Games Industry chat

I thought it was worth taking this away from the 'random games chat' thread, as a) business stuff is a bit different from the games-related stuff we post in there and b) fully appreciate a lot of people might find this stuff super dull.  Anyway, should GAME wobble again - this is where we'd have an autopsy 

And my opener is on GAME.  I read today that GAME had bought 'Multiplay', a live events company http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12265394.html

I'd never heard of them before, but then e-sports doesn't really interest me.  But an intriguing move for GAME though - its main business has a  'best before date' with digital downloads destined to take over, so diversifying makes sense to me.  They do not want to be the HMV of game retailing, left high and dry by executive torpor (some of the stories out there on HMV senior management during the birth and growth of the internet are retrospectively hilarious).  It also explains why the Game Digital twitter feed was gabbing on about an e-sports event at the weekend (I assume it was all weekend - I muted the hashtag after a while!).

Hey, I said this thread might be dull...

I fully agree with what you have said ... I love physical games and I will be massively upset once the digital side totally takes over but its going to happen Game can either deal with it now or latter but without knowing when its coming making some kind of battle plan having money funnelled into different areas is the best thing for them

Esports bores the shit out of me and im not sure if its the right area but the sentiment is a good one.

Yeah, e-sports leaves me cold but it's big in some parts of the world. I've seen stranger things take off.

I think it is a very smart move for Game and while Mutiplay are heavy into the eSports scene they too branch out into hosting gaming related events and festivals to back up their business.

Like Soren says Game's traditional retail business has a increasingly short shelf life so them starting to branch out into other areas of gaming is good. The Lock Ins thing they have been doing for the past couple of years has been popular and more and more stores are running events. That includes the smaller ones like my local. 

I honestly wouldn't be surprised/I am sort of really hoping that Game's store model shifts to being a 'Third Place' store/cafe/events space with a focus on fostering local gaming communities. 

Just ditch half the shelf space and put in some comfy chairs, tables, console pods and a vending machine in there and you have the perfect spot for Hearthstone Fireside Gatherings, Pokemon/Fighting game tournaments, eSports town/regional heats, Monster Hunter adventure gatherings, split-screen co-op and more. Game is a focal point for many gamers so it wouldn't be to radical a shift for their regular customers.

Side note: I really like this thread!

A Game Social sideline might be a goer for them. I imagine they keep a close eye on those businesses that are out there already and see if they're making money. 

There's also the Gametronic sideline, which is basically CeX. I've been in the one in Cambridge - it smells like CeX, for sure

A fair few big announcements dev side are coming out of GDC at the moment. The main ones being the latest design for Project Morpheus and a better timeline and the news that the Unreal 4, Unity and Source 2 engines are all now free to develop games with!

The caveats being that for Unreal, Epic will take a cut of your profits and Unity & Source 2 will I guess make money of marketplace sales and other deals.

It's been a long time since I tinkered around with an engine due to the paywall restrictions on them if you want to do fully fledged work. I am already starting to mess around with Unreal and it is like going back to making things in UDK

Personally this is a great more and works to make games development available to more people.

The thing with Morpheus - and any virtual reality thingy - is you look a bit of a twat using it. But everything I read about them is very positive. I'd like a go (but not necessarily in a public place!).

sorenlorensen wrote:The thing with Morpheus - and any virtual reality thingy - is you look a bit of a twat using it. But everything I read about them is very positive. I'd like a go (but not necessarily in a public place!).

I'd say that is a temporary hang up people have with it. Its something that's all about immersion and from what I've read and seen all the various VR headsets are doing a good job of it.