Sony Acquires Video Game Studio

Sony Acquires Video Game Studio

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced it has agreed to acquire Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonsters Inc.  Previously SIE and Firewalk had announced an exclusive publishing partnership for an upcoming game.  Analysis ProbablyMonsters was founded in Bellevue, WA in 2016, with Firewalk St.....
Video Game Stock Portfolio has 20% Return for the First 3 Months of 2023

Video Game Stock Portfolio has 20% Return for the First 3 Months of 2023

Video game stocks did well in the first quarter of 2023.  Stocks in the general video game stock index were up 15% while stocks in the DFC Intelligence Video Game Stock Portfolio showed a 20% return between the first week of January through early April.  This compares with only a 7% increase for the S&P 500. Hardware companies had the strongest gains with Turtle Beach (NASDAQ: HEAR) increasing 52% and Corsai.....
Sega Acquires Angry Bird Developer Rovio

Sega Acquires Angry Bird Developer Rovio

Sega Sammy Holdings (6460.T-JP: Tokyo) has announced plans to acquire Finland-based Rovio Entertainment for 706 million euros (about $776 million).  The tender offer bid will be launched around May 8.  The offer represents a 19% premium over the current stock price. Analysis Rovio is noted for the Angry Birds franchise which in recent years has enjoyed most of its success on mobile platforms.  Angry Birds was released in 2009 and was an early mobile.....
Global Video Game Audience Reaches 3.7 Billion

Global Video Game Audience Reaches 3.7 Billion

The latest DFC Intelligence report shows the number of global video game consumers has soared to 3.7 billion. This is closing in on nearly half of the global population as video games become ubiquitous. The new numbers were reported as part of the latest release in the DFC Video Game Consumer Segmentation service. The reality is the overall number of video game consum.....
U.K. CMA Narrows Scope of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Purchase

U.K. CMA Narrows Scope of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Purchase

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued updated provisional findings to narrow its scope of review in the proposed Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard.  The new findings reach the provisional conclusion that overall the transaction will not result in a substantial lessening of competition for console gaming in the U.K. market This new finding d.....
Tencent International Game Revenue Increases

Tencent International Game Revenue Increases

For fiscal year 2022 ending 12/31/22, Tencent saw revenue from games decline 2% to RMB 171 billion (about $25.9 billion).  This was a 2% decline from 2021 when game revenue was RMB 174 billion.  However, international game revenue was up 3% to RMB 46.9 billion (about $7.1 billion).  Domestic game revenue for 2022 declined 3.7%. to RMB 124 billion. The decline was in mobile game revenue (including social network mobile games) which decreased 2.6% to RMB 161 billion (about.....
Nvidia Grows Beyond Games

Nvidia Grows Beyond Games

On March 22, DFC Intelligence had the privilege to join a private analyst briefing with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.  This was an opportunity to ask Huang detailed questions following his keynote at the Nvidia GTC conference the previous day. The focus was almost entirely on Nvidia’s future in AI.  The key takeaway from the keynote and briefing was that Nvidia is in the process of its most expansive growth of business model ever.  That expansion is into AI which is hitting.....
Will Xbox First-Party Software Catchup to PlayStation in 2023?

Will Xbox First-Party Software Catchup to PlayStation in 2023?

It is no secret that in recent years Microsoft has made a significant investment in beefing up its internal video game software development.  However, since the 2020 launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, Sony has been ahead when it comes to notable first-party software.  This may be changing going forward as some big-name exclusives are scheduled to launch for Xbox platforms. As PlayStation 5 shortages ease, the new .....