Platform holders and analysts have weighed in on the disappointing performance of the US retail console market in June 2010, which saw sales decline by six per cent year-over-year to $1.1 billion.
Sony Online Entertainment has cut its full-time workforce by over four per cent.
The Sony game development and publishing division behind EverQuest, Free Realms and the upcoming DC Universe Online said the move had been made to “better align” resources.
Scott Gulbransen, SOE’s senior PR director, issued the following statement to Joystiq:
[Update: Assassin’s Creed maker says EA move “is in Ubisoft’s best interest”]
French publisher Ubisoft’s largest shareholder, Electronic Arts, is reportedly set to sell its stake in the Assassin’s Creed maker.
US-based EA will offload its 15 per cent stake in Europe’s largest games producer, according to terms obtained by Bloomberg.
The US games industry suffered another month of year-over-year sales declines in June as retail console revenues fell six per cent to $1.1 billion, according to data from the NPD Group.
That follows May’s five per cent decline, and leaves retail console revenues for the first six months of 2010 down nine per cent year-over-year at $6.6 billion.
June US console hardware revenues rose five per cent year-over-year to $401.7 million, according to data from the NPD Group.
While the DS took first place, Xbox 360 was the bestselling home console for the second time this year, enjoying its second largest non-holiday month ever thanks to the launch of the new slim version and $50 price reductions on older models.
All three current gen home consoles achieved sales jumps over last June; with PS3 registering an eleventh consecutive month of year-over-year unit increases.
A lack of major new releases saw US game console software revenues take a hit in the June, falling 15 per cent year-over-year to $531.3 million.
Entertainment site hi5 has closed a new round of venture capital financing of over $14 million.
The company said that the money will be used to accelerate its expansion into social gaming and virtual goods.
The second round of financing was led by Crosslink Capital, with the firm’s general partner Jim Feuille joining hi5’s board of directors.
Nintendo’s Wii Party sold 235,000 copies in its first four days to claim the top spot on the Japanese software chart during the week ended July 11. The game was released as a solo package and also bundled with pink or white Wiimotes.
Sony’s White Knight Chronicles 2 for PS3 - which also offers the first game for free - debuted in second place with 176,000 sales.
Scott Martins, former studio head at Sony Online Entertainment Denver, has established a new developer called Dire Wolf Digital.
One of the founders of North East UK-based racing studio Pitbull Syndicate - which was acquired by the now defunct Midway Games in 2005 - has opened a new development house in the region called Pitbull Studio.
During his Develop keynote, Double Fine founder Tim Schafer explained some of the challenges with only creating one, large budget game at a time, culminating in the cancellation of Brutal Legend 2, which threatened to inflict mass layoffs or dissolve the studio entirely.
Quantic Dream, Rocksteady Studios, Unity Technologies and Hello Games scooped multiple prizes at the eighth Develop Industry Excellence Awards in Brighton last night.
Heavy Rain maker Quantic Dream took the Independent Studio and Best New IP gongs, while Rocksteady received the In-House Studio award and Best use of a Licence or IP for Batman: Arkham Asylum.
RuneScape maker Jagex has announced a new science fiction MMO called Stellar Dawn.
The company said that the title will be “playable on almost any PC or Mac” with an internet connection when it launches next year, with a “sizeable proportion” of the game to be made available free of charge.
“Stellar Dawn will be Jagex’s biggest release to date and everyone at the studio is absolutely electric with excitement as we enter the final stages of development,” said Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard.
Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens isn’t convinced that DRM is the best solution for combating piracy. Instead, he proposes a new business model which would see publishers sell unfinished games and users top up the experience with optional additional downloads.
Independent developer Ready At Dawn has let 13 staff go shortly after the announcement of its latest project, God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta.
The studio said in a statement on its website:
Red Dead Redemption developer Rockstar San Diego has confirmed that it’s “realigning resources” amid reports that it has cut approximately 40 workers.
Kotaku sources suggest that the studio has axed a "significant" chunk of its employees, although Rockstar didn’t comment on the figure in an official statement issued to the site.
Simon Benson, a senior development manager at SCE's Worldwide Studios stereoscopic team, has said that 3D can make gaming experiences more accessible for novice players and also give core gamers a competitive advantage online.
Speaking at a recent 3D event, a Sony marketing manager told attendees that gamers who play online titles in 3D will have an advantage over those that don’t. We asked Benson following the speech how big this advantage is and what it would mean for players.
Sony has announced that its PlayStation Minis range has cleared one million downloads across PAL, Asian and US territories.
Bite-sized downloadable PlayStation Network titles that launched for PSP last October and for PS3 before Christmas, Minis were first announced at E3 last year.
UK culture minister Ed Vaizey was incorrect when he said at Develop today that the games industry had failed to present a compelling case for the introduction of development tax breaks, according to TIGA CEO Richard Wilson.
Triple A development too risky for most developers, says vice president of Bioware.
"Striving to do triple A game development right now is the wrong goal for most developers," said Bioware vice president and group creative officer Greg Zeschuk, during his keynote speech at Develop in Brighton. “For my generation it was the one thing we wanted to persue, but the opportunities are getting narrower and narrower.”
Famitsu has published a list of the top 100 selling games in Japan during the first half of 2010.
According to the respected gaming magazine, 2009 release New Super Mario Bros. Wii leads the way with over 1.4 million copies sold, ahead of Square Enix DS titles Dragon Quest VI: Realms Of Reverie and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, which achieved 1.29 million and 1.19 million sales respectively.
Culture minister Ed Vaizey says he will continue to champion the UK games industry, but that a more realistic case for a development tax break needs to be put forward to the treasury if the sector is to receive the subsidies it is lobbying for.
Vaizey was speaking at the Develop conference in Brighton in response to a question from TIGA CEO Richard Wilson, who asked whether Vaizey would argue the industry’s case for tax relief if a new proposal was put forward.
Many industries want games in their products, says Unity CEO David Helgason.
In a keynote in which he spoke about the ‘gamification’ of the world - the way in which game technology and design is being absorbed into many other fields - David Helgason said that many companies are coming to Unity, the 3D engine maker, to ask how they can embed games in their products.
Marketing and advertising industry veteran Eric Hirshberg has been named as the new CEO of Activision Publishing.
Effective September 7, he’ll oversee Activision Publishing's operational management including its studio, product development functions and consumer marketing activities, reporting to Thomas Tippl, Activision Blizzard’s chief operating officer.
