The European market is soft but its poor sales in North America that really surprised Square Enix this past year, resulting in an expected extraordinary loss out of its next financial report.
Computer game software publishers are the “television networks” of the computer & video game industry. They commission and pay for the development of a game that is created by a developer, in much the same way that a television channel would commission a television production company to create a TV program.
Very easy to understand!
Just as you need to be able to use these terms correctly and identify the role that the publisher has, whether you are talking about GTA IV/Skylanders/CoD/Angry Birds etc.
Rockstar Games have come a long way since Brits Sam and Dan Houser were slogging it out in the music industry (BMG) - now the sprawling Rockstar empire covers many countries. They are vertically integrated - they own companies involved in every stage in the videogame making process from start to finish.
Each of these has since been renamed with the word Rockstar in their name - remember that R* has been iconic: it stands for many of the firm's key fundamentals, as well as acknowledging their lofty ambitions from day one.
TASK: find out information on all members of the Rockstar family. Give the name, what they do, what company they used to be and when they became part of Rockstar. What game has each of these satellite firms been involved with?
These studios all have the standard R* logo, but usually a different colour - try to include an image of the logo to help us get to know them a big better!
BONUS LEVEL: What is the link between the ultra violent Grand Theft Auto games and the classic puzzle game Lemmings?
DICE veteran: we do innovate, Battlefield 3 is proof
EA's Swedish label boss Patrick Soderlund has defended the publisher's track record of delivering new IP and "innovation" at large, citing Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Battlefield 3 as proof of a commitment to new ideas.
"A lot of people criticise EA for not being innovative", Soderlund commented in an interview with MCV. "But look at what EA has done with Battlefield 3.
EA says that FIFA 13 pre-orders have topped 875,000 units two weeks ahead of launch.
The total, which is based on internal sales data, is up 37 per cent year over year in Europe and up 62 per cent in North America, according to the publisher.
Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that anticipation for EA SPORTS™ FIFA 13 has reached record levels—1.99 million people in 73 countries around the world downloaded and played FIFA 13 in the three days after the demo launched earlier this week for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, and PC. This is a 29 percent increase compared to the first three days after the FIFA 12 demo last year. Two weeks from launch, fans around the world have pre-ordered over 875,000* copies of FIFA 13—up 37 percent year over year in Europe and a 62 percent increase year over year in North America.
That's it, i'm going home to play the Fifa 13 demo.
EA are a symbol of churning out lazy releases year after year, whereas the likes of Rockstar Games will only release a game when they are ready - which is why we have still no word of GTA5.
Demos are very important for companies. Now publishers can release a demo on Xbox Live or PSN and get a very good idea on the 'buzz' of their product based on number of downloads.
Back in my day, demos used to appear on computer game magazines - you can imagine how much cheaper this process is.
Some believe EA have a poor reputation in the business regarding value for money - they know people will buy their yearly updates, especially those who wish to play online - numbers online will plummet as they jump ship to playing the newest version. They also have the EA Season Ticket - this is another example of digital distributionm - that gives you early access to the product through a download as well as discounted downloadable content (also known as DLC)
We need to know in our heads who Rockstar Games are, how they started, what do they stand for - you may need to watch this series a couple of times as we go through the course, so that you have some Rockstar facts and figures on the tip of your tongue in the exam.
Rockstar is the perfect name for the attitude and image they wanted to create.
