INTERNATIONAL FACTFILE Italy
MCV takes a look at the Italian games market and how consoles face new competition from smartphone and free-to-play gaming
In association with Wholesaler and distributor of video games, consoles and accessories
THE FACTS Population: 59,685,227 Currency: Euro GDP (Per Capita): $33,115 Capital City: Rome Language: Italian
KEY RETAILERS Auchan, Carrefour, Darty, Euronics, Expert, Feltrinelli, FNAC, GamesBond, GamesLife, GameStop, Iper, La Feltrinelli, MediaMarkt, Mondadori Multicenter, OpenGames, Panorama/Gruppo Pam
MAIN DISTRIBUTORS Cidiverte, DB Studios, Digital Bros/Halifax, Koch Media, Leader, Namco Bandai, Newave, Shardan
TOP DEVELOPERS Activart, Adventures Planet,
AlittleB.it, Artematica, Consorzio Milonga, Double Jungle, DP Studios, Digital Tales, Forge Reply, Imagimotion, Just Funny Games, Frame Studios, Magic Dream Games, Milestone, Raylight Games, TiconBlu, Twelve Games, Ubisoft Milan
ABOUT THE MARKET
THE Italian games market now boasts over 18.6 million active gamers, an increase of 16 per cent on the previous year. Consoles remain the most popular gaming format amongst the country’s consumers as over 13.3m players and 72 per cent of the nation’s gamers own one or more of the current-gen machines. But this majority share doesn’t mean that other platforms can’t get a piece of the action. The average Italian gamer in 2012 was found to play on four different platforms. As you would expect, the Italian games market is one that maintains a strong focus on football gaming. But growth of the industry is now fuelled by other areas, such as the family and online gaming. And that’s seen the number of PC and browser- based gamers rise. The Italian games market is similar to most other European
30 Around the World
We need to introduce new IPs that should recover excitement on consoles.
“ Alvaro Escorial, Sony The tough economic situation
in Europe has left Italy’s games market in a difficult position as games firms face the test of decreasing consumer spend. But through these difficulties, Italian consumers still spent a total of €1.8bn on games in 2012, including boxed, pre-owned and DLC content. The challenge for the
countries and shares many of the same challenges. The biggest of these is to overcome the financial difficulties that continue to plague the region.
Italian games industry is to maintain that figure throughout 2013. Many Italian consumers are now using smartphones and tablets for gaming. And the growing popularity of these devices are having a detrimental effect on the home console and boxed games market. Gamers are increasingly using their smart devices to play the free games on offer, instead of buying boxed titles at retail.
There is a solution. Sony’s senior business intelligence manager Alvaro Escorial believes the successful introduction of the next- gen consoles and new IP will be a saving grace for the country’s games market, and will keep consoles on top in the country. “We need to successfully introduce the next-generation consoles and introduce new IPs, and that should recover excitement on consoles,” Escorial told MCV.
www.mcvuk.com
PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION 505 Games, Activision Blizzard, Disney, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Namco Bandai, Nintendo, Sony, Ubisoft, Warner Bros
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