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GameStop sees majority of digital sales from cash; won't pursue used PC game sales
GameStop is building its digital distribution business, having seen a 158 percent growth year-over-year in the third quarter, with strong returns thanks to customers who don't use credit cards."70 percent of our sales for DLC is non credit card. So that's a customer either paying with cash, GameStop gift card or trade credit," Steve Nix, manager of PC digital distribution for GameStop told us at DICE 2012. "Think about all those Call of Duty Elite subscriptions and all those customers who aren't using a credit card to purchase them.""We're actually growing [the downloadable content] market, because about half our DLC customers never purchased DLC previously. So, for game developers that want to sell more DLC, we're introducing gamers to DLC for the first time in our stores."Nix recognized that it may seem odd the retail chain's brick and mortar stores are so successful selling digital content. It's clearly servicing customers who don't have credit cards or don't want to use credit cards, but still wish to extend their favorite games. He "absolutely" feels this same situation is what's pushing their in-store PC full game sales, despite PC gamers having so many online purchasing options.Since Gamestop purchased Stardock's Impulse digital distribution store, we wanted to know if it would continue to pursue Goo, which would have essentially created a "used PC games market."Nixing the idea, he said "We don't see a lot of interest in that model from our publishing partners." He recognizes customers would be interested, but is not really seeing publisher support for such a model.
Activision revenues up in 2011, claims #1 publishing spot
The world hasn't converted entirely to a Kickstarter-based economy yet -- Activision's fiscal 2011 earnings are up again, with net revenues at $4.76 billion dollars (vs. 2010's $4.45 billion), exceeding its most recent outlook. Activision claimed the number one console and handheld publishing spot in both its fiscal Q4 (ending December 31) and the year of 2011.What drove this success? Like you don't know, but: Call of Duty. Modern Warfare 3 was the best-selling game in terms of dollars, and Black Ops was #5. Skylanders also contributed, as it was the #8 best-selling game in the fourth quarter, and best-selling kids' game of 2011.Digital revenue broke records again, with over 34 percent of that $4.76 billion net coming from "digital channels." No, you aren't forgetting some breakout XBLA hit from Activision -- those digital channels are COD map packs and WoW.
Call of Duty Elite pulls in 7 million users, 1.5 million paid memberships
Call of Duty Elite, the community portal for Activision's perennial shooter is apparently doing gangbusters, according to the publisher's 2011 earnings report. The report states that Elite has pulled in over 7 million members as of January 31.Even more impressive: over 1.5 million of those are premium subscriptions, available as part of the $100 Hardened Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or as a separate $50 purchase. Paid membership grants a few benefits, most notably a free pass and early access to Modern Warfare 3 DLC.We'd say the service probably qualifies as a success at this point, at least from Activision's perspective.
MW3's next DLC drops from a skyscraper onto Xbox Elite members on Feb. 21
Call of Duty Elite premium members playing Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox Live will receive the next batch of DLC, Overwatch, on February 21. Overwatch puts players in a construction site at the top of a New York City skyscraper, with a very real chance of dropping 70 feet to the sidewalk as an added risk. If you have trouble visualizing that, check out the gallery below.The previous batch of downloadable content, Liberation and Piazza, is set to launch on PSN on February 28, having come out on Xbox Live in January, all in accordance with MW3's exclusivity deal with Microsoft. The next three batches of MW3 DLC will drop in March for Xbox premium members and will include the multiplayer map Black Box and two new Special Ops missions, Black Ice and Negotiator.%Gallery-146713%
Call of Duty Elite Clan Operations 'closer every day'
Until now, it's been difficult for Elite users to level up their clans in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. That appears to be changing in the near future, with the arrival of the long-awaited Clan Operations feature, which allows clans to take part in competitions for fun, experience, and even prizes.Beachhead posted a preview of the Clan Operations interface on the Elite forums, detailing how users will choose Operations, and what kind of information they'll see (how much Clan XP an Op is worth, their current enlistment status, and start and end dates). Users can also browse each Op's prizes ... like the Call of Duty Elite skateboard shown in the example.While this progress is promising, Beachhead still hasn't put a firm date on this feature's launch. "We're currently putting all Clan Operations through extensive testing," the company noted, "and while we can't give you a date on when it will be ready, it is getting closer every day."
PS3 CoD Elite premium members to get new old maps in February
Players with a paid Call of Duty Elite membership on Playstation 3 will be able to snag two new Modern Warfare 3 maps, Liberation and Piazza, on February 28. Both maps launched for Xbox 360 Elite premium members on January 24, and we presume they will come to non-Elite and PC players eventually -- possibly another month after the PS3 version goes live.Or possibly another two months, just to really rub it in, like the below screens for Liberation and Piazza will do.%Gallery-146285%
Activision working on update for Modern Warfare 3 DLC profile restriction
Yesterday, Call of Duty Elite users learned the new MW3 DLC was locked to a single profile, despite the terms allowing multiple users on the same console. Activision is aware of the issue and will correct it, according to a statement sent to Joystiq by Infinity Ward spokesperson Robert Bowling."We understand that ELITE Premium Members on Xbox Live who purchased the latest DLC Content Drop for Modern Warfare 3 are unable to access that content while signed into other profiles on the same console that originally downloaded the content," Bowling said. "This is unintentional and we will work to get an update out as soon as possible that corrects this issue and allows you to continue to enjoy the new maps." Until then, when your kids want to play Modern Warfare 3, remind them that it's rated M for Mature.
Modern Warfare 3 Elite maps locked to one profile on one console
The Call of Duty Elite DLC may be more "elite" than intended. Users on the Call of Duty forums are complaining that the DLC maps can only be played by one account per console. That means that only the person who bought it can play the maps -- not other users of the same game on the same console, unless they share a single Xbox Live profile."I just tried on my other account and you are right, I cannot use the maps on the same Xbox with another gamertag even though it's all on the same xbox," notes forum user HalfericTuck, just one of many complaining fans. Reader Aaron, who alerted us to this issue, told Joystiq, "My girlfriend, whom I live with, cannot play the maps. My friend's teenage sons cannot play the maps."This restriction does not square with the stated terms on the download. When users download the add-on, they are told, "You can use this item on the first Xbox 360 console you downloaded it to. Access to this item will also be granted to all users on this first console."We've inquired with Activision regarding this issue, and will let you know when we've heard back.[Thanks, Aaron]
Plan your life around this Modern Warfare 3 Elite DLC calendar
Activision has come closer to identifying the specifics of the Modern Warfare 3 DLC schedule for Elite members, posting a calendar that shows what kind of content will be available every month through September. Don't worry: it's just text and images, not a video of Rob Riggle reading the schedule out. Yet.February offers just one map, and April and July will have two maps each; aside from that, every month has some combination of maps, missions, and modes (modes in June and August). You can see exactly which combination will be available each month after the break, but Activision isn't revealing names until the current month, it appears.Update: See a walkthrough for downloading Elite content in the video above.
PSA: Premium Call of Duty Elite DLC now available for MW3 on Xbox Live
That Call of Duty Elite membership will finally start paying for itself today, as a pair of new Modern Warfare 3 maps are now available to premium members (non-paying members will have to wait). Specifically, Xbox users with a paid subscription to Elite can snag "Liberation" and "Piazza." In order to do so, simply select the "Download Elite Content" from within the in-game store (found in the multiplayer menu). The Elite website notes that both maps must be downloaded or players will encounter an error during matchmaking.PS3 Elite premium members will receive the DLC at a later date. The PC version, which does not currently feature Call of Duty Elite, will presumably receive the DLC later as well.%Gallery-143685%
Save on MW3, Xbox Live subscriptions at GameStop starting tomorrow
GameStop has discounted what we can only describe as an intimidating number of recent and popular releases, including Once Upon a Monster, Need for Speed The Run, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, and ... just go browse. It's a lot of stuff. It'll be more stuff tomorrow. An email from the retailer let us know that starting tomorrow, Modern Warfare 3 will bear a $10 discount, and one-year Xbox Live Gold subscriptions (normally $60) will be discounted to $40. Perhaps you're a member of the tiny niche audience who is interested in these items; if so, these deals should help!
PSA: Call of Duty Elite app now available on Android Market
Call of Duty Elite is now available on the Android Market, for free. The Android version comes one week after the iOS launch but offers the same unprecedented ability to check your stats, review recent matches and update your in-game loadout from your phone. Elite on your Android device could make lunch lines, bus rides, work breaks, and long, fast car rides on busy freeways much more entertaining (OK, not that last one). Beachhead Studios head Chacko Sonny sees the initial mobile launch of Elite as a wonderful opportunity to get feedback from the community, so don't hold back -- not that you would, but now you have permission. [Thanks, Lance V.]
Amazon's top-selling physical and downloadable games of 2011
Amazon certainly leveled up its business strategy in the video game space in 2011, dropping competitive deals throughout the year in both the physical and digital distribution categories. We got in touch with the online retailer to find out about its top-selling titles for the year. The company informed us that, naturally, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was its top game in physical sales. This was followed by Just Dance 3, the latest from the runaway hit franchise, and Skyrim. There was a semi-surprise in Amazon's digital distribution space for PC, with Deus Ex: Human Revolution taking the virtual goods crown. Square Enix's stealth action title was followed, in order, by three of EA's games: Battlefield 3, The Sims 3 and Battlefield Bad Company 2. Check out the physical and digital top 10 after the break.
NPD 2011: Sales across industry between $16.3 and $16.6 billion, Ubi tops software sales list
Assassination and dancing has proven to be a lucrative mix, as Just Dance 2 and 3 and Assassin's Creed: Revelations helped Ubisoft to lead this year's best seller's list with three entries. That's according to the NPD Group, which also estimates the video game industry's profits, comprising "new physical video and PC games, used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games," reached sales of somewhere between $16.3 and $16.6 billion in 2011. Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 took top honors (it's kind of a big deal), while Just Dance 3 and Skyrim occupied the second and third spots, respectively. NPD also says that, despite sales growth in the digital sector yet again, physical copies offered at retail outlets still accounted for the majority of sales coming in at $9.3 billion, "an 8 percent decline over the $10.1 billion in 2010." That decline was "partially" offset by increases in digital, mobile, and used game sales, which NPD expects to be a focus moving into 2012. "Our overall estimate of the market continues to point toward the increased imperative for deeper visibility into digital distribution than is available today, not only in the U.S. but globally," said NPD prez David McQuillan. Our waning shelf space agrees.
Modern Warfare 3 holiday numbers indicate franchise sales decline in UK
While the Call of Duty franchise has enjoyed year-over-year growth in terms of worldwide sales, numbers released this week for the UK tell a different story for that particular region. According to the UK's Entertainment Retailers Association, Modern Warfare 3 moved 2,814,298 units between launch on November 8 and December 31, 2011, while Call of Duty's 2010 entry, Black Ops, sold 3,266,298 across the same holiday sales period in the previous year. That's a decline of 452,000 units from Treyarch-developed Black Ops in 2010 to Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games-developed Modern Warfare 3 in 2011, though the latter was the fastest entertainment property in history to reach $1 billion in sales. As MCV points out, FIFA sales were also in decline in the UK, with nearly 200K fewer copies sold during 2011 than in 2010. All that said, let's not lose any sleep over the declines -- both CoD and FIFA's 2011 entries sold in the many millions in just the UK, let alone worldwide.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 12 top UK sales in 2011
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was easily the best-selling game in the UK for 2011. Data released today by UKIE (compiled by Chart-Track) has Activision's behemoth franchise grossing a record-breaking £83 million in sales during its first week, which also turned out to be the biggest week of video game sales ever in the UK at £121m. The year 2011 was also the third year in a row Activision had the top-selling game -- and all from the same franchise, fancy that -- with Call of Duty: Black Ops in 2010 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009. EA took both the silver and bronze with FIFA 12 and Battlefield 3, respectively. Both titles had stellar opening weeks in the UK and have consistently performed well in the all formats top ten since launch. The number four game for the year was Zumba Fitness, which should come as little surprise to anyone who followed our "summer of disbelief." The launch of the fitness title for the Wii kept the game atop the all formats chart for longer than we would have thought, but on the Wii chart it remained in first for a record-breaking 28 consecutive weeks. Find the all formats and console-specific chart toppers for 2011 after the break.
Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling 'happy' with MW3 holiday sales, sees the game as closure to Soap story
Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward's creative strategist and face of the Call of Duty series, is excellent at his job, in that he knows how not to answer questions directly. It's a skill set shared by all variety of politicians, and not one prized among journalists. Why bother explaining this? Because when I asked Bowling about holiday sales of his studio's latest game, Modern Warfare 3, I wasn't surprised when he gave the company line ("I don't have any numbers I can share with you"), though he did allow, "I'm happy." Presumably we'll find out just how happy Bowling is when last month's NPDs arrive in a couple weeks. Rather than push the unspeakable, I turned my attention to more open topics, such as Modern Warfare 3's finale wrapping up the story of series leads John "Soap" MacTavish and Captain John Price. "Our goal with Modern Warfare 3 was definitely to get some closure on the story that we started with Call of Duty 4, and I think we've achieved that," Bowling said. While he wouldn't put a definitive end to their inclusion in the series, he did admit that MW3's campaign was intended as closure on the duo's story. That said, Bowling doesn't want to say "never" to the concept of either character reappearing in future CoD entries. "I never like to speak in definites when it comes to story design, because you never wanna not have an opening or an out," he told me. And hey, if Danny Trejo can appear as a DLC character, anything could happen, right?
Tour the killing fields of Modern Warfare 3's first DLC with latest media
You've been shooting dudes for nearly three months since Modern Warfare 3's early November launch, but that Elite pass has yet to offer more than a chance to watch your buddy Tim's lame gameplay clips. That's all about to change! The first DLC is nearly upon us, and here is your first tour.
Five Modern Warfare 3 DLC drops planned for next three months, 20 total over next nine months
On January 24, this year's Call of Duty DLC season kicks off on Xbox Live with other platforms to follow. Elite subscribers on Xbox 360 will have first access the new content as part of their paid membership. Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling confirmed with Joystiq the content schedule for Modern Warfare 3 and it's unsurprisingly extensive. Following the first multiplayer maps later this month ("Liberation" and "Piazza"), the plan is to offer five total DLC packages over the course of the next three months. Within the next nine months, up to September, there should be a total of 20 pieces of downloadable content available to players. A "Content Collection" in March will bundle the previously released DLC on Xbox Live for non-Elite users. "The first pack is traditional multiplayer maps, but we want to do Spec Ops missions, missions, Spec-Ops Survival, new game types, new game modes, and really look at adding things that we've never done before," Bowling said. He said that the focus across all three studios involved -- Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software -- has been to experiment with the formula this time around, to offer players content other than map pack dumps. "We said just do what you think is gonna be good. Do what's fun and, as long is fits in the Modern Warfare universe, try it! Experiment with it, and we'll take the best of the best and start polishing it up and releasing it. So that's really where our focus has been," Bowling concluded.
PSA: Call of Duty Elite iOS App now available
As promised, the Call of Duty Elite app for iOS is now available via the iTunes App Store, and just like its console counterpart, it's totally free. The Elite app offers a chance for Modern Warfare 3 players to track stats, player progression, revisit past matches, and a variety of other services, though we're told it's all the more thrilling if you're paying for the annual Elite subscription. The application is expected to arrive on Android devices next week.
