Free-to-Play EverQuest II Draws Crowd

JAN. 11, 2012 • Since becoming an F2P game back in December, EverQuest II has seen the number of new players jump by 300%, a 40% increase in daily logins, and 200% growth of in-game virtual item sales. Impact: When something of value is offered for free that consumers used to have to pay for you can expect user numbers to soar.  The reported increase in EverQuest II numbers is actually relati.....

Video Game Sales Flat at GameStop

JAN. 9, 2012 • For the nine week period ending Dec. 31, retailer GameStop reported that overall sales were flat at $3.02 billion, compared to the same period last year. Game software sales did grow to 10% to $1.47 billion, but game hardware sales dropped 20%. Other growth areas included digital sales (60%), and used games (3.5%). In the U.K., music, video and game retailer HMV saw its total sales for the same nine week period drop 9.8%. While DVD sales remained .....

Japan Game Market Shrinks

JAN. 5, 2012 • According to Japanese publisher Enterbrain, the Japan game market contracted ¥459 billion ($5.9 billion), or 8%. The contraction is the fourth such year-on-year drop in a row.  Hardware sales, however, grew 2.4% to ¥179 billion ($2.3 billion). .....

Star Wars: The Old Republic Draws 1 Million Players

DEC. 26, 2011 • During it first week in release, Star Wars: The Old Republic attracted more than 1 million players worldwide. Electronic Arts, the MMO’s publisher, needs the game to be highly successful to recoup its investment. The Old Republic is oft accused of being the most expensive computer game ever made. If true, BioWare developed title would have cost more to produce than Grand Theft Auto IV, which had a budget of $100 million. .....

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