What’s happened in the business of video games this past week …
QUOTE | “Social and freemium is not where gaming is headed.” — Jack Tretton, head of SCEA, talking about Sony’s rough times and how the console business will be better than ever.
QUOTE | “Madden did not have the level of innovation that some of our other franchises have had.” — Andrew Wilson, head of EA Sports, talking about why Madden 13 represents a significant improvement in the franchise.
QUOTE | “I can’t recall a time when there’s been less general enthusiasm for the arrival of the next generation of console hardware.” — Johnny Minkley, games writer and broadcaster, talking about why better technology doesn’t necessarily mean better games.
QUOTE | “Innovation is a 50/50 chance of flushing that money down the toilet, which is why all the big console games have 2, 3 or 4 after the title.” — Alex Seropian, co-founder of Bungie, talking about why innovation is easier on mobile hardware.
QUOTE | “It’s time to let those 150 game designers off their leashes to roam free.” — Steve Peterson, West Coast Editor for GamesIndustry International, talking about Zynga’s problems and how they might solve them.
STAT | 20 per cent — Amount that game industry retail sales dropped during July in the US, versus July of last year; the combined total of software, hardware and accessories was $US548.4 million.
QUOTE | “What Steam actually does well isn’t necessarily selling software.” — Rob Fahey, veteran game journalist, talking about how Steam may be threatened by Microsoft’s Windows 8 store.
QUOTE | “They focus on the visual stuff at the beginning and then build the gameplay on top of that.” — Capcom director Hideaki Itsuno, talking about how Western developers start designing a game, where at Capcom Japan they start with the game design.
QUOTE | “Nobody plays League of Legends just because it’s free… They play it because it’s a compelling game with a great roster of characters.” — Chris Enock, senior marketing director for Riot Games, talking about how they promote the game.
QUOTE | “I believe tablets to a large degree will replace laptops in the home in the next few years.” — Jens Begemann, CEO of social game company Wooga, talking about how gaming hardware is changing.
STAT | $US1.6 billion — Amount of consumer spending expected in 2016 on games from smart TVs; the current amount is only $US88 million for the year.
STAT | $US609 million — Amount of revenue that Japanese mobile social game company DeNA took in during the quarter ended in June, up 37 per cent over last June; net profit was $US131 million, as Rage of Bahamut took the #1 slot on Android and iOS.
STAT | $US400 million — Amount that Angry Birds merchandise will make for licensee Commonwealth Toy & Novelty in 2012, which is double the sales of Angry Birds merchandise from last year.
QUOTE | “We’re now… creating mobile games, with an emphasis on micro-transaction games and freemium games.” — Greg Canessa, VP of Activision Mobile, talking about Activision’s plans for heavy investments in mobile games.
This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International
Image from Shutterstock
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