Posts tagged economy 
Rumor: Pandemic Studios to close its doors today
Pandemic Studios, the house behind games like Mercenaries and the forthcoming The Saboteur will be shuttered by EA today, according to sources speaking to Kotaku. Reportedly, the developer's 200-some staffers will be informed at 2 p.m. EST that all but a few (who will be integrated into other EA ...
Dyack predicts more publisher consolidation
Publishers have been disappearing faster than Ludwig's snickerdoodles at Joystiq's Mid-Autumn Tea Social lately, both through bankruptcy or (for the lucky ones) being purchased. Designer and industry soothsayer Denis Dyack told Gaming Union he expects that to continue, comparing the shift to that ...
Man forced by kidnappers to purchase a PlayStation 3
You can tell the recession is dramatically affecting folks all over the United States when stories about kidnappers forcing their detainee to buy them gaming consoles arise. That's exactly what Kyle Yarkosky is alleging that David Daniels and another unnamed suspect did to him, after forcing him at ...
Microsoft's layoffs conclude early, over 5,000 let go
With this morning's confirmation from Microsoft that another 800 people have been let go, the layoffs that began all the way back in January of this year have completed. Affecting everyone from Games for Windows Live to Rare to a quarter of the Massive team, we're sure that the folks still working ...
GameStop hiring 15,000 temporary employees this holiday
Like other retailers, North America's largest video game brick-and-mortar chain will be gearing up for the holiday sales rush with a flood of new, temporary employees. GameStop is bolstering its "game advisors" numbers by 78% (see: grunts) and the company's total employee population by 46% (see: ...
UK retailer GAME sees big boost from used game sales
Even though the economy has seen better days, UK brick-and-mortar retailer GAME is seeing growth. Its used games revenues in the first half of this year ending July 31 grew by a whopping 12.3 percent to now make up "25.7% of total sales," paralleling US retailer GameStop's yearly used game revenue ...
Realtime Worlds celebrates new office opening, ever-expanding staff
Like the Scottish equivalent of George and Weezie, Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds is movin' on up. Rather than a deeeluxe apartment in the sky, the company has just opened an 8,000 sq. ft. office, adding to its already existing 26,000 sq. ft. location. Quite a feat considering the company ...
Atomic Games unable to secure funding for Six Days in Fallujah, reduces staff
(click to embiggen) Citing a lack of "full-scale funding" for controversial game Six Days in Fallujah, Atomic Games is reporting today that it's trimming staff. According to Atomic, the 75 employees of the studio remained until this week when an undisclosed amount were let go. Though the ...
Konami game revenue dips during fiscal Q1, Snake nowhere to be found
Snake?! Snake?! SNAAAAAAAKE?! news now with Konami's financial results for its first quarter (which ended June 30, 2009) showing a notable decrease in revenue, both company-wide and within the video game sector. Edge reports that overall revenues sank 21 percent to $535 million, while sales ...
Disney Interactive posts 20 percent losses in third quarter, citing bad economy
Businesses don't adhere to the same rules we silly humans do; the cycle of the Earth around the sun, for instance. Disney Interactive Media Group is no exception, posting its quarter three financial results -- the quarter that ends in June, folks -- just this week. According to Gamasutra, revenue ...
