Welcome to Recruit3D
...the new name in games industry search and selection, brought to you by games industry recruitment veteran Fran Mulhern.
Founded in the belief that there’s a better way to serve the needs of the games industry, Recruit3D has at its core a stringent “no spam” policy – for both candidates and studios alike. With extensive experience of recruiting into development studios, we’re perfectly placed to ensure an exact match between studio and candidate, based on technical ability, project, mutual aspirations and goals. Recruitment companies will often say that recruitment is a sales industry. We believe otherwise: we believe that it’s a service industry, and that those best placed to service it are recruiters who know their stuff and are passionate about games.
That’s where we come in.
Useful games industry links:
- GamesIndustry.biz – Games industry news
- Develop Magazine – as above
- The Chaos Engine – discussion forum for those involved in the industry
(please note: work email required to verify identity) - TIGA – Trade association for UK & Europe games developers
- MCV – Games industry news
- The International Game Developers Association
- ZeroCrunch – A social network for the games industry
News: GamesIndustry.biz and BAFTA to present Games Question Time
BAFTA, in association with GamesIndustry.biz, will host Games Question Time this February, featuring some of the leading talent in the UK games business.
New UKIE CEO Jo Twist, Frontier's David Braben, Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard and Rebellion's Jason Kingsley will all take part in a lively debate on the current state of the UK's games business, hosted by GamesIndustry.biz's Johnny Minkley.
A limited number of free tickets are available for the event, taking place at BAFTA HQ at 195 Piccadilly in London on February 20. Once free tickets are gone, additional tickets can be purchased for £5.
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 4:09 pm
Editorial: Talking Loud, Saying Nothing
It's an understatement to say THQ is in a mess. This week it axed staff from its publishing and administration teams, and confirmed that it is no longer working on games aimed at the younger audiences, including the shelving of a recent Disney project. That's not because games for kids aren't doing the business anymore, it's just that THQ hasn't been able to follow the audience as it got hooked on monsters and online penguins.
Concentrating on the core audience is a solid plan if that really is your intention, but THQ is a company without confidence, axing projects and staff before they've taken their first steps. Look at its activities last year and a familiar pattern emerges - because its exactly what it did in 2009 when it first acknowledged that the kids' market was shrinking, when it closed Big Huge Games and let Heavy Iron and Incinerator go, when CEO Brian Farrell said the company would focus on fewer titles, when internal studio Volition lost its QA staff, the International business was shuttered and 600 staff let go. And previously in 2008 when it spoke of a new direction and sacked 250 staff with the closure of five studios.
But back to 2011, to really ram the point home. Three internal development teams were shut down in September at a cost of 200 jobs, and the MX Vs ATV franchise was canned - a series Brian Farrell hoped would usher in a mid-priced revolution for the company. The recently rebooted Red Faction series was briefly full of hope before being canned in July after a lacklustre launch and tepid reviews for Red Faction: Guerrilla. A month earlier, THQ Warrington (a digital-focused studio) was closed, alongside the Homefront team at Kaos, and Saints Row spin-off Drive By didn't even get shown publicly before being snuffed.
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 3:11 pm
News: Registration opens for GameHorizon 2012
Registration has opened for this year's GameHorizon, taking place June 27-28 at The Sage Gateshead.
Mills from app developer ustwo, Darren Jobling of Eutechnyx, Thumbstar's Gareth Edmondson and Atomic Antelope's Chris Stevens are all confirmed for the event, with more to be added over the coming months.
"The theme for 2012 is GameHorizon is about Entertainment, Technology and Games," said Nina Cliff, conference producer. "We're seeking out unique thinkers and pioneering businesses for this year's line up."
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 1:02 pm
News: UKIE sponsors Blitz students
UKIE will fund the travel of selected students attending the Blitz Games Studios 2012 Student Open Days in March.
"We are delighted to be supporting the Blitz Games Studios Open Days as part of our commitment to the Livingstone Hope Skills review recommendations to help the UK's games industry access the high quality graduates it needs to grow and innovate," said UKIE CEO Jo Twist.
"We are long-standing admirers of Blitz's policy of supporting games education and aspiring developers, and it's a pleasure to be able to add our support in this way. We hope that this fund enables even more students to benefit from attending a Blitz Open Day."
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 10:48 am
News: Roblox sees 109 per cent increase in user generated content
Roblox, an online community that allows users to build their own 3D games, has seen a 109 per cent increase on 2010's number of created games. In 2011, 5.4 million were made.
"Roblox is about giving our players the tools and freedom to put their imaginations into action," said CEO David Baszucki.
"It's amazing to see what these players can do, and all that they've accomplished in 2011. They have been building, sharing, and competing, using the skills they've picked up from Roblox, and their passion for learning really shows with these numbers. We've seen an increase in usage by teens, young adults and parents as we have released more complex building tools and materials."
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 10:38 am
News: Fearless Studios acquired by Kabam
Social developer Kabam, which specialises in 'core' social titles, has acquired Fearless Studios, a company of six employees, for an undisclosed sum.
Fearless was founded by writer and Force Unleashed producer Haden Blackman, along with colleague Cedrick Collomb. Fearless has yet to bring a game to market, but the company's website is advertising for several positions.
"The Fearless Studios team brings a wealth of talent and experience in creating outstanding, highly successful AAA titles across a range of genres," said Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, as reported by VentureBeat.
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 10:18 am
News: ESA reimbursed for violent video game legal battle
The Entertainment Software Association will receive $950,000 from the state of California for legal fees spent fighting a law on violent video games.
The US Supreme Court ruled in favour of the ESA last June, killing a California law that sought to ban the sales of video games to children, and affording games First Amendment protection.
"Senator Yee and Governor Schwarzenegger wasted more than $1 million in taxpayer funds at a time when Californians could ill afford it," said CEO Michael D. Gallagher.
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 9:43 am
News: Price, Pearce, Capps added to D.I.C.E. Summit
Veteran games developers from Epic, Insomniac and Blizzard have been added to the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit, taking place February 7-10.
Mike Capps, Ted Price and Frank Pierce will discuss what it takes to survive 20 years of games development in the session "Staying Around, Playing Around." In a separate session, Alex Lieu of 42 entertainment will discuss user interaction across multi-platform content.
Bethesda's Todd Howard will open the summit on Wednesday evening, with the rest of the week featuring sessions from Eat Sleep Play's David Jaffe, NPD's Anita Frazier and Activision's Eric Hirshberg.
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 9:26 am
News: Virgin Gaming hits 1 million registered users
Virgin Gaming, a platform which allows players of over a dozen games to compete in tournaments for cash, has reached a milestone of over one million registered users.
The service has also issued over $7 million worth of prizes to winners. In August last year, the prize fund was increased from $1 million to $3 million.
Players must deposit at least $20 in their Virgin Gaming account in order to participate in a money match. Games available include several EA Sports titles, thanks to a partnership, Battlefield 3, DiRT 3 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 9:07 am
News: Cuts at Future US and IGN sites
Media companies Future Publishing and IGN have both been forced to cut staff numbers, citing restructuring and financial difficulties.
"Future US is currently working to reposition itself in the marketplace to transform the company from an old school publisher to a hybrid publisher," Future COO Rachelle Considine told Joystiq last night.
"While many 'old school' publishing companies and outlets have folded completely, Future US is in process of retooling and reshaping the organisation to succeed, and thrive in the digital era."
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 8:44 am
News: Tagged to shut down Hi5's third-party dev platform
Social network Tagged, the new owner of Hi5, has said it will close down its third-party development platform.
The company bought the struggling games portal last year, and will now replace third-party content with its own games developed in-house, reports Techcrunch.
According to Tagged marketing exec Steve Sarner, Hi5 "wasn't nearly as vibrant as we felt it could be or should be" and the site "will become a Tagged.com experience with a Hi5 wrapper."
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 8:32 am
News: New Nintendo Network may offer full game purchases
Nintendo has confirmed the forthcoming arrival of the Nintendo Network service, which will expand the company's online offering to Wii-U and 3DS owners.
The new service was confirmed and briefly discussed in a financial and corporate briefing yesterday. DLC will be available via the Network, and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata also suggested that full retail games may also eventually be available, as the infrastructure to deliver them is already in place.
"The Nintendo Network service is our network platform which will cover the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii-U," said Iwata.
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 8:32 am
Article: Fragile Finances
There are still a few months left to run of Financial Year 2011/12, but it now seems certain that this will be the year in which Nintendo marks an unwanted milestone - the first full-year operating loss ever to be announced by the company. Revised financial guidance from the firm points to a ¥65 billion ($843m) net loss for the full year - a harsh turn for a company which only a few years ago was one of Japan's most successful and valuable enterprises.
It's really tempting to try to fit those figures into the industry's general narrative of the moment. It's so neat and tidy to say, hey, Nintendo's made a huge loss - its first ever - just as the handheld and casual markets which have been its bread and butter are swallowed up by smartphones and tablets. The two must be connected, and the link only looks stronger when you consider that Apple's record-breaking sales and profits were announced only a few days before Nintendo's warning.
As ever, though, the situation is a bit more complex than that. We all know that 3DS struggled on the market at launch, of course, and you can assign various different reasons to that depending on your own biases. Consumers don't want a dedicated handheld when they already have smartphones. Nintendo didn't market and explain the console well enough. The launch software line-up was weak. The price was too high. In truth, the problems sprang from a combination of these factors, and no one factor can be pinpointed as the sole reason for the weak launch.
Posted on 27 January 2012 | 8:02 am
News: Valve releases beta Steam app for mobiles
Portal creator Valve has released a beta app for iOS and Android devices.
The app will allow users to chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content and check on sales on the Steam service.
"The Steam app comes from many direct requests from our customers," said Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 8:06 pm
News: THQ lays off publishing and admin staff
Publisher THQ is in the process of laying off more staff as it continues efforts to cut costs to a minimum.
According to the company it is culling multiple roles across its publishing and administration business although its five internal studios are not affected at this stage.
"THQ confirms a reduction in force to the company's administration and publishing organisation," said the company in a statement given to Game Informer. "The streamlined organisation reflects the company's new strategy. THQ's five internal studios were not affected by this action."
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 7:38 pm
News: NCsoft says Bluehole Studio stole assets for TERA
NCsoft has filed a trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit against rival MMO developer Bluehole Studios over a US version of its game TERA, alleging it was developed using stolen assets.
Bluehole was founded by former NCsoft employees. Its US subsidiary, En Masse Entertainment, planned to launch an English language version of TERA in May, but NCsoft has argued the game is based on stolen property.
"These individuals did not leave NCsoft empty-handed or with benign intent," the complaint from NCsoft alleged of the former employees, according to MMOCulture.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 4:45 pm
News: Apple "ignoring not solving" Chinese factory conditions - report
UPDATE: An internal e-mail from Apple CEO Tim Cook addressing the New York Time's investigative article has been leaked to 9to5 Mac. The e-mail was sent to the company's employees, and reinforces Apple's commitment to highlighting and eradicating violations of its Supplier Code of Conduct.
"As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values," the e-mail reads. "Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple's values today, and I'd like to address this with you directly."
"We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don't care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It's not who we are."
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 12:01 pm
News: UKIE: Digital chart can work without Steam
With UKIE launching its new digital chart next month, questions have been asked about just how the data will be collected, who is involved and, most importantly for some, can it work without Steam?
"I would love every company to be involved in the project. Are we going to get every company? Probably not," UKIE's Sam Collins told GamesIndustry.biz.
He explained that while UKIE would be happy to get access to Steam's figures, it can collect the data it needs straight from the individual UK publishers, with out without Valve's help.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 11:07 am
News: Kim Dotcom denied bail before extradition hearing
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has been denied bail ahead of his New Zealand hearing for extradition to the US, with Judge David McNaughton ruling that the defendant posed too much of a flight risk.
Dotcom's extradition hearing will take place on February 22.
When authorities raided Mr Dotcom's New Zealand property on January 20, they found multiple passports, sums of money and an illegal firearm, all of which helped to convince Judge McNaughton that bail would be inappropriate.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 10:49 am
News: Art Of Crime partners with Habbo Hotel SVP
Art Of Crime has joined forces with Christian Batist, best known for his role at Sulake as senior vice president of Habbo Hotel, to expand its Crimeville franchise.
Crimeville launched in beta in 2010 for the children's market, and currently has an accompanying card game in Denmark. It hopes to expand globally in 2012, beginning with the Benelux territories.
"This partnership means a lot to us. Christian experienced first-hand the challenges Habbo's online world had from its birth to managing well over 300 million registered users," said CEO Ida Brinck-Lund.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 10:12 am
News: Denki: Marketing behind Quarrel publisher struggle
Scottish developer Denki believes that the Xbox Live release of its popular iOS word game Quarrel was delayed for years by the narrow thinking of publishers' marketing teams.
Development of Quarrel began four years ago, and the game has been complete for more than two years, yet it was only released on Xbox Live yesterday.
Colin Anderson, Denki's managing director, claims that, during that two year period, Quarrel was rejected by, "almost every games publisher in the world."
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 9:23 am
News: 3DS dominating Japanese top ten as release schedule picks up
The 3DS continues to dominate both hardware and software charts in Japan as the country's release schedule starts to pick up after the holiday season.
Four of the top five games are 3DS SKUs, with Mario Kart 7 still heading up the table. The first non-3DS title in the chart is Onechanbara Z Kagura on Xbox 360 in fifth.
Whilst the PlayStation Vita had one major new release in the form of Wipeout, it failed to chart in the top twenty. In terms of hardware sales, the platform still sits in fourth, behind 3DS, PS3 and PSP.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 9:22 am
News: Worldwide launch for Wii U in 2012
Nintendo has confirmed that it will release the Wii U console by the end of the year in all major markets.
Speaking following the release of its latest financial results, president Satoru Iwata said the system will be available for the Christmas period in Japan, the US, Europe and Australia, reports Reuters.
The launch window is no surprise, with Nintendo stating last year it expected the new console to arrive in 2012, but it should offer some comfort to investors during a financial year in which the company is expecting to make a loss of ¥65 billion.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 8:54 am
News: 130 apps helped by Tapjoy Android Fund
Tapjoy has now helped in the financing and discovery of 130 apps on the phone platform, thanks to its Android Fund programme.
"Our goal for the Tapjoy Android Fund was to help enhance the Android ecosystem by bringing great games from Facebook, iOS and other platforms to the Android Market," said publishing director Rob Carroll.
"Our fund is unique in that we don't ask for creative control and we don't push developers to adopt one strategy over another; we simply identify talented teams and arm them with the tools and resources they need to quickly build their apps and then turn them into top hits."
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 8:41 am
News: Netflix drops games-by-mail ambitions
Netflix has confirmed that it no longer has plans to offer a games-by-mail service to its users.
It had originally announced plans to do so last summer as it spun off the physical business, offering subscribers the option to upgrade their accounts by adding games and Blu-ray movies.
But in a recent call to investors, CEO Reed Haastings said that while Blu-ray and 3D discs are still part of the mix, the company has "no plans to enter video games."
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 8:37 am
News: 6waves Lolapps defends plagiarism accusations
6waves Lolapps, the studio behind Ravenwood Fair, has defended itself from accusations of plagiarism after the release of its first iOS title, Yeti Town.
When the game hit the app store in December, 2011, some players noted a similarity between it and Spry Fox's popular Facebook title Triple Town, which operates on many of the same 'match three' mechanics.
At that point, Triple Town was a Facebook only game, but now the title has seen its own release on the App Store, the accusations take on even greater import, especially given the recent controversy over Zynga's Dream Heights and its alleged similarity to Tiny Tower.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 8:37 am
News: Red 5: Small studios "tired" of relying on publishers
Mark Kern, a veteran of Blizzard Entertainment and founder of Red 5 Studios, has questioned the utility of publishers to modern game developers.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz about the controversial SOPA and PIPA bills, Kern observes that the industry's larger companies - particularly major publishers - tended to be for the legislation, while the dissenting voices generally came from smaller, independent companies and consumers.
While both bills were ostensibly about the battle against piracy and the protection of IP, Kern believes that many of the company's supporting them were principally motivated by the need to control distribution.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 8:31 am
News: Rovio advertising SVP joins Big Fish
Casual games company Big Fish has appointed Wibe Wageman as its vice president and general manager of mobile. Wageman was previously the senior vice president of global brand advertising with Rovio.
"Big Fish has a trusted entertainment brand 10 years in the making and huge further potential as it extends its 2500+ game catalog to capitalize on the worldwide growth in mobile gaming," he said.
I am delighted to be joining such a strong and well-positioned company. We have an exciting 2012 content lineup in the works from Big Fish Studios and our hundreds of talented development partners."
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 8:28 am
News: Nintendo expects wider full-year loss of ¥65 billion
Nintendo has recorded a net loss of ¥48.3 billion ($623.4m) for the nine months ended December 2011, compared to a profit of ¥49.5 billion for the previous year.
Net sales for the period were ¥556.1 billion ($7.1bn), down from the ¥807.9 billion. Nintendo said sales were down due to the early 3DS price cut and reduction in price of the Wii console, with the impact of strong yen against foreign currencies hitting overall profits.
As a result, the company now expects a full year net loss of ¥65 billion compared to previous estimates of a ¥20 billion loss. Profit for the previous financial year was ¥77.6 billion.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 7:34 am
Interview: Back From The Dead
Barely a month has passed since the controversial SOPA and PIPA bills looked certain to pass through Congress. However, a wave of protest saw both fall at the last hurdle, shelved by their authors and sponsors until a more palatable compromise can be reached. While the heat of the issue has dissipated, Red 5 Studios founder Mark Kern believes that the real work has just begun. The ESA's support for the bills, both financial and political, ignored strong complaints from both the gamers and developers it purported to represent. Kern took action. He withdrew Red 5's forthcoming online shooter Firefall from E3, and invested $50,000 to establish the League For Gamers, a new entity to watch the watchmen and safeguard the free internet. In this interview, Kern discusses the foundation of the League For Gamers, the role of the ESA, the possible agenda behind support of SOPA and PIPA, and a future where content, and not distribution, determines the winners and the losers.
Posted on 26 January 2012 | 6:18 am
News: EA vet joins Splash Damage as head of production
Brink developer Splash Damage has hired Griff Jenkins as the studio's new director of production, reporting directly to CEO Paul Wedgwood.
Jenkins was previously at Electronic Arts working on Need for Speed and FIFA franchises and has also worked on with Criterion, Kuju and Eidos.
"Following FIFA's incredible success, Griff's new role at Splash Damage will be to improve our games by improving the way we make them," said Wedgwood.
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 3:26 pm
News: THQ focuses on core as pressure mounts on board
THQ has confirmed it will cease production of children's titles to refocus its efforts on core and digital. The news comes the same day as an alleged open letter from ex-THQ employees requesting top executives like CEO Brian Farrell are fired.
"THQ will be a more streamlined organisation focused only on our strongest franchises," said Farrell in an official statement regarding the change of focus.
"The success of Saints Row: The Third is an example of what our revised strategy and focus can achieve. We have now shipped 3.8 million units globally and are currently expecting to ship between five and six million units lifetime on this title. Additionally, our robust digital content offerings for this game have resulted in the highest digital revenue of any console title in our history."
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 2:31 pm
News: No BlizzCon in 2012
Blizzard has confirmed that it will not hold BlizzCon this year, with the next fan-focused event scheduled for 2013.
The World of Warcraft creator said the decision was due to a busy schedule which includes concentrating on the 2012 Battle.net World Championship, an eSports event taking place in Asia at the end of the year.
"We're excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year," wrote the company on the official Battle.net site.
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 2:20 pm
News: NimbleBit accuses Zynga of copying Tiny Tower
Mobile developer NimbleBit has issued an open letter highlighting the similarities between its iOS hit Tiny Tower and and Zynga's latest mobile game, Dream Heights.
The letter was posted on Twitter by Ian Marsh, NimbleBit's co-founder. The actual text comprises brief, ironic sentences, showering Zynga with insincere praise.
"We noticed you are about to launch a new iPhone game called Dream Heights. Congratulations!" the letter reads.
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 9:41 am
News: Former PopCap dev launches mobile incentives start up
New San Francisco start up Gimmie will offer a new type of mobile app incentive, one that can earn users real world items.
The company was founded in 2011 by former PopCap developer Roy Liu and David Ng of China Cache. The new reward program enters a beta test today with 10 mobile developers.
The rewards work on a points system, with users earning Gimmie points and them using them to purchase items, or access discounts, in the real world. So buy a virtual item or complete an action in the app on your smartphone, and earn points to get a discount on a real product.
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 9:18 am
News: Paradox: DRM "costs money and makes you lose money"
Paradox CEO and co-owner Fred Wester has explained his anti-DRM stance, citing user experience and cost, and argued that for some, it's just a way to cover their backs.
"If you take something like Sony's DRM, SecuROM -- it's a waste of money. It will keep you protected for three days, it will create a lot of technical support, and it will not increase sales," he told GameSpy.
"I know this for a fact, because we tried it eight years ago, and it never worked for us. Two major reasons: it costs money and it makes you lose money, and the other is that it's so inconvenient to customers."
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 8:43 am
News: Future US gets new VP to oversee games portfolio
Magazine publisher Future US has promoted Ursula Morgan as vice president of media, responsible for overseeing all gaming properties including Official Xbox Magazine, Nintendo Power and the company's in-house production studio.
The publisher sold off its New York business for $3 million this month, as it continues to restructure following disappointing sales in the region.
"During my 15 year tenure with Future, the company has challenged me to continually innovate and set new standards for the company that influence the publishing world," said Morgan.
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 8:28 am
News: Apple doubles quarterly profit year on year to $13bn
Apple has posted record quarterly profits and revenues for the three months ending December 31, 2011, posting $13.06 billion in profit and $46.33 billion in sales.
The profit is more than double that which the manufacturer generated for the same period in 2010, when it cleared $6 billion.
The company sold 37.04 million iPhones during the period, during which the company released its latest model, the 4s. That figure represents a growth of 128 per cent over the iPhone sales for the same period in the year previous.
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 8:11 am
Interview: Inside Raspberry Pi
The concept of a $25 computer may well border on the unbelievable, but within weeks the phenomenal Raspberry Pi initiative will finally bear fruit. After years in development, the first production run of 10,000 credit card-sized computers will be available for sale, the aim being to bring an affordable homebrew programming platform to the masses - a modern day successor to the home computers of the 80s, if you will.
In this interview, Raspberry Pi's executive director, Eben Upton, talks to Digital Foundry about the background to the project, the creation of the hardware, its wealth of potential across a number of fields - and what the games business can do to help it succeed.
And being Digital Foundry, we also talk about the device's surprisingly powerful technical specification. Can the $25 Raspberry Pi graphics core double the performance of the A5 chip found inside the £500 iPhone 4S on certain tasks? You read it here first...
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 8:10 am
News: Raspberry Pi beats iPhone 4S graphics performance
Raspberry Pi executive director Eben Upton claims that the graphics core of the $25 credit card sized computer "should double iPhone 4S performance across a range of content".
Speaking to Digital Foundry in an interview published today about how the Broadcom GPU compares to the current state-of-the-art in the mobile sector, Upton enthused about the level of graphical power available to homebrew programmers with the device.
"I was on the team that designed the graphics core, so I'm a little biased here, but I genuinely believe we have the best mobile GPU team in the world at Broadcom in Cambridge," Upton said.
Posted on 25 January 2012 | 8:05 am
News: UK PC download chart to debut in February
UKIE is to debut a beta PC digital download chart this February with help from retailers such as Mastertronic, Focus, Get Games and Green Man Gaming.
The organisation hopes to improve on the service in the coming months, which currently includes sales from Disney, Ubisoft, Sega, Square Enix, NCsoft and Warners. GamesIndustry.biz understands that there are currently 24 digital businesses involved in the project.
It also confirmed that it is also working on charts covering digital sales for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 6:07 pm
News: Origin signs 11 more publishers
EA's digital distribution platform Origin has added a further eleven publishers to its line up.
Trion Worlds, Robot Entertainment, CD Projekt RED, Freebird Games, Recoil Games, Autumn Games, 1C Company, inXile entertainment, Paradox Interactive, Core Learning Ltd and N3V Games will all supply content for the service.
"The digital versions of Rift have seen incredible success, and Origin offers an ideal direct-to-consumer avenue for gamers interested in experiencing the rich world of Telara," said Trion's Jim Butler.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 2:32 pm
News: Kristan Reed takes senior role at Pocket Gamer
Steel Media has appointed Kristan Reed as editor-in-chief of Pocket Gamer.
Previously holding senior positions at CTW and Eurogamer, Reed will be responsible for Pocket Gamer and PocketGamer.biz.
"Joining one of the most respected, authoritative teams around is an honour, and it's the kind of challenge that doesn't come around very often," said Reed. "The creative energy and ambition within the handheld gaming sector makes it an exciting place to be, and I'm looking forward to helping the team to take the Pocket Gamer sites to the next level."
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 1:23 pm
News: Marketing director exits Nintendo UK
Nintendo UK's marketing director and assistant general manager will leave the company on February 24.
"Dawn has been a valuable member of the Nintendo UK Senior Management team and over her 10 years with the company has contributed greatly to our success through her leadership of the award winning NUK Marketing Team" said general manager David Yarnton.
"We would like to thank Dawn for everything that she has done and achieved during her time at Nintendo and we wish her all the best in the future."
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 12:43 pm
News: GameStop closes Northern Ireland stores
Retailer GameStop has reportedly closed its Northern Irish outlets, and informed staff it will cease trading in the country.
According to TheGamingLiberty customers at the Belfast store were met with closed shutters and posters rediecting their business to the GameStop UK website.
In response to a customer question about the closures on the brands official facebook page, GameStop UK seemed to indirectly confirm the rumours.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 12:32 pm
News: Playcast brings its cloud gaming to France
French media company Bouygues Telecom and Playcast Media have joined forces to launch a new cloud gaming service, Bbox Games.
"We are very proud to be the first telecom operator in the French market to bring such high profile games franchises and AAA titles directly to our customers' TVs, through an easy-to-use interface," said Olivier Roussat, CEO of Bouygues Telecom.
The service will take on current cloud gaming competitors OnLive and Gaikai, charging a small extra fee to Bouygues Telecom subscribers. Some of the first titles available on the service will include MotoGP, Sonic Generations, Homefront, Lego Batman and Call Of Duty.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 10:34 am
News: Zynga hires charity veteran Ken Weber
Zynga has appointed Ken Weber, who has previously worked with The One Campaign and Network For Good, to head its charity operation Zynga.org.
"Essentially what we're trying to develop is a new platform for giving based on our games, integrated into the daily experience of playing our games," Weber told The Sydney Morning Hearld.
In his role as executive director Weber will increase its corporate giving, using rhe same community management skills Zynga applies to microtransactions in its games.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 10:14 am
News: R18+ bill to go before Australian Government in February
The Australian Government will debate and vote upon the issue of an R18+ video games classification in February, dispelling fears that a recent cabinet reshuffle may have delayed the issue,.
Formerly, ex-Federal Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O'Connor had responsibility for the bill, and had been pushing for a vote on the subject for some time, despite a number of delays. O'Connor was also a vocal public supporter of the need for an R18+ category.
During the ministerial reshuffle, O'Connor was moved to a new role as minister for Human Services, with ex-Defence Materiel minister Jason Clare taking responsibility for the office of home affairs - which includes the censorship bill in its purview.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 9:52 am
News: Nintendo's Nobuo Nagai passes away
Nobuo Nagai, a Nintendo employee of 44 years and the Japanese company's manufacturing senior managing director, has died aged 66.
He had been fighting cancer, and Nikkei reports the funeral will be held tomorrow.
Nagai oversaw manufacturing of the company's consoles, after joining Nintendo in 1967. He was Nintendo's longest serving director.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 9:20 am
News: Temple Run makes 5 times more revenue as free-to-play
Imangi Studios co-founder Natalia Luckyanova has revealed that the fast paced iOS game Temple Run made five times as much revenue once it became a free app.
"The revenue immediately went up about 5x when we set the app free," Luckyanova told Gamasutra.
"Keeping it free was a no-brainer."
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 8:52 am
News: Microsoft Points to be phased out by end of year
Microsoft is set to phase out its proprietary virtual currency by the end of the year.
According to a report by Inside Mobile Apps, Microsoft Points will be replaced with real-world currency across Xbox Live, Windows Phone and the Zune Marketplace.
Microsoft currently uses a mix of real-world and MS Points for online payment, but developers with forthcoming downloadable content are being briefed to plan ahead for the change.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 8:30 am
News: Jagex wins landmark victory against bot programmers
Cambridge studio Jagex, producers of Runescape, have won a landmark legal case against a pair of brothers who had developed bot and macro tools specifically for the free-to-play online RPG.
Mark and Eric Snellman, trading as Impulse Software, were told to pay damages and refrain from any further bot programming, for Runescape or any other Jagex game, assisting other to do so or discussing the court case.
Impulse Software was also ordered to give up all code pertaining to the botting project, as well as all customer details.
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 8:13 am
Article: The Generation Gap
It's the question every developer tries to dodge in interviews. If they don't know the answer they could end up looking clueless, and if they do know the answer, well, then they have to be really careful about what they say. It's the journalist's stalwart, the fanboy's obsession, and an inevitable part of an industry that's always looking forward. So, how about that next generation?
"I'm not even allowed to speculate," cries out Epic's Mike Capps across a plate of macaroons when faced with the question. "Because if I speculate then... you know..."
One thing is for sure, it's a whole different ball game to the last time shiny plastic boxes were dropped into the clammy hands of queuing gamers. Free-to-play has shown you don't need AAA titles or a AAA budget to make money, and cloud computing suggests that eventually all a gamer will need to play blockbuster titles is a television with the right connection. So is the next generation even about consoles? Where do mobiles and tablets fit in? And what can a series of different sized devices offer a world that's hungry for fast connected content?
Posted on 24 January 2012 | 8:00 am
News: Ofcom chastises ITV for ArmA II footage passed off as IRA film
Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has ruled against ITV after it featured footage from ArmA II in a documentary last year, claiming that the film showed IRA guerrillas attempting to shoot down a British Army helicopter.
Footage included in the documentary, Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA, last September was labelled as "IRA video 1988" but was actually a video of gameplay from the Bohemia Interactive title.
After viewers alerted Ofcom at the time of transmission, the broadcaster said that "this was an unfortunate case of human error for which we apologise."
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 3:24 pm
News: UKIE sells stake in Chart-Track
Industry trade body UKIE has sold its stake in GfK Chart-Track to the data specialists' parent company GfK UK Entertainments.
Chart-Track will continue to compile the official sales charts for UKIE, which comprises over 90 per cent of UK games retailers.
"UKIE were there at the start when GfK Chart Track was established and our relationship has been strengthened over the years," offered John Pinder, MD of GfK Chart-Track.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 2:40 pm
News: Dare to be Digital 2012 applications open
Game design competition Dare to be Digital opens for submissions today, offering students the chance to win industry acclaim and their very own BAFTA.
Applications can be made via the official website, with the University of Abertay Dundee whittling the shortlist down to 15 teams charged with creating a working game prototype. These are shown to the public in August and three are nominated for the BAFTA Ones to Watch award.
"Taking part in Dare to be Digital is a life-changing opportunity for many young game developers, giving them incredible experience and access to leading industry experts from companies like Rockstar and Sony," commented Elaine Russell, project manager of Dare to be Digital.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 2:30 pm
News: 4J Studios: Microsoft refining update procedures
The forthcoming Xbox Live Arcade version of Minecraft is pushing Microsoft to refine its notoriously slow procedures for updates and patches.
The Kinect-enabled port of Minecraft is in development at 4J Studios. During a recent visit to the company's Dundee offices, CTO Paddy Burns told Edge magazine that it is likely be the first Xbox Live release to receive constant updates.
"Microsoft knows that to do a similar thing that's on PC where they constantly update it, that's a very difficult thing to do on Xbox because you have to go through the full tests," Burns said. "But they are quite keen to move towards that - they do see it as the future, so I think we might be the first to do constant updates."
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 12:32 pm
News: Megaupload founder pleads innocent, bail decision delayed
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has pleaded innocent to charges of piracy and money laundering in the New Zealand court trying him for extradition to the US, saying that authorities are trying to make an example of him.
A decision on whether to grant Mr Dotcom bail has been delayed by the judge until Wednesday at the latest after the prosecution called the defendant a "flight risk at the extreme end of the scale", reports Reuters.
Anne Toohey, speaking for the prosecution, said that Mr Dotcom's possession of several passports and credit cards under various pseudonyms, as well as widely distributed financial investments, means that he would be likely to attempt to flee the charges if released on bail.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 11:32 am
News: Zynga making $30 per paying user, says Natural Motion CEO
Torsten Reil, NaturalMotion Games CEO, has spoken out against recent analyst claims that Zynga was losing $150 on every new paying user. In fact, he believes its making $30 on each one.
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia stated that each new Zynga customer costs $300 to acquire, but will only spend $150 in their gaming lifespan. But Reil did his own calculations.
"Over a period of nine months, Zynga (like all social games companies) will lose a proportion of paying users through normal attrition," he told Founderware.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 11:05 am
News: Key senators predict imminent return for SOPA, PIPA
The controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate counterpart the Protect IP Act (PIPA) have been postponed indefinitely, but political figures backing the legislation insist that revised versions will emerge in the near future.
PIPA was originally scheduled to pass before the Senate tomorrow, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nevada) delayed the vote following widespread protests, crumbling political support, and public dissent from major websites like Google and Wikipedia.
However, Reid later issued a statement in which he claimed there was "no reason" why the perceived issues with the bill could not be resolved, suggesting that a new bill could be drafted in "the coming weeks."
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 10:51 am
News: FIFA 12 still the chart champion
Yet again FIFA 12 proves to be the invincibles of the UK software chart, notching up its seventh appearance at the number one spot and its fifth week in a row. The football game has now made EA more money than any other title in the series.
Further down the chart there were less exciting scenes, with no new entries and little movement. Skyrim crept back into second place pushing Just Dance 3 down to third, while Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield swapped places, leaving the Activision shooter at 4 and EA's title at 5.
Cars 2, WWE 12 and Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure all managed to sneak back into the top twenty from further down the chart.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 10:36 am
News: TIGA identifies lack of funding as major UK industry issue
A report commissioned by TIGA has identified a lack of access to both public and private finance as a key factor in the UK industry's survival struggle, calling once more for government tax breaks to help stabilise the domestic market.
In a survey conducted for the study, it was found that 216 new studios had opened their doors between 2008 and 2011, but 197 has also been shut down. Since the middle of the last decade, the study found that the UK's share of global investment in the games industry had declined from 10 per cent to just 3.5.
"Despite an almost record number of start-up studios, the industry's potential is being held back by limited access to both private and public finance," said TIGA CEO Richard Wilson.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 10:00 am
News: Diablo III loses senior game producer
Diablo III's senior game producer has left the project and developer Blizzard after five years.
"Hey Twitter, I'm no longer working at Blizzard or on D3," he announced on Twitter.
"I've had a great 5 years there and those guys are going to kill it with Diablo."
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 9:55 am
News: AT&T tweaks US Vita data price plan
AT&T, which is exclusively providing the 3G data plans for the PlayStation Vita in the US, has tweaked its pricing to offer a broader spread of options.
Initially the company was offering 250MB a month for $14.99, with a second deal of $25 a month for 2GB of data.
The larger allowance has now been increased to 3GB, with the price rising to $30 a month, recurring, according to a splash page on the carrier's website.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 9:29 am
News: Zynga in online gambling talks
Zynga could soon offer its poker players the chance to gamble with something more than virtual currency, after it confirmed it is looking at a move into online gambling.
"Zynga Poker is the world's largest online poker game with more than 7 million people playing every day and over 30 million each month," a Zynga spokesperson told AllThingsD
"We know from listening to our players that there's an interest in the real money gambling market. We're in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity."
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 9:05 am
News: Microsoft: Exclusives have to have impact
In a recent interview Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios, explained the company's strategy when it came to console exclusives.
"It's about quality and impact, not number of releases in a year," he said.
"Creating core IP, as many first-and third-parties have seen over the years, isn't an easy thing. I went through the process of creating Gears with Epic and I know the sweat, time, and effort that went into it."
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 8:43 am
News: Travian acquires majority stake in Bright Future
Travian Games, one of Germany's leading browser studios, has acquired a majority stake in the Cologne-based developer, Bright Future.
Bright Future, which has a team of 38 people, will join northworks, TG Nord and Steroid Interactive as subsidiaries of Travian, and will continue to work independently on its own productions.
Travian served as publisher on Bright Future's popular game Miramagia, and a second collaboration is already "well into development."
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 8:36 am
News: HMV renegotiates with banks to secure future
UK entertainment media retailer HMV has been offered a lifeline by its banking syndicate which will hopefully allow the group to continue trading, with the plan being to cut debts by 50 per cent in three years.
The new agreement centres on waiving a covenant test which had been scheduled for this month and reassessing the finances for the two twelve month periods ending in April and July.
In a public statement, HMV revealed that it had also renegotiated with it film and music suppliers, offering warrants representing 2.5 per cent of its equity to the companies.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 8:21 am
News: Full game streaming coming to Gaikai within months
Gaikai's David Perry has told GamesIndustry.biz that streaming of full games - not just demos - via the cloud gaming service is ready to go live within months.
The immediate priority is to put cloud gaming on Facebook as revealed last week, but following that, users will be able to play entire games across a network of sites that includes YouTube, Best Buy and games publishers such as Electronic Arts and Ubisoft.
"If you give me your game today I can put your game in front of more than 100 million people, easily. Quite honestly if we put you on the homepage of YouTube right now on it's own, you're already hitting that number," said Perry in an interview published today.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 8:00 am
Interview: Above the Clouds
At least week's Cloud Gaming Europe conference, Gaikai's David Perry delivered an upbeat keynote on why reducing friction between the player and the game is essential to finding new audiences for games. That's the philosophy at the heart of cloud gaming - one click and you're in, running high-end games on any device. No compatibility problems, no waiting time. And Gaikai is delivering that, not only to the hardcore gamer, but to anyone that with a Facebook account, to anyone looking for hilarious cat videos on YouTube, to anyone checking out deals at Best Buy. One click, and you're playing Crysis. In this exclusive interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Perry expands on the Facebook deal and details for the first time plans to stream full games over the cloud, where the company goes after that, why console manufacturers cannot afford to ignore cloud gaming and how to make video games the most valuable form of entertainment.
Posted on 23 January 2012 | 8:00 am
News: Senate Democratic leader Reid delays vote on PIPA
The US Senate has delayed the vote to decide on the future of the PIPA, which had originally been scheduled for Tuesday.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has not set a new date for the vote, but issued a brief statement which made clear that the bill has not been abandoned completely.
"In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote," said Reid. "There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 4:06 pm
News: Square Enix appoints KooZac dev head of mobile
Square Enix has appointed the independent game designer Ben Cusack as the new head of its mobile division.
Cusack is the creator of the award-winning puzzle game KooZac, which has been played more than 15 million times online. In addition to hiring Cusack, Square Enix also purchased the KooZac license.
"Since its original online launch the game has enjoyed huge recognition from the media, the industry and its fans," said Square Enix digital sales director Antony Douglas in a statement.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 10:40 am
News: Blizzard: No one will remember if Diablo III is late
Blizzard's Diablo III director Jay Wilson has shared his thoughts on Diablo III's release date in a blog post on the game's official site.
"No one will remember if the game is late, only if it's great," he argued in response to suggestions Blizzard should speed up the game's release.
"While working on Diablo III we've been called out for messing around with systems too much, that the game is good as-is and we should just release it. I think that's a fair argument to make, but I also think it's incorrect. Our job isn't just to put out a game, it's to release the next Diablo game."
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 10:37 am
News: Zynga losing $150 on each new paying customer
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia believes that Zynga is losing $150 on every new paying customer it acquires.
Bhatia's estimate is based on the company's confirmed $120 million marketing budget for the first nine months of 2011.
"Almost all of that is for acquiring customers," he said in an interview with Benzinga. "We also know that they had 3.4 million unique payers in the September quarter, which is up from 3 million at the end of December 2010."
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 9:47 am
News: Paradox: Next generation probably the last
Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester has shared his doubts over the future of the console and boxed products.
"The next generation of console hardware will probably be the last," he told attendees to the Paradox annual showcase, reported StrategyInformer.
"I'd be surprised if we see another generation after that."
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 9:46 am
News: Sulake's LaFontaine: Product integration key to cross-platform retention
Paul LaFontaine, CEO of Sulake, has spoken about his company's focus on product integration as a key factor in moving a customer base between platforms, saying that the strategy is vital to new product launches.
Sulake's major product is the hugely successful Habbo Hotel, which has a user base of 243 million - Sulake claims that one in ten teens will at least try the online community once. This week, Sulake has released its second iOS title, Niko, and LaFontaine hopes to engage a significant portion of Habbo Hotel's audience with that new title.
Although the products are separate and standalone, optional aspects of Niko will be integrated into Habbo Hotel, feeding users to the new product.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 9:36 am
News: Google+ hits 90m global users
Google's social network now has 90 million users worldwide in just four months since launch.
According to the company, as noted by "unofficial statistician" Paul Allen, 60 per cent of Google+ users are active on a daily basis, and 80 per cent active on a weekly basis.
During the quarter ended December 31, net profit at the company was $2.71 billion, with sales of $10.58 billion. Full year profits were $9.7 billion with sales of $37.9 billion.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 9:30 am
News: FBI closes Megaupload, extradites owners from NZ
The US government has closed file sharing site Megaupload, charging owners and employees with huge copyright infringement and extraditing them from their New Zealand base.
Seventy police raided ten properties, arresting the site's founder and several executives, seizing extensive physical and property assets and $8 million from banking institutions. The group stands accused of making more than $175 million from illegal activities and denying copyright owners more than $500 million in revenues.
A statement issued by the FBI regarding the operation details the charges and potential ramifications for the accused.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 8:54 am
News: €247 million loss for Sony Ericsson
Mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson has posted its results for Q4 2011, which showed a damning €207 million ($266 million) net income loss for the Q4 period, and a €247 million ($320 million) loss in net income for the whole of 2011.
In 2010 these figures stood at an €8 million profit for the same quarter, and a €90 million profit for the full year.
The figures also showed a drop in number of units shipped, which stood at 9 million for Q4, a 5 per cent fall compared to 11.2 million for the same period last year. Shipped units for the whole of 2011 fell 20 per cent to 34.4 million, compared to 43.1 million in 2010.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 8:54 am
News: Xbox revenue up 15% in record quarter for Microsoft
Ascendant sales in Microsoft's Xbox division helped drive the company to record second-quarter revenues.
The Entertainment & Devices Division posted revenues of $4.24 billion for the three month period ending December 31, up 15 per cent year-on-year. However, operating income declined from $666 million to $528 million.
Microsoft sold 8.2 million Xbox 360 consoles in the quarter - a 25 per cent year-on-year increase - taking total worldwide sales to 66 million. Of that number, 40 million are now registered on Xbox Live, an increase of 33 per cent over the same point last year.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 8:51 am
News: PlayStation Vita 3G teardown puts material costs at $159
The cost of materials for the 3G version of Sony's PlayStation Vita is around $159.10 (£102.79) according to tech experts at UBM TechInsights.
The hardware will retail in the US for $299 and in the UK for £279.
The full breakdown of components, a reported by our sister site Eurogamer.net, is as follows:
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 8:46 am
News: Intel records "exceptional" full-year sales of $54bn
Chip manufacturer Intel has recorded full-year revenues of $54 billion with net profit of $12.9 billion, and announced it is to increase spending in 2012 to $12.5 billion.
The company is boosting spending on chips for smartphones, tablets and the slim line Ultrabook in what the company described as an "investment year" in a conference call following the release of results.
"2011 was an exceptional year for Intel," offered president Paul Otellini. "With outstanding execution the company performed superbly, growing revenue by more than $10 billion and eclipsing all annual revenue and earnings records.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 8:29 am
Interview: UKIE's Jo Twist - Part 2
Continuing on from where we left yesterday's discussion with UKIE's new CEO Jo Twist, we have part two of the same interview, in which the executive discusses combating piracy, complimenting the work of TIGA and how the UK can better manage the boom-and-bust nature of project-based employment.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 7:50 am
Editorial: Yesterday's Future
Once upon a time, CES - the Consumer Electronics Show, for the uninitiated - was a pretty big deal for the games business. It kicked off the calendar year with a trip to Las Vegas, where the bright lights of the famous strip were temporarily eclipsed by the sheer radiance of the countless screens that lit up the convention centre. CES is primarily about hardware, so it was no E3, but it often lit the path ahead for games - and when Microsoft entered the industry, it chose CES as friendly home turf on which to make major pronouncements about the Xbox.
By contrast, this year's CES was a wasteland for games. Even Microsoft didn't feel like it was worth pulling anything significant out of the hat in this regard - anyone taking the time to tune into their keynote would have been disappointed to see little of anything Xbox related, with only a meagre handful of product demonstrations and no new announcements. Sony, likewise, wanted to talk about video distribution strategies; PlayStation barely got a look-in.
There are two ways you could read this, and both approaches have been picked up widely by tech journalists and analysts. The first is that the games business sees itself disengaging from the consumer electronics business, partially because it's a business that's increasingly focused on art and creativity rather than technology, but mostly because it's a big business in its own right and doesn't need to piggy-back on tech industry shows.
Posted on 20 January 2012 | 7:27 am
News: PopCap kills Baking Life
PopCap will shutdown Facebook game Baking Life on January 31, despite the game's audience of 100,000 daily active users, and 760,000 monthly active users.
Not big numbers for a Facebook title, but a percentage of those users will have spent real world money on the title before the closure was announced. That money will not be transferable to other PopCap titles.
"Unfortunately, we had to make a very difficult decision to shut down the game," PopCap's Garth Chouteau confirmed to InsideSocialGames
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 4:42 pm
News: Image Metrics launches spin-off company
Image Metrics, whose facial animation technology has been used in games from developers like Rockstar and SEGA, has created a a new spin off company, Faceware Technologies.
"FTI is perfectly poised to deliver Faceware and our supporting products and services to our customers and certified partners," said CFO and COO Ron Ryder.
"There will be no interruption to the pace of innovation in the product line during 2012 and beyond."
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 3:53 pm
News: Rift maker Trion raises $85 million
Rift creator Trion Worlds has raised a further $85 million in funding led by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
CEO Lars Buttler confirmed that the game has generated revenues of over $100 million in just ten months, with the company now considering an IPO.
"We are thrilled about entering this exciting period of growth and scale with our investors," said Buttler. "Backing from a stalwart long-term investor such as Teachers', which has the experience and structure to support our vision, and the expanded relationship with our current stakeholder and great supporter, BDMI, is a massive endorsement for Trion."
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 2:55 pm
News: 40 per cent of lost UK game jobs relocate overseas
The "brain drain" of UK talent continues apace, with 41 per cent of all jobs lost in the UK game development sector between 2009 and 2011 relocated overseas.
According to a new survey of 75 per cent of the UK's games businesses - conducted by Games Investor Consulting - the largest share of those people moved to Canada, with USA the second most popular choice.
As part of the survey, former staff from Bizarre Creations, which was shuttered by Activision last year, suggested that as much as 35 per cent of its workforce left the UK, including the majority of its senior employees.
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 2:24 pm
News: Windows NT vet now working on Xbox multimedia strategy
Dave Cutler, the man responsible for Microsoft's Windows NT family of operating systems, is now working in the company's Xbox division.
According to a report on ZDNet, anonymous sources suggested that Cutler had moved from the Windows Azure project that had occupied him for the previous four years, to the Interactive Entertainment Business Software and Services group.
When approached for comment, Microsoft released the following statement:
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 12:20 pm
News: SOPA and PIPA co-sponsors withdraw support
A number of US politicians have retracted their support of the controversial SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy laws following a series of online protests from major web companies.
Senators Marco Rubio (Florida) and Roy Blunt (Missouri), who were initially co-sponsors of the Protect IP Act (PIPA), both issued statements on Facebook yesterday reversing their positions.
"I have a strong interest in stopping online piracy that costs Florida jobs," Rubio said. "However, we must do this while simultaneously promoting an open, dynamic internet environment that is ripe for innovation and promotes new technologies."
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 10:55 am
News: Study: games must properly engage players before offering in-app purchases
Research from app analytics firm Localytics has shown that, rather than attempting to monetise freemium and free-to-play users as quickly as possible, developers are better off ensuring that the customer is fully engaged before offering any in-app purchases.
The study shows that a large proportion of users, 44 per cent, will use an app at least ten times before they're willing to invest in any microtransactions or in-app purchases, with just 22 per cent investing cash on the first play.
Furthermore, those players who do wait until they're fully engaged with a title tend to actually spend more on the game in the long run, whilst many of those who pay first time will move on without spending much, or even any, more. Customers who don't pay immediately spend, on average, around 25 per cent more over the course of their game playing.
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 9:50 am
News: Whale Trail Android release is "litmus test" for premium pricing
UsTwo co-founder Matt Mills has claimed that the Android release of its iOS game Whale Trail this week could be company's final "premium" priced release.
In a statement acquired by PocketGamer.biz, Mills explained that the 140,000 downloads Whale Trail received on iOS did not cover its production costs - the game is priced at 99c /69p on the App Store, but UsTwo invested $250,000 to develop both versions.
"We had invested a lot of money making and marketing a game for the masses and it failed to reach the masses," he said.
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 9:35 am
News: Former GAME, Codemasters execs join Green Man Gaming
Independent digital retailer Green Man Gaming has signed four new execs including former digital manager at GAME Paul Howes.
Howes will take on the role of commercial director, having also previously worked at Metaboli, Mindscape and Infogrames.
Returning to the retailer is Lee Packham as technical director, after a year developing Tweetdeck at Twitter. Robert Kinder, previously online marketing manager at Codemasters, joins the company as head of trade marketing and former Miniweb finance director Callum Jay takes the new role of chief financial officer.
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 9:04 am
News: UKIE to host debate on piracy prevention
Trade body UKIE has planned to host a debate for industry figures with the aim of examining methods of preventing piracy and IP theft in the UK industry.
In a response to the industry's reaction to SOPA and its revisions, new UKIE CEO Jo Twist, interviewed elsewhere on GamesIndustry.biz today, issued a statement calling for a debate on the issue.
UKIE has proposed to host the debate, which Twist says she hopes will include voices from all areas of games.
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 8:56 am
News: Zynga acquired four mobile devs in 2011
Zynga acquired four mobile game developers in the second half of 2012, Reuters reports.
David Ko, the company's chief mobile officer, disclosed the names of all four companies, but declined to comment on the amount Zynga paid for each.
In August 2011, Zynga acquired the San Francisco-based HipLogic, developer of a proprietary mobile content delivery platform. In the same month, it also bought the New York-based Astro Ape Studios, the developer of hit games like Monsterz Revenge and Office Heroes.
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 8:44 am
Interview: UKIE's Jo Twist - Part 1
Taking the position of CEO at one of the industry's trade bodies is never a light undertaking, but doing so in a time of such great transition and turmoil can't make it any easier. Add to that the fact that Jo Twist took over in a week which saw the industry at the centre of a swathe of government attention and activity and you'd be forgiven for thinking that the new boss might be showing the strain somewhat.
In fact, when we meet with Jo in UKIE's London office, she's full of energy and enthusiasm, interspersing UKIE policy and wider ideas with relaxed jokes and anecdotes. Make no mistake, however, Twist has a serious and broad ranging agenda for both the body and the industry as a whole - but one which pivots on a single key factor: listening to her members.
In this first half of a two-part interview, Twist explains her general views on what she sees as UKIE's main responsibilities, why we need more industry rockstars and the role of education in games and vice versa.
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 8:30 am
Article: comScore: Games Media UK Results, Q4 2011
comScore has released traffic data for calendar Q4 2011 (October - December) and GamesIndustry.biz has compiled a list of the top 20 gaming media websites as defined by UK traffic numbers.
The list below is ordered by Total Unique Visitors, and features specialist sites that primarily offer videogames editorial such as news, reviews or other features.
This table does not indicate absolute rank, but is a comparative list of specific games media outlets. Sites excluded from this listing include content aggregation websites, advertising networks, digital distribution websites, file download sites, official publisher websites, free games sites and cheats sites. A full games site ranking, which would also include all of the above along with videogame editorial sites, is available to purchase from comScore.
Posted on 19 January 2012 | 8:00 am
News: Nexon to adopt Unity platform
MMO publisher Nexon Korea Corporation has signed a deal with Unity Technologies to use its game development platform.
"We couldn't be more excited that Nexon is making Unity a core tool in their pipeline," said Unity CEO David Helgason.
"Having a global game publishing powerhouse like Nexon seek to expand their use of Unity across their developers is a great testament to how it can fulfil the needs of everyone from the tiniest indie to the world's most demanding studios."
Posted on 18 January 2012 | 4:37 pm
News: Japanese hardware sales fall after holiday spike
Japanese hardware sales saw a huge drop last week as numbers continued to shrink in the post holiday slump.
Nearly every platform saw a drop of around fifty per cent, meaning relative positions in the charts were unaffected.
The PlayStation Vita has now dipped below a weekly figure of 20,000 for the first time since launch, whilst the 3DS managed to remain just north of 100,000. The PSP shifted 22,538 units, reports Andriasang.
Posted on 18 January 2012 | 4:20 pm
News: 6waves Lolapps acquires mobile dev
6waves Lolapps has recently acquired Escalation Studios, a mobile development team based in Dallas, Texas.
Escalation will create iOS, Android and QQ games for the international market.
"The way we saw it, if we work together, we'll be able to hit the market faster and make decisions better, since we have a lot more data distribution," said chief product officer Arjun Sethi told Gamasutra.
Posted on 18 January 2012 | 3:21 pm
