Call of Duty, Skylanders lead Activision Blizzard to beat analysts’ expectations

May 9, 2012 1:12 PM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Activision Blizzard beat expectations for the first-fiscal-quarter earnings today. The results, coming two days after Electronic Arts posted better-than-expected earnings, could be interpreted as good news for the larger game industry.

Activision Blizzard is the largest independent publisher of traditional …

EA’s Star Wars: The Old Republic snares 1.3M subscribers

May 7, 2012 1:29 PM Rob LeFebvre
Rob LeFebvre

Electronic Arts said today that its critical online game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, had 1.3 million active subscribers in the fourth-fiscal quarter ended March 31.

The video game giant announced the news as part of its quarter and year-end …

Activision Blizzard’s quarterly earnings report predicted to shine come Wednesday

May 4, 2012 7:00 AM Rob LeFebvre
Rob LeFebvre

Activision Blizzard will report its first-fiscal-quarter earnings on Wednesday, May 9, after the market close. This will come two days after its arch-rival Electronic Arts reports its earnings, and the two together will paint a better picture of the grudge match between EA's Star Wars: The Old Republic and Activision Blizzard's flagship online game World of Warcraft.

The top 5 MMOs of 2012 — and what they’re doing differently

April 27, 2012 11:50 AM Sebastian Haley
Sebastian Haley

Editor's Pick 2012 will see some of the biggest releases ever in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game genre. GamesBeat has rounded up the most promising titles and asked their developers, “What makes your game unique?”

Max Payne 3′s massive 35GB install vs. other big games

April 23, 2012 5:38 PM Evan Killham
Evan Killham

The PC version of developer Rockstar Games' upcoming installment of the Max Payne series will take up 35GB of free space on on your hard drive when it launches on May 29, according to system requirements released today. Here's how that compares to some other big PC titles.

Can we panic now? — Core gaming has a problem

April 2, 2012 10:01 AM Jeffrey Grubb
Jeffrey Grubb

THQ layoffs, Sega cancellations, and Sony studio closures caused last week to be one of the worst in memory for the gaming industry. Compare that to mobile darling OMGPOP which was sold for $210 million based on the strength of one game. It seems like one side of the market is on its way down, while the other side has nothing but growth ahead of it, but that isn't necessarily the case.

Guild Wars 2 challenges MMO establishment with hybrid business model (preview)

March 26, 2012 6:00 AM Heinrich Lenhardt
Heinrich Lenhardt

The massively multiplayer online (MMO) games business is about to get even more competitive. Market leader World of Warcraft (WoW) dodged a bullet when the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) put only a minor dent into its …

Blizzard launches World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta

March 22, 2012 1:51 PM Stefanie Fogel
Stefanie Fogel

Blizzard Entertainment has begun beta testing for the next World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria.

Annual Pass holders, the media, fansites, friends and family, and opt-in beta testers will all get a chance to experience the new content during …

Free-to-play games catching MMO subscribers’ attention (and wallets)

March 21, 2012 4:40 PM Heinrich Lenhardt
Heinrich Lenhardt

The successful launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic notwithstanding, the business model of mandatory subscriptions for massively multiplayer online (MMO) games seems to be on its way out. A new user survey by online core gamer network Curse indicates …

Blizzard and Netease.com renew deal for World of Warcraft in China

March 20, 2012 6:36 PM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase.com have renewed their deal to publish World of Warcraft in mainland China. The deal will now last an additional three years.

That means millions of Chinese World of Warcraft fans can breathe a sigh of relief. …

Blizzard handing out free expansions, epic mounts, and boosts to level 80 in World of Warcraft

March 7, 2012 10:03 AM Sebastian Haley
Sebastian Haley

The Scroll of Resurrection is a special feature in World of Warcraft that grants incentives for returning players, while also benefitting the player who sent out the scroll invite. Last night, Blizzard announced on its official blog that the Scroll …

Blizzard Entertainment lays off 600 employees as World of Warcraft shrinks

February 29, 2012 1:01 PM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Blizzard Entertainment, the publisher of the perennial blockbuster World of Warcraft online game, said today it is cutting its staff by 600 employees.

That’s a big chunk of an estimated 5,000 employees for the company, which is based in Irvine, …

Gunning for another Kickstarter success Minecraft-style

February 27, 2012 8:00 AM Heinrich Lenhardt
Heinrich Lenhardt

Curious how a first-person shooter with crafting elements and “total environmental destruction” would play? For a modest $15 you can pre-purchase indie game Guncraft and help the developers meet their Kickstarter funding goal of $16,000 to finish the project. It …

World of Warcraft could help your grandma focus

February 23, 2012 7:00 AM Stefanie Fogel
Stefanie Fogel

There’s hope for grandma and grandpa in video games. Rolling up a night elf hunter or orc shaman in massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft could help cognitive functioning in some older adults, according to a new study …

New details and Outland screens from “World of Warcraft within Minecraft” project (exclusive interview)

February 12, 2012 8:00 AM Heinrich Lenhardt
Heinrich Lenhardt

A 27-year-old U.S. graduate student known as “Ramses” is creating a stir in the community of Minecraft, the sandbox-building game by Swedish development studio Mojang. Within Minecraft’s blocky world, he has spent about 100 hours so far on a re-creation …

Activision Blizzard earnings: World of Warcraft resists the assault from EA’s Star Wars

February 9, 2012 1:45 PM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Activision Blizzard has beaten earnings expectations for its third fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31, and its major cash cow is still holding up. World of Warcraft didn’t suffer after Electronic Arts launched its massively multiplayer online game Star Wars: …

Star Wars: The Old Republic isn’t hurting World of Warcraft as much as you may think

February 8, 2012 7:00 AM Heinrich Lenhardt
Heinrich Lenhardt

To what extent has Electronic Arts’ Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) been keeping users away from Activision Blizzard’s cash cow World of Warcraft (WoW)? Surprisingly little, according to traffic reports from leading independent community websites for both online games.…

Gamer found dead in internet cafe…nine hours later

February 4, 2012 11:59 AM Sebastian Haley
Sebastian Haley

23-year-old Chen Jung-yu was found dead at an internet cafe in New Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday night.

Jung-yu was rigid in his chair with hands on the keyboard and mouse, according to local police. He had been playing the popular …

DC Universe Online exec talks about the game’s future and competition from Star Wars (interview)

January 11, 2012 5:00 PM Sebastian Haley
Sebastian Haley

Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) is celebrating DC Universe Online’s one-year anniversary today. All current players (with characters created on or before today) will receive a mission allowing them to earn a unique One Year Anniversary Cape.

The massively multiplayer online …