Joystiq

Sony to begin manufacturing PlayStation 3 units in Brazil

Mike Schramm — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:45:00 EST

Sony has announced plans to build PlayStation 3 systems locally in Brazil. The consoles will be manufactured in Manaus by Sony Brasil Ltda., with the 250 GB version costing 1,099 Reals.

Major upcoming games The Last of Us and Grand Theft Auto 5 are getting localized releases in Brazilian Portuguese as well. A PlayStation 3 bundle featuring God of War: Ascension will hit stores in the region as part of the "Viva Em Estado Play" ("Living in a State of Play") marketing program in South America.

Sony says it's committed to investing in the local gaming development industry in Brazil, and Sony President Andrew House claims the manufacturing setup will "infuse the Brazilian economy with approximately $300 million over the next 12 months." As one more gesture of goodwill, the first ten consoles manufactured in Brazil will be given away to local gamers.

Continue reading Sony to begin manufacturing PlayStation 3 units in Brazil

Sony to begin manufacturing PlayStation 3 units in Brazil originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 May 2013 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Citizen funding eclipses $9 million

Mike Schramm — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:00:00 EST

Star Citizen has reached over $9 million in funding, thanks to its almost 170,000 contributors. The space exploration MMO, spearheaded by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, began with a successful $2 million run on Kickstarter, and has since raised almost $7 million on its own website. The original goal was "just" $500,000, but Star Citizen has topped every stretch goal it set and then some.

As part of its stretch goals, Star Citizen's launch plans include a tablet companion app, celebrity voice acting, a free mission pack for every player, and over 100 star systems to explore while playing. Developer Cloud Imperium Games has just opened offices in Santa Monica, and the game's website is proclaiming a victory for post-publisher game development.

Players will get a chance to explore the world of Star Citizen in an alpha release, scheduled for sometime this winter.

Star Citizen funding eclipses $9 million originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 May 2013 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dustforce devs explain what they earned, what they learned

Mike Schramm — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:30:00 EST

Developer Hitbox Studios has cracked open the financial books on Dustforce, revealing just how much the indie release made. After the game's launch in January of 2012 and some major sales with Steam and the Humble Bundle, Dustforce has earned a total of $668,490 in revenue.

That may sound profitable, but that's before taxes, Valve's take, and other fees are removed, which brings the total down to $489,404. Removing various software and hardware costs, accounting fees, and other expenses lowers it even further to $295,000, says Hitbox. In the end, for every $10 copy of the game sold, Hitbox earned $4.41 - which the studio's (now four) developers must split.

Dustforce began with a $0 budget, as a game prototype made with GameMaker. After an IndiePub competition win, Hitbox was able to budget the $100,000 prize for the game's development, which it says was enough to support the staff of three for about a year and a half.

Hitbox's Terence Lee says the release was ultimately worth it. The game's success and "the pleasure of making Dustforce was worth far more than the opportunity cost of working somewhere else." He calls the process a "fantastic foundation for us as a studio," providing experience and funds for work on Hitbox's next title, an FPS called Spire.

Dustforce devs explain what they earned, what they learned originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Legend of Dungeon devs' secret to saving money: Live in a tree

Jessica Conditt — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:50:00 EST

As a husband and wife development team, Alix Stolzer and Calvin Goble worked out a system that saw them through the first few years of crafting games: Calvin made their first two titles, Tiny Plumbers and IGF nominee Neverdaunt: 8Bit, while Alix worked a 9-5 job and provided input in her spare time. The situation was satisfactory, but eventually, Alix wanted more.

"While money was coming in from our games, it really wasn't enough to pay the bills," Alix told me. "We decided we'd rather reduce living costs and rough it, instead of one of us working a 'real' job. The opportunity came quickly."

A friend offered them the opportunity to be his "mountain neighbor" in Vermont - meaning they would live in a mountainside forest, in a home they'd craft themselves out of trees and tarp. There, they could survive on $150 a month, plus food. Alix and Calvin seized the moment.

"We sold our house and used as little money as possible to build a small house-tent thing eight feet off the ground, on a platform our friend had made out of four trees," Alix said. "We spent maybe $1,000 on it, really using thrifty things like greenhouse plastic, and making our own solar panels, etc. It's an awesome adventure, but the downside is it slows down game development."

The mountain, miraculously, hosted a strong cellular internet signal, and on sunny days Alix and Calvin were able to charge their laptops, one at a time, using the homemade solar panels. Cafes and the college campus in town, a half hour walk away, provided power and internet on cloudy days. Everything - food, heat, power, water - took extra time in the mountain home, Alix said, including video game programming and design.

But the tree house didn't stop their game development. As the studio Robot Loves Kitty, Calvin (the Robot) and Alix (Kitty) brought their latest game, Legend of Dungeon, to PAX East, using not a lot of money and earning wild success.

Continue reading Legend of Dungeon devs' secret to saving money: Live in a tree

Legend of Dungeon devs' secret to saving money: Live in a tree originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barkley RPG sequel seeks $35K on Kickstarter

Mike Schramm — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:30:00 EST

As expected, the developers behind the strange indie title Barkley: Shut Up and Jam Gaiden have launched a Kickstarter campaign to support a sequel sporting the the unwieldy title of The Magical Realms of Tír na nÓg: Escape from Necron 7 - Revenge of Cuchulainn: The Official Game of the Movie - Chapter 2 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa. Or, as they call it, just Barkley 2 for short.

The campaign is seeking just $35,000 (and they've raised about half already), and in return is offering lots of digital rewards, game soundtracks to download, and weirder bonuses like a full-sized Cyberdwarf body pillow and more.

To get interest growing for the sequel, the developer has released a free Mac version of its initial Barkley title, so even on an Apple computer, you can witness the aftermath of The Great B-Ball Purge of 2041 for yourself.

Barkley RPG sequel seeks $35K on Kickstarter originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ESA raises $800K for charity at 'Nite to Unite' event

Mike Schramm — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST

The Entertainment Software Association held its 15th annual "A Nite to Unite - For Kids" event in San Francisco last week, and we'd like to congratulate the ESA on raising over $800,000 at the event through the dinner, silent auction, and casino festivities. That money will go to the ESAF, a charity arm of the organization that has raised more than $12 million so far to provide resources and opportunities (many of them related to digital entertainment) to children around the country.

At the gala, the ESA also honored Valve co-founder Gabe Newell with the 2012 ESA Champion Honoree award for "using his technological creativity in interactive entertainment to help teachers utilize new learning software and to develop critical problem-solving skills in students." Sounds like a real honor, and it's all in the name of a great cause. If that's what he got for helping teachers, though, what would they have given him for Half-Life 3?

Continue reading ESA raises $800K for charity at 'Nite to Unite' event

ESA raises $800K for charity at 'Nite to Unite' event originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quest for Glory creators join with Brawsome to launch Kickstarter for Hero-U

Mike Schramm — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST

Corey and Lori Cole are the creators of Quest for Glory, a highly regarded series of role-playing adventure games that first arrived in 1989 and then continued as a series of sequels through 1998. Now, the couple is planning another game called Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption, and they've taken to Kickstarter to try and raise $400,000 to make it.

That's a tidy sum, but this is a substantial project: Not only are the Coles developing the title, but Australian game developer Brawsome is on board as well, having recently released its own puzzle/RPG game, MacGuffin's Curse. Hero-U is set to play like a tactical, top-down RPG, but it is also supposed to include the charm, puzzles, and story that the Coles and their games are known for.

If you're interested in contributing, the team is offering most of the usual Kickstarter bonuses, from a simple digital copy of the game and soundtrack, all the way up to the chance to get a personal D&D adventure from the Coles, or to appear in or help out with Hero-U's design yourself. The team's got about $290K left to earn and 26 days to get there, but given the pedigree of the folks behind this one we'd guess their chances are better than most.

Quest for Glory creators join with Brawsome to launch Kickstarter for Hero-U originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What's inside Molyneux's Curiosity cube? Not a dead cat or Half-Life 3

Jessica Conditt — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST

Peter Molyneux is narrowing the answer to the question posed by 22 Cans' first experimental game, Curiostiy: What's Inside the Cube? It's not a huge pile of money, a dead cat, a sports car or Half-Life 3, Molyneux says. However, whatever's inside there will "change your life forever."

Maybe Molyneux is toying with us. Maybe the cube is harboring two huge piles of dead sports cars and a copy of Black Mesa Source. The answer was right in front of us the entire time, and the knowledge of purposeful human deception will change anyone's life, at least for a little bit.

Curiosity is undergoing Apple certification now.

What's inside Molyneux's Curiosity cube? Not a dead cat or Half-Life 3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valve economist examines TF2's 'sophisticated' barter system

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 23:00:00 EST

We're not sure why Valve's economist is concerned with the finances of prestigious Covenant Elites in Halo, but the first publication from Yanis Varoufakis on Valve Economics is about exactly that. Only he spelled "Arbiter" wrong like 20 times.

Oh, he's talking about "Arbitrage," the practice of capitalizing on the price difference between two or more markets, and its place in the Team Fortress 2 economy. That makes more sense, barely, but between the specialized equations and graphs Varoufakis offers some plain insight into the world of digital economies.

For example, Varoufakis calls the TF2 barter economy "peculiarly sophisticated," noting that Steam's support system allows players to side-step the introduction of currency, operating solely on a "double coincidence of wants." This is something that civilizations for centuries have not been able to support for any protracted period of time, and its complexity is the reason we now have money, rather than things to trade with.

The isolated nature of digital economies lends itself to intriguing happenings such as that one, as Varoufakis explains in great detail, we assume because he's thrilled to be able to calculate the exchange rates of laser guns and hats rather than boring old dollars and cents.

Valve economist examines TF2's 'sophisticated' barter system originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tex Murphy gets a Kickstarter page for Project Fedora

Mike Schramm — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:00:00 EST

The rumored Tex Murphy Kickstarter has been confirmed, to the tune of $216,000 (out of $450k as of this writing). That's how much creators Chris Jones and Aaron Conners have put together already to make the long-awaited "Project Fedora," the next in the cult classic series of full motion video sci-fi noir titles.

You can get a copy of the (eventual) game just by backing at the price of $15, and there are lots of other rewards for higher payments, including a collector's edition, new commentary for the old Tex Murphy games, and even the chance to beta test and be in the game itself. The creators say that the game will have full-motion video, but it will also include a 3D game world, with branching paths of story to follow. As Tex says in the wild Kickstarter video, "it's hat-in-hand time," so go over and give if you want to get in early.

Tex Murphy gets a Kickstarter page for Project Fedora originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 20 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zynga posts loss, beats estimates following OMGPOP acquisition

Mike Schramm — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 05:00:00 EST

There's good news and bad news for Zynga's financials. The good news first: Thanks to its purchase of Draw Something developer OMGPOP and some strong releases, the social game publisher beat quarterly revenue estimates from Wall Street, growing its year-over-year revenue to $321 million from $243 million. Zynga says it expects to make from $1.425 billion to $1.5 billion this year in total.

But the bad news is that outside of that big purchase, the company isn't showing the growth that Wall Street would like. Total monthly active users were up 24 percent, but analysts would prefer to see even more, and claim that Zynga only had a good quarter because of the acquisition.

Zynga also lost $85 million for the quarter. "They had to acquire to raise their numbers, but you're not going to be able to do that too many times," said Arvind Bhatia at Sterne Agee.

So Zynga will need to prove that it can sustain its growth outside of major acquisitions if it wants to keep stock prices up. We don't know much about the financial world, but would planting more corn help?

Zynga posts loss, beats estimates following OMGPOP acquisition originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online players can use in-game currency to pay for real-life graphics cards

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:30:00 EST

Play vidyagames, get real stuff for vidyagames: That's how the EVE Online PLEX-for-graphics-cards thing works. Good night, everyone!

OK, fine, in more detail this time: CCP Games, the developer behind EVE Online, has struck a deal with Nvidia for players to use in-game currency -- PLEX -- to purchase GeForce 560 GTX graphics cards, which run almost $200 at retail. That's fake money for real items, folks. Nvidia and CCP will start by selling 100 graphics cards (limit one per EVE account) to test the demand. After CCP announced its Nvidia deal, the in-game price of PLEX jumped "significantly," CCP said.

PLEX (Pilot License Extension) is an in-game currency that can be used to pay for 30-day EVE subscriptions. PLEX can be purchased with ISK, EVE's main currency that can be earned throughout the game, meaning some dedicated players end up with a free subscription each month. Now they may end up with a "free" graphics card as well.

EVE Online players can use in-game currency to pay for real-life graphics cards originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rockstar head Houser nabs Capote mansion for $12.5 million

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:30:00 EST

Dan Houser is the vice president of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Games makes some astoundingly popular games -- games that have net him quite a bit of dough over the years. So what does a super rich New Yorker with a flair for the creative do with all that dough? He buys a $12.5 million house, of course. And not just any house, but Truman Capote's original haunt in New York's Brooklyn Heights neighborhood (in "Broker" for all you GTAIV fans).

The beautiful canary yellow house features 18 rooms (11 bedrooms alone) and its $12.5 million asking price is the largest tag attached to a house in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood (as in, "of all time"). Houser also owns a loft on Greene Street in lower Manhattan, making the new locale his "vacation home." At least that's what we assume people refer to their Brooklyn homes as when they also own property in Manhattan. Those bridges are pretty long, ya know!

[Image credit: StreetEasy]

Rockstar head Houser nabs Capote mansion for $12.5 million originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The price of independence: What it really costs to be an indie developer

Jessica Conditt — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST

Will Stallwood is a gambler. He's had the same addiction for years, yet he's never stepped foot inside a casino.

He's never found himself hunched over a table fitted with worn green felt, sliding his last two chips between sweaty, shaking palms. He's never felt the sick dread as a slot machine whirs through its final frame; he doesn't know if he prefers red or black. Stallwood has been addicted to gambling on the success of his indie studio, Cipher Prime, since its triumphant launch of Auditorium in 2008. But this year feels different. This year Stallwood feels as if his lucky streak may finally be running out.

Cipher Prime isn't an unknown team of novice developers working out of a garage, but that doesn't mean they're rolling in dough either. Its previous titles were successful, but after a deal went raw with Fractal's publisher, Zoo Games, Cipher Prime was stuck with a rushed title and more debt than it ever expected.

Stallwood and Cipher Prime co-founder Dain Saint had to legally fight for the rights to their own game, eventually getting them back more than 200 days after Fractal launched on the App Store. Saint and Stallwood were understandably turned off of the old-school publishing route.

"We were not a fan of the publisher model before, because it just covers development and we never see royalties no matter how good the game goes," Stallwood said. "Now, we're just completely sour to the whole thing. We're not completely opposed if it means the difference between making games or not, but if there is any way we can avoid it and still make games, we're certainly going to try."

Cipher Prime has found another way -- it hopes -- with Kickstarter.

Gallery: Auditorium 2: Duet - Multiplayer Design Concept

Continue reading The price of independence: What it really costs to be an indie developer

The price of independence: What it really costs to be an indie developer originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook seeking $5 billion in IPO fundraising

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:45:00 EST

Whoever said money can't buy friends? It certainly wasn't Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose company today filed for its initial public offering with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the filing, Facebook seeks to raise $5 billion if and when the company goes public -- the filing is still pending approval from the SEC.

Also revealed in the filing was news that the social platform's biggest game developer, Zynga, accounts for "approximately 12 percent" of Facebook's revenue. Zynga had its own IPO late last year, which sought to raise $1 billion in going public.

That 12 percent is enough to have Zuckerberg and co. worried about going public, as the filing notes, "If the use of Zynga games on our Platform declines, if Zynga launches games on or migrates games to competing platforms, or if we fail to maintain good relations with Zynga, we may lose Zynga as a significant Platform developer and our financial results may be adversely affected." So, uh, here's hoping Google+ doesn't get into games, eh?

... oh, right.

Facebook seeking $5 billion in IPO fundraising originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zynga's IPO road show begins, expects to raise $1 billion

Jessica Conditt — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:30:00 EST

Zynga is doing extremely well, especially for a company that started by piggybacking on a social-networking site, Facebook, and making games about farming. Zynga is in the process of launching its IPO, and while it won't be worth as much as initially expected this summer -- dropping from an expected high of $20 billion to a current possible low of about $10 billion -- Zynga is positioned to be worth more than EA, currently valued at $7.7 billion, and to compete with Activision Blizzard, which is valued at $14 billion.

Zynga plans to raise roughly $1 billion for its IPO and has begun a nine-day pitch process to convince investors that the company is truly worth it, with plans to sell shares for $8.50 to $10 each under the Nasdaq label, "ZNGA." Zynga's offerings would mark the largest for a U.S. Internet company since Google in 2004, but with Facebook expected to eclipse it in 2012.

If you're an interested investor, surveyor or slideshow-lover, you can view Zynga's complete IPO presentation right here.

Zynga's IPO road show begins, expects to raise $1 billion originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valve has no idea why almost 30 percent of TF2 players spend cash in the game

Jordan Mallory — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:05:00 EST

"We don't understand what's going on," said Valve co-founder Gabe Newell, during last week's WTIA TechNW panel in Seattle. According to Newell, 20 to 30 percent of the people who play Team Fortress 2 end up spending money on the title's various microtransactions, far beyond the average two to three percent "conversion" Valve's partners are reporting.

"There seems to be something about the content that significantly changes how your monetization occurs, with apparently much broader participation than you would see out of something like FarmVille." When Team Fortress 2 relaunched as a free-to-play title back in June, the title's user base increased by "a factor of 5," which Newell attributes to TF2's designation as "free-to-play" rather than simply free: "You have to start thinking about how value creation actually occurs, and what it is that people are valuing, and what the statement that something is free-to-play implies about the future value of the experience that they're going to have."

Hey Valve, wanna know the secret? It's the hats. People love hats.

Valve has no idea why almost 30 percent of TF2 players spend cash in the game originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Escalation marks GameStop's biggest DLC launch in record first quarter

Mike Schramm — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 EST

The recent Call of Duty: Black Ops "Escalation" DLC has taken the crown at GameStop as its largest DLC launch ever, according to the company's latest earnings call. The map pack sold 50,000 copies as pre-orders and 200,000 in store during the first week of availability. Digital sales in general are on the rise at the retailer as well, growing 53 percent year-over-year.

The first quarter of 2011 was a good one for GameStop overall, as the company reported record sales of $2.28 billion. HD console games were a big driver, as was the Nintendo 3DS launch, combined with a solid 9.5 percent growth in "pre-owned" (read: used) games and accessories. Pokémon Black and White were the top titles of the quarter, with Mortal Kombat, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Black Ops and Homefront filling out the top five.

Escalation marks GameStop's biggest DLC launch in record first quarter originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Game developer salaries in 2010 tracked, fills us once more with regret

Griffin McElroy — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:00:00 EST

The Game Developer Research group, somehow sensing that we were having a pretty good day, decided to release a portion of its 10th annual, always soul-crushing Game Developer Salary Survey. The information, according to Gamasutra, is fairly optimistic: Traditional mainstream developers are pulling down an average salary of $80,817, a 7 percent increase over last year's average. Indie developers saw a year-to-year increase of around $6,000, bringing their average wages up to $26,780.

Many of the average wages earned by individual disciplines remained equivalent to last year's totals, with some exceptions. Programmers saw their average salaries increased $5,000 over 2009, to a total of $85,733. Producers' average salaries increased almost $13,000 year-to-year, for an average of $88,544. Quality assurance testers saw their average wages get fairly prodigiously bumped from $37,905 in 2009 up to $49,009 in 2010.

And, of course, the whammy: Business and legal employees made an average salary of $106,452, with 85 percent of survey respondents reporting they received additional compensation. If you need us, we'll be over in the corner, questioning our every life decision.

Game developer salaries in 2010 tracked, fills us once more with regret originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zynga valuations place company at nearly $10 billion

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST

Earlier this week, casual gaming juggernaut Zynga received yet another outside investment of an undisclosed sum of money. A number of news outlets speculated on the aforementioned sum and what it's done to the company's bottom line -- for instance, the Wall Street Journal (via Develop) reported that the investment was worth $250 million, valuing the company at somewhere between $7 billion and $10 billion. All Things Digital says the investment was for $500 million, and claimed (alongside the New York Times) that the company is worth "nearly $10 billion."

Meanwhile, Joystiq.com's gaming industry luminaries have valued the new investment at "many, many millions," placing Zynga's net worth at "the largest number anyone's ever seen or written." Feel free to use those valuations as well, business guys.

Zynga valuations place company at nearly $10 billion originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Riot Games confirms Tencent majority buyout

Mike Schramm — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:15:00 EST

Riot Games has confirmed that a majority of the company was bought by China's Tencent, putting its stamp of approval on rumors of the deal last week. Brandon Beck, Riot's CEO, is quoted as saying that "Tencent's investment will provide our talented team of designers, developers and community staff with additional resources to focus on innovating around League of Legends and launching new projects that push the boundaries in the gaming space."

Financial Times has a nice analysis of the deal -- it sounds like this agreement will help both sides, as Riot will not only get that nice cash infusion of a rumored $350 million, but also invaluable assistance and insight for what it was already hoping would be a nice overseas adoption. And Tencent, of course, gets to lay claim to League of Legends and any other titles that Riot developers, along with the huge microtransaction-based revenues that go along with them, both here and eventually overseas.

Plus, this is a sign of the growing trend of Eastern publishers picking up Western companies to develop content for the large audiences over there. Chinese publisher The9 recently bought another Blizzard spinoff, Red 5 Studios, for $15 million, and Japanese firm DeNA picked up iOS developer ngmoco for $400 million as well. Western audiences are big, but Eastern audiences are bigger and, as a result, there's high demand for well-developed games in that market.

Riot Games confirms Tencent majority buyout originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Infinity Ward holdouts to receive extra helping of bonuses, says Activision's Amrich

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:30:00 EST

Activision's newly hired community man Dan Amrich took to a Facebook forum recently to spell out the bonus situation for the remaining employees at troubled Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward. Develop spotted Amrich's information-laden responses, which echo and expand on claims made by Activision in its suit against former IW heads Vince Zampella and Jason West (we've clipped the pieces of the lawsuit pertaining to the bonuses and dropped them after the break for you).

Specifically, Amrich says that employees who have left IW will not be receiving a cut of West and Zampella's now forfeited bonuses -- bonuses for Modern Warfare 2 were never paid, apparently. "Vince and Jason had very large bonuses; those bonuses are being redistributed to everybody else, to the people who did not allegedly attempt to steal company secrets," Amrich explains. "Activision is not pocketing that bonus money; it's still going to the people who work at IW. But you have to work at IW to get it, see? I don't want to see talented people screwed out of a paycheck any more than you do."

Continue reading Infinity Ward holdouts to receive extra helping of bonuses, says Activision's Amrich

Infinity Ward holdouts to receive extra helping of bonuses, says Activision's Amrich originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Penny Arcade Scholarship now accepting applications

Griffin McElroy — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:00:00 EST

Wondering what it feels like to be on the receiving end of the benevolence frequently exhibited by the creators of Penny Arcade? If you're a college student with starry-eyed ambitions to change the video game industry for the better, you might be able to bask in the warm light of their generosity by receiving the fourth annual Penny Arcade Scholarship, a $10,000 academic grant set aside for a special student with a GPA over 3.3 and the aforementioned revolutionary aspirations.

Applications for the scholarship are currently being accepted and must be sent in by May 30, along with two letters of recommendation, an academic transcript, an essay on how you plan to change the industry and your photograph, which will only be seen publicly if you're the winner, as displayed on the scholarship's page. It's not like the Penny Arcade guys are basing their decision on prettiness or anything.

[Via GamePolitics]

Penny Arcade Scholarship now accepting applications originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Survey determines average U.S. game developer income

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST

[Flickr user AMagill]

The results of Game Developer Research's ninth annual Game Developer Salary Survey recently surfaced, giving us our yearly reminder that we're totally on the wrong side of this industry. According to the survey, the average "American mainstream videogame industry salary" is $75,573. Over here at Joystiq Inc., we're only pulling in $75,571.42. We're thinking about going on strike until parity is achieved.

The survey also breaks down average salaries for the different disciplines which compose our beloved industry. The highest-paid gaming professionals are PR and marketing executives, earning $129,167 a year on average. The lowest head on the totem pole is that of the QA tester, whose average annual income is $37,905. We're betting the recent winner of The Tester wishes he had chosen to participate in The Public Relations Professional instead.

Survey determines average U.S. game developer income originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Take-Two revenue up $14m, laying off 15% of execs

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:37:00 EST

Take-Two has released its fiscal 2010 Q1 financial report, dropping always thrilling financial news on us about the company's performance between November 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010. Aside from a $13.8 million year-over-year increase in net revenue ($163.2 million this year over $149.4 million last year), Take-Two also reports a diminished net loss (again, year-over-year) to the tune of $20 million.

Take-Two also updated investors on current sales of several games and franchises, with GTA IV chocking up "over 15 million units globally" to date, NBA 2K10 already shipping "over 2 million units," and Carnival Games accruing 6 million units sold worldwide across both Wii and DS platforms. That's gotta be helping with that improved bottom line, eh?

Aside from those highlights, the investor report additionally notes plans for "a targeted restructuring of its corporate departments," resulting in a "15 percent reduction in corporate headcount." More shocking, the "restructuring" (read: layoffs) will amount to "approximately $8 million in savings in fiscal 2010." Holy cow!

Take-Two revenue up $14m, laying off 15% of execs originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA Sports supports 'Project Ten Dollar,' out to 'digitize' Madden consumers

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST

Watch out, Madden consumer, 'cause Peter Moore is coming -- and he's gonna digitize you. In a speech at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference yesterday, the EA Sports prez said, "I think we need to move much quicker, in particular with Madden, through a digital world ... you're going to see more announcements there how we digitize our Madden consumer." He was likely referring to the currently "burning" business model that revolves around disc-based media, a topic Moore has remained outspoken about for some time now.

In his eyes, rather than focusing on moving more units which each year's release, EA Sports should instead be looking at "How do I get an extra $4 or $5 dollars?" from the already existing 6 million person-strong install base. He insisted that, in line with the company's "Project Ten Dollar" aspirations, digital content keeps gamers from trading in their titles. "It keeps the disc in the drive longer, it stalls trading the game in, it allows me to be able to take further advantage of that consumer over a longer period of time." We'd like to remind you that Moore was speaking to a group of financial analysts, so when he talked about being able to "further take advantage" of you, he meant it in the nicest way possible. Promise.

He finished up by promising that future EA Sports titles will have new business models that allow for a customer to trade in their annualized sports games while simultaneously granting EA the ability to earn money from that customer -- a "best of both worlds" take on the transition from retail to digital, if you will. We'll see what happens in the not-too-distant future, as Moore also promised "We're [EA] certainly going to do a lot of that this year."

EA Sports supports 'Project Ten Dollar,' out to 'digitize' Madden consumers originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stadium Events sells for $41,300, becomes most expensive NES game ever

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST

We're not sure which element of this story is the most newsworthy, so we'll lead with this: Some person, somewhere in the world, recently spent $41,300 on an extremely rare NES game. Someone was perusing the eBay auction block, saw Stadium Events (which Nintendo bought the rights to and retitled World Class Track Meet), and said, "you know what? That looks like the kind of thing I'd like to spend an American's median annual income on."

According to Video Game Price Charts, that auction has turned Stadium Events into the most expensive NES game ever sold. There are around 200 copies of the game still floating around out there -- which should be enough to send most of you rushing to your local pawn shop in a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-esque tizzy.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Stadium Events sells for $41,300, becomes most expensive NES game ever originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PopCap harvesting a money crop with Plants vs. Zombies on iPhone

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST

We had assumed that putting PopCap's devilishly addictive Plants vs. Zombies on a handheld device was a recipe for commercial success. However, we didn't anticipate it setting a new sales record for the App Store, moving over 300,000 downloads in just nine days. At $2.99 a pop, the game has already netted the casual developer over $1 million on the iPhone platform alone.

We're sincerely hoping this inspires PopCap to explore other match-ups between things in nature and humanoid aggressors. Trees vs. Ninjas? Migratory Geese vs. Robots? The Ocean vs. Witches? Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus vs. Everyone Else on Earth?

PopCap harvesting a money crop with Plants vs. Zombies on iPhone originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SouthPeak revenue down 42% year-over-year in second quarter of FY2010

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:30:00 EST

Wake up! After that headline, we saw you start dozing and we wanted to make sure you were with us for the next hundred-ish words of pure, unbridled excitement. According to SouthPeak Interactive's fiscal 2010 second quarter financial results released this morning (which make up the last three months of calendar 2009, ending December 31), the publisher netted $10.1 million, a 42% decline from fiscal 2009's second quarter results of $17.3 million.

In one of the report's few positive notes, company CEO Melanie Mroz notes that the My Baby franchise grew 45 percent "compared with the last holiday season" -- and we were so worried about SouthPeak's baby! Notably, the decline in revenue was blamed on "a decrease in the number of titles released in the fiscal 2010 period." Also, the games that the company did publish weren't the pricier Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles. We've got a free solution for you though, SouthPeak -- My Baby Next-Gen: Future Baby for the aforementioned consoles.

That one's for free, guys. The next one'll cost ya.

SouthPeak revenue down 42% year-over-year in second quarter of FY2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atari fiscal Q3 results indicate revival for embattled publisher

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST

Atari may not have published a ton of games in 2009, but that doesn't mean the company hasn't been picking up the bottom line. In a press release that reads like the exact opposite of those we saw from the company just a few years ago, CEO Jeff Lapin celebrates the €92.5 million ($126.25 million) in revenue earned in the nine months ending December 31, saying "the company has now strengthened its equity and is in a position to work on an expanded publishing plan." In so many words, Lapin's suggesting that Atari is financially bouncing back and maybe even gearing up to (dare we say it?) make more games.

The company cites sales of Ghostbusters, Chronicles of Riddick, Backyard Football, and Champions Online for bolstering revenues in fiscal Q3 and looks forward to a better 2010. The recent release of Star Trek Online certainly doesn't seem to be hurting his confidence in that department. Lapin says that he's "very enthusiastic about the launch" of the "promising MMO game."

But things aren't all gumdrops and money hats -- the Q3 revenues were still down by 1.9% year-over-year. We won't find out the full year's earnings until late May, but for now we'll comfort ourselves with the knowledge that the publisher's next title, Project Runway, is coming in a few short weeks. Finally!

Source (PDF) - Atari announces 9-month revenues for FY 2009/2010; [via Big Download]

Atari fiscal Q3 results indicate revival for embattled publisher originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The9 invests nearly $15 million into Red 5 Studios, Fire Rain

Mike Schramm — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:00:00 EST

The9 didn't have the best year in 2009 -- Blizzard decided to take away its ability to run World of Warcraft in China, and as a result, the company reported a Cataclysmic drop in revenues. But the company doesn't want you counting it out of the MMO game just yet: Reuters says that The9 has invested almost $15 million into the ailing Red 5 Studios (which, coincidentally, is staffed by some ex-Blizzard employees) as well as China-based developer Fire Rain. Last we'd heard of Red 5, it was working on some kind of fantasy MMO, though that may have since changed to an MMOFPS. There's definitely an MMO game of some kind; The studio told our buds at Massively that even with The9's help, the game will be aimed at a worldwide market, not just Chinese players.

Time will tell if The9 has a solid strategy to rebound after the big loss of WoW, or if it's desperately trying to invest the last bit of capital to keep the company alive. Red 5's work has always seemed interesting -- here's hoping this infusion is enough to get it to a worthwhile release.

The9 invests nearly $15 million into Red 5 Studios, Fire Rain originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darksiders rides into 1.2 million homes, THQ recovering financially

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:55:00 EST

THQ today announced to investors its financial holdings for the year ending December 31, 2009, reporting a net income of $1.4 million and sales of $701.5 million in the final nine months of the year. To put that in some perspective, the net income for the same period last year was a $334.2 loss. No doubt well-reviewed titles like UFC Undisputed 2009 and (personal favorite) Red Faction: Guerrilla helped that financial 180° turn -- a much needed one after a rocky 2008 and a mess of layoffs in 2009.

The publisher also announced "first four week" sales of Darksiders have already reached 1.2 million in the US (Ahem, Mr. Greenwald? Did you hear that?). Interestingly, THQ called the game part of its "growing portfolio of owned brands," among Red Faction, de Blob, Drawn to Life, and Saint's Row. And with this afternoon's investor call, it would certainly appear we'll be seeing more from that portfolio in the coming year.

Darksiders rides into 1.2 million homes, THQ recovering financially originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo report hints at new Wii titles, Other M release

Mike Schramm — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:15:00 EST

Nintendo is one of a few companies to release its earnings report earlier this week, and a supplemental report released today has some surprises and new information for Wii owners. Not only does it finally list a target date for Metroid: Other M (you can expect it as soon as summer of this year if all goes according to plan), but there are two brand new names in the list as well: Xenoblade and The Last Story. Xenoblade is listed for a Spring 2010 release, so we should be hearing about that one soon, and The Last Story is listed for sometime this year, with both slated for release on the Wii in Japan. There's reason to believe these are just new names, as both Monado: Beginning of the World and Cosmic Walker are missing from the report, and Monado was being developed by Monolith Soft, known most notably for another Xeno- title you may have heard of. But Monado is still listed for a release in the US this year, so who knows?

Other than that, the report lists some titles we expected to see soon: A new Kirby Super Star title, Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Wii's Legend of Zelda, Golden Sun for DS, and a few other releases scheduled in 2010. Full list of Japanese Wii releases is after the break.

Continue reading Nintendo report hints at new Wii titles, Other M release

Nintendo report hints at new Wii titles, Other M release originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Average salaries of video game industry employees compared

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

[Flickr: Bradipo]

Once again, MCV has surveyed its fellow video game professionals about their annual salaries in order to come up with an average wage for each facet of the industry in 2010. The median average for all European and U.S. respondents is £31,509 (call it $51,331 and change), while the mean is £40,467 (roughly $65,925) -- that's a fraction of a percent lower than last year's results. For a full breakdown of how much each individual profession will average this year in salary, check out the list after the jump.

It wouldn't be polite to comment on how our wages compare to the reported average Media salary. Nope. We're not gonna do it. We're just going to sit here on our $6,000 Italian leather massage chair, finish writing this post on our $22,000 diamond-bejeweled supercomputer, and then continue sipping on this $14,500 bottle of Scotch. Mmmmm. So crisp.

Continue reading Average salaries of video game industry employees compared

Average salaries of video game industry employees compared originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Codemasters to secure new investor amid financial woes

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:00:00 EST

According to a recent report from the Times Online, UK-based publisher Codemasters is "close to securing" a new investor and will announce the mysterious source "shortly." The news is said to be paired with an upcoming balance sheet restructuring -- a necessity, we imagine, after less than huge releases last year like Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Fuel, and Damnation.

The report also indicates that current investors Balderton Capital and Goldman Sachs will "inject new funds" into the publisher, seemingly holding steadfast in their efforts to build up Codemasters as a major publisher in the global market. The two investment firms have already sunk £100 million ($163.3 million) into the company, so, um, well, maybe they know something we don't? We sure hope that's the case -- we certainly wouldn't want any of our golf buddies at Goldman Sachs to lose their bonuses.

Report: Codemasters to secure new investor amid financial woes originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameStop reveals 2010 capital allocation program

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:30:00 EST

We know, we know -- you've been sitting around all day worried sick about GameStop. Ever since the recent announcement of a cut profit forecast and the resultant drop in share prices, we've been in exactly the same boat. Good thing then that the company has announced plans to repurchase $300 million in stock from investors as part of its 2010 "Capital Allocation Strategy," with intentions to increase earnings per share by 10 percent.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter sees the announcement as "positive," echoing the company's statement of continued financial growth in 2010. "We believe that industry sales will rebound in 2010 and that GameStop is well-positioned to gain share the first half of the year. The company has high exposure to the hardcore software releases, which we expect to drive market growth in 2010, and comparatively low exposure to hardware, which we expect to decline," he says. It certainly doesn't hurt that GameStop plans to open 400 new stores over the course of the year -- the financials even leave $100 million on the side, reserved for "acquisition activity." It would appear that, at least for now, we can all can stop worrying. Finally.

GameStop reveals 2010 capital allocation program originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameStop shares drop 15% following holiday sales info release

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:30:00 EST

Following yesterday's lowered profit forecast announcement from GameStop, the company's stock took a 15 percent dive as of last night. According to GamesInudstry.biz, stocks opened yesterday "sharply down" due to the release of lowered profit expectations, but rose again before ending the day at $20.46.

We might not know what the future holds for GameStop, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter returned from the future for just long enough to say he believes "industry sales will rebound in 2010 and that GameStop is well-positioned to gain share [over] the first half of the year." It certainly doesn't hurt the retailer that 2010 is chock full of delayed 2009 releases, we imagine.

GameStop shares drop 15% following holiday sales info release originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man buys virtual space station for 330k real dollars

Mike Schramm — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST

Welcome back to Joystiq's Flip This House, finding you the best deals in gaming real estate! This week, we're looking at a doozy of a fixer-upper: it's a beautiful space station called the Crystal Palace, with multiple fine amenities, including four bio-domes (full of alien species to hunt), Trade and Revival Terminals, a working auctioneer, and the universe-famous Stahlsteiner's bar. In case you haven't figured it out yet, it's a virtual place, and did we mention the asking price? 330,000 real world dollars.

That's what MMO Planet Calypso (formerly Entropia Universe) player "Buzz Erik Lightyear" paid to "own" an in-game hub. As you can see above, he paid 3.3 million "Project Entropia Dollars" for the virtual real estate, and those PED were purchased with real dollars -- 330k of them. What does he get for his money? The station is one of the nicer setups in the virtual universe, and since players pay PED to shop, hunt, and hang out there, "Erik" can set tax rates on the payments, and turn fake bucks back into real cash. We're not sure how much real cash (depends on where he sets the rates, and that will affect the place's popularity as well), but it'll probably be a while before he can ... flip... this... house!

[Thanks, Kreyg]

Man buys virtual space station for 330k real dollars originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zynga founder explains 'Facegroup' games to Charlie Rose

Mike Schramm — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:00:00 EST

Now hang on just a minute before you head off to the next post in search of funny game-related desserts or screenshots from that hot new blockbuster game. Charlie Rose is no Kevin Pereira, but the man's a broadcasting legend, so let's give him his due. And Zynga just raised $180 million for their social gaming empire, so it can buy and sell any number of your Pokemons. When Zynga founder Mark Pincus appears on the Charlie Rose Show, you whippersnappers should take a little notice!

After all, Zynga has not only been hiring up solid talent, but it also runs the bigger-than-you'd-believe Facebook games like Mafia Wars and FarmVille. Pincus tells the somewhat confused Rose that his company doesn't just want to roll in the venture cash; Zynga wants to create "an Internet treasure," and be recognized in the same way that brands like Google, Amazon, and Facebook are. You can watch the whole segment after the break. Bewarned: the video of two well-dressed men talking at a table doesn't feature any laser guns or girls in bikinis, but it does feature Rose holding up printouts of a virtual cafe created in his honor. Surreal.

Continue reading Zynga founder explains 'Facegroup' games to Charlie Rose

Zynga founder explains 'Facegroup' games to Charlie Rose originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Game-related startups raise $600 million in 2009, down 36%

Mike Schramm — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:15:00 EST

Game-related startup companies raised $600 million throughout 2009, according to GamesBeat's analysis. And while $600 million is a lot of money if you're, say, trying to sell a shooter based on the art of modern warfare, it's not quite that much when you're an up-and-coming game developer. Total investments in the field were actually down by 36% since last year. That's not a bubble bursting, but it does mean that startup investors might be a little more careful with their money in the year to come.

The biggest winners in the scene include Zynga, makers of Mafia Wars and a few other popular Facebook titles, who nabbed a big $180 million investment from a Russian technology company, and Playdom. You may not have played Sorority Life, the company's MySpace hit, but Lightspeed Venture Partners must have, because it invested $43 million in the company. If there's a theme here, it's social networking and online games: PopCap is probably the highest traditional game developer on the list, but even its $22.5 million investment was marked for putting its games on the web, mobile platforms, and social networks. Of course, that pull doesn't include the buck we gave them for Peggle.

Game-related startups raise $600 million in 2009, down 36% originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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