EBank, the institution in question, was also hit by a naked fraud scheme earlier this year, in which an embezzler stole 200bn kredits and resold it all for real world cash. The episode caused an actual run on the virtual bank. Now its new chairman has admitted the bank’s rampant mismanagement without following rules, safeguards and controls, has led to a 380 billion ISK shortfall.

The bank’s board of directors report that it faces a deficit of about 1.2 trillion ISK, which increases about 12 billion ISK a month. According to the bank chief, “withdrawals will be allowed once the bank achieves a maintainable equity status of 90% (1.8t currently); they will be stopped again should that fall below 80%.”

See? Aren’t MMOs fun? You can escape from the global economic collapse to roleplay manage— a galactic economic collapse!

Virtual Bank in EVE Freezes Accounts Due to Deficit [Ars Technica]

The expected sales drop is also more than 12 percent lower than initially expected.

Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer for Ubisoft, places much of the blame for the drop on what he calls a “very sharp slowdown” in sales of DS games in Europe and the United States. Guillemot says that DS sales are down 67 percent. He also pointed out that the company’s back catalog of Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 titles were also lower than expected.

“We are currently experiencing a very sharp slowdown in our sales for Nintendo DS as well as sales of back-catalog titles, in the context of a market that is tougher than anticipated,” Guillemot said. “This will have a significant impact on our first-half showing. Against this backdrop, the solid performance of our Wii titles combined with the successful launches of Anno and Call of Juarez are points of satisfaction and demonstrate that good products are continuing to sell well.”

In a follow up question, Guillemot seems to place much of the blame on the drop in DS sales on rampant piracy in Europe.

“Piracy is strong so we are working to put new figurines and new elements in the boxes that will change that in the future… for example in Europe we have the same market share in DS this year as last year…” Guillemot said. “We see a different attitude toward piracy in the U.S. than Europe.”

The news came during today’s first-quarter report by Ubisoft. In the report the company also announced that they would be delaying four games: Splinter Cell Conviction, Red Steel 2, Ghost Recon and I am Alive.

According to Games Investor Consulting director Nick Gibson “In the last four or five months there has been a collapse in venture capital and, more broadly, private equity funding for privately-held games companies”. These aren’t the big, publicly-owned companies like Activision or EA we’re talking about. These are the new guys, the small guys, the ones that rely on big cash investments to get up and running.

Gibson says things are so bad for the little guys that, according to Gibson’s research, “private funding for games companies” is down a whopping 60% from the same time last year.

So if you’ve got a great idea for a new game, and you and your buddies want some cash to get things started, you might want to hold off for a year or two. That or start saving.

Funds and Games [Develop]

Developer Ascaron Entertainment has filed for bankruptcy protection in its home country, Germany.

Their newest game, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, hit the PC last November and the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports are due out this May. But as decent as the game’s been doing so far, that four year development cycle apparently murderised the company’s finances.

Here’s the statement posted to the developer’s official site:

On Tuesday 14th April 2009, Ascaron Entertainment GmbH, Germany, went into administration at the regional court in Bielefeld, Germany.

Due to the protection offered by German administration rights, Ascaron intends to use this as an opportunity to secure the future of the company.

We, the executives of Ascaron Entertainment GmbH, thank all our fans for their superb support and assistance in making Sacred 2: Fallen Angel the success it is today.

Our special thanks go to all our employees. Without the dedication and motivation of all the staff Sacred 2 would not exist. We are also proud to announce that development of Sacred 2 on Playstation3 and Xbox 360 is now complete. Sacred 2 will be available on both formats in May 2009. We would like to wish all console gamers a fantastic fantasy experience with Sacred 2.

The server and services of Sacred 2 multiplayer and the Securom game activation are unaffected and will continue as usual. Please see the press announcement below for more information. Further updates will be provided in due course.

With kind regards,
Heiko tom Felde
Ascaron Entertainment

Sacred 2 developer bankrupt [GameSpot]

Market researchers The NPD Group – yes, the sales charts guys – have found that when it comes to games, most Americans don’t give a damn about the recession.

Polling a sample group of around 10,000 consumers, 65% of respondants said that in 2009, rather than cutting back, they’d be spending at least the same, and in many cases more, than they did on games in 2008.

I’d love to see this trend continued to its logical conclusion, and that in times of real national emergency, Americans are found to be hoarding food, water, fuel and Wii party games.

NPD: Gamers to Maintain Spending Levels in 2009 [Edge]

Addressing concerns raised by Stargate television show producer Brad Wright, developer Cheyenne Mountain has issued a statement assuring everyone that development on Stargate Worlds is still underway.

Wright voiced his concerns over the game’s development last Friday in an interview with fan site GateWorld, calling the lack of progress on the project “a terrible shame.” Now Cheyenne’s senior marketing manager Kevin Balentine addresses those concerns, revealing that Brad Wright is actually a creative consultant on the title who they hadn’t been keeping in the loop.

Our official response is that the lights here are still on and the development team is working hard every day to get this game built. Team members are in the office seven days a week to deliver Stargate Worlds. Brad Wright is the Stargate expert and a creative consultant on Stargate Worlds who advises us on the story; unfortunately we had not recently updated him on our progress or the impact from the current global economic crisis, and he was not fully aware of the continuing progress on our game.

Balentine went on to explain that while development had been impacted by the economic downturn, they are seeking outside funding to keep their expenses covered while continuing to work on the game.

“We are currently negotiating several deals that will cover our financial responsibilities and fund the remainder of development. When we sign those deals, you’ll hear about it. Until then, we’ll keep building Stargate Worlds, because right now, that’s the only thing that matters to us.”

Let’s hope it still matters to the show’s fans as well.

Stargate Worlds Dev: ‘The Lights Are Still On, Development Continues’ [Gamesutra]

The folks at Blockbuster would really appreciate it if you’d pay your overdue late fees, renters. The company has warned it has “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Yes, Blockbuster, the 24-year-old chain that rents “more video games than any other company, store-based or online, in the nation,” is in rather dire financial straits. It told the SEC that it may not be able to continue, given that it may not be able to meet the conditions of a $250 million loan that would help keep it afloat.

While things look grim for Blockbuster, there’s a chance it could soldier on, something we’ll know for sure mid-May. But hopes for the chain’s video game rental by mail service to hit later this year sound iffy.

Blockbuster gets going concern notice: SEC filing [Reuters]

With Midway in the middle of troublesome bankruptcy proceedings and rumours of the Mortal Kombat dev team leaving, it’s a little surprising to learn that not one, but three companies are considering buying the company.

According to our sources, Warner Brothers, Ubisoft and a private Chicago investor are all looking over the company for possible acquisition.

We’re told that Ubisoft has been in talks with Midway for weeks now and that a vice president for Warner Bros. was visiting the studio just last week.

Reached for comment this morning, a Midway rep said the company does not comment on rumours or speculation.

If our sources are correct, than Warner Bros. is the most likely candidate for a possible purchase.

Times are hard. In an effort to cut costs, Sony is going to reduce its number of new recruits — by a lot.

From next spring, the number of recruits has been cut to 280 new employees, which is 48 percent lower than last year. “The environment surrounding our company has changed so we will use more rigorous standards in selecting college students we will hire,” a Sony spokesperson said.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sony is getting the best of the best. Consider it a game of attrition.

Here’s the bad thing, though: Sony expect to show a ¥260 billion loss in the financial year ending Tuesday. The company has already announced a plan to slash 16,000 jobs.

Sony to reduce new recruits 48% to 280 for spring 2010 [Japan Today] [Pic]

The business of being really, really good at playing video games is hurting. Professional gaming leagues are shutting down left and right, meaning that many people who participate in those leagues are out now jobless.

The New York Times profiles some those ultra-hardcore gamers who made it their job—or “job,” if you prefer—to play video games like Counter-Strike and Dead or Alive 4 better than 99.9% of the world’s population, folks left without income after the closure of leagues like the Championship Gaming Series.

It’s not all gloom and doom, though, as at least Major League Gaming is still thriving. And it’s expected to turn a profit this year, according to league president and chief executive Matthew Bromberg.

Sure it’s hard out there for a guy whose primary skill set involves aiming a mouse extremely well, but pro gaming hasn’t quite yet given up the ghost.

Virtual Leagues Fold, Forcing Gamers to Find Actual Jobs [NY Times]