The industry had announced broader audiences in previous years, but the strategy was becoming more concrete at the Games Convention in Leipzig. Exhibitors at Europe’s largest computer- and video-game trade fair showed new products designed to attract entire families.
French software developer Ubisoft said it had established a new development division with 300 employees. Like Nintendo, it created a label intended to address every age group, from primary-school children to grandparents. “We really want to reach everyone,” said Ubisoft developer Pauline Jacquey. The catalogue would include animal games and interactive quizzes.
The industry was moving away from the traditional hardcore player willing to spend hours learning a game. “We want to move away from players having to read a manual for hours before they can begin,” Jacquey said. The trend began the previous year when Nintendo introduced Wii with a new control system. Wii subsequently moved ahead of other consoles in sales and increased pressure across the industry to reconsider interface and content design.
At the opening of the show, industry association BIU presented figures that it characterised as a market boom, although the detail was mixed. First-half revenue increased 17 percent year on year to €550 million, but fewer computer and console games were sold. The figures attributed most growth to handheld consoles. The industry expected new products shown at Games Convention to face their first major sales test during the Christmas period.
