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January 11th, 2021, 18:10 Posted By: wraggster
The first week in January is a notoriously quiet one for boxed video game sales. It's rare we will see a release of any kind during this window, and of course most gamers will still be busy with their Christmas presents.
Yet the isn't any normal start to the year, with the UK heading into another full lockdown to try and curb the spread of coronavirus. This may explain why over 260,000 boxed games were sold in the UK last week, which is a third more than what was achieved during the same week this time last year.
The main driver of the growth was Nintendo Switch, with games for the console dominating the boxed charts last week. In fact, Switch game sales are up over 123% compared with the same week in 2020. Animal Crossing: New Horizons holds onto the top spot, despite sales dropping 47% (it's worth noting that sales drops during the first week of the year are entirely normal), followed by Mario Kart 8: Deluxe at No.2 (sales down 43%). At No.3 it is Just Dance 2021, which rises two places despite a 24% sales slide. Just Dance 2021 is available across all platforms, of course, yet almost 90% of the game's sales so far have been on Nintendo Switch (physical sales only, digital sales are not included).
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...k-boxed-charts
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January 11th, 2021, 18:08 Posted By: wraggster
GameStop today reported its holiday results, saying that sales were down 3.1% year-over-year to $1.77 billion despite strong demand for the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.
Unfortunately for the retailer, supplies of the new systems could not meet demand, which it pointed to as one reason for the decline.
It also attributed the slide in sales to regional government-mandated COVID-19 store closures, as well as its "de-densification" strategy that saw the permanent closures of 462 locations from the end of 2019 through October of 2020. (GameStop has announced plans to close hundreds more by the end of March 2021.)
That makes consecutive disappointing holidays for GameStop, as last year's holiday sales were already down 27.5% year-over-year.
However, the numbers weren't all down. GameStop reported that comparable store sales were actually up 4.8%, a number boosted by ecommerce sales being up 309% and accounting 34% of all of the company's business.
On top of that, GameStop said it saw holiday sales up 31% in Australia and New Zealand, where business hasn't been as hard hit by the pandemic.
"Overall, we remain confident in both the positive growth aspects for 2021 driven by our strategy to add new and exciting product revenue streams across all things games and entertainment and the strong demand for the new generation for console-based video game products," GameStop CEO George Sherman said.
"We look forward to executing on both of these areas in 2021 to expand our addressable market and product offerings supported by the many exciting opportunities to leverage our brand, extensive loyalty member base, and improving digital capabilities."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ercent-in-2020
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January 8th, 2021, 13:20 Posted By: wraggster
Digital games spending grew 12% year-over-year in 2020, reaching $127 billion across mobile, PC, and console.
According to SuperData's year in review report, $73.8 billion of digital spending occurred on mobile, while $19.7 billion was on console and $33.1 billion was on PC. In addition, gaming video content brought in $9.3 billion and XR spending reached $6.7 billion.
Free-to-play games generated the majority of digital revenue at $98.4 billion or 78% of the total, an increase of 9% year-over-year.
However, despite having the smaller share at $24.5 billion, premium games saw more growth, with digital sales up 28% year-over-year thanks to titles like Doom Eternal, The Last of Us Part 2, and Cyberpunk 2077.
Digital games spending reached $127 billion in 2020 | GamesIndustry.biz
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January 8th, 2021, 13:17 Posted By: wraggster
2011 was a bad year for portable hardware. We probably should have taken it as an omen when the year began with Sony unveiling the Headman at the Consumer Electronics Show. The prototype headset with dual OLED displays promised "a theatre-like experience," with Sony's executive deputy president Hiroshi Yoshioka saying he had been playing Gran Turismo 5 with it.
"Nobody - not even my wife - interrupted me, so I could get the highest score," he said, which was weird partly because I may have been misunderstanding how Gran Turismo works all these years, partly because the Headman didn't have any kind of a strap to keep it attached to the user's head so he would have had to use one hand to hold it up to his face and play the game with the other, and partly because it underscored the fundamental conflict of a supposedly portable piece of electronics that completely cuts the user off from the outside world. (Sony pitched it as a good way to enjoy movies on the couch or in-flight, because what could be more comfortable than holding your arms up for hours on end?)
But whatever. Like a lot of what makes headlines at CES, the Headman was more of a tech showcase than anything expected to become a consumer product.
Handheld hardships | 10 Years Ago This Month | GamesIndustry.biz
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January 8th, 2021, 13:15 Posted By: wraggster
Twitch has suspended US President Donald Trump's account for the second time, following an insurrection yesterday that saw a mob of Trump supporters breach the US Capitol, resulting in four dead.
"In light of yesterday's shocking attack on the Capitol, we have disabled President Trump's Twitch channel," Twitch said in a statement to CNN.
"Given the current extraordinary circumstances and the President's incendiary rhetoric, we believe this is a necessary step to protect our community and prevent Twitch from being used to incite further violence."
Twitch's actions follow similar suspensions handed down by Twitter on Wednesday and on Facebook and Instagram today -- with the former decision lasting for 12 hours from the time of the suspension, and the latter lasting "indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete," per Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-at-us-capitol
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January 8th, 2021, 13:11 Posted By: wraggster
As we cautiously tiptoe into a new year -- hoping in this instance that it's more of a reboot than a direct sequel -- it might seem a little naïvely optimistic to start by thinking about how things will pan out once the world has gone "back to normal," or at least receded to whatever form the "new normal" is going to take. With many countries experiencing soaring case counts and going back into lockdowns or states of emergency, while new strains of the virus wreak havoc and the promising vaccination programs struggle through early bureaucratic teething troubles, even hinting at a timeline for a return to normality is a fraught thing, let alone pondering what that normality might bring.
Within the relatively sheltered confines of the games industry, though, there are at least a few things we can glean, or at least discuss, about how the future beyond the pandemic is shaping up. Much of the industry's focus when it comes to talking about the "new normal" has been on its impact on work practices, and I've argued before that the balancing act between the genuine value of face-to-face working environments and the reasonable desire of many employees to enjoy the benefits of remote work is going to be far, far trickier than a lot of companies seem to be assuming.
As that discussion has rolled on, though, I wonder if a less flashy but arguably more impactful influence of the pandemic is being overlooked to some degree -- namely the impact our experiences in 2020 (and, unfortunately, in what seems likely to be much of 2021) will have on game design itself.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...onship-opinion
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January 4th, 2021, 18:23 Posted By: wraggster
It's somewhat fitting that Animal Crossing: New Horizons ends 2020 as last week's best-selling boxed video game in the UK.
The game rises two places over last week thanks to a sales increase of 7%.
The Nintendo title's incredible success has been well documented, reaching an audience the franchise has never seen before. In terms of UK boxed sales, the game is the second best-selling title of the year, behind FIFA 21. FIFA is, of course, available on multiple platforms and in terms of single platform sales, Animal Crossing is comfortably No.1 for 2020, ahead of FIFA 21 on PlayStation 4.
Typically in the UK, the end-of-year best-seller list is dominated by the likes of FIFA, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, and -- when they launch -- games like Battlefield, Fallout and Grand Theft Auto. Nintendo's title is now in the same league as these huge blockbusters.
This is purely on boxed game sales. The full analysis of the 2020 UK and European market data (including digital, console and accessory sales) will be revealed and dissected via GamesIndustry.biz over the next two weeks.
The latest GfK weekly chart is for week 53, running from December 26th - January 2nd, and so it's not a surprise to see game sales fall across the board now that the Christmas sales window has closed. Overall, boxed game sales were down 40% over the previous week.
The Top Ten mostly feature sales drops. Chart topper Animal Crossing may have risen 7% in sales, but FIFA 21 (No.2) dropped 55%, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (No.3) fell 35% and Assassin's Creed Valhalla (No.4) plunged 58%. Just Dance 2021 actually rose up to its highest position at No.5, but that's despite a sales drop of 43%. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold Wa at No.6 fell 61%, Minecraft on Switch slipped 29% but is up to No.7, and Super Mario 3D All-Stars fell 42% and rose to No.8.
GTA 5 (No.9) also rose back into the Top Ten, despite a sales slide of 38%. Bucking the trend at No.10 is a return for New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, which enjoyed a 33% sales spike helping the game rise ten places.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons ends 2020 at the top | UK Boxed Charts | GamesIndustry.biz
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January 3rd, 2021, 11:38 Posted By: wraggster
A new era has begun for the United Kingdom after it completed its formal separation from the European Union. From a report:The UK stopped following EU rules at 23:00 GMT, as replacement arrangements for travel, trade, immigration and security co-operation came into force. Boris Johnson said the UK had "freedom in our hands" and the ability to do things "differently and better" now the long Brexit process was over. But opponents of leaving the EU maintain the country will be worse off.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, whose ambition it is to take an independent Scotland back into the EU, tweeted: "Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on." BBC Europe editor Katya Adler said there was a sense of relief in Brussels that the Brexit process was over, "but there is regret still at Brexit itself". The first lorries arriving at the borders entered the UK and EU without delay. On Friday evening, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted that border traffic had been "low due to [the] bank holiday" but there had been no disruption in Kent as "hundreds" of lorries crossed the Channel with a "small" number turned back.
https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/0...european-union
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January 3rd, 2021, 11:21 Posted By: wraggster
FIFA 21 reclaimed the UK top spot, having missed out on the coveted Christmas No.1 position last week.
EA's football game rose in sales by 8% in terms of physical boxed copies only.
That means last week's No.1, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, falls to No.2 after a 21% drop in sales week-on-week. With the chart going over the Christmas Day period, it's not entirely surprising to see sales fall for most games. Animal Crossing: New Horizons rises to No.3, despite sales falling 20% week-on-week, while Mario Kart 8: Deluxe jumps to No.4 despite an 8% dip. To round off the Top Five, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War drops from No.2 to No.5 after a 42% sales slip.
The big new release of December, CD Projekt's Cyberpunk 2077, drops to No.8 after a 57% drop in sales. Remember, this is all purely based on physical game sales.
Other games that make up the Top Ten include Spider-Man Miles Morales for PS4 and PS5 (which holds No.6 after a 31% sales drop), Just Dance 2021 (up one place to No.7 despite a 28% sales slide), Super Mario 3D All-Stars (up one to No.9 with sales down 25%) and Minecraft on Switch (up one to 10 after a sales fall of 26%).
FIFA 21 reclaims No.1 from Assassin's Creed | UK Boxed Charts | GamesIndustry.biz
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December 22nd, 2020, 23:09 Posted By: wraggster
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News:
Several European countries have banned flights from the U.K. over fears about a new coronavirus variant that has forced millions of people in Britain to cancel their Christmas plans. Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Italy all announced restrictions on U.K. travel. Others will likely follow suit as scientists warned that the new strain spreads more quickly than its predecessor. [...] U.K. health officials first identified the new variant, which British scientists have called "VUI -- 202012/01," in mid-September, Maria Van Kerkhove, the Covid-19 technical lead for the World Health Organization, told the BBC on Sunday.
Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, warned in a statement Saturday that it the virus considered to be spreading more quickly. But he said there was no evidence so far to suggest that the new strain is more potent in terms of severe illness or death. "Our working assumption from all the scientists is that the vaccine response should be adequate for this virus," Patrick Vallance, the U.K. government's chief scientific adviser, said at a news briefing Saturday. But Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said he was concerned that the virus is on a pathway to become resistant to vaccines. "Whilst it may not be actually resistant, it may not take so many changes after this for it to get there," he said. However, Clarke said that different versions of flu vaccines are required every year and that he did not see why it could not be the same for the coronavirus.
The report notes that the new variant "has so far been identified in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia," adding that more sequencing that can be done will be helpful to determine if this variant is circulating elsewhere.
Gupta said the new strain should be cause for concern in the U.S. and other countries. Warning that the virus could mutate again, he said, "people need to step up their surveillance."
https://news.slashdot.org/story/20/1...ding-in-the-uk
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December 21st, 2020, 22:59 Posted By: wraggster
Digital games spending set a new monthly record in November, rising 15% year-over-year to $11.5 billion globally.
According to SuperData's monthly digital spending report, this was driven by a 9% rise in mobile spending, but also a 22% increase in PC spending to reach a new record high, largely driven by the launch of World of Warcraft's Shadowlands expansion.
Console earnings were also up 24% for the month, though this was not a new record, and spending was likely held back by a limited supply of next-gen consoles prompting those who would otherwise purchase new games to hit pause on spending until they could get ahold of the new hardware.
In software, World of Warcraft rose to No.1 on PC, up from No.5 in October again driven by its new Shadowlands expansion. The game saw its highest monthly revenue since 2008 and highest player numbers since 2010, with earnings up 50% from Battle for Azeroth's launch and player counts up 34%.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla also reached No.8 in its debut month, pushing Valorant out of the top 10 and selling 1.7 million digital units -- 50% more than Odyssey did at its launch.
However, its in-game revenue was down 62% from Odyssey despite overall revenue being up 23%, likely due to a lack of a paid experience booster being sold at launch.
On console, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War debuted at No.1, having sold 5.7 million digital units in its launch month -- up 7% from the launch month of prior record-holder Black Ops 4.
Additionally, Modern Warfare (at No.9 on console and No.10 on PC) had 2.7 times as many players as Cold War in November, largely thanks to Warzone.
Digital gaming just had its best revenue month ever in November | GamesIndustry.biz
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December 21st, 2020, 13:47 Posted By: wraggster
The live action adaptation of Capcom's best-selling Monster Hunter series opened in US cinemas this weekend, pushing total taking to $7 million.
IMDB Pro's Box Office Mojo reports the film took $2.2 million in box office takings during its box office opening weekend.
The Monster Hunter series has sold more than 65 million units worldwide -- thanks in part to the most recent entry Monster Hunter World, which stands as Capcom's best-selling title of all time at 16.4 million units.
The film is directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and stars Milla Jovovich, both of whom helmed the long-running series of Resident Evil film adaptations.
Jovovich stars the leader of a group of soldiers who are transported from our world to that of the monsters and must learn to fight them in order to find a way home.
The film has been available in selected markets around the world all month, having opened on December 3 in the Netherlands and arriving in China the following day.
So far, international takings have reached $4.8 million.
Monster Hunter movie makes $2.2m in US opening weekend | GamesIndustry.biz
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December 20th, 2020, 22:17 Posted By: wraggster
It was a close race for Christmas No.1 this year, with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Valhalla emerging as the No.1 physical game of the period.
It's the first time Assassin's Creed has claimed the Christmas No.1 position (and indeed, the first time for Ubisoft), and only the third time a non-FIFA or Call of Duty game has topped the boxed charts in 15 years (source: GfK Entertainment).
The game shot up in sales 66% due to some price discounting ahead of Christmas. The game beat out Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which was in second place after managing to sell as many copies this past week as it did the week before. It is the first time the Black Ops sub-series has not managed to claim Christmas No.1.
The big No.1 of last week was Cyberpunk 2077, and the RPG dropped 80% in sales this week and falls to No.3. The game has received some extremely negative press in recent days due to its poor technical performance on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. However, it's worth noting that an 80% drop in sales is not hugely unusual for a game such as this. Indeed, other games that secured big pre-orders, like The Last of Us: Part Two in the summer, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla in November, both dropped by 80% and 70% respectively in their second week.
It's likely the negative press has had some impact upon the game's sales this week, but the majority of the decline is to be expected.
CD Projekt's new game does hold off FIFA 21, which has to settle for fourth place despite a 40% sales increased. Meanwhile, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is at No.5 with an 11% drop in sales, the first sales drop it's experienced in over a month. Just 9,000 units separates Animal Crossing at No.5 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla at No.1.
This entire chart is purely based on physical retail sales.
Elsewhere, there were a number of last minute spikes in sales across the charts, partially due to price discounting. Spider-Man: Miles Morales climbs to No.6 after a 45% sales rise, Ring Fit Adventure returns to the Top Ten at No.9 after an 155% sales jump and Super Mario 3D All-Stars holds tenth spot with a 44% sales increase. Outside of the Top Ten, Immortals: Fenyx Rising jumps to No.12 thanks to an 107% sales increase, Watch Dogs Legion is at No.14 due to a 98% sales spike, and Carnival Games returns at No.35 with a 499% sales surge. There were deals on PS4 games, too, which meant that The Last of Us: Part Two is back at No.30 with a 374|% sales spike, and Ghost of Tsushima reaches No.34 after sales rose 208%.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla takes Christmas No.1 as Cyberpunk 2077 falls to third | UK Boxed Charts | GamesIndustry.biz
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December 20th, 2020, 10:04 Posted By: wraggster
Reuters reports:A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70% more infectious but it is not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and scientists said on Saturday.... "This is early data and it's subject to review. But it's the best that we have at the moment and we have to act on information as we have it, because this is now spreading very fast.
Prime minister Johnson also announced new and tougher lockdown restrictions for millions of people in the U.K., according to Reuters, which elsewhere reports the following known facts about the new variant:- The new variant is thought to have first occurred in mid-September in London or Kent, in the southeast of England.
- UK analysis suggests it may be up to 70% more transmissible than the old variant, which could increase the reproduction "R" rate by 0.4...
- The new variant contains 23 different changes, many of them associated with alterations in a protein made by the virus. Patrick Vallance, the UKâ(TM)s chief scientific adviser, said this was an unusually large number of changes...
- In London, 62% of cases were due to the new variant in the week of Dec. 9. That compared to 28% three weeks earlier. In London, the overall infection rate doubled in the last week.
New UK Strain of Coronavirus More Infectious, Say Government Scientists - Slashdot
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December 18th, 2020, 13:28 Posted By: wraggster
The Game Awards' audience grew 84% year-on-year, reaching over 83 million livestreams for its 2020 edition, which took place last week.
At the peak of the event, there were 8.3 million concurrent viewers worldwide (compared to 7.5 million in 2019), as the year-end celebration was streamed across 40 different networks. Twitch alone accounted for 2.63 million concurrent viewers globally at its peak, which is more than double compared to last year. Viewership also doubled on YouTube, though The Game Awards didn't disclose exact numbers, and saw a 84% increase year-on-year in terms of concurrent viewers.
9,000 content creators were co-streaming the show, a 91% increase year-on-year, with the 2019 edition having been co-streamed by 4,700 people.
Live hours watched also rose 129% across Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Gaming, according to Stream Hatchet. The announcement also highlighted that the event was particularly followed in China this year.
The Game Awards sets new viewership record with 83m livestreams | GamesIndustry.biz
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December 18th, 2020, 13:24 Posted By: wraggster
Regulation body China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association introduced a new age-based rating system for games in the country this week.
Under these new standards, games will be divided into three age categories, each represented by a colour: 8+ (green), 12+ (blue), and 16+ (yellow). Games must display these labels on their website and "other relevant materials," the South China Morning Post reported.
The new guidelines were announced at the Chinese Games Industry Annual Conference, held in Guangzhou, on Wednesday. The new system has been crafted by giants Tencent and NetEase, as well as 52 other organisations, and is called the 'Online Game Age-Appropriateness Warning'.
The new guidelines are currently in a pilot phase, said first deputy chairman of CADPA Zhang Yijun, adding that the aim is to provide "positive guidance for underage consumers."
China introduces new age rating system | GamesIndustry.biz
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December 17th, 2020, 00:30 Posted By: wraggster
A group of Members of Parliament in the UK called for the establishment of strict rules around the reselling of consoles in the country.
As reported by VGC, six MPs from the Scottish National Party proposed an Early Day Motion on Monday asking for legislation to prohibit the "resale of gaming consoles and computer components at prices greatly above Manufacturer's Recommended Retail Price."
Early Day Motions are designed specifically to draw attention on an issue for legislation consideration. The launch of the PlayStation 5 recently was particularly impacted by scalper groups buying large quantities of consoles to resell at a higher price. A common practice is for these groups to use bots to avoid queue systems implemented by retailers.
UK Members of Parliament call for ban on bulk buying consoles | GamesIndustry.biz
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