NEWS
November’s 1m game shortfall
But retailers make more money year-on-year in busiest month of blockbuster games releases
by Christopher Dring
UK GAMES retail sold 1m fewer games during November than it did during the same period in 2009, according to GfK Chart-Track data.
Just shy of 9m games were sold at retail last month, while a little under 10m units were shifted during the same period in 2009.
But retailers were still able to generate more in revenues compared to last year.
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Consumers spent £263m on games last month, which is an increase from the £261m spent the year before. Of course the biggest sales driver of November was Call of Duty: Black Ops, which has put Activision at the top of the publishing pile for the first time this year. Ubisoft was the second most successful company last month, with continued strong sales of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhoodand Just Dance 2.
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LEADER LOOK HOW WE’VE GROWN
3 4 5 6 7 8
I COULDN’T start this column about the highlights of 2010 without noting the speed at which our business is leaping forward – a fact which can be seen in the stellar performance from Activision’s awesome Call of Duty. Black Ops sold two million copies in its first four days, in comparison with Take That’s latest album which sold 520,000 copies in its first week (itself being the biggest first week album sales of the century). Games are developing at such an incredible pace and it’s evident to everyone that sales are increasingly concentrated on a smaller and more select group of high quality titles at the top end of the market, making success in the gaming business more challenging than ever. We all know the creation of such high quality titles is hugely expensive but I firmly believe the era of the blockbuster game is here to stay and as such we need to remain as focused as we’ve ever been on developing strong franchises and introducing new IP. That said, it’s also fascinating to watch gaming rapidly diversifying into so many new areas. We’ve already enjoyed a successful transition into the casual gaming market and most recently Just Dance 2and Michael Jackson: The Experiencehave performed really well, showing that there is still life in the Wii market – particularly in the dance genre which seems to be thriving. In fact, not only are we immensely proud of the 1.4m units that the original Just Dancehas sold, it’s incredible to see it still selling 20,000 to 25,000 units each week, even after the launch of the sequel. But 2011 will be interesting in terms of gaming growing in the digital/online space. Ubisoft will have a greater focus on web-based games and games delivered via mobile platforms or via XBLA and PSN. These new channels will undoubtedly come with new challenges but also lots of new opportunities we hope. My closing highlight is focused on the technological innovations of the year – the Kinect and PlayStation Move launches.
9 10 THE NOVEMBER TOP TEN IN FULL
1 Call of Duty: Black
Ops...................................................................Activision 2 Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.........................................................Ubisoft 3 FIFA 11.......................................................................................................................EA 4 Gran Turismo
5................................................................................................Sony 5 Just Dance 2................................................................................................Ubisoft 6 Football Manager
2011................................................................................Sega 7 Wii
Party....................................................................................................Nintendo 8 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit........................................................................EA 9 Professor Layton and the Lost
Future.....................................Nintendo 10Fallout: New
Vegas.............................................................................Bethesda
www.mcvuk.com
These have given publishers the opportunity to develop our game experiences even further, thereby continuing to evolve gaming as a whole. It is this evolution of technology that has spearheaded our industry and makes it one of the most exciting places I could imagine working. Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2011 to all.
Rob Cooper Guest Editor & Managing Director for Northern Europe, Ubisoft
December 17th 2010 5
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