Activision CEO Talks About Flagging Retail Game Market

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It’s no secret in the gaming industry that retail sales have been down and have particularly had a rough go of it in 2012. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was asked during a investors call what he thought is causing this trend.

“You have a very difficult macroeconomic environment, when you look at the things that can generally have an impact on the consumption of entertainment – unemployment data is very concerning, and when you look at the challenges in Europe there are a lot of things that are going to affect the macroeconomic outlook,” said Kotick. “We are also at the late end of the cycle, and the late end of a console cycle is always going to have its share of difficulties.”

Without naming any names, he blamed the quality of games coming from other companies. “I also think you’ve had, unfortunately, a stream of products that are less than adequate from some of our competitors. The demand in the marketplace is for great quality products,” said Kotick. “If you look at the success we’re having it validates that there is an opportunity for great quality products but I think at this stage in the cycle, it’s challenging for anything other than great quality products.”

Black Ops 2: Savior of Activision’s year

Kotick also acknowledged that there are plenty of other competitors for time out there and that certain players are sticking with one game for longer. “There’s also a lot of competition for entertainment dollars – you look at mobile games and what’s happening there and the pricing there that’s having an impact,” Kotick said. “And I also think that a lot of the games we make, like Call of Duty, that are multiplayer games offer a lot of replayability, and when you have the opportunity for replayability in an economic environment like this, you’re going to spend more time playing the games that you have.”

“But I will say that if you look out at the next five years, there’s a lot of reason to be hopeful and enthusiastic, but the next few years are going to be challenging,” he concluded.

Source: GamesIndustry International

Temple Run Hits 100 Million Downloads

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Temple Run has hit the 100 million download mark, 68 million downloads have been on iOS with the other 32 million coming from Android devices. 10 billion sessions of Temple Run have been played since August 2011, around 54,000 years spent playing the game and as much as 13 percent of the U.S. population has downloaded Temple Run.

“We never imagined that the game we were making and loved would be so well received around the world,” said Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios. “The last year has been incredible for us, and we are grateful to fans of the game. We hope to be able to provide them with more entertainment from the brand for years to come.”

Imangi Studios has teamed up for several licensing partnerships in 2012, including clothing with JEM Sportswear, digital comics with Ape Entertainment, card and board games with Spin Master, arcade machines with Coastal Amusements, sleepwear with Komar, and a partnership with Disney Pixar to launch Temple Run: Brave, leveraging the CG movie. Imangi will celebrate the successful first year for Temple Run by making all of its mobile titles released prior to Temple Run available for free for a limited time.

Glu Mobile Picks Up GameSpy Tech Group

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Glu Mobile has acquired IGN Entertainment’s GameSpy online gaming technology for a deal that includes $2.75 million of Glu’s stock. Not to be confused with the website of the same name that is also owned by IGN, GameSpy’s technology deals with the connected features of mobile games, including multiplayer matchmaking, player statistics and profiles, friends lists, leaderboards and online storage.

“Our acquisition of GameSpy brings Glu industry-recognised leadership in online, cross-platform technology infrastructure,” said Glu CEO Niccolo de Masi. “We expect that the acquisition of GameSpy will be earnings neutral in the near term. However, GameSpy team and technology is expected to help us drive higher monetisation and lifetime value in Glu’s titles from 2013 on.”

To find out more about GameSpy and their indie development program, check out this exclusive [a]list interview.

Source: AllThingsD

Gree Opens New London Studio

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Gree has announced that it has founded a new studio in London, part of the city’s center for technology and media companies on the east-side. The firm will focus on mobile development and looks to expand from the current Gree U.K. employee total of 20.

“The formation of a U.K. studio is strategically significant on many levels,” said Gree U.K. CEO Ryotaro Shima. “Primarily it will allow us to focus on Western content, keyed to local social trends, as well as tailoring content for global propositions. It also reinforces Gree’s commitment to growth within European markets.”

Find out more about Gree in this exclusive [a]list video interview.

Bubble Witch Saga Goes Cross-Platform

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King.com has launched their popular Bubble Witch Saga onto iOS. Not only that, they have synchronized the game with the Facebook version, allowing users to resume their progress in the game regardless of platform.

“As consumers and the industry focus more on games for mobile devices, launching a truly cross-platform Facebook game has been a top priority for King.com,” said Riccardo Zacconi, CEO of King.com. “We’re excited to be the pioneers in making this available for our players. Gamers can play signed in or not and progress either way, enabling them to experience the excitement of Bubble Witch Saga whenever and wherever they wish, without losing their place in the game.”

Bubble Witch Saga will release on Android later this year.

Ubisoft Plans Free-To-Play Announcements For Gamescom 2012

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Ubisoft announce that it will have a conference on the first day of Gamescom that they will show off free-to-play incarnations of some of their most popular franchises, complimenting Ghost Recon Online. They will also talk about their plans with e-sports and other growing online ventures.

“The total number of players and the resulting opportunities for our industry continue to multiply as new types of gaming take hold,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. “After a successful E3, we’re looking forward to bringing a strong line-up to Gamescom so that customers can experience many of our hotly anticipated titles first hand.”

Gamescom will take place in Cologne, Germany from August 15-19.

Zynga CEO Talks Perceptions By Outsiders

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Zynga as a company has never been positively viewed on the whole by gamers or even those who cover the gaming industry. Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, however, is unconcerned by what outsiders think, though he feels the company does not get enough credit in helping to make social games a reality.

“If you look back at what we’ve said and done over the last five years, we’ve always said and done the same thing – what’s changed is how the industry talks about us and perceives us,” said Pincus. “I think we’ve been a disruptive presence. For a while they were saying that FarmVille wasn’t a game. We’ve just never defined ourselves by the way we’re written about or by how the industry talks about us. It’s okay to be misunderstood, as long as you’re not misunderstood by your consumers.”

“I think that people see what they want to see. People who wanted to see us in a certain light were able to build their case. But here’s what’s ironic: we really have helped define and build an industry – we’ve made it bigger for everybody. It’s bigger for EA, it’s bigger for other publishers … we’re proud that we’ve helped expand the audience for gaming,” he added. “We really take a blue ocean view – we don’t think anyone else has to lose for us to do better.”

Source: The Guardian

Social Media Lashes Out At NBC For Olympic Coverage

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NBC is taking criticism from all sides for its Olympic Coverage, and with the advent of Twitter and Facebook, it’s happening in a very public fashion. There’s been tweeting in #nbcfail about everything from tape-delaying Ryan Lochte’s race, not streaming the opening ceremonies, and airing U.S. men basketball team’s opening game on a cable network while women’s cycling was shown on NBC.

The din of criticism has gotten to the point where Jim Bell, NBC’s executive producer of the games, even responded to some critics on twitter and is looking to change the network’s coverage in response. “#nbcfail is filled with a lot of crying and snark and humor, but NBC can actually learn something from it,” said Jeff Jarvis, a media critic who writes the Buzzmachine.com blog.

While tape delay coverage is nothing new for the Olympics, people have grown used to instant access on the Internet. Demand has grown for viewers who want to see the events on their large-screen TVs instantly and haven’t been satisfied by NBC’s decision to stream the events live online.

“NBC tape delay coverage is like the airlines: its interest is in giving you the least satisfactory service you will still come back for,” tweeted James Poniewozik, Time magazine TV critic.

NBC’s Bell responded, “You do know that all sports events are being streamed live right ”

“I do, indeed!” replied Poniewozik. “Have enjoyed it. Apparently a lot of folks still prefer watching it on TV.”

NBC noted that there were 39 hours of live events Sunday on NBC and its affiliated networks. Big events are still saved for prime time, when advertising dollars are the best, though this concurs with a period when events have concluded in the U.K.

For all the complaining, NBC surely feels vindicated in the ratings. Nielsen company said the opening ceremony drew more than 40 million people Friday, a record, and Saturday’s first night of coverage was seen by 28.7 million, beating every other first night of Olympic competition.

Jarvis thinks fans could be satisfied if NBC streamed certain events live then broadcast them again at night, though he admits such a move would put millions of ad dollars at risk. “[NBC has tried to] hold on to old media strategies in a new media world,” Jarvis said. “And that’s a mistake.”

Bashing NBC seems to have become an activity all of its own, with a CNN producer tweeting Sunday, “No USA basketball in my hotel room. Why they aren’t putting it on NBC’s main channel is beyond me!”

Not everyone on Twitter is a critic; the U.S. Olympic sailing team tweeted on Sunday that it was “by far the greatest sailing TV coverage in Olympic history.”

Source: Yahoo

Kixeye Mocks Rivals To Entice New Hires

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Kixeye is branding itself as a company steeped in gamer culture.  Its outdoor recruitment ads are splattered with internet memes.  In June, it launched a new corporate site that’s anything but corporate.  The site was created by Ayzenberg Group under Kixeye’s direction that it “blow up browsers and reformat hard drives.”

Its new recruitment video won’t break hardware, but it’s a fearless swipe at competitors who vie with it for game-making talent.