News
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New co-op adventure bringing medieval supernatural action to PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 next summer.
Today, Atlus announced it will publish The Cursed Crusade, an all-new action adventure game. Due out next summer for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, the game is in development at Parisian shop Kyloton, the studio behind the 2005 shooter Bet on Soldier: Blood Sport. The game has not yet been rated by the ESRB, but its trailer (below) looks violent enough to be all but guaranteed an M for Mature rating.
Though Atlus claims that Cursed Crusade will have historically accurate locations, its emphasis will be on the supernatural predicament of its two cursed protagonists: The templar knight Denz and the rogue mercenary Esteban. Both men are caught up in the midst of the Fourth Crusade to the Holy Land, but they have their own reasons to embark on the quest–to free themselves of a curse that imperils their very souls.
In terms of gameplay, Cursed Crusade will offer both split-screen and online cooperative play for up to two persons. Its storyline will have five chapters and span 40 missions, most of which are set in medieval Europe’s biggest cities. Combat will have an emphasis on melee weaponry, with over 130 deadly items to choose from and 90-plus combos.
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“Atlus unveils Cursed Crusade” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:03:05 -0700 -
Megapublisher beats expectations, reports $745 million for July-September quarter; full-year earnings projection revised up to $4.28 billion.
Accountants and gamers alike are eagerly awaiting next week’s release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest installment in Activision Blizzard’s highly successful first-person shooter franchise. However, the publisher showed today that the modern-military series wasn’t the only way it was able to turn a dime, announcing better-than-expected financial results for the quarter ended September 30.
During the three-month period, Activision Blizzard achieved sales of $745 million, well above estimates of $600 million for the quarter. The publisher also made massive gains in net income compared to last year, growing profit from $15 million during the third quarter in 2009 to $51 million in 2010. The company’s profit resulted in $0.04 earnings per diluted share, compared to projections of a break-even result.
“For the third quarter, we exceeded our net revenues and earnings per share outlook and delivered strong year-over-year growth,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a statement. “Our better-than-expected results are due to our leadership in online entertainment, including strong performance from Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty franchise, and Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty.”
Kotick went on to note that nearly half of the company’s revenue during the quarter–$348 million, to be exact–came from subscriptions and online revenues. In October, Blizzard Entertainment touted a new milestone for its monumentally successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, saying the global subscriber base has reached 12 million players.
Activision also saw production out of another of Blizzard’s franchise’s, Starcraft II. As of September 1, the highly regarded sci-fi real-time strategy title sold more than 3 million units worldwide, having gone on sale in July. The game sold more than 1.5 million units within 48 hours of release.
Activision Blizzard also raised its full-year earnings outlook. The company now expects full-year 2010 revenues to come in at $4.28 billion, EPS of $0.51. Those figures are up from previous projections of $4.18 billion in sales and $0.49 EPS for the fiscal and calendar year.
The publisher attributed the upward revision to its better-than-expected third quarter performance, as well as its fourth-quarter hits-in-waiting, the aforementioned Black Ops and World of Warcraft’s third expansion, Cataclysm. Of the former, Activision said that it expects the game to be “one of the top entertainment properties of the holiday season,” with preorders projected to set an industry record.
In a post-earnings conference call, new Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg confirmed that a new Call of Duty will arrive during the latter half of 2011. “We will launch a new first-person action title during the back half of 2011,” he said. Activision later clarified this statement to say that the game would fall within the first-person shooter genre.
Hirshberg did not indicate which Activision-owned studio would be handling the game. However, Sledgehammer Games and Infinity Ward are known to be working on new installments in the franchise.
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“Starcraft II sells 3M, Activision Blizzard reports $51M profit” was posted by Tom Magrino on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:41:12 -0700 -
Megapublisher beats expectations, reports $745 million for July-September quarter; full-year earnings projection revised up to $4.28 billion.
Accountants and gamers alike are eagerly awaiting next week’s release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest installment in Activision Blizzard’s highly successful first-person shooter franchise. However, the publisher showed today that the modern-military series wasn’t the only way it was able to turn a dime, announcing better-than-expected financial results for the quarter ended September 30.
During the three-month period, Activision Blizzard achieved sales of $745 million, well above estimates of $600 million for the quarter. The publisher also made massive gains in net income compared to last year, growing profit from $15 million during the third quarter in 2009 to $51 million in 2010. The company’s profit resulted in $0.04 earnings per diluted share, compared to projections of a break-even result.
“For the third quarter, we exceeded our net revenues and earnings per share outlook and delivered strong year-over-year growth,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in a statement. “Our better-than-expected results are due to our leadership in online entertainment, including strong performance from Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty franchise, and Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty.”
Kotick went on to note that nearly half of the company’s revenue during the quarter–$348 million, to be exact–came from subscriptions and online revenues. In October, Blizzard Entertainment touted a new milestone for its monumentally successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, saying the global subscriber base has reached 12 million players.
Activision also saw production out of another of Blizzard’s franchise’s, Starcraft II. As of September 1, the highly regarded sci-fi real-time strategy title sold more than 3 million units worldwide, having gone on sale in July. The game sold more than 1.5 million units within 48 hours of release.
Activision Blizzard also raised its full-year earnings outlook. The company now expects full-year 2010 revenues to come in at $4.28 billion, EPS of $0.51. Those figures are up from previous projections of $4.18 billion in sales and $0.49 EPS for the fiscal and calendar year.
The publisher attributed the upward revision to its better-than-expected third quarter performance, as well as its fourth-quarter hits-in-waiting, the aforementioned Black Ops and World of Warcraft’s third expansion, Cataclysm. Of the former, Activision said that it expects the game to be “one of the top entertainment properties of the holiday season,” with preorders projected to set an industry record.
In a post-earnings conference call, new Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg confirmed that a new Call of Duty will arrive during the latter half of 2011. “We will launch a new first-person action title during the back half of 2011,” he said. Activision later clarified this statement to say that the game would fall within the first-person shooter genre.
Hirshberg did not indicate which Activision-owned studio would be handling the game. However, Sledgehammer Games and Infinity Ward are known to be working on new installments in the franchise.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Starcraft II sells 3M, Activision Blizzard reports $51M profit” was posted by Tom Magrino on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:41:12 -0700 -
PSP games Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Love Plus + help push publisher to $52 million net income on $659 million in sales for the first half of fiscal year.
While Sony’s PSP frequently goes unrepresented in the US monthly top 10 sales chart, the portable and its games fare significantly better overseas. As evidence of this, Konami today posted gains in revenues and profits for the first half of its fiscal year, calling out its PSP offerings Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Love Plus + as two top sellers.
For the six months ended September 30, the gaming division’s sales totaled ¥53.14 billion ($659 million), up 3.3 percent from ¥51.42 billion ($637 million) for the same period the year before. Combining the publisher’s other businesses (like fitness clubs, trading cards, and casino games), company-wide revenues were up a little less than 2 percent to ¥115,763 ($1.43 billion).
While Konami’s sales were barely more than flat year-over-year, the publisher did see a spike in its profits. Net income for the half year was ¥4.20 billion ($52 million), a 73 percent jump over the previous year’s first half tally of ¥2.42 billion ($30 million).
While Konami said sales for Peace Walker and the latest installments of Pro Evolution Soccer “progressed favorably” for the quarter, the publisher was particularly effusive about its romance simulator Love Plus + , so far released only in Japan. According to the publisher, the game was so well received it “could be called a social phenomenon in Japan.” The game launched in June in Japan, selling more than 84,000 copies in its first week and finishing second only to Monster Hunter Frontier for the Xbox 360.
Konami also gave a breakdown of the company’s game sales by platform, showing a marked increase in revenues from titles for Sony platforms. The PlayStation 3 and the PSP account for 29 percent and 28 percent of the game division’s sales, respectively. The two platforms combined to account for 57 percent of the Konami’s game revenues in the current fiscal year, compared to 37 percent at the same point last year. While some of that share was gained at the expense of the PlayStation 2, Konami saw the Wii portion of its game sales dip from 23 percent to 12 percent, while the DS slid from 21 percent to 14 percent.
As for the back half of its fiscal year, Konami is expecting business to pick up significantly. For the full year, the publisher is expecting sales to hit ¥285 billion ($3.53 billion), with net income of ¥13.5 billion ($167 million). Key titles that could help push the publisher toward those figures include last month’s Castlevania: Lord of Shadows and next week’s Karaoke Revolution Glee, based on the Fox TV show.
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“Konami profits surge 73% on slightly higher sales” was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:58:31 -0700 -
French publisher purchases Canadian company Quazal Technologies, creator of middleware and services for Brotherhood.
From the time Ubisoft announced Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood in May, the publisher has made much of the stealth action adventure’s marquee feature, online multiplayer. And while Ubisoft has extensive experience delivering games with multiplayer components, not the least of which being its Tom Clancy series, the publisher tapped Quazal Technologies to provide online middleware and services for Brotherhood.
Ubisoft apparently approved of Quazal’s work, as the publisher announced today that it has acquired the Montreal-based middleware company outright. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Established in 1998, Quazal’s technology includes Rendez-Vous, which specializes in cross-platform community features, and the Net-Z online multiplayer middleware platform. The company’s work has appeared in games from developers and publishers that include THQ, Capcom, Harmonix, and Codemasters.
According to Ubisoft, Quazal will continue to build out its technology platforms. The publisher also noted that the company’s services will remain open to the rest of the industry for licensing purposes.
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“Ubisoft buys Assassin’s Creed multiplayer tech maker” was posted by Tom Magrino on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:03:05 -0700 -
Free DLC patches bugs too.
The first batch of new levels will soon be ready for Super Meat Boy, developer Team Meat has revealed.
A post on Team Meat’s Twitter feed read, “The title update for the XBLA version is being finished this week and hopefully will be up soon.
“The XBLA title update will fix all known bugs and also release with 20 new levels for the internets and a new music track,” added a further post.
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Sony missed a marketing trick.
Gears of War lynchpin Cliff Bleszinski believes Sony undersold Heavy Rain but not marketing the game directly to women.
Speaking in an interview with BioShock creator Ken Levine posted on Irrational Games’ website, Epic design director Cliffy B explained, “I hate to sound misogynistic but it feels like such a great game for a girl who wouldn’t normally play games.
“Because women love true crime! I don’t know what it is. I’ve said it before they love two things in life: queso dip and true crime.
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Publisher taps A2M to provide game tie-in to Paramount’s Johnny Depp-voiced animated Western on 360, PS3, Wii, and DS.
Artificial Mind & Movement doesn’t limit itself to one side of the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s spectrum. On the more risque side, the Canadian studio has released such wares as Wet and Naughty Bear, while its family-friendly offerings include MySims Racing and Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. The company’s next project will lean toward the latter, as EA announced today that it had tapped A2M to create its game tie-in for Paramount Pictures’ animated feature Rango.
Rango The Video Game will be released in tandem with the Johnny Depp-voiced animated Western in March 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and DS. Like its film inspiration, the action adventure game will follow the travails of its titular out-of-his-element lizard. The game will be set in the Wild West town of Dirt, and gamers will find themselves meeting quirky characters, as well as engaging in shoot-outs and other old-timey activities.
Rango is the first animated feature from Paramount Pictures. EA confirmed for GameSpot that Depp will not be reprising his role as Rango for the game.
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“EA wrangling up Rango in March” was posted by Tom Magrino on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:54:48 -0700 -
Official Sony site reckons so.
Gran Turismo 5 will launch on 30th November, if a new listing on a Sony website is to believed.
According to the platform holder’s US online store, Sony Style, the oft-delayed sequel will be “available on or about 11/30/2010”. The site is taking pre-orders.
Earlier this week an industry source told Eurogamer that there was little hope that the game would see release before Christmas.
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Better visuals, new content promised.
PlayStation 3 users will get to experience a buffed-up version of Sniper: Ghost Warrior early next year, developer City Interactive has confirmed.
The FPS will be getting updated visuals and plenty of new content. Expect new singleplayer missions, bonus multiplayer maps, new multiplayer modes and new weapons.
“Sniper: Ghost Warrior was our most ambitious project to date and although it was extremely well-received by players, we wanted to ensure that the PS3TM version took the franchise to a higher level,” CEO Marek Tyminski explained.