Xbox One Augmented TV

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Microsoft isn’t just looking at making the Xbox One an ultimate gaming machine when it releases later this year. The company is also looking to create a “much more robust and interactive experience,” according to Nancy Tellem, president of Microsoft entertainment and digital media.

Tellem recently spoke at the Royal Television Society convention, explaining how Xbox One will change the way you watch programming. “We’re offering a different TV experience,” said Tellem. She went on to explain that more content announcements will be made over the next few weeks, including partnerships with studios and talents that could very well bring original programming to the device – similar to what Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have set out to do in recent months.

Sports content will also play a huge part, as a recently announced deal with the National Football League has recently pointed out. Live events should also be a huge draw, like the Xbox 360 currently does with its respective World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship applications.

The Xbox One launches on November 22 in the U.S.

Source: Promaxbda

Blizzcon Virtual Tickets Now For Sale

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With Blizzcon 2013 set to take place in early November at the Anaheim Convention Center, fans are flocking from all over the world to see the greatest that Blizzard has to offer. There are those, however, that are bummed they can’t make the trip. Not to worry, as the company has an option to cater to them.

Blizzard has recently begun offering virtual tickets on its website for $39.99, which will provide viewers with full access to the event. These include panels, interviews and exclusive content, as well as the full closing ceremony party, on-demand replays, contests and special digital giveaways. These include in-game items for StarCraft 2, World of Warcraft, Diablo III and Hearthstone.

Though it can’t quite recreate the thrill of actually being at the event, it’s the next best thing.

Source: Joystiq

Retail Game Sales Up In August, Barely

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Here’s something you don’t see every month – retail sales of video game software, hardware and accessories in the US actually rose by 1 percent in August, as opposed to the usual double-digit decline we’ve been seeing over the past few years. The new NPD figures are in, telling an interesting mixed tale of plummeting hardware sales and rising accessory sales.

With new consoles arriving in November, you’d expect hardware sales to be down sharply, and they are – dropping 40 percent over August 2012, down to only $90.8 million this year. NPD’s Liam Callahan provided some detail: “Nintendo’s 3DS continued to outsell other hardware platforms for the fourth month straight. The Xbox 360 was the top selling console for the month, which was the thirty-second consecutive month it has led console sales.”

Software was the bright spot for August, rising 23 percent over August 2012 to notch $293.4 million in sales (21 percent if you include PC game sales). This is due to the large number of new releases in August, as NPD points out. “This was driven by the shift of Madden into the August data month and other launches such as Saints Row IV, Disney Infinity and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist,” said Callahan. “In fact, eight of the top ten games this month were launched in August.”

The interesting part of the shift in sales is the role played by new releases. “Collectively, August 2013 launches made up an astounding 58 percent of overall dollar sales for the month and 41 percent of units sales, which compared to 24 percent of dollar sales and 15 percent of unit sales that August 2012 launches represented in that month,” said Callahan. “Due to a greater percentage of sales stemming from newer games at full price and have higher priced collector’s editions, overall software average pricing grew by 25 percent.”

The software accessories category grew by seven percent, part of which can be attributed to NPD’s decision to move toy-game hybrids like Skylanders and Disney Infinity to the accessories category starting this August. “August 2013 marked the anticipated launch of Disney Infinity and its set of Interactive Gaming Toys,” Callahan said. “Combined with sales of Skylanders accessories, one in every three accessories sold this month was an Interactive Gaming Toy.”

August 2013 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)

#1 Madden NFL 25 (360, PS3)
#2 Saints Row IV (360, PS3, PC)*
#3 Disney Infinity (360, WII, PS3, NWU, 3DS)
#4 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (360, PS3, NWU, PC)*
#5 Minecraft (360)
#6 Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
#7 NCAA Football 14 (360, PS3)
#8 Payday 2 (360, PS3)*
#9 Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn (PS3, PC)*
#10 Pikmin 3 (NWU)
*(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

Among the items of note, Pikmin 3 is the only Wii U exclusive to make the list at the #10 position, showing the continued weakness of the Wii U platform. Meanwhile, the 3DS continues to do well with both hardware and software – the exclusive Mario & Luigi: Dream Team for the 3DS placed #6 in sales. It’s also worth noting the Minecraft for the Xbox 360 continues to sell well, clocking in at the #5 position. NPD is also careful to note that these retail sales figures only represented about 50 percent of the total consumer spending on games, with various forms of digital spending making up the rest.

These numbers show the value of new releases in generating sales, even as we head towards a new generation of consoles. Consumers appear to be holding off on hardware purchases, no doubt in anticipation of new consoles – but also because of the chance for reduced prices or special sales or bundles on existing consoles. There is still time for some additional pricing moves by console makers who might be getting worried about slower sales of older consoles.

Source: NPD

Digital Game Sales For August 2013

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SuperData released data for top digital game sales in August 2013.

Joost van Dreunen, CEO of SuperData, provides insight for the report.

During their respective quarterly earnings review, the major publicly traded publishers all emphasized the importance of digital sales. Take-Two Interactive saw its digital revenues grow to $75 million, or 52 percent of total revenue. For Activision, that number was 63 percent.  For EA, it was 76 percent. Ubisoft said that digital sales represented approximately 12 percent of their total sales. The overall digital games category was $846 million in the month of August, an increase of 4.1 percent year-over-year.

Social Games

Social game revenue increased slightly month-over-month, reaching $166 million. Despite an ongoing decline in the overall numbers of monthly active users in the segment, average spending continues to improve.

Several shutdowns by leading publishers characterize the month of August. Zynga closed its Slingo game after RealNetworks acquired the Slingo name for $15.6 million in late-July. Similarly, King is streamlining its focus by shuttering Bubble Saga, Hoop de Loop Saga, Miner Speed and Puzzle Saga in mid-September. We expect the shuffle in available title inventory by these publishers, and their accompanying marketing budgets, to positively affect the overall social game segment.

Free-to-Play MMO

The overall free-to-play MMO segment saw a slight contraction, with revenues from the total audience base settling around 46 million. Spending also proved sluggish with just over $36 per paying player.

In August, several of the major publishers declared their increasing focus on free-to-play as a revenue model, most notably with Sony Online Entertainment’s announcement of the much-anticipated EverQuest Next. Activision’s The Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft beta was officially launched, providing further evidence that the company is experimenting with free-to-play monetization.

Pay-to-Play MMO

The overall subscription-based category saw a 26 percent decline, year-over-year, dropping to $83 million in total sales in August. The overall audience base remained relatively steady, and conversion rates (for micro-transactions) climbed back up to 15 percent across the segment.

Continuing several months of dramatic decreases, World of Warcraft lost a combined total of roughly 200,000 subscribers in the Eastern and Western market. EVE Online, another long-term subscription-based MMO, fared better and broke 550,000 subscribers in August. Bucking the decline in the overall category, Bethesda announced that its Elder Scrolls Online will use a subscription model when it launches on PC, PS4 and Xbox One in 2014.

Mobile

The US mobile games market saw a month-over-month decline as a result of a drop in average spending to below $20. Compared to August 2012, the mobile category shows clear signs of maturing as its overall audience base declined by two percent.

A notable climber in the overall mobile category was Terraria (505 Games), an iOS optimized version of the title previously released on other platforms. Mobile publisher Funzio also had an excellent month, with its titles Crime City, Modern War and Kingdom Age all ranking just below the top grossing apps.

In early August, Apple adjusted the way it calculates its rankings by adjusting its algorithms to include user ratings, refunds and an alleged greater emphasis on non-gaming apps. While details remain foggy, we expect this to have no negative effect on the overall mobile gaming category.

Downloadable (PC and Console)

After last month’s summer sale, DLC revenues were down, reaching $116 million in August. As noted previously, we expect the release of blockbuster titles like the eagerly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V to rejuvenate overall digital sales.

The major publishers, Activision, EA and Take-Two, have done well on digital platforms. Especially Take-Two, which has managed to benefit in the lull leading up to GTA V, as mentioned claiming $75 million in digital revenues to make up more than half of what it made last quarter. For Activision, which saw 63 percent of total sales made up by digital, its draw from the category was up from 47 percent a year ago.

Note from SuperData on methodology: SuperData collects anonymized user data directly from publishers and developers, looking at spending by more than 2.8 million unique paying online gamers across 50 publishers and 450+ game titles. 

For full reports, visit SuperData Market Data.

 

About the Author

Joost van Dreunen, Ph.D., is CEO SuperData Research, a market intelligence provider specialized in online games. He has written extensively on online audiences, monetization strategies, virtual goods, social games, free-to-play, online gaming and entertainment.

A Grim Monty Python

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What would happen if Monty Python and The Holy Grail released in today’s movie environment A fan mashed up a trailer to portray the movie in grim tone more akin to today’s blockbusters.

Dr. Pepper’s /1 Fans

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Dr. Pepper has long asserted its uniqueness among soft drinks and has focused its latest ad campaign on fans that are also one of a kind. Check out more of this campaign here.

 

Toyota Scores With ‘Tetris’ Ad

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There are no shortage of games out there that use ads to entice players into trying new products, but actually having an advertised item as a power-up That’s something new.

Still, that’s exactly what you’ll find in EA’s Tetris Blitz for iOS, as the newest item in the game’s prize line-up is a Toyota Corolla, labeled as “Turn It Up” in the game. Once activated by hitting a special number of pieces on the board, the Corolla sits in the center of it, with the words “The All-New Corolla” in capitals at the top.

After it revs its engine, the car drives off, and manages to take a row of vertical 3X1 blocks off the playfield, helping you clear a few lines in the process and boosting your score. The power-up can be used for free the first time around, but you can pay to use it additional times for about $.66 a pop.Tetris Blitz is available for download here on iOS.Source: Touch Arcade

‘Ghost Recon Online’ Enters eSports

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Ghost Recon Online has garnered a pretty huge audience since its release some time ago, but now it’s about to enter the eSports front in a big way.  Ubisoft has signed up with ESL to produce a seven-week tournament that will take place in both Europe and the U.S., starting next week, with players able to compete against one another in the popular online game.

Teams must consist of between six to 20 players in order to compete for the 5,000 pound cash prize. It also helps to bring some gaming skills to the table, since many players will be bringing their a-game to quality.

Registration started earlier this week, but interested parties can still sign up and learn more about the competition here.

Ghost Recon Online is available for download now.

Source: VG247