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May 26th, 2020, 17:57 Posted By: wraggster
A surge in console sales drove the US video games market to its best April to date.
The NPD Group's latest figures show hardware sales more than doubled year-on-year, up 163% to $420 million.
It's the highest April hardware spend since 2008's $427 million. Year-to-date spending on consoles has risen by 30% year-on-year to $1.2 billion.
The main driver of this growth has been Nintendo Switch, no doubt buoyed by the ongoing success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, plus the COVID-19 prevention measures which have seen much of the nation stay at home, in need of entertainment.
Nintendo's console topped both the unit sales and dollar rankings in the US last month. Year-to-date dollar sales of Nintendo Switch are now the highest for any platform in US history, shattering the record set by the Wii in April 2009.
But it's worth noting that Sony and Microsoft also fared well last month. As with the Switch, both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One saw hardware sales rise by more than 160% when compared to April 2019.
Total spending on games hardware, software, accessories and game cards rose 73% year-on-year to $1.5 billion, setting a new record for an April month's reported spend. The previous bar was set by April 2008, when US gamers spent $1.2 billion.
Year-to-date total spend stands at $4.5 billion, up 12% compared to this point last year.
Software naturally generated the most dollar sales at $662 million -- also a record high for an April month. The previous record was $642 million, again in April 2008.
The US has spent more than $2 billion on games software so far this year, 6% higher than the same period in 2019.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ent-to-usd420m
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May 26th, 2020, 17:53 Posted By: wraggster
Deep Silver's Maneater and Saints Row: The Third - Remastered are the only new games in this week's UK boxed charts.
Maneater is a game where players take control of a shark, and it makes its debut at No.6. Meanwhile, the Saints Row update comes in just behind at No.7.
Outside of those two new titles, it's a pretty typical chart that is once again dominated by Nintendo games. In fact, there are 13 first-party Switch titles in the top 40 this week.
The Nintendo game leading the way continues to be Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which retains its No.1 position despite a 28% fall in sales week-on-week. Its nearest rival is Mario Kart 8: Deluxe at No.2, which saw a spike in sales of 46% following the arrival of more stock.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...endo-dominates
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May 12th, 2020, 20:18 Posted By: wraggster
The organisers of ChinaJoy, China's major video games event, said this year's show will go ahead as planned.
Local news publication Shine -- formerly known as Shanghai Daily -- reports that special measures will be introduced to account for the COVID-19 pandemic at this year's ChinaJoy Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference.
Measures include the requirement for a real name and green health QR code during pre-registration, as well as temperature measurement throughout the show.
Exhibitors have also been told to stagger their displays to allow for more distance between attendees.
The show will once again be held at Shanghai New International Expo Center, running from July 31 to August 3.
Last year, ChinaJoy reported a record attendance of 364,700 across the four-day event.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...spite-pandemic
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May 11th, 2020, 16:46 Posted By: wraggster
Video game arcades are among the businesses due to resume operations in Hong Kong this Friday.
The city announced new guidelines this week, which will allow certain companies to reopen their establishments in order to boost the economy, The Register reports.
In addition to "amusement game centres", Hong Kong will also allow cinemas, gyms, bars and beauty salons to open their doors at the end of the week.
However, there will be some restrictions. Arcade operators will need to either form barriers between machines, or ensure that every second console is inactive.
The city has also restricted the number of people that may gather in a group, although this is due to be raised from four to eight.
A spokesperson from the Food and Health Bureau said: "In light of the more stabilised situation in Hong Kon in terms of the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the recent weeks... a window of opportunity exists for us to life some of the social distancing measures at the moment."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ades-this-week
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May 11th, 2020, 16:32 Posted By: wraggster
Tokyo Game Show is the latest major industry event to cancel plans for a physical gathering.
The show was due to take place from September 24 to 27 at the Japanese capital's Makuhari Messe.
However, organisers CESA, Nikkei and Dentsu have announced the event will be converted to an online edition, VGC reports.
"Due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on a global scale and the situation remains unpredictable in Japan as well, the organizer and the co-organizers have reached [this] decision after a long consideration to place the utmost priority on the health and safety of visitors, exhibitors and stakeholders," the organisers said in a statement.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...2020-cancelled
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May 11th, 2020, 16:27 Posted By: wraggster
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is back at No.1 in the UK after sales surged 135% week-on-week.
The increase follows an influx of physical stock into the market last week. The previous week's No.1, FIFA 20, slips to No.3.
Nintendo's big new Switch game has far exceeded expectations globally, with the game already surpassing Nintendo's lifetime expectations in just six weeks.
Outside of Animal Crossing, it's a pretty quiet week for new boxed game releases, with no new titles in the Top 40. The second best-selling game of the week is the unstoppable Grand Theft Auto V, which saw a sales bump of 47% week-on-week.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ge-135-percent
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May 4th, 2020, 22:45 Posted By: wraggster
GDC Summer, the August replacement for the cancelled March Game Developers Conference, has been shifted to an all-digital event due to COVID-19.
The event was set previously for August 4 through 6, with no word currently on whether or not these will be shifted to account for the event no longer taking place at San Francisco's Moscone Center.
"As so many game developers embrace remote working arrangements and online collaboration, we're inspired to adapt and deliver GDC in a digital format that will be available to everyone with an internet connection, and will work hard to deliver the high-quality content and networking opportunities GDC attendees have come to expect," reads the announcement from GDC.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-digital-event
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May 4th, 2020, 21:57 Posted By: wraggster
While other companies appear to be distancing themselves from early June after COVID-19 forced E3 2020's cancellation, EA at least is still going forward with its plans.
The publisher has announced that EA Play Live will take place on Thursday, June 11 at 4:00 p.m. PT, featuring a live broadcast, community content, and world premieres of upcoming games.
EA has been holding its own E3-adjacent event since 2016, when it declined to have a booth on the show floor and instead began hosting a multi-day festival in LA in a separate location.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-in-early-june
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May 4th, 2020, 21:53 Posted By: wraggster
Gaming has surged in China throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, though players are primarily gravitating toward older, more familiar titles.
According to Niko Partners' report on The Impact of COVID-19 on China's Video Game Market, gaming revenue in China was up roughly 30% year-over-year during Q1 2020 -- while much of China was under various stages of quarantine.
Through a survey of 1,057 Chinese gamers, Niko Partners found that 97% of respondents were spending more time on mobile games than they had prior to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, 95% said they were spending more time with PC games, and 95% were playing more console games.
Much of this uptick in gaming time was spent with familiar titles, as 89% reported sticking with games that were familiar to them, and 61% saying they returned to a game they had previously played but had stopped.
However, 75% of those surveyed said they had tried to play games on a new platform (mobile, PC, or console) since the outbreak began.
Viewership of gaming in China was also up, with 62% of respondents staying they were spending more time watching esports, 65% watching more video game live streams, and 40% saying they had tried live streaming themselves for the first time.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...under-lockdown
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April 29th, 2020, 20:47 Posted By: wraggster
For all the advances video games have made in attracting broader audiences, there's one demographic that's always important to continue reaching out to: parents and carers.
Over the decades, the games industry has gone to great lengths to educate those with young children about the content of its products, the potential risks involved in online play, the availability of parental controls, and so on.
Yet, there is still concern around the way kids engage with video games, whether it's the ongoing notion that they're all addicted to Minecraft/Fortnite/[Insert popular game here] or that they're being manipulated by predatory monetisation mechanics.
Efforts to educate parents about video games have been numerous over the years, such as marketing and awareness campaigns like the Get Smart About Play initiative by UK trade body UKIE.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ix-style-lists
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April 29th, 2020, 16:35 Posted By: wraggster
The Chinese government has blocked a coronavirus-themed game from Steam because of its political motivations.
Developed by MythZ, Coronavirus Attack sees players trying to stop "self zombies" from leaving a country infected with the virus.
While the game itself doesn't directly name China, it references the nation's flag with virus-shaped animations instead of stars.
It also features a number of achievements such as "Liberate Hong Kong" and "Taiwan is not China" -- a reference to how Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games saw its PC horror title Devotion removed from Steam for containing an art asset which described China's president for life Xi Jinping as "Winnie the Pooh moron."
"A selfish-zombie virus has infected throughout the country," reads the game's description. "The virus carriers are attempting to flee the country.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...steam-in-china
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April 29th, 2020, 11:49 Posted By: wraggster
The UK games industry has launched a new initiative offering free games to NHS front line workers fighting COVID-19.
Backed by dozens of game companies -- including Electronic Arts, Xbox and Media Molecule -- Games for Carers will provide a free game or game subscription to NHS staff.
By entering their NHS email address, healthcare workers can securely access their free game or subscription on the Games for Carers website.
Conceived by journalist Chris Scullion, and with support from trade body UKIE and influencer marketing solutions firm Keymailer, more than 85,000 games across a range of genres, platforms and age ratings are available.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...to-nhs-workers
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April 29th, 2020, 11:48 Posted By: wraggster
The battle royale spin-off of Call of Duty has already made a big impact in China, based on figures from the nation's largest streaming platform.
Analyst firm Niko Partners, which specialises in the Asian games market, has shared statistics from leading site Douyu to mark the launch of its new China games streaming tracker.
Its first monthly report shows that Call of Duty: Warzone, which launched on March 10, ranked as the ninth most popular game of the month, based on Douyu's heat index. This is calculated based on hours streamed, number of unique streamers, and amount generated in tips to streamers.
Call of Duty: Warzone racked up 156,188 hours streamed during the month, spread across 6,860 unique streamers. They received RMB 2.25 million ($317,509) in tips throughout March.
Warzone was the highest placing new release of the month.
Activision Blizzard is also the only Western publisher to be directly represented in the rankings. Games from other Western firms are listed by their local Chinese publishers, including Blizzard's own World of Warcraft and Overwatch, which are both handled by NetEase in the region.
The highest ranking Western-developed title is League of Legends at No.3, created by Riot Games but published in China by Tencent. The popular MOBA was streamed for over 900,000 hours by 42,607 streamers and generated RMB $24.5 million ($3.46 million).
The biggest game of the month was Tencent's flagship MOBA Honor of Kings -- known as Arena of Valor in the West. That racked up 469,326 hours streamed across 62,294 streamers. It generated RMB 21.6 million ($3.05 million).
Honor of Kings has been the most popular game in China every year since it launched in October 2016.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...aming-rankings
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April 27th, 2020, 22:28 Posted By: wraggster
Nintendo Switch boxed games jumped in sales week-on-week as more stock became available to retailers.
The No.1 game of the week was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, making its return to the top for the first time since it launched. The Switch exclusive saw a 53% jump in sales over the previous week.
It means FIFA 20 slips to No.2. The EA game loses its place despite sales only dropping 1% week-on-week.
A game that continues to leap up the charts is Ring Fit Adventure, which is also for Nintendo Switch. The game has been much sought after as a means for people to keep fit during the current lockdown situation, but Nintendo has struggled to meet the demand. Over the past three weeks, regular shipments has seen the game reach No.25, then No.10 and now the game is at No.4 after a 95% jump in sales week-on-week. The fitness title is now sold out once again.
Other big Switch games include Mario Kart 8: Deluxe at No.7, which saw a sales bump of 10% week-on-week, and Luigi's Mansion 3 at No.9, which is up 8%.
It's another quiet week for physical game releases, although there is one new title in the form of Trials of Mana. The Square Enix RPG makes No.16, with 61% of sales coming on Switch and the remainder on PlayStation 4.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...no-1-in-the-uk
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April 22nd, 2020, 15:02 Posted By: wraggster
After COVID-19 prompted the closure of numerous GameStop locations around the world, the retailer today announced its first steps to re-open those stores.
"The company has begun the process of re-opening stores in Italy, Germany, Austria and the states of South Carolina and Georgia and is preparing for the potential to re-open in other operating countries and states in the coming weeks," GameStop said in a news release today.
GameStop stores in the US have been closed to customers since March 21. One-third of store locations in the US have been shuttered entirely, while two-thirds have been taking orders through the store's website and allowing customers to do a curbside pickup.
The company said the curbside option has allowed the company to meet more than 90% of the sales volume it had expected from those locations before the pandemic hit.
Despite that, GameStop's comparable store sales for the nine-week period ended April 4 were down roughly 23% year-over-year. At the point of the March 21 mass closures across the US, comparable store sales had been up roughly 3%.
Beyond the store re-openings, GameStop also detailed some additional steps it was taking.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ed-by-covid-19
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April 22nd, 2020, 15:00 Posted By: wraggster
The sales of boxed games in the UK dropped by 43% week-on-week as the lockdown situation continues.
The boxed games market has seen a surge in sales over the previous four weeks, with 1.5 million games sold as a result of consumers buying up games to play during lockdown. Some of this has been driven by a sharp increase in console sales, with PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch all spiking in popularity, and many of these consoles were sold with software.
However, that initial surge is showing signs of abating, with just over 200,000 games sold in the UK last week, compared with more than 350,000 the week before.
Despite the drop, 200,000 is still ahead of how the market was performing before coronavirus restrictions were put in place (around 150,000 games were selling every week during February and early March). It's also worth noting that there were no new releases last week, plus there have been stock shortages of Nintendo Switch consoles.
Indeed, the stock shortages of Nintendo Switch can be seen in the performance of its games this week. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (No.2) is down 42% week-on-week, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (No.7) is down 62%, and Luigi's Mansion 3 (No.9) is down 9%.
The one exception is Ring Fit Adventure. Nintendo's sold out fitness game was available briefly via GAME, Amazon and ShopTo, and as a result it increased 12% in sales week-on-week and rises to No.10 (a small quantity of stock also arrived the week before).
The best-selling game of the week was FIFA 20, which jumped from No.4 to No.1 despite a 25% drop in sales week-on-week.
Last week's big new release was Final Fantasy VII Remake, which suffered coronavirus-related distribution challenges and didn't sell as many boxed copies as you might expect from a major Final Fantasy launch. Unfortunately, the situation hasn't improved in its second week, with sales down 87% and the Square Enix title now sits at No.4.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...nge-43-percent
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April 21st, 2020, 22:22 Posted By: wraggster
Consumers in the UK spent a total of £5.35 billion on video games and related products last year.
That's according to the latest market valuation report from trade body UKIE, which notes that this total is down 4.8% from the £5.7 billion spent in 2018 -- a record year for the UK market.
The trade body noted that these revenues are "reflective of a market expectant of the next big thing," with both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X due to launch later this year.
The impact of anticipation for the next generation consoles can most be seen in the hardware section of the report, which shows console revenues are down 30.5% year-on-year to £488 million.
Console accessories, such as controllers, only suffered a 6.8% drop and are down to £331 million. Virtual reality hardware revenues decreased by 12%, now at £65.8 million, while PC hardware saw the slowest decline at 6.1%, with revenues reported at £469 million.
In total, spending on hardware fell 14% year-on-year to £1.35 billion.
Software, meanwhile, only suffered a 2.1% drop that brought full-year spending down to £3.85 million.
Digital and online revenues remained flat with only a 0.6% increase, but remained the biggest sector of the market at £1.98 billion -- now accounting for 51% of the UK's software market. Mobile followed at £1.21 billion, up 7.7% year-on-year.
Boxed and pre-owned software both saw steep declines at 21.7% and 18.7& respectively. Consumers spent £603 million on new games in 2019 and £55.2 million on second-hand titles.
This is in part reflective of the comparatively lack of headline titles compared to previous years, as the next big releases are held back for the upcoming consoles.
The report notes that Amazon is now the biggest individual retailer for new boxed games, accounting for almost a quarter of all sales.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...t-gen-consoles
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April 19th, 2020, 23:14 Posted By: wraggster
Keywords Studios recorded a 30% rise in revenue in 2019, even as its profits declined by more than 20%.
In the year ended December 31, 2019, Keywords earned €326.5 million in revenue, up 30% over the previous year. The company made a net profit of €17.4 million, down 21% year-on-year.
In part, that decline in profit was due to Keywords' busy acquisition strategy, which has been a feature of its growth for many years. In 2019, it bought eight companies: Sunny Side Up, GetSocial, Wizcorp, Descriptive Video Works, TV+Synchron, Ichi, Syllabes and Kantan.
Last month, Keywords was criticised for its alleged practices in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, including the accusation that staff were made to work from offices while management shifted to remote operations.
In its annual report, Keywords said that 5,500 of its staff are now working from home, and it is "in discussion with remaining clients to move more production staff to this model, particularly in testing, where we hope to reduce the number of people currently in furlough arrangements."
Keywords CEO Andrew Day and CFO Jon Hauck are both taking a 20% reduction in pay until further notice, while a number of executives and non-executive directors are taking unspecified pay cuts.
The company offered no guidance on its performance for the current year.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ovid-19-doubts
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April 19th, 2020, 23:12 Posted By: wraggster
COVID-19 already has experts talking about the worst economic downturn in a century, but one games industry analyst believes any negative impact on the next-generation consoles won't be fully seen until after the launch period.
In a report released today, Ampere Analysis' Piers Harding-Rolls evaluates the impact the pandemic is likely to have on a number of sectors within gaming, both in the near-term and on a longer timeline.
Barring supply chain issues or game development delays, Harding-Rolls expects both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X to launch this November with price tags between $450 and $500. But even at those prices and in the middle of a global economic calamity, he expects the early adopter crowd to bolster the numbers.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...1-says-analyst
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