MCV: Home Stream

EA: Releasing Reckoning after Skyrim is an opportunity

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:30:00 +0000

Record-breaking RPG Skyrim has paved the way for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, says EA.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was a smash hit for Bethesda after going on sale last November, shipping well over 10m units, topping the Christmas sales chart and breaking records on download platform Steam.

As EA releases Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning today (Friday, February 10th), the publisher is confident it can follow Bethesda’s triumph with an RPG hit of its own.

“Releasing after Skyrim can be a challenge, but it can also be an opportunity, as there are a lot more consumers out there who have just had their first experience of a really core RPG,” EA’s senior product manager Kevin Flynn told MCV.

“Reckoning delivers the size of the world, the inventory management and the depth that audience love, but the visceral combat and the approach 38 Studios have taken with that means that this is perhaps a little more accessible.”

EA also believes the backing of ‘top tier talent’ can help make Reckoning a success. This includes a storyline penned by best-selling fantasy author R.A. Salvatore, plus design work from The Elder Scrolls veteran developer Ken Rolston and comic book artist Todd McFarlane.

“Reckoning is being led by true quality which is reflected in the final product,” added Flynn.

The publisher says it will promote the game digitally, in-store, in core gaming print publications and online.

Top five kids gaming sites' share of TV ad market

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:18:00 +0000

Children's social gaming sites such as Moshi Monsters accounted for almost ten per cent of all video game TV advertising last month.

From January 1st to 22nd 2011 there were just two of these sites advertising on UK TV, Moshi Monsters and Fight My Monster. These accounted for 5.9 per cent, or 45.7 TVRs, of all games and consoles TV advertising. In terms of children’s TVRs, this share increases to 24 per cent.

As the chart below demonstrates, from January 1st to 22nd 2012, activity in this sector has increased year-on-year. Five sites have been on air in 2012, which have accounted for 9.8 per cent of all games and consoles TV advertising. In terms of children’s TVRs, this share increases to 36.7 per cent. A TVR represents one per cent of a target audience. It can go over 100 if some viewers watch the same ad twice.

Overall, TV advertising in this market has risen 114 per cent (and 136 per cent in terms of children’s TVRs). This is well ahead of the games and consoles growth figure of a healthy 30 per cent, or 55 per cent in terms of children’s TVRs.

Supplied by Generation Media

MCV Jobs Weekly: Wargaming's new King, top vacancies

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:58:00 +0000

In MCV's weekly rundown of the hottest vacancies and latest personnel news, industry veteran Al King returns to games and we run through the best job opportunities.

WARGAMING.NET RECRUITS KING

The company behind online games such as World of Tanks and World of Warplanes has hired Al King as global brand director.

King returns to the industry after five years of working for technology firms and poker websites. Prior to this, he worked in marketing roles at Electronic Arts, Midway Games and 20th Century Fox.

“I’m tremendously excited about returning to the games industry with one of the fastest growing and innovative companies in the online gaming sector,” he said. “I grew up on tabletop wargaming and model making as a kid. These products are a dream to work with.”

TOP FIVE VACANCIES - week ending February 10th

via OPM Recruitment – Business Development Manager (EU) – Games – MMO

Nintendo – Commercial Manager

via OPM Recruitment – Human Resources Manager (EU) – Games – MMO

way-forward – Japanese Online Community Moderator

via Aardvark Swift – Junior Events Manager

For more vacancies, head to MCVUK.com/jobs.

PERSONNEL NEWS

Premier's Cole moves to EML Wildfire

Harry Cole has joined the tech PR agency as account manager, handling clients such as Train2Game. He previously spent four years in the same role at Premier PR.

“With my experience in entertainment, online, social media and video games PR, I think I’ll be a huge asset to the EML Wildfire team,” said Cole.

Dixons chief leads Apple retail team

John Browett, former CEO of Dixons Retail, is to leave the firm for a new role at Apple.

He will leave in April to take up his new position as senior vice president of retail for the iPhone and iPad manufacturer. His role at Dixons will be filled by current group operations director Sebastien James.

Browett has been chief executive of electronics retailer since 2007, and was instrumental in reviving the struggling firm. He will be in charge of managing Apple’s established retail strategy.

“Apple is an exceptional company, and for me to sit inside a technology company like that and see how it works is really exciting,” he said. “There is no other job in the UK or elsewhere that I would have wanted.”

In the last year, Apple has also poached high-profile talent from the games industry, including Nintendo’s Rob Saunders, Activision’s Nick Grange and most recently Microsoft’s Robin Burrowes.

Hirano heads up Konami Europe

Shinji Hirano has been named as Konami’s new head of European operations.

He was previously president of the publisher’s US label and takes over from Kunio Neo. His main responsibilities will be to “institute [Konami’s] strategies” for key franchises Metal Gear Solid, Pro Evolution Soccer and Castlevania, as well as handling the firm’s mobile and social gaming and trading card businesses.

“I am keen to support the diversity the European territories offer, and looking to ways our business can best support the different tastes and opportunities they possess,” Hirano said. “Konami is a publisher with an enviable line-up of titles, and we will be making strides to ensure these titles gain the recognition they deserve.”

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:06:00 +0000

by Dominic Sacco
on Feb 10th 2012 at 4:06PM

Diablo III due in Q2 2012

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:50:00 +0000

RPG fans still have a while to wait for the return of Blizzard's hugely popular Diablo series.

The publisher's CEO Mike Morhaime announced that Diablo III will be released in the second quarter of 2012 – anywhere between April and June.

The new release window was given during an investor call discussing Activision Blizzard's full-year financials for 2011, during which the publisher took $4.7bn in revenues.

"We can also confirm that we are targeting a Q2 launch for Diablo III," he said. "We expect to announce more details about the release schedule in the coming weeks."

Eurogamer reports that Activision Blizzard CFO Thomas Tippl added that "at least" two Blizzard games will land on shelves before the year is out. The other titles Blizzard has in the works are DOTA, StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and the fourth World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria.

Diablo III was announced way back in 2008. Last year, Blizzard hinted at an "early 2012" release.

UK boxed games market plunges 30% in January

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:45:00 +0000

January was a grim month for UK games retail, with sales down 30 per cent year-on-year.

There was a dearth of new releases last month – by comparison LittleBigPlanet 2 and Dead Space 2 were released in January 2011.

In total 2,781,786 games were sold last month, down 27.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2011. Revenue was down 30 per cent to £59.2m.

FIFA 12 was the No.1 game of the month, followed by Battlefield 3 at No.2 and Modern Warfare 3 at No.3. The only charting new game was Resident Evil: Revelations at No. 45.

The success of FIFA and Battlefield meant that EA reclaimed its place as the No.1 publisher, knocking Ubisoft down to No.2.

Nintendo will hire from within for post-Paine era

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:22:00 +0000

David Yarnton confirmed this week that his overseeing of Nintendo’s UK marketing will be short-term.

Current marketing director Dawn Paine leaves Nintendo after ten years to join Universal Pictures later this month, with Yarnton taking an overseeing role until an appointment is made. But he told MCV that a successor will ultimately be hired from within the organisation.

“We’re sorry to see Dawn go, but we wish her well. It is also an opportunity for the team and for me to get closer to the marketing department, give them more support and direction whilst steering the ship going forward,” he said.

“There is a fantastic, experienced team in place, so the hire will most likely come from within.”

Senior marketing and comms managers Rob Lowe, James Honeywell and Jo Bartlett will report directly to Yarnton in the meantime.

Yarnton, Paine, Lowe and Honeywell were the core of a team that launched record-breaking platforms such as the Wii, DS and 3DS – plus a succession of hit titles such as Wii Fit, Brain Training and Mario Kart.

Paine’s current role is marketing director and assistant general manager. Her last day will be February 24th. She starts at Universal as VP of marketing on March 5th.

Koch deal helps Lace crack key Euro markets

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:08:00 +0000

A new partnership between UK publisher Lace Mamba Global and Koch Media will allow the former to bring its titles to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Koch has secured exclusive distribution rights to Lace Mamba's titles in these markets for the next three years.

The first wave of titles will include global warming sim Fate of the World, Lucius, the Sanctum Collection and a digital adaptation of The Thirty Nine Steps. More than ten PC and console games will be released under this deal in the first six months of 2012.

"This exciting partnership with Koch Media marks a new era for our young company and allows us to grow our catalogue with products and licenses for now even more territories," said Adam Lacey, managing director of Lace Mamba Global.

"We’re very happy to have found Koch Media as an exclusive partner. Their excellent sales and distribution network and experience will significantly help to create an ideal environment for our releases."

Mario Gerhold, Koch's head of marketing and PR for GSA added: “Compared to the UK, our very strong market for PC games here in Germany, Austria and Switzerland sets ground for a fruitful cooperation with Lace Mamba Global.

"The catalogue of our new partner includes unique adventure games and gaming gems, offering extended retail value by adding dedicated fan items to the retail releases. Together, we feel that we can offer both the gaming community as well as retailers a very exciting gaming portfolio.”

MCV Pacific team expands with associate editor

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:29:00 +0000

MCV Pacific has brought in more editorial resource in the form of James Cullinane, having enjoyed a hugely successful launch in the Asia-Pacific region.

James has been a writer at GamePlanet for some time now, this being his first foray into games after spending extensive time in advertising and marketing.

Leigh Harris, editor of MCV Pacific, said: "James is an intelligent, accomplished writer who understands both the nature of videogames and the realities of business better than most of the journalists in this region."

MCV Pacific has been a huge success since it launched in October 2011, and has been followed up by further expansion in the form of MCV Nordic, which will make its debut in March.

Harris continued: "James' savvy and professional approach are blended perfectly with an inate understanding of how games are distinct from other mediums. Additionally, his previous work in the games journalism sector in New Zealand makes him the most complementary addition to our local team we could've hoped for.

"We welcome James to the MCV Pacific group, and look forward to his valuable contribution to the local team moving forward."

Stay tuned for further expansions to the MCV and Intent Media activities in the South-East Asia-Pacific region.

To find out how MCV Pacific can support your business year-round across its online, email and social channels, contact Guy Blomberg on +61 (0)417 084 821.

US: Digital games account for $400m in January

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

The NPD Group estimates that downloadable, social, mobile and other form of non-physical games took up to $400m in sales last month.

The research firm's data shows that hardware and boxed sales were down 34 per cent year-on-year in January – coincidentally also around the $400m mark.

NPD analyst Liam Callahan said: "Outside of new physical retail sales, we estimate that the consumer spend on other ways to acquire content including used games, full game and add-on content downloads, social network games, mobile games, rentals and subscriptions accounted for an additional $350m to $400m in sales."

This echoes the situation in the UK, where the games market value fell by 13 per cent in 2011 – a deceptive number given that this figure only takes retail sales into account.

Geoff Heath, part of the UKIE group behind the digital charts due this month, told us last month that this does not represent the true games market value. Heath was one of several experts that have been vocal about the need for digital charts.

MCV has called for the industry to support the sharing of digital sales data.

Xbox 360 and Call of Duty still king in US

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:31:00 +0000

Microsoft and Activision had the best performing products in the US last month.

Xbox 360 was the top selling hardware for a sixth consecutive month, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 topped the best-selling games chart.

However, the Top 10 games did not sell well enough to prevent sales decline that saw the market drop year-on-year by almost $400m.

"While the lack of new launches was a major reason for software declines, games which launch in Q4 2011 also peformed poorly in January 2012, down 31 per cent in units compared to Q4 2012 launches in January 2011," said NPD analyst Liam Callahan.

"As shoppers were not drawn to stores due to new launch activity, this potentially impacted additional software purchases made on impulse."

Here's the Top 10 best-selling games in the US for January 2012:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision)
2. Just Dance 3 (Ubisoft)
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
4. NBA 2K12 (2K Games)
5. Battlefield 3 (EA)
6. Madden NFL 12 (EA)
7. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo)
8. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Activision)
9. Zumba Fitness 2 (Majesco)
10. Saints Row: The Third (THQ)

US game sales drop by $390 in January

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:16:00 +0000

A lack of new releases and the comparatively strong sales in 2011 saw the US video games market drop by almost $400m last month.

NDP data shows that combined sales of hardware, software and accessories fell to $750.6m, down 34 per cent from the $1.14bn taken in January. Both software and hardware sales dropped by 38 per cent to $355.9m and $199.5m respectively.

Accessories saw the lowest decline at 18 per cent, down to $195.2m. This sector of the market was driven largely by Skylanders figures, which accounted for 22 per cent of total accessory unit sales.

"January retail performance experience steep declines with a lack of software launches, and poor hardware and accessory performance partly related to bad comps from Kinect-related success in January 2011," said NPD analyst Liam Callahan.

"One factor for the double digit declines was the lack of new launches. New launches in January 2011 represented 13 per cent of dollar sales and new launch performance dropped 99 per cent in January 2012.

"Games like Dead Space 2, LittleBigPlanet 2 and DC Universe Online ranked within the Top Ten last year, making for a poor comparison in January 2012 where there were no major releases."

Skylanders toys surpass 20m units

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:47:00 +0000

Skylanders is Activision's biggest ever 'new IP' and 'potentially a $1bn franchise.'

The new kids property - which is technically part of the Spyro franchise, but we'll gloss over that – was 2011's No.1 kids property, according to the publisher.

It says that the toys alone has sold more than 20m units since it launched last year, with sell-outs reported across Europe and the US.

In North America and Europe, including accessory packs and figures, Skylanders Spyro's Adventure was the No.8 best-selling game in value for Q4 2011.

Activision is now planning a new title in the series, Skylanders Giants.

UK leads digital and physical game sales

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:45:00 +0000

NDP data shows that UK consumers buy more video games – both boxed and downloadable – than those in France, Germany in the US.

The research group reported that the split between physical and digital sales in Germany is nearly equal, although France is dominated by boxed sales.

The UK also had the highest reported usage on home consoles, while the US has the highest number of gamers using smartphones and other app devices. Germany has the highest usage of personal computers, while France's consumers predominantly prefer dedicated gaming handhelds.

The number of consumers buying and playing games was lower in the US than in these three European markets - which have a combined population close to two-third of the US.

"Digital distribution provides the games industry with an opportunity to reach consumers on a global basis faster than ever before," said NDP's games industry analyst Anita Frazier.

"Gaming is a global business and one that needs to take into account the unique dynamics, incluidng consumers preferences for acquiring content as well as device usage. This is information that can be used at both a strategic and tactical level in order to reduce risk."

What's Out Today? w/e February 10th, 2012

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:19:00 +0000

There's a healthy spate of new releases on shelves this week, including supernatural shooters, surreal puzzle games and sprawling RPGs.

2K Games' The Darkness II follows up the success of the 2007 FPS, once again putting players in the shoes of Jackie Estacado, who takes on demons with both ordinary guns and mysterious powers called The Darkness.

Meanwhile, Deep Silver cater to puzzle fans with Japanese cult hit Catherine, which follows a man plagued by a strange woman and powerful dreams that could kill him.

Finally, Electronic Arts expands its RPG portfolio with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, an open world fantasy adventure from the talent behind the Elder Scrolls series.

Also out this week is Fallout New Vegas: Ultimate Edition (Bethesda) and Grand Slam Tennis 2 (EA).

Click here for MCV's comprehensive and fully updated release schedule.

Activision Blizzard's revenue hits $4.7bn

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:11:00 +0000

Activision Blizzard has posted record breaking revenue of $4.76bn for the financial year.

$1.6bn of this was generated from digital markets. That's 34 per cent of the company's total revenues.

The $4.76bn is well ahead of Activision's projections (almost $800m more) and is up over the previous year's $4.45bn.

Net revenue for Q4 2011 was $1.41bn, slightly down on the $1.43bn posted the year before.

Activision plans to buy back a further $1bn in shares this year.

The publisher's success comes down mostly to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty Elite, while Skylanders and World of Warcraft played their part.

Activision says that it is the No.1 publisher across Europe and the US combined, and No.1 in the US.

"As we continue to strengthen our leadership position in interactive entertainment, our proven management team and talented employees delivered another extraordinary year of outperformance," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.

"With better than expected net revenues, record earnings, record operating margins, and having generated nearly $1 billion in operating cash flow, Activision Blizzard continues to set the industry success bar."

"Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft maintained its leadership position as the number 1 subscription-based MMORPG around the world and Activision Publishing's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the number 1-selling game. Skylanders Spyro's Adventure was the biggest new IP launch in Activision's history and it is on track to become an important and sustainable franchise. We launched our online service, Call of Duty Elite, which is one of the fastest growing premium online services ever created."

"Our extraordinary employees around the world are focused on making 2012 another great year for our audience and stakeholders. Blizzard Entertainment plans to have multiple highly-anticipated titles to release, including Diablo III, and Activision Publishing expects to release a new Call of Duty game. In addition, Activision Publishing expects to continue to grow Call of Duty Elite and launch Skylanders Giants."

ShopTo profits rocket 254%

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:28:00 +0000

Online indie ShopTo.net has seen its profit leap 254 per cent for the six months ending January 31st.

The company says it has ‘defied’ the slowdown seen in games by posting record results. Its market share in hardware also leapt during the period, with sales of consoles accounting for £8m of the retailer’s turnover.

ShopTo told MCV it has also seen ‘extremely’ strong pre-orders for Sony’s upcoming PlayStation Vita.

“Despite the recent news about video games retailers suffering in the current economic climate, we have been delighted with these recent trading figures and strong balance sheet,” said ShopTo CEO Igor Cipolletta.

“This is our fifth consecutive profitable year and an important milestone for ShopTo. We’re expanding at an impressive rate with new innovations to ensure that our customers receive the best value and service in entertainment retail.

“We are committed to increasing our market share on next generation consoles by offering the best value bundles. PS Vita pre-orders were phenomenal in January.”

UKIE plans to make UK crowd funding legal

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:49:00 +0000

Industry trade body UKIE will publish a report next week outlining how to make crowd funding legal for UK games firms.

It wants to change legislation so that publishers and other games companies can receive money from large numbers of individuals, in order to fund new projects.

The news comes after US developer Double Fine received more than $614,000 from individuals today who are willing to fund a new point-and-click adventure project.

UKIE’s Crowd Funding Report – due on February 17th – will explain how UK law could be changed to facilitate crowd funding. At the moment this funding method is currently restricted in the UK by the legal and regulatory framework.

UKIE’s CEO Jo Twist said: “Double Fine’s Kickstarter project has today shown the huge potential of crowd funding to benefit games and interactive entertainment businesses.

“We need the UK to be able to take full advantage of crowd funding and UKIE’s Crowd Funding Report, due next week, will outline exactly what needs to be done for this to be possible.”

OPINION: GAME lives to fight another day

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:39:00 +0000

Without question a challenging road lies ahead of GAME.

But at least for now its staff – whether those at the Basingstoke HQ or at its 600 stores across the UK – can breathe a sigh of relief.

The uncertainty, at least, is gone for now.

Of course there’s still changes and some pain to come. That international sell-off or divestment, for a start. Plus it is dropping a big chunk of head office staff, and is still maintaining that it will phase out another 50 stores by next year.

Yet all GAME and its partners were asking for lately was stability. Thanks to a new agreement with its lenders they have it.

Plus, there is emphatic support from suppliers. We talk a lot about market value in MCV, but the real value in this business is the relationships which make that market exist in the first place.

It’s bittersweet in some ways: publishers seem to respect a humbled GAME Group moreso than when it was the unshakable market leader holding all the cards.

But at least now it is clear GAME’s journey still has mileage. And not many people were saying that last week.

REALITY CHECK FOR THOSE WANTING GAME’S DEMISE

As for those naysayers – well, GAME’s blip last week was hopefully an education of sorts.

Clearly only a few people understand what kind of catastrophe a GAME, or HMV, collapse would signal.

If they go, they would take more than High Street brands with them.

Why else were some of the trade’s most senior figures up until all hours night after night last week hammering out arrangements to get stock into stores?

Anyone telling you that the grocers and online retailers can cushion the blow of an imploding specialist is talking utter nonsense.

No GAME means no specialist retail in the UK. That means a shrinking market. That means fewer games released. That means less publishing staff. That means reduced media spending to advertise games. That means magazines and websites become financially pressured.

Many in the games industry would feel the sharp pang of GAME dying.

Here’s hoping we don’t have to learn that lesson the hard way.

Industry rallies around troubled GAME

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:08:00 +0000

The UK games trade has backed GAME to overcome its 'nightmare' start to the year.

Publishing execs have lined-up to offer vocal support to the retailer, after working around the clock to get stock into stores. GAME lost credit insurance, which meant the firm had to do deals with suppliers just to fill the shelves. One industry veteran said the period was 'like EUK all over again.'

Mastertronic's Andy Payne, Codemasters' Rod Cousens, Rising Star's Martin Defries, Xbox' Jonathan Grimes, Square Enix' Doug Bone and Konami's Peter Stone have all told MCV that if GAME collapses it "would be a massive loss to this industry."

The retailer says it has been left 'humbled' by the support shown from its suppliers.

The troubled High Street chain is in the process of selling off its international business and cutting 46 jobs from its head office as it comes to terms with a disastrous festive sales period.

New trading terms mean power may be shifting away from the market-leading retail specialist, but publishers say the UK sector must pull together to ensure GAME – as well as fellow struggler HMV – survive.

GAME hopes it has wethered the worst of the storm, now it has secured a new agreement with its lenders and announced it will meet its banking covenant tests. Its share price has risen on the news.

What the industry says:

Rod Cousens,
CEO,
Codemasters

"GAME is an integral part of the gaming industry in the UK and Europe. It’s a case of ‘GAME – your industry needs you right now.' This is a situation where all parties can work together to come up with a sustainable business model, which everyone can live with and which is progressive to target digital opportunities. A streamlined network of ‘destination centres’ for packaged goods and digital delivery which took its lead from Apple stores is just a thought. The industry needs to evolve and move on and GAME could be in its midst."

Doug Bone,
UK General Manager
Square Enix Europe
"It’s no secret that the market is enduring a challenging transition at the moment, so it’s important that we listen to our customers and work with them to ensure that trading doesn’t suffer. GAME is a key partner for us and we will continue to work with it and have stayed in close contact in the build-up to the launch of Final Fantasy XIII-2."

Jonathan Grimes,
Director of retail sales and marketing
Xbox
"We remain fully committed to our retail partners and recognise the huge importance that specialist retailers have to our industry."

Peter Stone,
UK General Manager,
Konami
"It’s our opinion that the video games industry is stronger if we have one or more specialist retailers. Therefore we see the survival of GAME and HMV to be important to us. We have worked hard with both retailers in the past few weeks to ensure they are able to stock our new titles."

Martin Defries,
Managing Director
Rising Star Games
"Although Rising Star Games is a undoubtedly a small supplier to GAME, I believe it is critical that our support joins that of its more significant ones.
"GAME is key to this business across the UK and Europe in driving sales to consumers both new and old, in putting our work in front of others via its retail mechanism; without it, it’s an even tougher landscape within which to operate. Where we can, where it might help, where it might make a difference, I’m happy to step up and assist."

Asura's Wrath pushed back two weeks

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:23:00 +0000

Capcom has delayed its Xbox 360 and PS3 action game Asura’s Wrath to March 9th.

The title was previously due to hit UK shelves on February 24th. It’s a third-person hack ‘n’ slash action title with shooter and quick time event sections.

Pre-order bonuses for Asura’s Wrath include the Devastator and Infinity DLC packs, which between them contain four new game modes.

Asura’s Wrath is distributed in the UK by CentreSoft.

Batman boosts Warner's full-year fiscals

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:11:00 +0000

Revenues for Time Warner's Filmed Entertainment division rose to $12.6bn in 2011, thanks in part to stronger games releases from Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment.

The firm's full-year financial report highlights Batman: Arkham City, Mortal Kombat and the continued success of various LEGO titles, such as LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7.

Batman: Arkham City has shipped more than 6m units worldwide, and was one of the Top 10 best-selling games in North America.

Video games were also a key driver for Time Warner's fourth quarter results, with revenues for the Filmed Entertainment division rising seven per cent to $3.9bn.

The $12.6bn in full-year revenues marks a year-on-year increase of 9 per cent, and was driven primarily by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two – both in cinemas and on DVD – and the DVD release of Hallows: Part One.

Other contributing factors included higher TV licence fees and new subscription video-on-demand agreements.

Operating Income increased by 14 per cent compared to 2010, now up to $1.3bn. for the fourth quarter, this was flat at $427m.

HMV: 'We'd still be No.1 if not for games'

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:01:00 +0000

HMV says a report claiming Amazon is now the UK’s No.1 entertainment retailer is “misleading”, as it takes game sales into account.

Kantar Worldpanel said Amazon overtook HMV as the UK’s biggest entertainment retailer in the three months ending December 25th. This is in terms of boxed films, games and music sales, as well as digital music downloads.

But HMV has described the report as ‘skewed’ as it includes sales of video games. The High Street retailer says it is still No.1 in terms of CD and DVD sales.

A spokesperson for HMV told NME: “We're not sure on what basis these calculations were made, but what we do know is that our market share for music and visual products is up, and we believe the figures are a little misleading as they are heavily skewed by the inclusion of games.

“Our sales and share on games were markedly down last year, so if you were to take this out of the equation, HMV would still be ahead as the leading entertainment retailer for music and visual combined.

“We have exciting plans to develop a far more integrated multi-channel retail offer that we are confident will deliver significant benefits to our customer this year.”

HMV’s CEO Simon Fox told MCV last week that despite the retailer’s drop in market share, it would not give up on games.

Secret Mysteries in London

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

by Dominic Sacco
on Feb 9th 2012 at 10:00AM

EA CFO Eric Brown departs

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:54:00 +0000

Electronic Arts chief financial officer Eric Brown has left the company.

He leaves on February 17th to become CFO and COO of communications company Polycom.

According to Gamasutra, chief accounting officer and senior VP Kenneth Barker will serve as CFO in the interim.

Brown is an EA veteran, joining in 1998. He left the company briefly with stints at MicroStrategy and McAfee, but returned to EA three years ago. He also co-founded DataSage.

"I am delighted to join Polycom at such an exciting time," said Brown