NEWS
“It will be intriguing to see if Grand Theft Auto V can break Call of Duty’s sales records.” The UK games industry discuss the year ahead p17
‘We’re turning off investors’ Afterglow No download chart is hurting the industry’s ability to attract the financial sector, say experts
Square Enix’s Protheroe (far left), Mediatonic’s Heath (middle left) and Green Man’s Sulyok (near left) are part of the UK’s 24-man digital group
by James Batchelor
A COLLECTION of popular light-up controllers is now available in the UK and Europe. A small selection of
by Christopher Dring
POTENTIAL video game investors are being put off by the lack of digital data, say industry experts. The UK games industry’s Digital Group – which is supported by UKIE – says it’ll be easier to persuade financial giants to invest in games if they could see the size of the market.
“There is a ton of investors who want to invest in the games industry,” said Mediatonic’s Geoff Heath. “I know quite a lot of them and what’s holding a lot of them back is
getting good data on the non-boxed business. Green Man Gaming’s Paul Sulyok added: “We get professional investors contacting us, they are saying they would like some information about the market because they are doing x, y and z. “But there isn’t that clarity around the value of this digital marketplace – and there is clarity around boxed products as it is established now.”
Get Games operations director Dermot Stapleton added: “There’s lots of headline figures about the
What’s holding investors back is getting good data on non-boxed business.
“ 6 January 6th 2012 Geoff Heath
sustainable? Is there a living to be made out of it? Is it worth getting out of bed?” The UK’s Digital Group currently consists of 24
industry being worth x number of billion pounds, but is the industry
members who are trying to form a PC digital download chart – which it says will be available in months. “This chart is letting us measure this for the first time, and you can truly see that the PC market is not dying at all,” said Square Enix’s online publishing director Simon Protheroe. UKIE chairman Andy
Payne added: “We haven’t dragged anyone to this group. There is good stuff here, so why not come on in? This is not a UKIE club thing. It is for the entire industry.”
UKIE: 020 7534 0580 Andy Payne honoured with OBE by Christopher Dring
MASTERTRONIC chief Andy Payne says he was surprised to be named in the Queen’s New Year Honours list.
He was honoured in a list which included Helena Bonham Carter (CBE), Ronnie Corbett (CBE), Clive James (CBE) and Lorraine Kelly (MBE).
The UKIE chairman joins an elite list of industry execs, which includes Ian Livingstone (OBE), Miles Jacobson (OBE) Rod
Cousens (CBE), Paul Jackson (OBE), Roger Bennett (MBE), David Gardner (OBE), Geoff Heath (OBE), Jane Cavanagh (OBE), Jez San (OBE), Steve Grand (OBE), David and Richard Darling (CBE) and Paul and Oliver Collyer (MBE). “I am truly surprised, honoured and very proud to have been awarded an OBE,” said Payne. “I would like to thank all my workmates at
Mastertronic, Just Flight, The Producers, BAFTA, Just Trains, Get Games, UKIE,
GamesAid and AppyNation who I work with. I am truly thankful to have worked with so many fabulous people down the years and am proud of our great industry. “We have all had plenty of challenges to overcome, especially in recent years, but these are great times and I would not swap my job with anyone. I would also like to thank my mum and dad who have always supported me and Kirsty, my wife, who is also my best friend and my rock.”
www.mcvuk.com
Afterglow products has been available across the Europe for some time, but now distributor PDP is bringing the entire range of controllers and headsets to the UK. Products are available for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. “We’ve been blown away by the success of Afterglow in the USA, so are delighted to be bringing the range to European retail,” said PDP European general manager Chris Spearing, PDP: 01753 272 120
range finally shines in UK
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