Funcom Investigated

JAN. 29, 2014 • Økokrim (the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation, Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime) is investigating Funcom N.V. regarding possible violation of Norway’s Securities Trading Act. At issue is financial information given by the MMO game developer to the market regarding The Secret World from August 2011 until the launch of the game in July 2012, and the two months following the launch. Suspecting market manipulation.....

Microsoft Acquires Gears of War IP

JAN. 28, 2014 • Epic Games’ Gears of War franchise has been acquired by Microsoft Studios. Financial terms were not disclosed but the deal secures the IP for Microsoft including rights to all existing and future games, entertainment experiences and merchandise. Vancouver, BC-based Black Tusk Studios will now be responsible for development of Gears of War product moving forward. In addition, Epic’s former Gears of War director of production Rod Fergus.....

Sony Online Entertainment Downsizes ProductSlate

JAN. 27, 2014 • Four prominent MMOs are being shut down by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). The publisher announced that Clone Wars Adventures and Free Realms will be closed on March 31, with Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and Wizardry Online going away on July 31. As recently as two years ago Clone Wars Adventures had reached 10 million registered users. Free Realms had also proved popular early in its 2009 PC release, .....

AMD Profits on Consoles

JAN. 22, 2014 • With more than 7 million PlayStation 4s and Xbox Ones sold in 2013 one of the biggest benefactors is Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The system-on-a-chip (SoC) processors that are powering both of the new consoles are produced by AMD. For the fourth quarter ending December 31, the company’s Graphics and Visual segment that produces specialized console chips and graphics card products saw revenue grow 29% to $858 million compared to the third .....

Nintendo Downgraded Forecast

JAN. 17, 2014 • Despite strong indications otherwise during the months leading into Christmas, Nintendo Co. Ltd. has steadfastly held to its 9 million Wii U unit sales projections for the fiscal year ending March 31. After digesting holiday sales data the Nintendo downgraded forecast for Wii U sales to 2.8 million for the fiscal year. “As year-end sales constitute an extremely high proportion of the annual sales volume in the video game industry and the an.....

DayZ Alpha Sells 1 Million

JAN. 14, 2014 • Bohemia Interactive’s survival horror game DayZ has amassed sales of one million units on Steam’s Early Access program since the alpha became available to purchase on December 16. Early Access is both a crowdsource funding mechanism, as well as a community building opportunity. Paying $29.95 for the alpha guarantees users full access to the Windows platform title as updates are made through the development process to final release. Bo.....

Toshiba HDTVs Get Game Streaming

JAN. 13, 2014 • Later this quarter Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. will include the GameNow streaming service in its latest slate of Toshiba HDTVs. The models supporting GameNow include the L7400U, L5400U and the L3400U. The announcement came during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. GameNow is operated by Ubitus Inc. in Taiwan. The company was started in 2007 and launched its first cloud gaming service in Japan during the fall of 2011. .....

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