NEWS In Brief
GAME: The retailer’s Australian arm has gone into administration. PwC has stated it is still looking for a buyer and intends to trade as normally as possible in the meantime.
2K GAMES: BioShock Infinite will be released on February 26th 2013, not October 19th, 2012 as was originally planned. The title will not be shown at either E3 or Gamescom.
SQUARE ENIX: Tomb Raider, the reboot of the popular Eidos series, has been delayed to the first quarter of 2013. Meanwhile, IO Interactive’s Hitman: Absolutionhas been dated for November 20th.
SONY: 1.8m Vita units were sold worldwide between its Japanese launch on December 17th and March 31st. 600,000 units were sold in March alone.
UBISOFT: Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earthwill be released for Kinect and Wii U this autumn. It is based on the ‘Secret Invasion’ comic books rather than the movie.
GEM: The distributor and retail services provider has signed an agreement with digital lifestyle accessories vendor Trust. Gem will handle the UK release of products for PC, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
CeX expansion inspires indies
Part-exchange chain now has 143 UK stores Rival retailers start to stock electronic items by Dominic Sacco
COMPUTER Exchange has opened its sixth store in 2012, taking its global tally to 171. The retailer – which buys and sells second-hand games, consoles, DVDs and phones – has just opened branches in Banbury, Gravesend and Dalston. It set up shops in St Helens, Glasgow and Poole earlier this year, as well as ones in Spain and the US. This means CeX now has 143 stores in the UK and 28 international outlets overall. And its impressive growth has influenced indies to expand their product range. “It’ll be very hard to survive in the future unless you’re
It’ll be very hard to survive if you don’t stock different products.
“
Stuart Benson, Extreme Gamez
Simply Games sales soar by 200 per cent
MD Neil Muspratt (above right) expects a 2012 turnover of £35m by Dominic Sacco
SOFTWARE sales at internet retailer Simply Games have trebled during the past 12 months.
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Sales are up 198 per cent over last year, and 400 per cent over two years ago. “Our expansion over the past 12 months has been quite phenomenal,” Simply Games MD Neil Muspratt told MCV. “We now have technical improvements to make and we are actively recruiting for technical and marketing positions within the company.
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“But our most important development for the next year is to further build our relationships with publishers. Being an indie is very tough – publishers just don’t want to give you the time of day. Luckily some have over the past year and that’s what has given us the growth. “Our turnover this year will be circa £35m, so they are at last starting to work with us.”
Cambridgeshire-based Simply Games was set up in 1998 and acquired by retail veteran Muspratt in 2006. Simply Games: 01480 466529
Roxanne Skinner from Doncaster indie Coolspot added: “Games retailers will become more like CeX stores, stocking a wide range of entertainment goods.” Indies have been staying relevant in today’s market by stocking more non- gaming products. Gameseek MD Stephen
willing to totally change and open your mind to stocking different products,” Extreme Gamez’ owner Stuart Benson told MCV. “We’re not afraid to try new things out. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. We trade in goods similar to CeX and we try to change offers and promotions to keep things fresh.”
Staley said: “It depends how successful you want to be. Do you specialise in games, or making money? The more diverse product range the better, as long as you don’t lose your identity.”
It’s independent retail month in MCV, in conjunction with Koch Media. Turn to page 18 for a look at five innovative indies.
Hong Kong investor heading to E3
Digital Goals’ Meredith (above) will be looking for new gaming opportunities
by James Batchelor
AN INVESTOR from the East will be in Los Angeles this June looking for opportunities in the gaming market. Eddy Tang, son of Lygo founder YW Tang, will be attending E3 with UK firm Digital Goals.
They are seeking projects that can benefit from both their skills and investment, particularly in the gaming accessories, merchandising and app sectors. “Eddy has asked me to help him look for opportunities
within the interactive entertainment space,” says Digital Goals’ founder Neil Meredith.
“Whilst the market is changing and developing, we both feel there are some great opportunities out there at the moment, so we are going to use E3 to further develop some on- going discussions and see what else crops up.” For more info, contact
Neil@digitalgoals.co.uk. MCV will be running an extensive E3 preview in next week’s issue.
May 18th 2012 5
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