OCT. 26, 2008 • Namco Bandai made clear that it would maintain Hellgate: London through January of 2009, but would not commit to maintaining them beyond that time frame. The game’s future became uncertain after its developer, Flagship Studios, encountered financial difficulties during the summer. Hellgate: London’s Korean publisher, HanbitSoft, announced on Nov. 3 that it had acquired the title’s IP, as well as Mythos, another Flagship game. HanbitSoft said it was hard at work working on an expansion for Hellgate: London, which would be targeted at the North American as well as Asian markets. In related news, Flagship co-founder Bill Roper has now joined Cryptic Studios as design director of Champions Online.
Impact: This is a great example of the challenge traditional publishers’ face in the brave new online world. Products are now services and the manufacturer is expected to maintain the product after launch. If the developer runs into financial trouble and can no longer maintain the product, the whole chain will collapse. However, most of the traditional publishers do not have the capabilities to develop these complex online games in-house.
NOV. 20, 2009 • The Nielsen Company and Microsoft Corp. have partnered to research how well Xbox 360 players respond to in-game advertising. The latter sees an opportunity to peel…
AUG. 30, 2008 • Nintendo Co. Ltd. lifted its profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31 from ¥530 billion ($5 billion) to ¥650 billion ($6.1 billion). The gamemaker…
OCT. 9, 2007 • Sony Computer Ent. dropped the price of two PlayStation 3 models in Japan by ¥5,000 ($43) each to better compete with the Wii. The 20GB system…
SEPT. 11, 2009 • Blockbuster Video announced that it would close up to 960 of it 4,356 U.S. locations by the end of 2010. The retailer hopes to save $30…
JULY 21, 2008 • EA Sports president Peter Moore told the Financial Times that he expects the Wii to hold the same market share power in this console generation that…
MARCH 20, 2008 • Last February the DFC Dossier took a closer look at how the Xbox 360 was doing in Latin America. Another part of Microsoft’s aggressive worldwide platform…