The Business Side of Video (Space) Games EXCLUSIVELY ON IDLE THUMBS

[melmer]

Just checked and none of the uncharted games were part of the American PS NOW Beta. So it'll be a way off yet, but i'd imagine come 2016 you'd be able to play the 2009 GOTY

[Griddlelol]

What was I playing in 2009? Probably Boarderlands and Demon's Souls...oh and WoW. 

[SilentBtAmazing]

I couldn't get into Uncharted 2 but only because I hate that camera style.

[SecretAsianMan]

Surprise surprise, Tomb Raider isn't really "exclusive" after all.  Phil Spencer told Eurogamer that the exclusivity has a duration, which I guess makes it a "timed exclusive" or whatever other bullshit term is used.  After some undisclosed amount of time after the holiday season the game is free to come out on whatever platforms Square Enix wants to publish it on.

[JonCole]

Surprise surprise, Tomb Raider isn't really "exclusive" after all.  Phil Spencer told Eurogamer that the exclusivity has a duration, which I guess makes it a "timed exclusive" or whatever other bullshit term is used.  After some undisclosed amount of time after the holiday season the game is free to come out on whatever platforms Square Enix wants to publish it on.

 

Ah, I put that in the Gamescom thread but it's just as good here. About what I expected - I mean, it's not in anyone's interest but our own to know when the exclusivity ends, so it's not a big surprise that it took all that long to get it out of someone.

[SecretAsianMan]

Ah, I put that in the Gamescom thread but it's just as good here. About what I expected - I mean, it's not in anyone's interest but our own to know when the exclusivity ends, so it's not a big surprise that it took all that long to get it out of someone.

 

Whoops.  I've been avoiding the Gamescom thread because I haven't had the opportunity to look at anything that's come out of it yet so I missed that you put it there.  Oh well, still worth repeating in this thread.

[Henroid]

You guys remember that ridiculous company called "King"? The one that tried to get copyright on basic words like "candy"?

 

Their stock nosedived 20%. They came out with their quarterly report, and while their profits are up still, their first quarter performance was down 5% compared to last year. Which apparently made investors flip the fuck out. So they announced that they're going to pay special dividends to keep shareholders on board. $150 million dollars to be exact.

 

Oh, unfortunately, 80% of that is going to executives only, leaving about $30 million to be split among all other shareholders.

 

I like pointing out this sorta thing, even if it's regarding greedy mobile companies, because as I've been saying for the last few years, "shareholders ruin everything." Especially the video game industry.

[Wordherder]

You guys remember that ridiculous company called "King"? The one that tried to get copyright on basic words like "candy"?

 

Their stock nosedived 20%. They came out with their quarterly report, and while their profits are up still, their first quarter performance was down 5% compared to last year. Which apparently made investors flip the fuck out. So they announced that they're going to pay special dividends to keep shareholders on board. $150 million dollars to be exact.

 

Oh, unfortunately, 80% of that is going to executives only, leaving about $30 million to be split among all other shareholders.

 

I like pointing out this sorta thing, even if it's regarding greedy mobile companies, because as I've been saying for the last few years, "shareholders ruin everything." Especially the video game industry.

 

The shareholders might be right to be nervous in this case, since Candy Crush Saga is dropping faster than anticipated, and so far they haven't been able to come up with a new breakout game.

[Henroid]

The shareholders might be right to be nervous in this case, since Candy Crush Saga is dropping faster than anticipated, and so far they haven't been able to come up with a new breakout game.

I suppose I can see it from that angle when you include the amount of trouble they went through to "protect" the "brand." They must've been so sure of it living forever like WoW or Angry Birds.

[Justin Leego]

I have huge appreciation for your pointing out that 80% of the $150m special dividend is going to King.com execs, Henroid! Excellent.

 

Though in this case we might be saying "shareholders ruin everything when dividend distribution / voting power / other shareholding perks are heavily weighted in favor of current senior employees, owners, and those who are otherwise supposed to keep the company on track."

 

At least they are acting in the immediate interests of shareholders ... right?

[Henroid]

Well the inherent problem with stock / shareholders, big or small, is that their concern is profit and payout, not sustainability or integrity. Which is fine, they're investing. It's like a deal with the devil though.

[Henroid]

Via Gamasutra, Star Citizen has made $200,000 on sales of a single ship and is at $50 million total over this past weekend.

[elmuerte]

Via Gamasutra, Star Citizen has made $200,000 on sales of a single ship and is at $50 million total over this past weekend.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/223588/Star_Citizen_raises_200000_from_sales_of_a_single_spaceship.php

[Professor Video Games]

I was really hoping that it was from the sale of a single $200,000 ship. Oh well...

[SuperBiasedMan]

When are they going to get round to building a single unique death star ship and having an auction for it?

[Henroid]

Via Gamasutra, EA's CEO says he wants to deliver an amount of value to players depending on how much money they spend. As in if you spend $1, you get $1 worth of 'value.' $10 = $10 value, etc.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/223651/EA_Access_tip_of_the_spear_for_giving_players_new_ways_to_pay.php

 

My gut reaction to this is, "So free to play models are gonna be your thing?" But this quote is centered on the EA Access thing they launched recently. He went on to say he imagines there's gonna be one digital model for video games to "rule them all." I don't think he understands the Steam model (or GoG or whatever else you wanna use as an example) is already here. In a business sense it is smart for EA to make this declaration, as I imagine Origin doesn't match the numbers other services bring in. How could it, it's a walled-garden. But rather than give up 100% of the profits to pay for distributors, EA wants to instead claim that the current models are a thing of the past and want to "invent" something that they can take credit for and perhaps offer to other businesses. Think like Sony pushing Blu-Ray in a hurry.

 

Practically speaking I don't see EAA going anywhere.

 

Edit - So basically if you're not winning, try to change the game being played so that you are. Maybe that's EA's business strategy.

[Denial]

When are they going to get round to building a single unique death star ship and having an auction for it?

 

"This costs a million dollars. It's a lot of money, I know. But you can not only blow up any other ship in the game... but every ship in the game. At the same time. Everywhere."

[Bjorn]

So apparently when the whole Marty O'Donnell thing went down, Bungie also stripped him of the founder's stock he had previously been given as compensation, and now an arbitrator has ordered that stock be returned. 

[Dewar]

Ah, now it makes a little more sense why they'd make such a mess out of his firing, that stock is probably worth a lot more than the 95k settlement he got.

 

Also, this quote is the best

 

Bungie lawyers objected that if O’Donnell’s shares were restored, he would be a “bothersome presence at board meetings and in the company,” according to the arbitrator.

 

Well, maybe think a little harder before firing one of the founding members of the company.

[SecretAsianMan]

I want him to go to those meetings now just to be a nuisance.  Just sit there and loudly hum the theme song he composed or purposely ask dumb questions

[Bjorn]

Well, maybe think a little harder before firing one of the founding members of the company.

 

That's hilarious, I hadn't seen that part of it.  I really want to know what happened that turned things so bitter and made them take on the legal risks and costs of trying to strip him of wage and stock that was his by contractual right. 

[Henroid]

I love that lawyers actually argued, "But if we don't get our client's way it'll be annoyiiiinnnnnng" and essentially stamped their feet.

[Dewar]

He farted in a meeting with Activision and Kotik asked for his head.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I want him to go to those meetings now just to be a nuisance.  Just sit there and loudly hum the theme song he composed or purposely ask dumb questions

Based on Chris's discussions from the early episodesof EA shareholder meetings... that's about what the real shareholders do.

 

For those who don't remember/never listened, some choice things include asking why the shareholders meeting has no playable demos, asking if there'll be free food and complaining that the CEO of EA's predecessor made the meetings a lot more fun.

[Bjorn]

A true hermit, a man separated from the human contact for 27-years, a man who expected to die without ever speaking to another person.  That man...played Pokémon occasionally because he stole a Gameboy.  Somehow that single fact is the most surreal part of this story to me.

 

Edit: Crap, I actually meant to put this in the random thought thread.  Oh well, I'll just leave it here.