Industry

They said what? They’re using that business model? They hired whom? [Follow this category’s RSS feed]

It looks like the ‘noncore IP’ Daybreak sold for $5.9M is PlanetSide after all

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Yesterday, when we covered EG7's Q4 2023 financials, we highlighted the company's disclosure that Daybreak had sold a "noncore IP" for $5.9M, a move...

Co-op third-person shooter Helldivers 2 promises a focus on ‘earning the right to monetize’ its players

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Last week was a pretty big deal for fans of co-op action shooters, as Helldivers 2 made what looks to be a pretty triumphant...

Microsoft prepares to talk about Xbox’s future in a podcast as multi-platform game rumors swirl

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The past several weeks have been some apparently nervous ones for those whose online personas are devoted to Microsoft in general and Xbox in...

EG7 Q4 2023: DCUO’s delayed latest-gen console launch hurt Daybreak’s revenues last quarter

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While bigger games companies continue to flail, EG7 actually managed to grow last year, as its latest investor report demonstrates, with overall revenues up...

NCsoft Q4 2023: Guild Wars 2 is a bright spot for NCsoft as Throne & Liberty stumbles

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NCsoft's Q4 2023 financials weren't the perk-up that investors surely wanted to see: The Korean gaming giant reported a 31% drop in revenues in...

Daybreak’s DC Universe Online studio Dimensional Ink is the latest games team hit with layoffs

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The culling of games industry employees continues through the beginning of this year: A list compiled by Kotaku that outlines the over 6,400 layoffs...

Q4 2023: Nexon, Krafton, and Roblox all posted soaring revenues in 2023

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Welcome back to another MMO business roundup - this one all about financials for some of the companies we keep an eye on 'round...
I HAVE TO RENEW MY HOUSE COME ON

Vague Patch Notes: MMORPGs and the PC gaming market

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I find myself thinking a lot about the MMORPG industry lately and the ways in which the gaming industry as a whole has changed...

RuneScape’s Jagex confirms it’s being sold for the fourth time in eight years as it talks up ‘forever games’

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Rumors from earlier this week that suggested RuneScape company Jagex was once again for sale have now been proven correct, thanks to a formal...
It's all the money we don't have!

Microsoft insists Activision-Blizzard was planning on mass layoffs before the merger

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As we've been covering, earlier this week the FTC filed a complaint to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, alleging that Microsoft misrepresented itself...
so much better

Former Overwatch 2 lead vfx artist calls out Blizzard for deceptive promotion and pay behavior

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Workers and former workers at the various substudios at Activision-Blizzard have been calling it out as an unpleasant workplace for a while now since...

Fortnite opens the doors to its own Trevor Noah-produced virtual stand-up comedy club

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In-game concerts have already been a thing in Fortnite, so where does the games platform go from there? Why, opening the doors to its...

Disney invests $1.5B into Epic Games with plans to create a ‘huge Disney universe’ in Fortnite

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Seeing Disney's various IPs in Fortnite isn't exactly news by this point, but it appears as if there will be a whole lot more...
WHOOPS

FTC files a complaint against Microsoft following Activision Blizzard layoffs

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When Microsoft outlined its plans for what would happen following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the things that the company stated was...
Just barely avoided this fate.

Perfect Ten: The MMO franchises that can’t count past two

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Back in the day, there was a running joke about how Capcom had shown with Street Fighter that the company could not count higher...

Jeff Strain’s indie studio Crop Circle Games lays staff, reportedly without severance

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Back in 2022 we saw former ArenaNet and Undead Labs co-founder Jeff Strain open his own indie studio called Crop Circle Games with the...

Tencent buys up majority stake of Swords of Legends developer and gains access to the IP

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Tencent has walked over to another games studio and smacked it with its wallet, only this time it's a bit of a surprise purchase...
Dead impact.

RuneScape’s Jagex is apparently being sold yet again, this time to a private equity firm for over $1B

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Stop me if you've heard this one: RuneScape company Jagex is for sale yet again. Back in September, we first caught the rumor that Jagex's...

Obituary: Former Free Realms creative director Laralyn McWilliams has passed away

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I'm sorry to report this morning that game developer Laralyn McWilliams has passed away at the age of 58. MMO fans will remember her...
Now you can play with your straight friends!

Microsoft will require Final Fantasy XIV players to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass in order to play the game

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It's tucked away in the announcement that Final Fantasy XIV's beta on the Xbox Series X|S starts on February 21st, but the announcement does...