Category Archives: Trade

Double Fine boss Tim Schafer has said his studio’s crowdfunding initiative wasn’t inspired by negative experiences with publishers so much as the realities of independent development.

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Double Fine’s crowdfunding success has inspired other developers to consider a new method of sourcing development costs.

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Industry analysts Michael Pachter and Jesse Divnich questioned the validity of game publishers during a panel at DICE 2012 yesterday, with the former stating he feels “the traditional publisher’s role has lessened” over years, while the later feel that without publishers, there’s “no way” for gamers to experience the various offerings on the market.

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MCV has posted ChartTrack’s monthly figures, it looks as though UK games sales were down 30% year-over-year for the month of January, with revenue coming in at £59.2 million.

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EA COO Peter Moore told Kotaku that up to 20% of those playing the publisher’s games do so “almost offline” – ignoring multiplayer offerings in favour of single-player campaigns. Moore raised the figure while discussing Battlefield 3 but seemed to be applying it broadly.

Activision Blizzard has released its full-year 2011 and Q4 financials, and has said to expect Diablo III during Q2 this year, which would place it somewhere between March and June, and a new entry in the Call of Duty franchise with “meaningful innovation” is expected this year.

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Resident Evil: Revelations topped Media Create’s software charts this week, after debuting in second place to Armored Core V last week. On the hardware side of things, Vita’s rebound the week prior was short-lived, as sales of the handheld fell 1,801 units week-over-week.

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Warner has released its full-year financials for 2011, and reported a revenue increase of 9% $12.6 billion thanks to sales of to Batman: Arkham City, Mortal Kombat, and “several”Lego titles. Arkham City has now shipped 6 million units worldwide since October, and Q4 results for its Film and Entertainment sector, which includes video game sales, saw a 7% increase in revenue year-over-year to $3.9 billion. Revenue across all sectors for full-year 2011 was $29.0 billion, which is an 8% increase year-over-year.

Some startling figures have come out of Nielsen Games’ latest exposé of gaming trends in the US.

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Highly portable game engine Unity has added yet another platform to its line-up of supported devices – smart TVs. Gamasutra reports consumer electronics manufacturer LG has struck a deal with Unity to deliver games built on its engine to a new range of TVs. Unity has over 750,000 licensees including Square Enix. LG has also recently partnered with OnLive and is apparently on a campaign to completely rid your living room of boxes.

Volition design director Jameson Durall has said rumours of an anti-used game system in the next Xbox console sound “fantastic” – and not in the way that means “unbelievable”.

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A new study by UK trade body TIGA has found the majority of local developers have moved on from pure retail models.

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The NPD Group Australia has revealed a 12.8% year-on-year decrease in traditional retail in 2011, but local industry expects digital revenue to climb.

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Konami has reported its financial results for the nine months ending December 31, and it was a rather prosperous period for the firm with a reported profit of ¥17.05 billion ($224 million), which is a 77.3% year-over-year increase. However, most of the firm’s profit came from sectors outside of its consumer games sector, which declined 40% year-over-year.

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SEGA’s latest financial report shows a year-over-year decline for its games division during the first nine months of the fiscal year ending December 31.

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ASCII Media Works, known for its Dengeki magazines, has reported that Resident Evil: Revelations has sold-through 75% of its initial shipment in Japan its first week on sale, which essentially is around 158,012 copies. The figures show a discrepancy between ASCII’s figures and those of Media Create’s, which stated earlier this week the Capcom title moved 146,559 units its first week on sale. Furthermore, ASCII’s figures state another debut, Tales of Innocence R for Vita, moved 70% of its shipment, which is close to 53,000 copies, a bit less than the 54,853 reported by Media Create. Regardless which figures are correct, both debuts did well the first week on offer. Thanks, Siliconera.

Square Enix has released its financial results for the nine-month period ending December 31, 2011, and the firm reported increases in both revenue and profit thanks to its games division as well as its social and online offerings.

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NPD has announced it’s reached an agreement with Walmart, which will allow the firm to include the retail giant’s sales data in its monthly games industry report. Information from both physical and an online outlets will be included. The agreement also includes data from other offerings the chain sells, which NPD also tracks, such as toys, home items, apparel, etcetera. “This agreement is truly a game changer for NPD and for the industry,” said NPD president and COO Karyn Schoenbart. “With Walmart data, we will be able to provide our clients with world class information and solidify our leadership position as the premier source of market insight in our industries. We look forward to offering our clients the best information ever for understanding their customers in order to drive better decisions and grow their businesses.” Thanks, IndustryGamers.

Yasuhiro Wada has wandered back out of obscurity, at the head of a brand new company called ToyBox Inc.

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THQ has posted its financial results for the quarter ending December 31, 2011, revealing $9.2 million year-on-year decrease in sales but a healthy looking release schedule.

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