amount of spending on games has begun to take place via digital channels.

In the US, mobile gaming is the most popular digital category, with $4.5 billion (£2.9bn) in annual revenues estimated in 2015.

Remarkably, digitalisation has given new life to PC-based gaming; combined, social games, PC DLC, free-to-play MMOs and pay-to-play MMOs account for $7.3 billion (£4.7bn) in annual sales.

Even though the US has long been primarily a console market, PC gaming can no longer be ignored. As audiences adopt new ways to get access to and play games, the industry will follow.

The top US publishers generated a cool $10.2 billion (£6.5bn) in sales in 2014.

Joost van Dreunen, SuperData

US RETAIL TOP 10 FOR 2014CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE ACTIVISION1

2 Madden NFL 15 EA

3 Destiny Activision

4 Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar

5 Minecraft Mojang

6 Super Smash Bros. Nintendo

7 NBA 2K15 2K Games

8 Watch Dogs Ubisoft

9 FIFA 15 EA

10 Call of Duty: Ghosts Activision

Data courtesy of NPD

TERRITORY REPORT AMERICA

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com40

INFOPopulation: 320,925,485Currency: DollarGDP (Per Capita): $54,596Capital City: Washington, D.C

KEY RETAILERS GameStop, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Toys R Us, Kmart, Costco, Fred Meyer, Fry’s Electronics, Hastings Entertainment, Play N Trade, Gamers, Slackers

KEY DISTRIBUTORSUS Games Distribution, BigBen Interactive, BR-1 America, CI Games, Creative Mind, EZ Games, Mecca Electronics, Ram Rom Games, Royal Electronics, EOne, GameWorld,

Importel, Koch Media, Play N Trade

TOP DEVELOPERSRockstar, 343 Industries, Bungie, Blizzard, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Sony, Naughty Dog, EA, Epic Games, Capcom, BioWare, Bethesda, Id Software, PopCap, Riot Games

PUBLISHERS IN THE REGIONSony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft, Warner Bros, Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Take-Two, Sega, Capcom, Telltale Games, Konami, Riot Games

THE FACTS

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TURKEY is a nation driven by the continuing success of digital and free-to-play games, despite controversy over one of the West’s biggest digital hits.

According to research outlet SuperData, Turkey comprises 14 per cent of the Eastern Europe digital games market, with an estimated digital games revenue of $434 million (£278m) in 2014. This makes it the second-biggest country for games in the region behind Russia, which makes up half of the local industry.

Turkish gamers play games for longer than their neighbours, sticking with a single game for around three months on average. They are similarly happy to continue spending money on their games, paying for up to 184 days – 30 per cent longer than the Eastern European average.

While Turkish gamers pay less per month, the extra time spent

investing in titles means that in total around an extra $20 is spent per player per game. Free-to-play MMOs are particular prosperous in Turkey, faring better in the country compared to Russia in terms of revenue.

While both nations are dominated by male players, Russia is actually more female-

friendly; women make up 42 per cent of the Russian market, compared to just 36 per cent in Turkey.

Despite Turkey’s passion for digital gaming, not all titles have fared so well. The

presence of industry juggernaut Minecraft has faltered in the region after it was threatened with a ban. This followed an investigation by the government’s family and social policies minister Aysenur Islam into the game’s suitability for children, which concluded that the block-building game was fundamentally based on violence.

Turkishgamers play a single title for around three

months on average.

FACTFILE TURKEY

FACTFILE: TURKEYPopulation: 77,695,904Capital City: AnkaraCurrency: LiraGDP (Per Capita): $10,482

KEY RETAILERSTeknosa, Darty, Bimeks, Carrefour, D and R, Sony Centre, Media Markt

TOP DEVELOPERSSobee Studios, MagiClick Games, Peak Games, TaleWorlds, Ark Game Studios, 2Gen, Kukla Interactive, Insofer, Pixofun, Dyun Studyosu

PUBLISHERS IN THE REGIONSony, Ubisoft

INTERNATIONAL

MEANWHILE IN... AUSTRALIA

IT appears that Australia’s attempts to counter its notoriously prude game classifi cation laws have led to a higher number of titles being banned.

Between 1995 and January 2015, 77 games were refused classifi cation in Australia, eff ectively banning them from sale.

In March, the government introduced a new ratings system, working on a 12-month trial period with the International Age Ratings Coalition.

In the time since January, over 240 titles have been outlawed by Australia – more than triple the number banned over the preceding two decades

and an average of around 40 each month.

Australia introduced a R18+ category for games in 2013, allowing more adult-orientated games to be sold.

However, one title to suff er

despite the new addition was Hotline Miami 2, which was banned in January. The designer of the title responded by telling players to pirate the game.

The Pacifi c nation infamous for strict censorship has seen more titles outlawed, despite recently relaxing its classifi cation rules

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 2015

TURKEY FACTFILE

43

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

WORLDWIDE

CLICK ENTERTAINMENT LIMITEDEmail: info@click-entertainment.comWeb: www.click-entertainment.comPhone: +44 (0)203 137 3781

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SWEDEN

GAME OUTLET EUROPE ABPO Box 5083, S-650 05 Karlstad, SwedenSales dept: ali.manzuri@gameoutlet.seSales dept: andreas.lindberg@gameoutlet.sePurchase dept: hamed.manzuri@gameoutlet.sePurchase dept: david.nilsson@gameoutlet.seWeb: www.gameoutlet.se

AUSTRALIAAFA Interactive, Bluemouth Interactive, Five Star Games, Mindscape, Namco Bandai Partners, Turn Left DistributionBENELUXCLD Distribution, Koch Media, Gameworld Distribution B.V.CANADAE One, Importel, Just4Games, Solutions 2 Go, VidéoglobeCYPRUSAccess, Gibareio, Zilos, Nortec MultimediaCZECH REPUBLICCenega, Conquest, Comgad, Playman, ABC DataDENMARKBergsala, Elpa, Impulse, Koch Media, Nordisk Film Interactive, Nordic Game Supply, PAN VisionFRANCEBig Ben, Innelec, Koch Media, SDO, SodifaGREECEZegatron, CD Media, Namco Bandai Partners, IGE, Nortec, Enarxis, BeaconHUNGARYCNG.hu/Cenega Hungary, CTC Trading, Magnew, PlayON, StadlbauerICELANDSena, Myndform, Samfilm, OrmssonINDONESIAMaxsoft, Uptron, Technosolution IRELANDMSE Group, BaumexJAPANAjioka, Happinet, JesnetNORWAYBergsala, Game Outlet, Koch Media, Nordic Game Supply, Nordisk Film, Pan VisionPOLANDCD Projekt, Cenega, Galapagos, LEMPORTUGALEcoplay, Infocapital, Koch Media, Namco BandaiROMANIABest DistributionSERBIAComTrade, Computerland/Iris Mega, Extreme CCSPAINDigital Bros, Koch Media, Namco Bandai Partners, NobilisSWEDENBergsala, Koch Media, Namco Bandai, Nordic Game Supply, PAN Vision, Wendros, Ztorm (digital)UAERed Entertainment Distribution, Pluto Games (LS2 Pluto), Viva Entertainment, Gameplay Entertainment, Geekay Distribution

UAE

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

NORDIC

WENDROS AB SWEDEN, NORWAY, DENMARK & FINLANDJakobsdalsvägen 1712653 HägerstenSwedenPhone: +46 8 51942500Fax: +46 8 7466790Email:HM@wendros.seLM@wendros.seWeb: www.wendros.se

CYPRUS

G3 GREAT GAMES LTD4 Gregoriou Papafl essa Street, Offi ce 101, Engomi, Nicosia 2414, Cyprus.Tel: +357 22 666612 Web: www.greatgames.com.cy

BRAZIL

Sony Music Entertainment Brasil# 1 Physical Distributor in BrazilRua Lauro Muller n°. 116 – 40°. AndarSalas 4001 a 4003 BotafogoRio de Janeiro RJCEP. 22.290-160Tel. +55 21 2128-0771Fax: +55 21 2128-0747Email : rodrigo.altieri@sonymusic.comWebsite: www.sonymusic.com.br | www.day1e.com.br

IRAN

DC GAMES GROUPNo.9, Hemmatian St.,Takestan St., SattarkhanTehran, IranTel: +98-912-1014090 +98-21-44228670Email: Bahizad@Doostan-Co.comWeb: www.Doostan-Co.com

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Editorial: + 61 (0)424 967 263Leigh.Harris@mcvpacifi c.com

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CLD DISTRIBUTIONRue du Grand Champs 14 , B 5380 Fernelmont BelgiumTel: +32 81 83 02 02Fax: +32 81 83 02 09Email: infos@cld.beWeb: www.cld.be home of www.dragonwar.eu & www.mawashi.eu

OFF THE RECORD

NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA

In case you were imprisoned in Arkham Asylum last month, Arkham Knight was fi nally released, becoming the biggest launch of the year so far.

Warner teamed up with celebrities and artists to give the Dark Knight a makeover ahead of his latest outing. The fi rm partnered with fi gures including Jonathan Ross, model Jodie Kidd, actor and director Noel Clarke and singer Eliza Doolittle to give them a chance to redesign Bats’ iconic cowl and cape at the Cowl Exhibition at Kachette, Shoreditch.

But it wasn’t just stars that made the eff ort for Arkham Knight’s release; retailers and gamers across the UK also got involved. Several stores hosted midnight launches, with staff and customers donning costumes and holding fundraising eff orts.

CREED PLEASER

Hot from demonstrating its latest Assassin’s Creed, Syndicate, at this year’s E3 show, Ubisoft brought the stealth title to fans across Europe as part of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate: The Tour.

Alongside events in Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Stockholm, Sydney and Moscow, gamers who headed to London were treated to a range of activities, including the chance to get hands-on with the same demo available on the E3 show fl oor and a theatre demonstration of a brand new gameplay segment.

There was also an Assassin’s Creed art gallery and a temporary (or at least, so we’re told) tattooist providing themed Assassin’s Creed tattoos.

A Victorian barber off ering era-appropriate beard trims was also on hand (or, rather, hair). We can’t fully recall his name, but we think it was Sweeney something...

OFF THE RECORD This week, celebs go batty for Arkham Knight, the new Assassin’s Creed slinks around Europe, Gav Murphy hits the big 3-0 and Slitherine takes war (gaming) to Italy

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 201545

OFF THE RECORD

July 10th / July 17th 2015 www.mcvuk.com46

@Clert Spent £5 more on DualShock 4 at GAME. But it pays UK tax, supports our industry, employs game-liking people, and is a presence on the High Street.

Robert Purchese, EurogamerFriday June 26th

@BitSocket Got all the videos in Her Story. I feel almost like I achieved something. I achieved delaying the ironing until nearly midnight.

Scott and Joe, Bit SocketSunday June 28th

@SimonMiller316 “You only gave this a high score because you’re obsessed with Batman.” Yeah. I sacrificed integrity to protect a fake man who wears a cape.

Simon Miller, Videogamer.comFriday June 26th

@ImagineMD The last time I had to wait ten minutes to load/install a game before I could actually play it - it was The Hobbit on Spectrum 48k. #XboxOne

Damian Butt, Imagine PublishingThursday July 2nd

THE WEEK IN 140 CHARACTERSThe Tweets you might have missed in the last seven days

SIX DEGREES OF AMANDA FARRWE SEARCH WIDE AND FARR TO CONNECT XBOX’S HEAD OF CONTENT AND SERVICES WITH THE BACONMEISTER HIMSELF

...Fever PR, a former haunt of Nintendo’s JO BARTLETT. She was also employed at John Doe, working with clients like Sony...

Outside of the cinema, KEVIN BACON can be spotted in his ads for mobile firm EE, the PR for which is handled by...

...AMANDA FARR, who is currently heading up Xbox’s UK content and services division.

...and its head of PR DAVID WILSON, who works alongside official PlayStation media outlet PS Access...

...including host and community manager HOLLIE BENNETT. Before Sony, Bennett found herself at Bandai Namco...

...alongside PR and marketing director LEE KIRTON. From 2000 to 2008, he was part of Atari, working for marketing boss...

@ultrabrilliant Just testing out my new £800 graphics card with Arkham Knight.

Andy Kelly, PC GamerThursday June 25th

@dmseto Got a little bit of free time so I’m taking [Dragon Quest character] Healix sight-seeing in Paris.

Dan Seto, Square Enix EuropeThursday July 2nd

BEERS AND BEARDS

IGN video maestro Gav Murphy hit the grand old age of 30 last month, and to celebrate threw a banger of a party at Dalston’s very own Loading Bar.

As with most hip ‘n’ happening parties (we obviously attend plenty) there was a theme, selected by Gav himself. The bearded wonder decided to honour his fantastic facial hair by making the dress code ‘come as your favourite bearded person’.

As you can see, Loading responded in style, dressing up the staff as Gav and even getting the bar’s decor itself in on the action.

Unfortunately we’re a little short on further details. As Loading owner James Dance told MCV: ““Never has so much Jäger been drunk by so few.”

WHEN IN VENICE...

Publisher Slitherine held its annual Home of Wargaming gathering late last month, inviting more than 50 of its developers to Italy for three days of conferences, talks and networking.

Many of the developers work on medieval titles, meaning that an evening of archery with Middle Age bows went down a treat.

Luckily, the evening spent touring a prosecco factory – complete with taste tests – took place the day before the archery, ensuring that no arrows went awry.

During the day, it was business as usual, with talks on Twitch, development tips and more stretching for over 12 hours in total.

Nzall@realnzall

A real superhero doesn’t need a vehicle. He makes his way to the crime scene through supernatural transportation.

terminally chill @guru8bit

A giant Adam Sessler-

BATMAN HAS THE BATMOBILE, GHOST RIDER

HAS HIS MOTORBIKE – WHAT WOULD YOUR

SUPERHERO VEHICLE BE?

#GMGASKS

Mihai T. @tmihai20

A badass transformer vehicle; a hybrid between a Transformer robot, the Batmobile and Iron Man’s suit.

Tecnniqe@Tecnniqe

The new Batmobile turns into a badass tank so I’ll go with that.

db@dbcher

A GIANT wild boar.

TechShark@TechTheShark

A Ford Fiesta.

FuzzieBoy@FuzzieBoy

Reliant Robin. Need I say more?

Amayirot Akago @AmayirotAkago

HOVER BIKE!

TheFoxGuy@DatFoxGuy

I would ride on an armoured battle fox, of course.

Jon@tuxisagamer

My supervillian vehicle would be a scythe chariot drawn by cybernetically enhanced white ligers.

OFF THE RECORD

www.mcvuk.com July 10th / July 17th 201547