Industry News, Industry Features

Xbox creator claims only 5% of players make use of the feature

Always online. Games tied to a single console. Indie developers can't self-publish. Just when you thought Microsoft couldn't have made a bigger hash of its Xbox One announcement, along comes the company's head of interactive entertainment Don Mattrick to attack backwards compatibility...

Times they are a changin'

A recent study has revealed that in the first quarter of 2013, more cash was spent on iOS games than on 3DS and PS Vita software combined. This marks a slight change from the previous quarter, where it took iOS and Google Play's combined spend to overshadow dedicated handheld gaming systems. This quarter, iOS alone has...

"We wanted to be prudent on our expectations"

Ubisoft has forecasted that Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag will sell less than its direct predecessor, despite the universal appeal of the new game's nautical setting. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has high hopes for the new entry in the best-selling series, but has decided to be cautious regarding sales...

Thank goodness he's not, then?

Peter Molyneux and Ian Livingstone are two of British gaming's most influential figures. The former — who has been quite outspoken about the Wii U lately — founded Bullfrog and Lionhead, and is responsbile for titles such as Populous, Fable, Dungeon Keeper and the recent "gaming experiment" Curiosity. The latter...

Holiday line-up is vital, says EEDAR's Jesse Divnich

The Wii U isn't selling anywhere near as well as Nintendo hoped, and key titles are either slipping, going multiplatform or being cancelled entirely. Is it time to start pressing the panic button? Not quite, according to EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich. Speaking to

"There are still many unknown factors"

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick ruffled a few feathers when he partially blamed the Wii U for his dismal outlook on the second half of 2013, but he's not been exclusively hating on Nintendo's system — in fact, he believes that the problems faced by the fledgling platform could easily impact Sony and Microsoft's...

Founder Denis Dyack joins Precursor full time, but studio is still "alive"

Silicon Knights chief financial officer Mike Mays has refuted claims that the studio is all but dead, telling Polygon that it is "very busy" and "definitely alive". The studio remains embroiled in a legal battle with Epic Games, and insider reports suggest that focus on...

Playing the blame game?

Super-publisher Activision has posted better than predicted financial results for the first quarter of the year, but CEO Bobby Kotick has stated that he expects the latter part of 2013 to be less fruitful — and the poor commercial performance of the Wii U is partially to blame. Net revenues were $1.32 billion during the...

"Home video game software" is the "core segment" for the firm

Capcom has released its annual financial results, and the figures pretty much match the company's somewhat dismal April forecast. The company posted a profit of £19.42 million, which is down 56 per cent year-on-year. Capcom had previously stated that "excessive outsourcing" had led to a...

But will Nintendo fans see any benefit?

EA has signed up "exclusive" rights to Star Wars video games following the closure of LucasArts last month. The multi-year deal appears to cover original games, rather than those linked to the forthcoming movies. To confuse things further, Disney has retained the rights to certain mobile, online and tablet...

Juniper Research cites falling 3DS and Wii U sales forecasts as proof

According to analyst group Juniper Research, smartphone and tablet devices will be the "primary screen for gamers" by the year 2017, thanks to the increasing dominance of mobile tech and the rapidly-advancing standard of games available. Juniper predicts that a whopping 64.1...

Nintendo of America boss says E3 will bring new software

Let's face facts — the Wii U's software line-up so far hasn't been as robust as many would have hoped. While the console has hosted some amazing titles since its launch last year, the release schedule has dried up in recent months — thanks to delays and cancellations, as well as

Outspoken designer agrees with earlier comment by ex-Epic colleague

Back in 2008, Epic's Mike Capps described the Wii as a "virus" which infected gamers in the short-term but didn't leave any lasting impression. He said: It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy...

The largest increase since 2008

The Japanese yen has reached a three-year low against the euro meaning many successful exporters are enjoying a rise in stock. Nintendo has seen an 11% rise in stock value, which now stands at 11,850 yen, the largest gain since 2008. The yen has weakened against all 16 major counterparts this year as speculation...

"Their audience is not who we reach best"

Deep Silver's desicion to not bring Dead Island: Riptide to the Wii U caused a moderate amount of drama last month — not least because the excuse given was denied by the development team behind the game, forcing Deep Silver to admit that the real reason was that the process simply

"I don’t hate Nintendo at all"

Michael Pachter has been called a lot of things — not all of them repeatable on a family-friendly site such as this — but many of his harshest critics seem to miss the point of what he is actually saying; his job is to ensure that people invest their cash wisely and not to placate over-zealous fans...

Star Wars titles will be licensed out to third parties

It has been confirmed that Disney has shut down LucasArts. The company's publishing and internal development businesses will now close for good. Disney picked up the company as part of its deal to acquire LucasFilm but has since decided to disband it. Star Wars games will still be made, they'll...

Just wait until you see the snack budget!

XSEED Games, known for its excellent translations of games like Little King's Story and Unchained Blades, recently spoke with localisation advocate Operation Rainfall about their development process. During the interview it went into detail - sort of - about the various costs that go into localising a...

Analysts reveal new data at GDC

The digital distribution of games has grown substantially in recent years with an increasing number of titles finding themselves in the Nintendo eShop, PSN, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam. Analysts from NPD, iResearch and Digi-Capital presented data at this week's Game Developers Conference on the state of the global...