NEWS
GameStop banking on resurgent PC games market
And digital is key to making PC big again by Michael French
DIGITAL distribution will help reinstall PC as one of the dominant platforms for core games, according to GameStop.
The firm has invested heavily in download and streaming technologies in the last year as audiences get a better handle on digital gaming. And speaking to MCV, digital distribution boss Steve Nix says that attitudes are changing both inside and outside the industry towards making PC more prominent after years of being written off as a ‘dying’ category. “At one point PC games were the largest sector of games for GameStop. But in the years since we saw that physical PC games were a smaller portion of retail sales,” he told MCV.
“The customer experience for gamers when buying boxed PC products wasn’t great. It was that which started impacting physical box sales more than anything else.
“But at the same time, there was digital distributors getting some traction and that was a better customer experience – they could go to a site, download games automatically, load it to the machine in the background, then go and play.” He added: “GameStop thought PC was a declining category until publishers started speaking about the numbers more openly, and it turns out that PC gaming is a large and vibrant
6 August 12th 2011
www.mcvuk.com
“Arkham City has unprecedented retail support and our biggest marketing campaign to date.” Warner Bros’ Martin Tremblay talks Batmanp21
Now Sony DADC grabs Russian base
by Michael French “ GameStop
thought PC was a declining category. But it is still growing. Steve Nix, GameStop
market and actually growing pretty substantially online. So GameStop has made the decision to engage heavily with PC gaming again. “The interesting change is that when we talk to publishers, there’s a marked change in attitude. It used to be just ‘What are you doing on the Xbox or PS3?’ And the PC was just an afterthought. But today the industry is asking what it can do to talk to gamers about the PC version as early as possible and make it successful on equal footing to the console versions.” Check out our full interview with Steve Nix on page 16.
SONY DADC continues to make good on its promise to grow its European business. Just a week after it acquired a French distribution firm, giving it over 50 per cent of that market, the company has bought another outfit – this time in Russia. Sony DADC already had a team in Russia, but buying Disk Pro from parent CP Digital gives it a dedicated manufacturing plant. The outfit adds weight to the emergent market which publishers want to tap into but face cost issues. Sony DADC Russian already has CD and DVD manufacturing services live, with plans to offer PS3 manufacturing by October. “This is a major statement of intent from us. And the
This gives real legitimacy to the Russian market. Roger Twynham, Sony DADC
“
response from publishers has been positive,” UK sales boss Roger Twynham told MCV.
“Russia is growing for many publishers. This gives real legitimacy to that market, not just on PC but also PS3.” Sony DADC: 020 7307 9771
GAME’s Knight takes trading director role
by Christopher Dring
GAME has promoted Charlotte Knight into the role of trading director. She’s worked at GAME for 12 years, most recently as head of category management. She joined in 1999 as buying assistant and worked her way up the ranks of the commercial team. “I’m delighted to appoint Charlotte as our trading director, her knowledge and experience within the industry is second to none and she has proved herself as the ideal candidate as we head into the crucial peak period,” GAME Group UK MD Tom Devine told MCV.
“
Charlotte is the ideal candidate as we head into the crucial peak trading period. Tom Devine, GAME
2K GAMES: Borderlands 2, the sequel to Gearbox Software’s 2009 hit role- playing shooter, will be released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in 2012. The world will get a first look at the game during Gamescom next week.
ACTIVISION: The publisher posted better-than-expected profits for Q2 2011, with record net revenues of $1.1bn. This was largely driven by strong digital sales, which accounted for 37 per cent of the company’s total revenues.
WARNER BROS: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North will arrive in the UK this November, alongside a collector’s edition. The action RPG is expected to carry a BBFC rating of 18
SQUARE ENIX: Canned Activision game True Crime: Hong Konghas been picked up by Square Enix. It will be released under a different name for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in 2012.
In Brief
SONY: Kaz Hirai has confirmed that the PlayStation Vita will not be released in the US or Europe until 2012.
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CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S VIDEOS:
We Dance
Resident Evil 15th Anniversary Driver: San Francisco
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