Gaming - Page 308

10 years after release and multiple re-releases, Grand Theft Auto V is still selling strong.

In its Fiscal Year 2023 report, Take-Two Interactive recently updated total Grand Theft Auto franchise worldwide shipments. As of March 2023, the GTA series has shipped 400 million copies, and Grand Theft Auto V has sold-in 45% of total shipments. This puts GTA V sell-in figures at 180 million.

It certainly helps that Grand Theft Auto V is the longest-running single game in the franchise, with releases across multiple console generations (Xbox 360/PS3, Xbox One/PS4, Xbox Series X/S and PS5) alongside PC releases on multiple storefronts like Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Rockstar launcher.

Mortal Kombat 1 could be the biggest MK game yet.

Just a bit ago, NetherRealm and WB Games announced Mortal Kombat 1, a new soft reboot that basically resets everything we know about the franchise. MK1 promises to deliver "reimagined versions of iconic characters as they've never been seen before," as well as "unexpected twists on classic rivalries and original backstories."

Now in a recent Mortal Kombat 1 live stream, NetherRealm's Ed Boon revealed some interesting new details about the game. Boon didn't showcase any of MK1's modes, like the Kameo mode, but he did say that the team spent more time on Mortal Kombat 1 than any other game in the franchise.

The People's Republic of China is the latest regulator to have approved the Microsoft-Activision merger.

Chinese regulators at the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) have cleared and approved the $68.7 billion combination of Microsoft and Activision. The report comes from private analysis firm Dealreporter (via Seeking Alpha), a group who had previously indicated the merger had received support from Tencent, the largest video games company in the world.

Microsoft has confirmed the news with a statement:

Agency CEO Sarah Cardell says that the Competition and Markets Authority's independent panel group analyzed multiple versions of Microsoft's proposed Cloud Remedy, but none of them convinced the group that a significant lessening of competition would not occur.

At a recent hearing with the UK's Business and Trade Committee, the CEO of the Competition and Markets Authority Sarah Cardell outlined more specific details as to why regulators decided to block the Microsoft-Activision merger.

According to Cardell, Microsoft created multiple remedy proposals in the effort of addressing key concerns in the cloud gaming market. These remedies include 10-year licensing deals to offer both Xbox and Activision games to competing cloud streaming service providers like NVIDIA's GeForce Now. While Microsoft's remedy was enough to win over the European Commission, who approved the Microsoft-Activision merger, the concessions did not persuade the CMA.

Competition and Markets Authority CEO Sarah Cardell refutes claims that the UK agency is somehow colluding with overseas regulators like the FTC in the United States as it relates to the Microsoft-Activision merger.

UK merger control agency CMA chose to block the $68.7 billion merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King on the grounds of anti-competitive effects arising in the cloud gaming segment. The FTC has also chosen to sue to attempt to block the merger from happening on similar grounds, adding in potential harmful effects on the multi-game subscription and console market. While the European Commission also identified these concerns, the EC cleared and approved the merger because Microsoft's expansive cloud remedies satisfied anti-competitive worries.

Following both the FTC's and the CMA's decisions to block the merger on similar grounds, there have been reports that both agencies had affected and influenced their individual decisions. The FTC has refuted these claims on multiple occasions, with FTC Chair Lina Khan refuting claims that the FTC "outsourced policy" to overseas regulators, and FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar denying claims from Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick that the FTC and CMA had met specifically so that the FTC could convince the CMA to block the deal.

In a press release for Mortal Kombat 1's official announcement, NetherReal and WB Games confirm that the legendary ultra-violent fighting franchise has surpassed 80 million sales worldwide.

Today NetherRealm revealed Mortal Kombat 1, a soft reboot that promises a new beginning for the decades' long series. Nestled in the press materials was confirmation of total sales for the beloved brutal brawler: "Mortal Kombat videogame franchise that has sold more than 80 million units since its debut over 30 years ago."

So how does Mortal Kombat stack up against the top fighting game competitors? The enthusiast fighting scene is typically dominated by three big names: Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and Street Fighter, but Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series is actually the second best-selling fighting franchise of all time. While we don't have perfect figures or updated sales data for each franchise, including older ones like Soul Calibur or Virtua Fighter, it does look like Mortal Kombat is on the top spot.

Today Microsoft confirmed that both the Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store will be eligible storefronts for its 10-year licensing deal with NVIDIA's GeForce Now streaming service.

In a bid to get the $68.7 billion Activision merger passed, Microsoft signed 10-year licensing deals to offer Xbox games and all Activision-Blizzard titles to game streaming competitors like NVIDIA's GeForce Now. This paid off big time, and was a major reason why the European Union decided to clear and approve the merger.

The exact terms of these deals have not been made public, but UK regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority had published Microsoft's Cloud Remedy proposal that discussed how the deals would work, saying that purchases made on "eligible storefronts" could be streamed on "eligible services." As part of its agreements with the European Commission, Microsoft confirmed that it would allow all of its PC and console games to be streamed on any competing cloud gaming service on a global basis.

NVIDIA GeForce Now has brought the first Xbox game into the fold, and we're promised there will be further titles coming soon enough.

The first Xbox Game Studios offering you can stream via GeForce Now, as of today, is Gears 5.

We're told that more Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda games will be inbound for GeForce Now, and NVIDIA notes that the next titles to be supported by its streaming service - next week, on May 25 - will be Deathloop, Grounded, and Pentiment.

The rumors were right: The next Mortal Kombat game isn't MK12, but a new soft reboot called Mortal Kombat 1 that both continues the events of Mortal Kombat 11 while resetting the universe.

Today NetherRealm announced Mortal Kombat 1 will release on September 19, 2023 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC. The game is technically a reboot of the series, but MK1 won't ignore the events of the previous Mortal Kombat 11, and centers around a new chaotically-fractured universe created Fire God Liu Kang. NetherRealm promises Mortal Kombat 1 will deliver "reimagined versions of iconic characters as they've never been seen before."

Like previous games, Mortal Kombat 1 will also feature an expansive story mode that is said to have "unexpected twists on classic rivalries and original backstories" for the game's fighters, which offers all kinds of interesting possibilities.

A new Star Wars Jedi: Survivor patch is now live on PC, and it's set to bring performance and stability improvements - though we've already seen reports from some players who aren't impressed thus far.

This is Patch 5 for Jedi: Survivor, which is out for PC gamers now, and will be coming down the line for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (and S) console owners.

EA's patch notes detail some important steps forward, most notably various performance fixes and stability improvements across all platforms, but with some PC-specific tweaks, too.

Sony's PlayStation 5 continues its reign as the best-selling and top-earning console of 2023 in the United States, but Nintendo beat PS5 unit sales in April.

New data from Circana (formerly known as the NPD Group) highlights video game industry sales trends in the United States for April and the full-year 2023 period. According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, gaming earned $4.123 billion total in the United States, down 5% year-over-year. The results are driven mostly by game sales, microtransactions, subscriptions, and mobile, which amounted to $3.598 billion, or about 87% of the total. Consumers spent $367 million on hardware in April 2023, an increase of 7% year-over-year, and hardware made up about 9% of total spending. Accessories made up $158 million, or nearly 4% of the total, and the PS5's DualSense Edge led the charge.

On a year-to-date basis (January - April 2023), consumers in the United States spent $17.7 billion on games, down 2% year-over-year. Games, content, and services generated $15.107 billion, down 4%, and comprising 85% of total spending. Hardware is up 18% year-over-year to $1.822 billion, driven primarily by strong PlayStation 5 and Switch sales. Accessories generated $779 million during the period and is up 1% year-over-year.

Microsoft has ambitions of creating a grand gaming ecosystem that connects consoles, PCs, and mobile devices together. Apart from games and content delivery, this kind of multi-level service framework could facilitate a new era of advertising for Xbox gaming in particular, and the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King could catalyze Microsoft's plans.

We've long speculated that advertisements could find their way into console gaming. Ads are an important part of gaming, and make up billions of earnings for the mobile and browser gaming market, but ads are typically have a smaller presence on console and PC gaming. The Xbox dashboard, for example, has advertisements for games and consumer products. There's also been product placement in some games like Alan Wake (Energizer batteries) and Final Fantasy XV (Cup Noodles), and Bidstack directly injects ads into games.

Overall, though, advertising doesn't yet have a large presence in dedicated gaming...at least not in the same way as mobile. There's been strong evidence that Microsoft (and Sony) may find a way to incorporate ads into games or services. In 2022, reports said that Microsoft had plans to bring in-game ads to free-to-play Xbox games.

New forecasts from Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive suggests Grand Theft Auto 6's possible release window.

GTA 6 could release in 2024, 2025, or even 2026, Take-Two Interactive management today indicated. The company says it plans to make a record-breaking $8 billion in net bookings in Fiscal Year 2025, which runs from April 2024 through March 2025. This new forecast is up over $2.46 billion over the previous FY25 estimate of $5.539 billion.

"We believe that we will enter our next phase of growth in Fiscal 2025, as we plan to deliver several groundbreaking titles that we anticipate will set new standards of quality and success and enable us to deliver over $8 billion in Net Bookings and over $1 billion in Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow. We expect to sustain this momentum with additional growth in operating performance in Fiscal 2026."

Saudi Arabia has significantly increased its share ownership in American games publisher Electronic Arts.

Saudi Arabia has invested over $38 billion in the global video games industry as part of its Public Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund that strategically invests money into specific economic markets. The Saudi PIF has purchased shares in major games companies like Capcom (5%), Nexon (5%), Nintendo (5%, $3 billion worth of shares), Embracer Group ($1 billion worth of shares), Activision Blizzard King (3.5%, $1.3 billion worth of shares), and other publishers.

Now the PIF has increased its investment in games publisher Electronic Arts. According to recent reports, Saudi Arabia now owns 24.81 million shares of EA, which represents about $3.11 billion worth of stock and 9% of total EA shares. The PIF had previously owned 16.01 million shares of EA, representing a purchase increase of 8.8 million shares.

The rumors were right: Sony's PlayStation showcase is just around the corner.

Sony's not-E3 but E3-timed summer extravaganza is approaching fast. Today Sony announced that its next PlayStation Showcase will debut on Wednesday, May 24 at 4PM EST/1PM PST, with the event being streamed on YouTube and Twitch.

So what will Sony reveal? Official details are light (as they almost always are), but the PlayStation Showcase will be a 1-hour stream that highlights new PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2 games. We don't know which games will be shown, but it's fair to say we'll get some big surprises...maybe even official reveals of PlayStation's new live games like the upcoming Last of Us multiplayer title. We should also see the new Mortal Kombat at the show as well.

It's official: The new Zelda Tears of the Kingdom game is a smash hit for Nintendo.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has sold 10 million copies in its first 3 days on the market, Nintendo today announced, making it the fastest-selling Zelda game of all time. The company also confirmed that 4 million of the game's sales, or 40% of total initial launch sales, were made in North and South America. Tears of the Kingdom is now the fastest-selling Nintendo game in this region.

To put these numbers into perspective, Tears of the Kingdom managed to sell 1/3rd of Breath of the Wild's total sales in just 3 days' time. The latest figures from Nintendo put Breath of the Wild's sales at just under 30 million.

Amazon Games is now developing a huge new MMORPG set in The Lord of the Rings universe.

The developers that brought Amazon's New World game are now working on a new Lord of the Rings MMORPG that could deliver seamless, wide-scale battle sequences. This isn't the first time Amazon had signed up to make a Lord of the Rings MMO alongside developer Athlon games, but this project ultimate fell through.

Now with the help of Embracer Group, who purchased Lord of the Rings rights holder Middle-Earth Enterprises last year, Amazon gets to try again and helm development of the MMORPG.

Final Fantasy XI might be one of the longest-running MMORPGs on the market, but Square Enix apparently isn't going to shut the game down any time soon.

While Final Fantasy XIV remains one of Square Enix's most important games, its predecessor is still alive and well. Today marks the 21st anniversary of Final Fantasy XI, and I remember buying this game many years ago on Xbox 360 and hooking up a wireless mouse and keyboard combo for some couch MMO action.

Square Enix saved the largest celebration for the game's 20th anniversary last year, but in a recent developer post, the team says that Final Fantasy XI isn't going anywhere. That being said, the developers are indeed winding down the overall content plans for the MMORPG.

Ubisoft management plans to significantly increase the amount of developers working on the Assassin's Creed franchise as it pivots towards an accelerated multi-game pipeline.

Ubisoft currently has six Assassin's Creed projects in the works, including Assassin's Creed Mirage, the ambitious games-as-a-platform framework entitled Assassin's Creed Infinity, the Japan-themed Assassin's Creed Red, the multiplayer Assassin's Creed Invictus, the witchcraft-focused Assassin's Creed Hexe, and a mobile-based game set in China called Assassin's Creed Jade. There's also reports of a VR experience, too.

To ensure these games get the support they need, Ubisoft is prepared to increase the amount of developers that are working on the franchise. Ubisoft says there are currently around 2,000 people on the franchise right now, and that it plans to boost this number by 40% in the coming years. This means Assassin's Creed could eventually have 2,800 people working on it. For reference, Activision had over 3,000 people working on Call of Duty in 2022.

Microsoft does not seek to acquire a simple games publisher or a series of studios with its $68.7 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard King, but a veritable games empire.

In an effort to show how substantial Activision Blizzard King really is, and how the gaming giant could help supercharge the Xbox business, TweakTown has collected and analyzed key financial and performance metrics. We've discussed how the inclusion of King will instantly boost Xbox's total monthly active users by hundreds of millions of people, and also discussed how the inclusion of Activision Blizzard King's 8 separate billion-dollar franchises could represent a tipping point for Xbox Game Pass.

Now we'll take a closer look at Activision Blizzard King's historical revenues across a 17-year span from 2005 to 2023, which coincides with the release of Call of Duty 2 onwards. Based on publicly-available data, Activision Blizzard King has generated over $91 billion in net revenues across this 17-year period.