Sega PC Games Sales Pick Up

FEB. 11, 2014 • In financial disclosures for the nine months ending December 31 Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. reported that its top selling retail games platform was Sega PC games. In addition, the number of PC titles sold versus the same period the previous year grew from 770,000 to 2.3 million units, an increase of 198%. Football Manager 2014, which was released in October, was the best selling PC title at 680,000 units. On console, the best selling title was Sonic.....

Classic Electronic Arts MMOs Are Outsourced

FEB. 5, 2014 • Two classic Electronic Arts MMOs, Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot, are being moved from division Mythic Entertainment to a new independent studio, Broadsword Online Games. Broadsword was started by a group of Mythic alumni including co-founder Rob Denton. EA retains ownership of both MMOs along with billing and account services through its Origin online distribution service. Broadsword is partnering with EA and will carry on operation, devel.....

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, .....

Dota 2 Officially Launches

DEC. 18, 2013 • Access to Dota 2 is now open to all players. Last July Valve ended the Dota 2 beta and officially launched the game – sort of. The virtual gates to the game servers were not thrown wide open. Instead, Valve launched with a gatekeeping system. Players had to register on a Launch Queue from which Valve would approve batches of registrants to access Dota 2. The reasons given were to better evaluate server capacity, add players into the game in a m.....

Has Apple Changed the Rules?

MARCH 12, 2013 • Sometimes life just isn’t fair. You can work and study hard, make the best grades and be praised for all your efforts.  But then some glib, fast-talking upstart with no experience or credentials sweeps in to take your place. That is how it must seem to many of the competitors in the consumer technology space that have seen once struggling PC manufacturer Apple Inc. become a powerhouse in every category in which they compete. .....

Wargaming Buys Gas Powered Games

FEB. 15, 2013 • Financially ailing Gas Powered Games, which had pegged its future on its new Wildman action RPG property and a $1 million Kickstarter campaign to fund the project, agreed to be acquired by F2P World of Tanks publisher Wargaming. In the three weeks since starting the funding drive, Gas Powered Games had just over $500,000 in pledges and had been forced to lay off most of its staff. Following the acquisition by Wargaming, the indie developer cance.....

U.S. Families Fond of Apple Devices

MARCH 28, 2012 ● In a telephone poll of 836 households, the CNBC cable channel’s All-America Economic survey extrapolates that half of all U.S. homes have at least one Apple device. In those homes that have Apple devices, the average number owned is three. Impact: Apple really is sitting on top of the world. Its devices are in demand, and each of those devices cross-pollinates easily wit.....

Aion Goes Free-to-Play

DEC. 14, 2011 • NCsoft’s Aion MMO will become a free-to-play service in Europe during the first quarter of 2012. GameForge partnered with the Korean-based publisher in overseeing the adaptation and manage Aion in Europe moving forward. The shift away from a subscription mode.....