NEWS

Ubisoft’s Q3 Sales In Line With Expectations

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:02:11 +0000

French publisher Ubisoft has reported third quarter sales of €495 million (£434.3m / $678.9m), in line with its recently revised expectations.

The figure, for the three months ended December 31, was down 2.7 per cent from €508 million (£434.3m / $678.9m) during the same period a year earlier.

Regulator To Review Chinese World Of Warcraft Licence

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:59:03 +0000

Chinese regulator the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) has agreed to review NetEase’s application to operate World Of Warcraft after initially rejecting the proposal.

RedLynx Reports Record 2009

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:51:44 +0000

Finland-based publisher and developer RedLynx has announced that 2009 was “its most successful year ever”.

Worldwide sales of the four titles the company published or co-published last year - Trials HD (Xbox Live Arcade), Monster Trucks Nitro (PC, iPhone) and DrawRace (iPhone) – reached 1.5 million units.

Free Realms Reaches Eight Million Users

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:44:35 +0000

Over eight million unique users have registered for Sony Online Entertainment’s MMO Free Realms, the developer has announced.

While free-to-play since launching last April, the family-friendly PC title utilises a microtransaction model that allows users to purchase in-game items or to upgrade to a membership status.

NPD: Software Decline, PS3 Growth Forecast

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:53:06 +0000

Game industry analysts have weighed in with US sales predictions for the month of January ahead of the NPD Group’s release of official market data this Thursday.

Wedbush’s Michael Pachter forecast console and handheld software sales of $655 million, down four per cent year-on-year, while Cowen and Company’s Doug Creutz said he expects a two per cent decline.

Gran Turismo Races Past 55 Million Sales

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:32:00 +0000

Sony’s Gran Turismo franchise hit 55.45 million unit sales in December 2009, according to developer Polyphony Digital.

The PlayStation series debuted in Japan in December 2007, and the following year in Europe and North America.

2001's Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec (pictured) is the bestselling title in the series, having sold 14.89 million copies.

Ubisoft Reveals Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:00:21 +0000

Ubisoft has officially announced the ongoing development of a new Ghost Recon title.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is in development at Ubisoft’s Paris studio - which was responsible for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and its follow up - and is scheduled to be released worldwide during the 2010 holiday season.

Nintendo Awarded $1.5 Million In Piracy Suit

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:36:17 +0000

A Federal Court has ordered an Australian citizen to pay Nintendo $1.5 million in damages after illegally copying and uploading to the internet the first game file of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

The file was first made available for illegal download worldwide on November 6, 2009, a week ahead of its official release in Australia.

The $1.5 million in damages awarded to the platform holder will compensate it for the loss of sales revenue caused by the individual’s actions, Nintendo said.

All EA Titles “Will Have An Online Component”

Tom Ivan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:01:15 +0000

All EA games released during the company’s 2011 financial year will feature an “online component”, according to the company’s chief operating officer, John Schappert.

EA Announces $82 Million Loss

Gavin Ogden — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:35:59 +0000

EA has announced that it made a loss during its third quarter ended December 31, 2009 blaming a lack of launches and the decline in boxed product.

GAAP net revenue for the quarter was $1.243 billion compared with $1.654 billion for the prior year. Non-GAAP net revenue for the quarter was $1.346 billion, down 23 per cent as compared with $1.742 billion for the prior year. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $82 million compared with a net loss of $641 million for the prior year.

Square Enix: Profits Up 68 Per Cent

Gavin Ogden — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:30:54 +0000

Square Enix has announced its consolidated results for the nine months ended December 31, 2009.

The publisher and developer reported that its operating income increased 68 per cent year-on-year to 21.4 billion yen and that net sales for the period were up 30 per cent to 135 billion yen.

Molyneux: Natal As Revolutionary As The Mouse

Gavin Ogden — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:35:49 +0000

Peter Molyneux has said that the PC mouse revolutionised home computing but Natal "could end up [with developers] creating something we can't even imagine now".

The Lionhead boss warned though that day one Natal titles would be "the obvious stuff" rather than groundbreaking new directions in gameplay.

Relentless Software Rejoins TIGA

Gavin Ogden — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:24:21 +0000

Relentless Software, the studio behind the award winning Buzz! Franchise and the recently self-published Blue Toad Murder Files for PlayStation Network has rejoined the trade association representing the UK games industry.

Andrew Eades, executive director at Relentless Software explains the company’s reasons for rejoining TIGA: “Relentless has always been a strong supporter of the UK games industry and recognises the recent steps forward that TIGA has made in establishing a dialogue with government.

UK Charts: Mass Effect 2 Holds Tight

Gavin Ogden — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:04:34 +0000

Mass Effect 2 has seen off new releases from Star Trek Online (boxed sales) and Dante’s Inferno to remain at the top of the all format UK charts for a second week running.

BioWare’s sequel was well received by critics and consumers, selling two million copies globally in its first week of availability. First week UK sales on Xbox 360 were almost double those of the original Mass Effect and three times higher on PC.

Championship Manager Online To Close

Gavin Ogden — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:28:37 +0000

The football strategy game Championship Manager Online has been cancelled and will close just 20 days short of the game's fifth birthday, CVG has reported.

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Xbox Live Arcade Revenue Hit $100 Million in 2009

Gavin Ogden — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:51:56 +0000

Market research firm Forecasting and Analysing Digital Entertainment (FADE) has reported that Xbox Live Arcade sales were up 34 per cent year-on-year.

FADE says that Battlefield 1943 was the most successful Arcade release, reaching 800,000 sales and generating $12.5 million in revenue. It was also reported that the average price of XBLA games "increased rapidly" during the 2009 from an average of $8.33 in 2008 to $9.12 (via CVG).

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EA Unveils Madden For Facebook

Gavin Ogden — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:40:03 +0000

Electronic Arts has said that it will introduce Madden NFL on Facebook in an attempt to open up the franchise to the social networking site’s 400 million users.

Peter Moore, president of EA Sports, told Bloomberg, “We have to make ‘Madden’ more accessible. You’ll see us on Facebook going forward.”

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Bungie ‘Saddened’ Over Xbox Live Closure

Gavin Ogden — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:24:39 +0000

Bungie has said it is saddened by the news that the original Xbox Live service will be shut down.

Microsoft announced that as of April 15 it will no longer support the original Xbox console or software on Xbox Live. This also applies to original games being played on an Xbox 360.

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Game Investment Conference Detailed

Gavin Ogden — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:05:33 +0000

A Game Investment conference will take place on April 28 in New York with the aim of covering investment opportunities within the games industry.

Event organisers say the conference is aimed at investors seeking to sort out the direction of the game industry over the next couple of years and developers looking to raise capital for their projects and studios.

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ModNation Racers Going Portable

Tom Ivan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:48:45 +0000

Sony has announced that it will release a PSP version of upcoming PS3 kart racer ModNation Racers.

“The PSP version will have all of the features of the PS3 version, with players able to create and upload their own racetracks to share with kart-racing lovers around the world, and race with up to six people in PSP's Ad Hoc mode or online,” the company said.

ModNation Racers for PSP will arrive alongside the currently undated PS3 version later this year.

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