Social "mid-core" games attracting more paying gamers

May 16th, 2012, 01:48 Posted By: wraggster

US social gamers are spending less per person, but playing more mid-core titles
The landscape of the social gaming world continues to change; more input from market research firm SuperData suggests that the average amount of revenue brought in from each gamer has been dropping, from $45.58 to $37.59 in the span of a year. This number might be dropping, but the firm does recognize that more and more gamers are paying for titles.
According to analyst Janelle Benjamin, games considered 'mid-core' are helping to drive business in a market expected to tip $1.8 billion by the end of the year in the US and $1.4 billion in Europe. By 2015 SuperData expects the global social game market (on social networks and mobile) to hit $13 billion. The mid-core games are pushing more and more players to pay, something close to 2.5 percent of social gamers. This is a marked increase over 1.4 percent from last year.
"Mid-core social games are clearly driving the current momentum," said Benjamin. "This emerging genre represents a different gaming demographic that spends substantially more."
The best performing games on the market remain shooter and strategy titles, notes Benjamin. The hardest hit games in the genre are from farming-type genres, much like FarmVille.
While an 18 percent drop in average sales per user might be cause for concern, the increase in paid conversion actually indicates a growth in overall revenues per title. Developers are seeing a wider swath of the market embracing paid titles, with many new players not spending as much as those who have embraced paid social games over the past year.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...s-says-analyst

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HMV and Microsoft raise £19k for Teenage Cancer Trust

May 15th, 2012, 23:59 Posted By: wraggster

A charity 5-A-Side football event held by HMV and sponsored by Microsoft has raised £19k for Teenage Cancer Trust.
Sony Music emerged as the winners of the tournament, having come from two goals down to topple runners up OMD 4-3. Sony Music’s Ryan Slack was named as the player of the tournament.
“HMV is, of course, also hugely obliged to Microsoft, whose sponsorship and on-the-day support helps to make this annual event possible,” an HMV statement read.
“Over the years its value to us must have amounted to the best part of £200,000. So huge and special thanks to them and to Samantha Earley and Marcus Toon in particular.”
Here’s the complete list of contributors to the event:
BBC Consumer Products (Greg Wilson), Bravado (Alex Mitchell), Faber (Clare Yates), House of Marley/HoMedics (Tim Joslin), Island Records (David Hawkes), Koch Media (Deane Punter/Steve Crisp),Libertine London (Will Wright/Emma Herridge), Lionsgate (Ben Grunbaum),MEDGE,Ministry of Sound(Rob Watson/Andy Pegler/Mark Findlay),Momentum Pictures (Rob Bentley/Neil Williams), Ninja Tune(Sam Upton/Darryl Defoe),Paramount Home Entertainment (Tony Glasscoe), Skullcandy (Henrik Anderson), Sony Music (Greg Lawton), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Mark Bowron), Teenage Cancer Trust (Laura Martin), Twentieth CenturyFox (Chris Shiels/Richard Kinney/Kate Longbottom)Universal Pictures (Martin Nichols), Warner Bros. (Sam Howes/Nik Leighton/Tracey Stewart) and Warner Music (Paul Reeve).

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/hmv-a...r-trust/096072

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Infinity Ward devs take $42m in Activision lawsuit

May 15th, 2012, 23:42 Posted By: wraggster

Royalties went unpaid for two years; No settlement reached as lawyer seeks full figure

Publishing giant Activision has paid a portion of its employees $42 million in long-delayed royalty payments for Modern Warfare 2, as part of a wider lawsuit between the company and development staff.
The lost bonuses were initially due after the release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, which broke sales records when it launched in November 2009.

In 2010, as many as 38 development staff – known collectively as the Infinity Ward Employee Group – went on to sue Activision for unpaid royalty payments.
At the same time, and in a separate case, two of the studio’s directors – Vince Zampella and Jason West – launched a lawsuit against Activision, seeking various damages after the pair was dismissed for “insubordination”.
That lawsuit, which also incorporates EA, is still going ahead.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...vision-lawsuit

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SG-1000 edition

May 15th, 2012, 01:21 Posted By: wraggster

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Report: Amazon planning front-lit Kindle e-reader for July, new tablet later this yea

May 15th, 2012, 00:57 Posted By: wraggster

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2m games sold in UK during quiet April

May 15th, 2012, 00:37 Posted By: wraggster

The UK games retail market was down a third in a tough April for the trade.
Retailers made £45.8m from software sales last month, a 34.1 per cent drop over the same period last year.
Just over 2m games were sold at UK retail, a year-on-year decline of 33.2 per cent.
However, there were significantly more games released in April 2011, including hit titles Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat.
Last month’s highest charting new release was Microsoft’s Kinect Star Wars, which reached No.2. Activision’s Prototype 2 managed No.5, despite only being on sale for two days when this data was collected.
EA was the No.1 publisher once again, with FIFA Street established as the month’s biggest selling game. EA had five titles in the Top Ten.
Xbox 360 was the leading platform. Nintendo enjoyed its own success as Wii, 3DS and DS grew in market share.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/2m-ga...t-april/096009

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Retailers praise 'refreshing' new Call of Duty

May 15th, 2012, 00:34 Posted By: wraggster

UK games stores have applauded Activision’s ‘risky’ new direction for Call of Duty.
Black Ops II thrusts the series 13 years into the future, and introduces non-linear gameplay to the franchise.
“I sense that there's a real commitment from Activision and Treyarch to raise the bar once again for the Call of Duty franchise, and the setting and weapon details that have been released are the first big step in driving the series further,” said HMV’s head of technology and games Ewan Pinder.
“The return of zombies is also a great announcement and one I think fans of the series will welcome."
Play.com games buyer Keith Sharpe added: “It’s testament to Activision that they continue to push the boundaries and once again offer gamers a refreshing new take on the genre. I think it’s great to see that in the current economic climate, publishers are prepared to keep taking risks and not sell the consumer short by taking the safer option.”
Pre-orders are already tracking ahead of every Call of Duty released so far. Amazon revealed last week that its day-one pre-order total is three times higher than the original Black Ops.
“Activision has to be commended for trying to offer gamers more content for their money, and I am especially excited about the non-linear gameplay,” said Asda’s head of games Andrew Thompson.
“Asda went live with online pre-orders for Black Ops II at 3am on the day of announcement, and for the first time ever, we announced this on Twitter. We feel that social media will play a big part in sharing all the news on this year’s big releases.”
The Hut Group’s business development head Sarah Jasper added: “The new direction seems like a logical step, and depending on how this is implemented the non-linear gameplay should make it even more accessible to the wider gaming market.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops II launches on November 13th.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/retai...of-duty/096010

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Sniper Elite V2 holds UK chart top spot

May 15th, 2012, 00:27 Posted By: wraggster

Sniper Elite V2 remains at the top of the UK all-formats chart for a second week, despite a 38 per cent drop in sales.
Starhawk is the week's only true new entry, but Sony's PS3-exclusive shooter debuts in a lowly 17th place. Telltale's Back To The Future: The Game, published by Deep Silver, enters the chart at number 38 in its second week on shelves thanks to a 39 per cent jump in sales.
The top ten remains fairly static, with Prototype 2 sliding from two to four, swapping places with FIFA Street. The only other change isAssassin's Creed Revelations' re-entry at number ten, knockingCall Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to eleven and beating it by fewer than 100 sales.
01. Sniper Elite V2 (505 Games)
02. FIFA Street (EA)
03. FIFA 12 (EA)
04. Prototype 2 (Activision)
05. Mass Effect 3 (EA)
06. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 (EA)
07. Kinect Star Wars (Microsoft)
08. Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games (Sega)
09. Battlefield 3 (EA)
10. Assassin's Creed Revelations (Ubisoft)

http://www.edge-online.com/news/snip...chart-top-spot

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April NPD: Prototype 2, Xbox 360 on top; sales down year-over-year

May 14th, 2012, 01:31 Posted By: wraggster

US retail results have arrived for April.
NPD’s latest report states hardware sales accounted for $189.7m, accessories brought in $148.6m, and software sales contributed $292.1m. In terms of year-over-year, accessories saw a very marginal increase, while hardware and software sales saw dramatic drops.
Microsoft continued to dominate the US hardware chart, finishing ahead of the pack for the 16^th consecutive month. 236,000 360 systems were sold during the period, with the Kinect Star Wars bundle helping to drive the average selling price up for hardware in general.
Prototype 2 claimed the top spot in software sales, with Kinect Star Wars finishing in second as the number one selling exclusive.
The industry as a whole brought in $630.4m, down 32 per cent from last year’s $930.9m (though the NPD did add that the ‘total consumer spend’ on games including digital is estimated at $1bn).
Here is the full list of April’s top sellers:
Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms including PC)

1. Prototype 2 (360,PS3)
2. Kinect Star Wars (360)
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
4. Tiger Woods: PGA Tour 13 (360, PS3)
5. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC)
6. The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings (360, PC)
7. Mario Party 9 (Wii)
8. Mass Effect 3 (360, PS3, PC)
9. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
10. MLB: The Show (PS3, PSV)

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NPD says total US games market was over $1bn in April

May 14th, 2012, 01:22 Posted By: wraggster

The money generated from overall game sales in the US during April has been estimated at a whopping $1bn.
This figure from The NPD Group includes sales of hardware, accessories, new and used physical games at retail, rentals, digital downloads, add-on content, subscriptions, mobile games and social network titles.
It’s the first time the entire US games market has been taken into account during a single month. Previously, the data only included sales of boxed product.
Prototype 2 was the best-selling game in the US last month, and boxed sales made up $630.4m. Read the April 2012 NPD salesnews story for more specific details.
NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier said: “I think the new physical retail content sales reflect a very light release schedule in terms of the amount of compelling new games.
“Last April, the top seven titles outsold the top-selling title this year, and, simply stated, there were notably fewer new market introductions. I think it’s a simple as that because when we see compelling content come into the market, the games are still selling as well as ever – we just saw a lot less this April as compared to last.
“For some insight into digital purchasing of content, we can look at the performance of points and subscription cards which were up 75 per cent in units over last April. These could very well have been last minute additions to Easter baskets early in the month."

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/npd-o...n-april/095917

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