Category Archives: games

Train2Game News: Student Diaries – 06.12.12

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Amanda Blatch Week 11

Another diary, another week! Not really sure what there is to say. It was a very long  week full of hard work and more UI! Fortunately I have had my week mixed up a little by being given some new characters for additional game content to design, vector, cut and rig. They’re coming along very nicely now and I’m just about to finish work on my second of what I believe to be at least four new additions to the final game. Friday was very exciting though, we all had a big group meeting with everyone making the game to have their say about what we have achieved so far and how to improve on top of that, we did more work, went home then went out for a meal with everyone.

Unfortunately not much else on the in-studio stuff to talk about and I haven’t been working on too much in my spare time since I reignited the desperate need to get through Section 2 of my course so to remain on track and continue learning other game-making techniques that I may not see in the studio on a daily basis. But that’s it for now.. Maybe next week I’ll have something new to chat about. Tarra for now!

Craig Moore Week 54

It’s Friday, and everything is a bit of a blur!

Firstly work, it’s been an incredibly busy week; the pressure is really on to get the many aspects of the game finished and the time left to do them is getting ever so smaller.

We have had a really productive week bouncing between myself and two of the other guys to crack down a certain element of the game and get it well and truly finished. As with the way development goes, I guess, we just fell short but we did get a lot done and it is much better for it.

Next week the plan is to continue this three pronged approach and hit two more aspects of the game on the head. It really is at the stage where there are a few elements that just need tying together to really make it shine!

In other news I managed to snag myself a brand new Wii-U yesterday, a day before release; thanks to Shopto.net’s awesome pre-order service. I got the ZombiU special edition, but have only managed to play it for an hour or so. My Initial thoughts are positive, I’m certainly looking forward to what they come up with and the underlying potential is incredible! I read somewhere about Unity being a developer option and would love to take advantage of that somewhere down the line.

Craig

Matty WS Week 52

This week has been a bit mad, lots of things to do. I’m now going through all of the images in the game and “unifying” them, making them all the correct sizes and removing the background solid colour. We had a late night on Thursday and had some takeaway. Suffice to say there are a lot of images in the game so I’ve been kept busy. I still need to continue on Monday morning to get it all done.

In other news, I got hold of an iPad mini this week which is very nice indeed, it means I can play the games we make regardless of what devices I have or if they aren’t compatible, and it will help me see what competition is out there. So I am a happy Matty this week!

I went home to Southampton this weekend and played many games (including our own). The game we’re making as we speak is plodding along nicely and will be out very soon hopefully. I’m sure you’ll all be just as excited as we are when the game hits the metaphorical shelves. More next week!

MattyWS

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 5.12.12

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The Train2Game blog has found more jobs for you to apply for to hopefully get that foot in the door.

Art

Job Title     Junior 3D Artist
Job Category     Art / Animation
Skills Required     Character Artist, Vehicle Artist, Environment Artist, 2D / Concept / Texture Artist, Technical Artist
Location     Brighton
Job Description     Come and join the Futur!

The team behind the critically acclaimed Velocity is looking for a talented Junior 3D Artist!

We are primarily looking for someone with demonstrable experience modeling and texturing of vehicles for use in a game engine such as Unity.

As Junior Artist you will be required to concept and model a number of vehicles as well as adopting the in house art style to create 2D game assets. You will therefore need to demonstrate a strong ability in both 3D asset creation and 2D illustration skills. The role will require closely working with all other members of the team to ensure high standards of presentation are maintained across each project.

This role is suited towards a highly motivated and talented recent graduate. While industry experience is not required, working knowledge of industry standard art creation software is.

Requirements include:

Excellent 3D modeling and texturing ability.
A strong interest in sci-fi and predominately vehicle design.
Strong 2D illustration skills a must.
Animation skills a plus.
General understanding of game design and development.
Ability to work both individually and in a small team.
Excellent communication skills with a friendly and positive demeanour.
Self motivating and diligent.

You must be excited about working in the sci-fi genre and have a strong portfolio that demonstrates both 3D vehicles and 2D illustrative skills. (Please note that if your portfolio does not contain examples of both then unfortunately, it will be automatically rejected without reply).

If you have the demonstrable skills, experience and passion for futuristic games then please get in touch as we’d love to hear from you! Please email your latest CV and a cover letter along with your portfolio to jobs@futurlab.co.uk. Please be aware that all suitable candidates will be asked to take an art test.

We’re a small and friendly team and we’re about to grow. This is a great opportunity for someone to be involved right at the beginning of the next exciting chapter of our story.

Design

Job Title     Game Designer – IEB Microsoft Studios Soho (818909) Job
Job Category     Game Design
Skills Required     Game Design
Division Interactive Entertainment Business
Location Soho, London

Role Purpose
Do you love designing fun high quality games and experiences?
We are looking for an enthusiastic and talented game designer to join our growing multi-disciplinary team. The game designer will have the opportunity to engage in the exciting process of creating and maintaining games (including new IP). The game designer will be a member of the creative team working with the creative director. The ideal candidate must have a full understanding of the design vision and business model, be able to communicate it to the team and be responsible for the creation and maintenance of all game design documents and their execution.

Team/Department Mission
This role is part of a Microsoft Studios team creating games and entertainment services influenced by changing consumer consumption and emerging business models. Part of its purpose will be to showcase functionality of Microsoft platforms but the primary goal is to establish new entertainment franchises. The ethos of this team is to be distinctive, deliberate and disruptive. It has large ambitions.

Key Accountabilities:
– Drive game design and communicate across the team. Know the game inside out.
– Communicate major design decisions and issues with the creative director and executive producer.
– Work with technical, art and audio leads to realize the game design vision.
– Produce and roll out prototypes and design documents.
– Review work as it is implemented to ensure that it fits the design vision and is of the quality desired.
– Assist with the development of design team systems and tools.
– Test the game to ensure it is playable and fun.
– Support user testing and data gathering to continually improve the game.

Key Success Criteria:
– Be a positive, active, and contributing team member.
– Create presentations that outline plans for game design.
– Be able to pitch/communicate new concepts, mechanics and business models.
– Liaise closely with other disciplines to realise a shared vision.
– Communicate complex dependencies falling out of design into art, tech, audio and UI.
– Continuously evaluate games in development and make tough decisions to focus on, iterate on or cut features in order to make the game better.
– Continuously familiarize yourself and the team with important developments in game design and production outside of the team/project.
– Work with gameplay developers to develop systems that support desired gameplay.
– Work with tools developers to develop tools and workflows that enable inspired creativity on the design team.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
– Strong communication skills across all disciplines and at all levels.
– Design experience on shipped AAA console products and/or Mobile/F2P.
– Strong technical skills and a basic understanding of programming or scripting.
– Outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
– Strong relationship-management skills.
– Passion for gaming, with excellent design insights across genres.
– Ability to produce articulate design documentation detailing innovative gameplay mechanics, character biographies, control systems, interface design, story lines and asset inventories.
– Willing to accept and provide direction, work well under pressure, and handle multiple tasks.
– Ability to work closely with all core development functions, as well as supporting functions.
– Comfortable with Unity, MS Word, MS Visio, MS Power Point.

You can apply HERE.

Developer

Job Title     Games Programmer – iOS / Android
Job Category     Programming
Skills Required     AI / Artificial Intelligence, Tools, Gameplay, Mobile / iOS / Android, Graphics / Engine, Core Technology, UI / Front End, Graduate Programmer
Location     Brighton
Job Description     Boss Alien are a growing company working on exciting projects with small team sizes. We need programmers who are happy to work in whatever area is required of them – this could change on a daily basis!

We are looking for smart, energetic, friendly people to join us!

Required:

2.1 degree in Maths, Physics, Computer Science or related, or equivalent industry experience
Excellent knowledge of C# or C++
Excellent knowledge of algorithms and data structures
Experience of creating games on desktop or mobile platforms
Desire to make great games
Great communication skills (verbal and written)
Happy to work as part of a team
Demonstrable love for some area of game technology
A passion for playing games and solving problems
Flexible and keen to learn new skills
Great to have:

Knowledge of two or more other programming languages (for example Java, Python, PHP, Clojure)
1 or more years of games industry experience
1 or more shipped titles on console, desktop or mobile platforms
Strong knowledge of console, desktop and mobile architectures
Knowledge of asynchronous engineering techniques
Experience of Unity, Unreal or XNA
SQL
Experience using digital content creation tools (for example Max, Maya, Photoshop)

Find out more about us and apply at www.bossalien.com

Junior / Graduate Programmers with relevant demos and a positive attitude are encouraged to apply!

QA

Location: Edinburgh
Salary: Competitive
Company: Rockstar North

Rockstar North is looking for enthusiastic and self-motivated individuals to join our Games Test teams in Edinburgh. You will be expected to play through our latest games looking for problems and reporting errors, to ensure game quality before release.

Responsibilities
You will be finding and reproducing bugs, errors or problems in-game as directed. The role will require accurate, detailed and complete reporting to the required standards and subsequent revision of those errors or problems.

Qualifications
Successful applicants will have excellent written and verbal communication skills and enjoy working as part of a team. You will have good general computer skills and be a confident learner working with word processing, databases and spreadsheets. You will be able to show consistent attention to detail and have the ability to remain focussed when approaching repetitive tasks. We will be looking for flexibility regarding unsociable and extended working hours to meet the demands of the role.

Additional Information
Candidates must be 18 years of age and above and provide two references. The position will be a full-time short term contract. Applicants will preferably be educated to further or higher education standards.

This is a two stage application process. You will first be asked to complete an application pack from which you may be asked to attend an interview.

PLEASE APPLY ONLINE VIA www.rockstargames.com/jobs

Train2Game News: Zeptolab’s Pudding Monsters slides to iOS

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Pudding MonstersThe developers of the hit mobile game, Cut the Rope have announced their next project.

Zeptolab is attempting to recreate the popularity of their debut game with the new project, Pudding Monsters which is due out later this month on iOS.

The game retains the same cheerful style and physics-based game-play that made Cut the Rope a mega-hit. It also utilises the swipe based game play which made Cut the Rope so simple and accessible.

To rescue their friend from being eaten, the Pudding Monsters in each stage must stick to one another to form the “Ultimate Mega Monster.” The Pudding Monsters start each stage separated, and it’s up to gamers to reassemble them into a single massive pudding mass using simple swipe controls. Each monster has its own properties and gameplay wrinkles, introducing plenty of puzzle complexity as the adventure progresses

Cut the Rope got its popularity from its perfect combination of snacky, bite-sized levels and genuinely brain-bending three-star puzzles. Consumers responded by downloading Cut the Rope titles more than 250 million times to date.

You can enjoy a little teaser trailer below which reminds me of the Cut the Rope animations.

 

Train2Game News: OUYA developer consoles being released this month

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OUYA ConsoleThe kick started, Android console, OUYA inches ever closer to release as developer units are being shipped by the end of the month.

The team behind the Android-powered console has announced that they will be shipping the OUYA to anyone who pledged over $699 dollars to the $8.5 million kickstart goal that was reached back in August. The console will be sent out for developers to start testing on December 28.

The idea behind the console is that it will be a $99 console, built on Android, where all the games are free to play.

OUYA was created in 2012 by Julie Uhrman, a video game industry veteran who saw an opportunity to open up the last closed game platform — the TV. Julie and an initial team of game developers and advisors brought the concept to life, with the help of Yves Behar and fuseproject, and took OUYA to Kickstarter in July of 2012. OUYA’s first consoles will ship in early 2013.

“Yes, we are shipping these to you on time, as promised,” the company said in a recent update. “The dev consoles are an early version of the OUYA console and controller designed for developers to test their games on OUYA. Our Kickstarter developers are the first to get a crack at ’em! We’re psyched to have you on board, and we can’t wait to see what pours from your brain!”

For backers of any tier of the Kickstarter, OUYA chief executive officer Julie Uhrman also announced that usernames can be claimed on December 25.

“By December 25, we’ll email each of you a link to activate your account. For those of you who responded to our survey about preferred usernames, you’ll be able to confirm your choice. For the handful of popular names that had conflicts, we broke the tie(s) by honoring whomever backed OUYA first on Kickstarter. And, if any of you didn’t respond-or didn’t get your preferred username, you can choose a name when December 25 rolls around,” said Uhrman in the announcement.

You can read a basic fact sheet about what the OUYA is and what is designed for in the document below. It looks to be good for developers and gamers a like.

OUYA Basic Facts

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 – 3.12.11

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Far Cry 3 enters the charts at number 2 this week not able to topple Call Of Duty from its throne. The other new entries this week are Wii U titles. Nintendoland, the Wii U’s mini game compilation comes in at number 11 where as the more adult, survival horror, Zombi U shuffles in to the charts at 17.

Week ending 1 December 2012

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 –  CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 1
2 FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT –
3 –  FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 3
4 HITMAN ABSOLUTION SQUARE ENIX 2
5 ASSASSIN’S CREED III UBISOFT 4
6 JUST DANCE 4 UBISOFT 7
7 LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 6
8 HALO 4 MICROSOFT 5
9 SKYLANDERS GIANTS SKYLANDERS 8
10 NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED EA GAMES 9
11 NINTENDO LAND NINTENDO –
12 DISHONORED BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 10
13 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2013 SEGA 15
14 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. U NINTENDO –
15 WWE ’13 THQ 11
16 MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLINGS THEME PARK MIND CANDY 12
17 ZOMBI U UBISOFT –
18 –  MEDAL OF HONOR: WARFIGHTER EA GAMES 18
19 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 NINTENDO 16
20 FORZA HORIZON MICROSOFT –

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2012 UKIE Ltd

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio talks to Amy Methven

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Amy MethvenTrain2Game radio spoke to Amy Methven today about what inspires her art and how she got involved with Road Hog Game studios.

You can listen to part 1 here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1087762-train2game-student-amy-methven-on-train2game-student-radio-part-1

And part 2 here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1087758-train2game-student-amy-methven-on-train2game-student-radio-part-2

or read the transcript below

My name is Amy Methven, I live in Elgin, Scotland and I’m doing the Art & Animation course.

Hi Amy, What’s your story? What are the past experiences that have shaped your life and made you who you are now?

Well all the way through High School, the only thing I really enjoyed doing was drawing and I would get in to all sorts of trouble for doodling and I only ever enjoyed doing art at school, it was the only thing I was ever really good at. It was all I thought about, the first thing I thought about when I woke up and the last thing I thought about before I went to bed. Just enjoying playing Video Games and various movies just inspired me to sit and draw my favourite characters. As I grew older I developed more of a passion for it and started to research the people who actually created these characters that inspired me and being very passionate about wanting to create things. Whether it’s through traditional painting or building sculptures is what I am all about really.

So what are some of the artist that inspire you to get into the Video Game industry?

There are a lot of concept artist that I love but the actual artists that got me in to the Video Games industry wasn’t actually anything to do with Video Games to be honest with you. I love surrealism, like Salvador Dali and all that kind of stuff. Looking at that kind of stuff and obviously because Salvador Dali did a little bit of animation as well, looking at the stuff and seeing it brought to life, that inspires me. Just being able to characterize and any form of animation and being able to interact with it through Video Games really inspires me.

So I know you are also working as part of a studio, with other Train2Game students, how did that studio form?

Well basically it started when I joined Train2Game, I started to put my artwork on to the forums and added a link to my online portfolio, just to let other students see what I was up to and then, through that I got various people messaging me to just chat about art in general and then I got a message from Gareth Brook asking if I would be interested in joining his team and I said yes, for definite. So that was quite out of the blue only been doing the course for 2 months and I am already involved in an up and coming studio, it’s just brilliant.

Did you get more offers from people other than Gareth or was it just Gareth that offered you?

It was just Gareth, the other people that got in touch were just other students who were just getting to know each other through the forums. But yeah he was the only one who got in touch with me about working together.

Tell me about the project you are working on at the minute with the studio?

The studio is called Road Hog and at the moment we have currently just started work on our first project and we are getting through it quite quickly actually. It’s called Little Green Dude or LGD and its basically based on the Video Game, Pong, from the 1970’s but with a modern twist on it and that is what this studio is aiming to do. Take retro gaming and modernise them. It’s going really well, I’m really enjoying it.

Why do you think you’ve taken the retro thing and taken it to the modern thing? Is that something you have all been passionate about?

We are really passionate gamers anyway but retro gaming is definitely my background, I played a lot of retro games. We had an Atari system so the very first game I played was one of the very first games ever released which was Pong but I did also play games like Pacman and Space Invaders and all that. That’s where it all started so it is really good to take those games and modernise them for both casual gamers and hardcore gamers.

What are you aiming to release Little Green Dude on? What Platform are you aiming for?

It’s aimed for Android and PC as well.

Yeah, is it going for a Windows 8 release?

Yeah.

Are you going to enter in to the competition that Windows are doing, do you know?

Yeah we are doing that, yeah, for definite.

What is the most dramatic or exciting thing you have done in your life?

Probably joining the Train2Game course! Before that I went to art school for 5 years studying contemporary, fine art. I am passionate about both traditional and digital stuff it wasn’t quite what I wanted to do with my life, just exhibiting art work in galleries and things like that, I really wanted to work in the gaming industry or film industry doing concept art and things like that. So I have to say up to this point, joining the Train2Game course is probably the biggest thing to happen, for the art side anyway.

What is your greatest ambition, where do you want to go with your career?

I want to go as far as I can. I want to just keep creating things for the industry and just have an outlet for my art work because for such a long time I didn’t really have a proper outlet. With various jobs that I’ve had it was quite boring jobs that had nothing to do with art, house keeping and cleaning and things like that. My life in general is to make sure I have some sort of outlet for my art work, I don’t really want to settle. So I just really want to go as far as I can with this. Just to see where it takes me really.

Is there any studio in particular that you would love to work for?

Well I have just started working with Road Hog so I would like to keep working with them for as long as I can!

Finally, where can people keep up to date with Road Hog Game news? Have you got a Facebook site?

Yeah we have a Facebook page set up, it’s: www.Facebook.com/RoadHogGames we will be uploading all sorts of updates on to that shortly.

Thank you very much for your time Amy, its been great!

No problem, thanks very much.

Train2Game News: Walkers come to iOS

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Walking DeadTomorrow will see the launch of another Walking Dead game, this time based on the highly successful comic book series by Robert Kirkman.

The Walking Dead: Assault, developed by Gamagio Ltd., in collaboration with Skybound and Skybound Asia will be released on all iOS devices tomorrow morning at 8am on the itunes app store.

The game kicks off in the same way that the comics and TV series did with Sheriff Rick Grimes waking up in a hospital with no idea what is happening or where anyone is, from there, players will revisit famous locations from early in the series, including travelling through Atlanta and the camp-site. The game has a beautiful look that is pulled straight from the pages of the book, everything looks like the comic, even the font.

The game will allow players to assemble and upgrade their ultimate team of four characters, with many fan favourites represented, such as Rick, Lori, Carl, Glenn, Shane, Andrea, Carol, Sophia and Dale. Each will have unique abilities that players can capitalise on, and game play includes distracting walkers using flares and car alarms. There will also be four levels of difficulty. Completing bonus objectives and challenges will unlock additional content, including artwork, wallpapers and behind-the-scenes trivia from The Walking Dead. Game Centre is also integrated, with achievements and leaderboards.

Assault is optimised for the iPhone 5 retina display and is automatically enhanced for iPad.

This game joins the ever growing franchise joining the likes of the comics, TV series, Telltales Episodic games and Activision’s upcoming The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct which follows the story of Daryl and Merle Dixon.

Train2Game News: New IP from Bungie

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The next game from Halo creator, Bungie, has been leaked onto the internet. The project had been one of publisher Activision’s most closely guarded secrets.

The game is going to be called “Destiny” and it is planned to have a universe as deep and rich as the Star Wars universe.

Activision has previously told investors that the game would be “genre-defining” and prove to be one of its two “largest growth opportunities” over coming years, alongside the Call of Duty series.

Following the leak, Bungie reproduced one of the images on its own site and confirmed the leak’s authenticity.

The game will be set 700 years in the future, and feature battles with aliens to protect the “last city on Earth” after the collapse of mankind’s efforts to colonise the Solar System.

Microsoft has said it has plans for at least another two Halo games. Its most recent sequel, Halo 4, was created by its own subsidiary 343 Industries. The series as a whole has generated more than £2.1bn in revenues to date.

Pier Harding-Rolls, head of games research at IHS Screen Digest said “You can never have sure bets and the risks involved with creating new IP [intellectual property] are always relatively high, but to have a studio like Bungie involved reduces the risk considerably for Activision due to its incredible track record

“I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of it at E3 [games conference] in June where games like this can be shown in a satisfying way.”

Train2Game student studios including FormerDroid and Global Empire Soft sign up to Microsoft BizSpark

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As part of Train2Game’s on-going support for students, indie studios which include Train2Game students are taking advantage of Train2Game’s connection to Microsoft BizSpark to receive free software and support from Microsoft’s small business support network.

With Train2Game is an official partner on the BizSpark network, the Train2Game PR team are available to support and advise on signing up with to the program. It’s free to join, though studios are required to register as a company and have their own website. The scheme gives students access to an array of software which can affectively let them publish games as professional studios.

Fiona Stewart, Train2Game student and Managing Director, FormerDroid said: “Working with BizSpark is a great chance to receive the latest Microsoft software and support from a network of skilled technical experts. FormerDroid are already developing with the platform and we’d encourage Train2Game student studios to do the same.”

Richard Hoffmann, Train2Game student and CEO,Global Empire Soft, said: “It’s tremendous to have the support of Microsoft behind us as we look to release titles onto Windows 8 Mobile, its support will be invaluable. Thanks Train2Game for making it happen for GlobalEmpire Soft!”

Jan Telensky, Train2Game, said: “At Train2Game our main aim is to get our students into the games industry. With our friends at Microsoft, our students can now start their own professional studios with help from the fast track system in place to gain acceptance to BizSpark. This relationship enables the new generation of entrepreneurial studios to kick start their way into the gaming industry – which is a testament to the efforts of the entire Train2Game team!”

For more information about signing up with BizSpark contact the Train2Game PR team via:

harry@swanpr.co.uk

Train2Game News: Mid-week Round up – 28.11.12

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Good news for PlayStation Plus subscribers! For the festive season Sony are adding a number of new games including: Batman: Arkham City, LIMBO and Vanquish. All the games are added to the PlayStation Plus service on December 5.

Nintendo are offering a similar service where new and existing owners of the 3DS XL who register before January 15, 2013 will be able to download one of five games from the eShop. The titles on offer are Super Mario 3D Land, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, New Art Academy, New Style Boutique and Freakyforms Deluxe.

Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has announced that the Grand Theft Auto series has shipped over 125 million games since its debut on on the original PSOne. Zelnick put the series’ continued success down to the firm’s refusal to annualise as Activision has with Call of Duty.

Microsoft has announced that they have sold over 750,000 Xbox360’s over the Black Friday week. Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription sales also saw a surge of more than 50 per cent compared to last years Black Friday week, and US entertainment application hours logged on Xbox LIVE during the week of Black Friday was up 43 per cent over last year.

Microsoft has announced sales of 40 million Windows 8 licenses in the operating system’s launch month but 40 million licenses sold does not mean there are now 40 million Windows 8 users. Countless numbers of licences are bought up by hardware manufacturers for future use in new machines.

Dishonored is, clearly, a new franchise, publisher Bethesda has said. Sales of the Arkane-developed first-person action game are above expectations, Bethesda marketing chief Pete Hines told Destructoid, and so publisher Bethesda has added it to its stable of franchises, which includes Fallout, Elder Scrolls and Doom. In the UK Dishonored entered the chart at number two following its October release. It was kept off top spot by FIFA 13, but is the biggest launch for a new IP so far in 2012 (a title previously held by Sleeping Dogs). This record was achieved despite UK numbers company Chart-Track not counting digital copies sold.