MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
US sales tracker NPD has finally revealed some good news for the struggling music genre. Music game sales are 38 per cent higher in November 2010 than they were during the same period the year before. But it’s not Rock Band 3 or Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock that did …
Read More »Activision silent over Harmonix buyout
Activision has spoken of its love for Rock Band developer Harmonix but refused to speak about a possible acquisition. Last month Viacom announced plans to sell off Harmonix, the studio which created the Guitar Hero franchise, following a third-quarter dip in earnings. When asked by Industry Gamers whether Activision would …
Read More »‘Harmonix is worth more to third-parties’ – Viacom
Media giant explains motivations for sell-off; says studio sale will be quick
Read More »Unhappy Viacom to sell off Harmonix
Just four years after it bought the studio for an amazing $175m, Viacom has said it wants to sell off music game studio Harmonix. The corporate parent that owns the likes of MTV and Paramount, said today in an earnings statement that it had seen a third-quarter dip in earnings. …
Read More »What Harmonix thinks of Guitar Hero
There’s no doubting that Guitar Hero and Rock Band are the two major players in the music games market. However, speaking to MCV Alex Rigopulos, the boss of current Rock Band developer and Guitar Hero creator Harmonix, has claimed that battling with the franchise his studio created doesn’t rouse him. …
Read More »Activision should acquire Rock Band
Publisher Activision’s only chance of prospering in the music genre is to attempt to acquire the Rock Band IP from MTV owner Viacom, one US analyst has claimed. Its recent release Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock has got off to a rocky start in the US, with opening weekend sales …
Read More »Guitar Hero faces US struggle
One US analyst has labelled the week one sales debut of new release Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock as dreadful”, pointing to stiff challenges for the music genre in the months ahead. Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz told CVG that the game sold just 86,000 units in its opening …
Read More »ShopTo achieves record market share
ShopTo.net has recorded its single biggest weekly share of the games market in the last 12 months. The retailer recorded a 183 per cent increase in its share of the market compared to the same week in 2009. Chart-Track shows that the market is down 15.6 per cent year-on-year. ShopTo.net …
Read More »UK CHARTS: F1 takes pole position
Codemasters has cut short Halo’s stay at the summit of the All Formats Top 40, with F1 2010 racing to No.1. The game outsold both Halo: Reach (No.2) and Dead Rising 2 (No.3) combined and is the first F1 game to steal a lead at the top of the charts …
Read More »Warriors of Rock to better GH5
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will outsell last year’s installment in the series, Activision has told MCV. Last year Guitar Hero 5 went straight to the top of the UK All Formats Top 40, ahead of rival The Beatles: Rock Band. Activision believes the latest title, released this Friday, will …
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