Does game quality translate into better financial performance?
John Riccitiello, chief executive of Electronic Arts, came into EA a couple of years ago with the commitment to improve the quality of the big company’s games. During his calls with financial analysts, Riccitiello regularly cited average review scores for the company’s games.
That raises the question of whether there is a direct relationship between the quality of a game to the bottom line. Metacritic, which aggregates review scores by a bunch of established game reviewers, has… Continue Reading
Ubisoft closes a year of expansion and profits for game business
Ubisoft reported fiscal year results with good sales growth and a decent profit despite the recession. For the year ended March 31, the French game publisher reported sales of $1.47 billion, up 18.4 percent from $1.3 billion a year earlier.
Net income was $95.6 million, down 37 percent from $152 million a year earlier. The Paris-based company reported the strong growth in the face of economic headwinds and its own aggressive expansion. One of the strongest… Continue Reading
Take-Two Interactive struggles to move beyond Grand Theft Auto
It’s not all that easy for a video game publisher to diversify away from good-old-fashioned-street-violence-racing-mayhem.
Take-Two Interactive Software reported its results for the second fiscal quarter ended April 30 were far below last year’s sales, when the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV generated huge sales.
This company’s results rise or fall with the launch of Grand Theft Auto series games, which are hardcore violent games. The stock price ebbs and flows on the question of whether… Continue Reading
Spark of Blue Software to build licensed iPhone apps, starting with KISS concert lighter
Yes, you too can own your very own virtual KISS concert lighter on the iPhone.
Just in time for the upcoming rock band’s world tour, a new company called Spark of Blue Software has released the app on the AppStore for a mere 99 cents. When you go to a concert, you can run the app on your iPhone display like a screen saver and wave the flame around without any worry of burning your hand.
This… Continue Reading
Taking on giants, GamesCampus and Cybersports move into online sports
Taking on giants is part of what it means to be a startup. Today, two young game companies are launching online sports leagues — something, for the most part, that gaming goliaths like EA have yet to come around to.
These ones will stand out from the pack because they’re trying to build high-quality virtual worlds that can support large sports fan communities.
GamesCampus of San Jose, Calif. has adapted an online baseball game created by Korea’s… Continue Reading
Are profits in video games shifting from the West to the East?
The worldwide video game industry is experiencing healthy revenue growth. In the U.S., sales grew 19 percent to $22 billion in 2008, according to market researcher NPD. That has been a cause for much celebration as games outrun the recession.
But market researcher DFC Intelligence in La Jolla, Calif., has a different take. In a report today, the company asked whether revenue gains are coming at the expense of profits. And while U.S. companies have collectively… Continue Reading
Dean’s top ten games of 2008
Here are my picks for the best games of the year. Each and every one of these games was so good that they could all easily be picks for game of the year. It’s a reminder that 2008 was one of the best years we’ve ever had in the video game business.
1. Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360) Microsoft/Epic Games, Nov. 2008. It’s probably no surprise that my favorite game of the holiday season is also… Continue Reading
Roundup: Crisis speculation, another marketing-firm VC, and more
How will the current crisis on Wall Street affect Silicon Valley? – “I don’t think it will have much of an impact on Silicon Valley as an operating entity,” banker Bill Hambrecht tells Om Malik. Watch the video for more.
Meanwhile, how will online advertising be affected by Wall Street turmoil? — Maybe not so bad, some hopefuls in the industry tell PaidContent.
Global Agency Interpublic Group creates new venture arm — It will be called Mediabrands Venture Fund, and follows… Continue Reading
EA and Take-Two give up on merger talks
After taking a good peak inside the kimono of Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts has decided to turn its back on its six-month effort to buy the publisher of “Grand Theft Auto IV.”
EA said in a statement that it had high regard of Take-Two but after reviewing Take-Two’s management presentation on its future plans and other due diligence materials, it decided not to acquire Take-Two. EA had previously offered $2 billion to buy Take-Two.
Take-Two said in… Continue Reading
Grand Theft Auto IV tops 10 million sold
“Grand Theft Auto IV” is on its way to breaking records, despite a feared slowdown in sales.
Take-Two Interactive reported that it has sold more than 10 million copies of the controversial shooting game since it launched on April 29. The game hit the 10 milllion mark as of Aug. 16. Previously, the game had sold 8.5 million units as of May 31. So sales are slowing, but not as much as some feared.The figures are… Continue Reading
E3 perspective: Q&A with Chairman Strauss Zelnick on the future of Take-Two Interactive
Strauss Zelnick is chairman of Take-Two Interactive, the hottest video game company on the planet thanks to its popular Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold more than 6 million copies in the first week alone. He is CEO of entertainment investment company ZelnickMedia and was previously CEO of music and entertainment company BMG Entertainment (now Sony BMG). Prior to joining BMG in 1994, he was CEO of video game developer Crystal Dynamics and president of… Continue Reading
EA extends $2 billion offer for Take-Two Interactive again
Maybe Electronic Arts is trying to wear down the management of Take-Two Interactive. EA said today it was once again extending its $2 billion tender offer for all of the shares of Take-Two.
The previous offer of $25.74 a share expired on Monday and remains unchanged. The offer has now been extended until July 18. Owen Mahoney, senior vice president of EA corporate development, said in a statement, “We congratulate Rockstar on the successful launch of… Continue Reading
Take-Two and Electronic Arts keep dancing
Electronic Arts is still banned from Liberty City.
Take-Two Interactive bought itself some time with some solid earnings yesterday that beat earnings expectations. That gave a boost to its stock price and it suggests that Electronic Arts is going to have to raise its bid in order to acquire its game publishing rival.
Take-Two reported yesterday its revenue for the second fiscal quarter was $539.8 million and net income was $98.2 million, thanks to the April 29… Continue Reading
Electronic Arts’ DeadSpace: There will be blood
Among the video games Electronic Arts showed off in a press preview last week at the Supper Club in San Francisco was DeadSpace. And it was very bloody.
This is the survival-horror game that debuts on Halloween and is EA’s bid to create a cross-platform franchise. EA will be releasing a comic book series, animated TV show and video game based on the same DeadSpace universe.
The blood and gore surprised me. We’re talking a spray of… Continue Reading
GTA IV sales lift U.S. video game sales for April
April is the coolest month for video game sales.
Sales of the U.S. video game industry grew at a red hot 47 percent in April to $1.23 billion, up from $839 million a year earlier. Brisk sales of “Grand Theft Auto IV” at the very end of the month helped drive sales upward despite a recession that has hurt consumer spending in other areas, according to market researcher NPD Group.
Year-to-date sales are up 31 percent over… Continue Reading
Funware’s threat to the traditional video game industry
Call it Funware. That’s the name for applications with game-like mechanics and game-like behavior that really aren’t traditional video games. And Funware just might steal the thunder from video games, which may no longer have a monopoly on either interactivity or fun.
With new places to play — such as the iPhone, on Facebook, or even with Google mash-ups on personlized web sites — web-based social interaction is changing the way that many people entertain themselves.
While… Continue Reading
Grand Theft Auto IV sales top $500 million; id Software announces Doom IV
It’s a big day in video games.
Take-Two Interactive said worldwide sales of Grand Theft Auto IV have surpassed $500 million in its first week on the market. More than 6 million games have been sold at a retail value of at least $60 a copy. And id Software announced “Doom 4.”
On its opening day, GTA IV sold 3.6 million units with a retail value of $310 million. Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, said in a… Continue Reading
Dean’s post on buying Grand Theft Auto IV at midnight
I made a trip to the local Game Crazy store at midnight to pick up a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV for $60. There were 39 people in line, including a few under-age kids who got stopped at the door because they weren’t old enough to buy the game. There was a lot of bluster, as we waited in the cold. One guy said he heard they were going to sell 9 million copies…. Continue Reading
A personalized preview of Grand Theft Auto IV, the big video game of 2008
The video game “Grand Theft Auto IV” is likely to be a cultural, business and technological milestone.
The game targets 18-34-year-old males who are hardcore, or play a lot of games all of the time
I’m on the hardcore fringe, part of the aging male demographic — and so not really part of the target group. I’m also wary of the violence and sexual material for which GTA games are known (more on this in a sec).
So… Continue Reading
Variety’s interview with the rockstar of Grand Theft Auto IV
Dan Houser is one of the rockstars at game development house Rockstar Games, which makes the controversial Grand Theft Auto game series.
The game is known for pushing the envelope on things like violence and sexually explicit imagery.
The Manhattan-based subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive will be the magnet of attention again during the next week as it launches the new title in the raunchy yet humorous GTA series: Grand Theft Auto IV.
Here’s an enlightening interview by Variety’s… Continue Reading