NEWS
Now Zumba craze comes to DVD by Christopher Dring
MORE ZUMBA is coming to games retailers this month – in the form of a fitness DVD. Zumba Home Fitness DVD Pack is being distributed by High Street TV, and the firm wants games
retailers on- board
following the phenomenal success of 505’s Zumba
Fitnessgame. The Pack includes six
workouts across four discs, a Total Body Transformation Guide and toning sticks. “Zumba Home Fitnessis a massive seller with all the retail partners we work with,” said High Street TV’s retail account manager Tom Armstrong. High Street TV: 01423 730 322
“We are very respectful of the retail environment. We have no plans to change the window between retail and digital releases.” Microsoft on Xbox Live’s relationship with the High Street p21
505 shines in bleak August for UK retail
Publisher gets two games in the Top 10 l Monthly sales fall 19.5 per cent year-on-year by Christopher Dring
RETAIL WILL hope the worst is behind it as August game sales plunged to new lows. The boxed games market did enjoy a late sales spike with Deus Ex, which reached No.2 in the Chart-Track monthly charts despite just two days on sale.
But this only highlights what a weak month August turned out to be. Just £43.9m was made at games retail last month, a drop of 19.5 per cent compared to the same period the year before. 2,251,482 games were sold, a decrease of 21 per cent year-on-year.
The No.1 game was once
again Zumba Fitness. Its publisher 505 Games grew its market share to become the third biggest company for the month behind EA
Zumba Fitness was the biggest sales driver in a weak August for games retail
and Square Enix. There were two 505 titles in the Top 10, with Rugby World Cup 2011 at No.6.
The success of Zumba also made an impact on the hardware rankings. More games were sold on Wii last month than PS3, something that hasn’t happened since December last year.
THE AUGUST TOP TEN
1. Zumba Fitness– 505 Games 2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution– Square Enix 3. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean– Disney 4. Cars 2– Disney 5. Dirt 3– Codemasters 6. Rugby World Cup 2011 – 505 Games 7. FIFA 11– Electronic Arts 8. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4– Warner Bros 9. Just Dance 2: Extra Songs– Ubisoft 10. Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2–EA
As triple-A ‘stagnates’, QA firms turn to downloads by Dominic Sacco
QA AND localisation firms are generating more money from social and mobile titles than triple-A boxed games. Several companies have
told MCVthey have had to expand their testing teams to cope with the strong demand for social, casual and downloadable games. “Over the last eight
months or so, digital, casual and social games have been around 65 per cent of our revenue,” Testology MD Andy Robson told MCV. “What you find is that rather than having three or
6 September 9th 2011
four big titles a week, you’re getting anything from 10 to 15 games per week from the casual and digital side. “I think it is really
refreshing for the industry and some great companies have come from this development like Rovio and Mojang. I just think the triple-A sector has become very stagnant and the same ingenuity is not being experienced in new IPs.” QA and testing firm VMC has altered its team structure because of the increased demand, while Universally Speaking has even hired extra teams.
“
“It has increased the overall number of projects we work on at any one time,” added Universally Speaking MD Vickie Peggs. “We now have additional teams dedicated to managing the smaller titles on iOS, Android and other casual and social platforms.” Babel’s VP of sales and
It’s refreshing for the industry and some great companies have come from digital, like Rovio and Mojang. Andy Robson, Testology
marketing Keith Russell said: “This sector has gone through the roof, broadly it splits into three phases – start-ups, big first successes and seasoned players.” Turn to page 43 for our special feature on QA and localisation.
www.mcvuk.com
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