Monthly Archives: February 2009

Following the release of fourth quarter financials, Bobby Kotick has said that Activision is not planning on going the layoff route most publishers are suffering at present.

“We won’t be distracted by layoffs and restructuring and things that other companies are going to be distracted with,” Kotick told Reuters in an interview.

“We don’t respond to managing our operating expenses because there’s a financial crisis, we do it all the time.”

Activision reported a net loss of $72 million for Q4 2008.

Update – The press release just went out.

Acti Blizz boss Bobby Kotick just confirmed net revenues for 2008 of $5 billion.

Income for the year was $1.2 billion, said the exec.

Acti Blizz did, however, swing to a net loss for the quarter ending December 31, reporting a net loss of $72 million, or 5 cents a share, compared to earnings of $86 million, or 15 cents a share, for the same period last year.

The company ended the year with more than $3 billion in cash.

“Our solid balance sheet distinguishes us from the competition,” said Kotick, who added the firm is expecting another year of growth in 2009.

The news came as part of Activision’s fourth quarter earnings call.

The full earnings statement has yet to cross the wires, but we’re expecting it any minute.

More soon.

Not much has changed over the past few weeks as far as PC sales go, other than newcomer Civilization IV appearing.

Otherwise, it’s business as usual, with Left 4 Dead continuing to climb the charts.

Look for it to get even hotter when the Critic’s Choice Edition shambles into stores this spring.

1. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
3. Spore
4. Left 4 Dead
5. World Of Warcraft Battle Chest
6. Fallout 3
7. World Of Warcraft
8. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
9. Civilization IV
10. Call Of Duty: World At War

Acti Blizz CFO Thomas Tippl just confirmed that its next James Bond game has been delayed to 2010 so it won’t compete with a new Call of Duty game at the end of 2009.

The news came as part of Activision’s fourth quarter earnings call.

A British Xbox 360 ad has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for not clarifying the fact that downloaded Live movies could only be kept for 14 days.

According to the ASA, the small print failed to mention that anyone who used the download service must own the Xbox 360 with hard drive, which runs £169.99, and that the movies expire after 14 days, or 24 hours after the film’s started.

“Because the ad focused on the Xbox 360 download function and new users could be influenced to purchase on the basis of being able to download and keep movies, we considered that the time limitation to play downloaded movies and the fact that they were being rented rather than bought were significant conditions that should have been clarified in the ad,” the body said in its judgment.

The ad was brought to the ASA’s attention when a consumer filed a complaint, which Microsoft claimed was unreasonable because they were “not viable to explain all the features of its Xbox movie download service in a short TV advert”.

NCsoft says that dev positions in the UK are to be moved to North America, according to GamesIndustry.biz, following the axing of 55 employees from the firm’s Brighton office.

The publisher’s confirmed that remaining team members will concentrate on European sales and marketing.

“The European office is transitioning to have a stronger focus in marketing and sales, with many of the existing disciplines being consolidated in our studios on the US West Coast and our headquarters in Seattle,” said a spokesperson.

“Additionally, we are transitioning to an embedded quality assurance model in which the QA staff works in our studios directly with the development teams, providing support throughout the entire development process.”

Some of the development and community positions may instead be opening up in Seattle or California, and there’s a possibility of the UK marketing team expanding soon.

The structural changes will affect between 70 and 90 positions, but NCsoft is working hard to reposition current employees, it said.

Epic’s confirmed its GDC plans, and it sounds as though those of you wanting a repeat of the glamour of Gears 2 at last year’s show are going to be left begging.

“In addition to our usual Exposuite and demo presentations we’re going to conduct an Unreal Engine 3 seminar for licensees and prospective licensees on Tuesday, March 24,” Epic VP Mark Rein told VG247.

“Those interested in attending the seminar should contact gdcseminar@epicgames.com and those interested in setting up appointments to meet with us at GDC should email me directly at mark.rein@epicgames.com.”

No Cliff with a lancer? Maybe next year.

Valve’s confirmed that the recently announced Left 4 Dead Survival Pack isn’t going to cost a bean.

Here’s the proof. The pack includes and all-new play mode, Survival, and two new campaigns for Versus mode.

Free. Free. And once more: free.

After the break. The Wii shooter’s out on Friday, and you’d do very well to get involved.

As you can see, it’s less than subtle in its approach, but it’s more than enough to get you dusting that Wii off.

Buy it. You shoot zombies in the face. What’s not to like?

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NCsoft’s Tabula Rasa team has finally added the long-awaited mech suits to its flailing MMO, just in time for the game to shut down.

The time-limited mechs go live when the patch downloads. They come in five models, which are built around various character classes.

Tabula Rasa’s servers will be shut down in two weeks, but it is free to play from now until then, should you decide to give it a try.

Square Enix is to release Disgaea DS in Europe on April 3.

The new version brings stylus control to the stupidly hardcore SRPG.

It’s actually an update of Hour of Darkness, the PS2 classic of yesteryear.

Press release after the break.

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Guess what, young padawans? The Force Unleashed sold over 5.7 million copies worldwide across all platforms since its September release, making it the fastest selling Star Wars title in the franchise’s history.

It hit the 1.5 million mark worldwide in its first week, and all signs point to the fact that it’s a very popular game.

More info, including toy and film numbers, over at Gamaustra.

3 on 3 NHL Arcade is now available for download over on Xbox Live for $10 (800 MS Points).

The game allows players to choose top NHL players and throw them into the rink for a no-holds-barred, big-headed exhibition of hard hitting hockey.

Up to four players can get in on the  action, with co-op options for three, should the mood strike you. Last but not least, online multiplayer options allow two-six players.

A trial mode is available should you want to try it first, while the full version will unlock the leaderboards and achievements.

Atari’s put out a new video of 360-exclusive driver Race Pro, revealing its Pau track.

Watch it after the break. We have nothing else to add. It’s out on February 20.

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Sega’s just confirmed a new Aliens Vs Predator game, being developed by Rebellion.

It’s out in 2010 and more details are promised “very soon”. No platform info’s been confirmed.

The new title has “strategically updated” release planning for Sega’s two other Aliens games, although quite what that means hasn’t been confirmed.

“The innovative new AvP game presents an exciting opportunity for us,” said Sega West boss Naoya Tsurumi.

“It represents a fantastic addition to our growing Aliens franchise and the reinvention of one of gaming’s most cherished iconic titles. By adjusting the release of our other Aliens titles to accommodate it, Sega will ensure that every title lives up to the high expectations of Aliens and AvP fans.”

Press release after the break.

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According to this GI report, NCsoft has cut 70 jobs over at the NCWest office in Brighton, UK.

While a similar situation happened last year after in-house development was shut down, details regarding this round of job losses have not been confirmed by the company as yet.

Managing Director Geoff Heath has refused to comment.

UPDATE: GamesIndustry just confirmed that 55 people were let go, but that 30 jobs were saved.

Sega’s released a second MadWorld sports parody trailer, this time focusing on how killing people in inventive ways in the game wins points. Watch it after the break.

It’s very violent. As you know. MadWorld’s a Wii exclusive, out March.

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Early registration for the 2009 Game Developers Conference – taking place March 23-27 in San Francisco – ends tomorrow, February 12. If you want a 30 percent discount, get cracking.

Loads of cool stuff will be happening, most importantly the keynotes from Hideo Kojima, and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.

Also, if you attend you can witness the Games Festival Awards and Game Developers Choice Awards, honoring the best titles of the year.

Head on over to the official site and get involved.

God. Just because. After the break’s a video of some people de-boxing a limited edition, hand-painted Lost and Damned 360 Elite in a car.

Apparently only 190 of these were made and, obviously, you can’t buy them. You win them.

There’s more on Engadget.

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EA’s announced G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra this morning, to release on August 7 alongside the live-action movie of the same name.

It’s an all-platform effort, and will take up where the movie leaves off. It includes a co-op mode, but multiplayer and DLC were not mentioned.

See? Sometimes old toys do come back to life. Just not in the way you thought.

Press release after the jump.

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