Gaming - Page 417

KeyBanc senior analyst Michael Turits predicts strong revenue growth for both Xbox and Activision-Blizzard by 2023.

Microsoft's $68.7 billion buyout of Activision-Blizzard is expected to close in FY23. By that time, analysts predict both companies will make substantial revenue growth. Keybanc's Michael Turits expects Activision-Blizzard to break the $10 billion revenue mark for the first time in history with a 13-year CAGR growth rate of 6.43%, possibly driven by cost-saving synergies within Microsoft's games division. Activision's last financials show $8.5 billion estimated revenues for calendar 2021.

Xbox gaming is likewise expected to jump to $16.9 billion, representing a 10% increase over the last reported FY21 period. Microsoft's games segment delivered a record $15.37 billion in FY21 driven by hardware and software synergy surges across game and console sales and subscriptions.

Multiple law firms are investigating Microsoft's proposed $68.7 billion buyout of Activision-Blizzard for possible violations of securities laws.

Seven law firms have announced formal investigations into Microsoft's massive Activision-Blizzard acquisition proposal. The investigations are centered around three main points:

The law firms are questioning the Activision-Blizzard board's exact motivations to sell. The Wall Street Journal reports that Activision's ongoing controversy and sexual discrimination lawsuits were a major factor behind the acquisition agreement.

Contrary to Bloomberg reports, Sony has issued a statement that it had no plans to end PS4 production in 2021.

Initial reports suggested the PS4 was retired at the end of 2021, and brought back to help offset stalled PS5 production due to semiconductor shortages. "There was no plan to end the production of PS4 at the end of last year," Sony said in a public statement to Japanese publication Netorabo.

The full statement is below:

Contrary to recent reports, Nintendo has apparently not entirely fixed Zelda Ocarina of Time's emulated graphics and effects on Switch Online.

Some Nintendo 64 games don't look so great on the Switch. The company is charging $50 a year for its new Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription tier that comes with wonky emulation for specific games. Ocarina of Time, one of the best N64 games ever made, is a game that sometimes looks better on the original 1996 console than it does on Switch.

Sadly, Nintendo hasn't entirely fixed these issues...however there have been some adjustments since launch. Ocarina of Time's Switch N64 version is still missing the more enhanced reflection and fog effects that are used in the original N64 release, which are also seen in the GameCube and Wii VC versions. A Tweet from code tinkerer OatmealDome indicated that the OOT could've been fixed on the Switch; the infamous Water Temple has been adjusted to make the water more clear. Reflections have also been added, but they're not as extensive as the original version's reflections.

Switch Online's latest N64 game completes the Zelda 64-bit era duology.

Nintendo has announced The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is the next N64 game coming to the premium Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. Majora's Mask will release in February 2022 as part of the Expansion Pack service.

The first Zelda N64 game, Ocarina of Time, was a launch game for the new subscription and is regarded as one of the best video games ever made.

Ubisoft has sunset Watchdogs Legion and confirms the game will no longer get new updates.

Watch Dogs Legion--which apparently started off as a new Driver game--is officially feature-complete. Ubisoft announces that the third Watchdogs game has been officially retired and will no longer receive new content updates or patches.

"TU 5.6 was our final update for Watch Dogs: Legion," Ubisoft said. Title Update 5.6 was introduced in September 2021 with a multitude of bug fixes.

Months after high prices and over-monetization that fractured the Halo community, Halo Infinite's microtransaction scheme is finally getting fixed.

Halo Infinite head of design Jerry Hook confirms the game is getting a complete monetization overhaul. Starting with season 2, players will be able to earn credits by playing the game.

Season 2 is 99 days away (more than 3 months) and until then Halo Infinite will continue with its paid-only microtransaction currency. 343i has slightly adjusted prices of Halo Infinite's cosmetic microtransactions however there are still $12 packs that include nothing more than color schemes, a single visor, and a stance.

Some of gaming's biggest names are getting into NFTs, but not all of them have been successful.

NFTs are the latest monetization scheme that could make big waves in gaming. The market is particularly appealing for the likes of Konami and Ubisoft, who both have a wealth of characters from wholly-owned IPs to use as collectibles. Both companies have tried their hands at NFTs but only one has succeeded.

Konami's Castlevania NFTs have been quite popular, generating over $164,000 in auction on OpenSea. Ubisoft's Quartz NFTs, however, have been the opposite. The Quartz NFTs were minted as in-game cosmetics in Ghost Recon Breakpoint that could be auctioned and re-sold on platforms like Rarible and Objkt. Ubisoft Quartz NFTs have significantly higher supply than Konami's NFTs, with hundreds and even thousands of Quartz NFTs minted out versus the one-of-a-kind items minted by Konami.

The majority of surveyed video game developers are not interested in utilizing NFTs or cryptocurrencies in their video games, a new GDC report finds.

GDC's new State of the Game Industry 2022 report indicates that most participating game developers do not want to enter the play-to-earn marketplace with NFTs or cryptocurrency monetization schemes. According to the report, 70% of developers were not interested, whereas 7% were very interested and 21% were somewhat interested.

It's worth remembering that the survey sampling is not broad by any means and accounts for about 2,700 developers. This means that 1889 out of 2700 game developers had no interest in NFTs and crypto, and roughly 756 developers were highly or somewhat interested.

Diablo 2 Resurrected's new v2.4 patch is expected to change up the meta with a host of new runewords, character rebalances, and gear adjustments. A new D2R runeword has been revealed...and it's kind of odd.

A new D2R runeword has leaked. This time it's a revamped version of Plague, a classic runeword that was originally slated to release in Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction v1.15 but was withheld.

For some reason, Blizzard has changed up Plague's stats a bit. Plague's order has changed to Cham + Shael + Um, a hefty cost but also a new use for the under-utilized Cham rune. The new version of Plague reads like some strange experimental build that has a very specific use case. Everyone's trying to figure out why you should use Plague over something like Hoto or even a powerful melee weapon like Grief or Breath of the Dying.

Although Netflix is purchasing its own game development studios, the streamer has no intention of making all of its own games.

In a recent Q4 report, Netflix confirms our suspicions: Most of the gaming content for its service won't be developed in-house. Instead, Netflix will license its IPs out to third-party studios similar to Disney's position with Lucasfilm Games.

All of the mobile games currently on Netflix have been created by independent third-party studios. Netflix is already spending billions (its asset content account spent $17 billion in 2021) to create video content, and adding tens or even hundreds of millions for games development isn't particularly appealing. Better to license out the IP to another studio who will fund the project and collect royalties on any sales--assuming the games go to major platforms aren't exclusive to the Netflix ecosystem.

Microsoft's CEO of Gaming Phil Spencer confirms Call of Duty will not be Xbox exclusive any time soon and will still come to PlayStation systems.

Following a long day of debating on COD's exclusivity, Xbox gaming boss Phil Spencer finally delivers the verdict: Call of Duty will remain on PS4 and PS5.

"Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship," Spencer said on Twitter.

Microsoft's rich coffers are paying for its $68.7 billion Activision-Blizzard buyout, but Sony only has a fraction of that to spend on acquisitions.

Following Microsoft's huge Activision-Blizzard buyout, now is a good time to remind everyone about Sony's current trajectory. Sony's board of directors and shareholders have authorized the expenditure of only 2 trillion yen, or $18 billion USD, for strategic investments across a three year period. This is part of Sony's Fourth Mid-Range plan that lasts until FY23.

The spending plan includes buyouts and acquisitions of video game, entertainment, and software companies, as well as share buyback repurchases and capital investments in companies like Epic Games.

Is Call of Duty now exclusive to Xbox? Will the franchise sill come to PlayStation? How long is Activision's marketing deal with Sony? These are major questions that will determine the future of Call of Duty, Microsoft, Activision, and Sony.

Everyone wants to know whether or not Call of Duty is coming to PlayStation consoles after Microsoft buys Activision-Blizzard. Why spend $68.7 billion to release games on a competing platform? Money, for one--Call of Duty is a thunderous success on PlayStation hardware, and Sony has shipped over 116 million PS4s to date. That kind of install base mixed with powerhouse game sales equals lots of revenue.

But there's a chance Microsoft could keep Call of Duty off of PlayStation platforms in an effort to push Game Pass subscriptions. Quality content is a compelling reason to buy a subscription. Exclusive content is a better one.

Activision-Blizzard has issued a new SEC filing that explains terms and logistics to its developers and employees.

Why is Activision selling to Microsoft in a huge $68.7 billion deal? According to a new Securities Exchange Commission document, it's a simple matter of opportunism. "This is the right transaction, with the right buyer, at the right time," Activision said in the report.

Predictably, the report doesn't mention the elephant in the room.

Sony could lose hundreds of millions of dollars if Call of Duty becomes exclusive to Xbox platforms.

Microsoft's recent $68.7 billion buyout of Activision-Blizzard has prompted a big question: Will Call of Duty still come to PlayStation? The answer isn't quite simple. But the numbers are: Key financial experts like CitiGroup estimate that Sony will lose 10 billion yen to 30 billion yen ($87.5 million to $262.6 million) if Call of Duty doesn't release on PlayStation systems.

Activision's megaton franchise contributes hundreds of millions in distribution payments to Sony, Microsoft, and other platform-holders like Valve every year. The annualized release cadence is a dependable source of third-party earning contributions for Sony. It could also be the same for Microsoft, who would pocket Activision's 70% cut of all Call of Duty game sales and revenues.

Sony believes that Microsoft will honor Activision's existing contractual obligations and keep specific games coming to PlayStation platforms.

Future Activision games won't be full Xbox exclusives and avoid PlayStation platforms, at least that's what Sony thinks. Following huge $68.7 billion Activision-Blizzard buyout, Sony believes that Microsoft will honor its existing contracts that were signed by Activision before the deal closes--which is something that Xbox CEO of Gaming Phil Spencer has already confirmed will happen.

"We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform," Sony told The Wall Street Journal.

Halo Infinite's big team battle mode is still broken following a new hotfix patch.

Today 343 Industries deployed a new hotfix patch to address the ongoing big team battle issues. Unfortunately, the update didn't fix the issues and BTB's prevalent matchmaking issues remain. This marks the second month in a row that big team battle has been almost unplayable due to connection errors, glitches, and frozen loading screens. Our own tests showed that BTB had an 80% failure rate; out of 20 attempts, there were 16 failures and 4 successfully played games.

"Today's BTB hotfix does not appear to be the outcome we expected. There are minor improvements, but overall matchmaking issues are still occurring. Thanks to the folks who have been working hard and we're sorry this didn't quite get the job done. Work continues," Halo community director Brian Jarrard said today on Twitter.

The new Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is apparently selling well despite its controversial launch.

The new GTA trilogy remaster released with a ton of issues, including graphical hiccups, bad animations and character models, and a lot of glitches. Rockstar has stepped in to offer free games and a multitude of patches to fix the myriad of problems. Plus the original versions of the game had to be removed from sale on PC because they non-licensed music in the source code.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recently acknowledged the game's slips at launch, and says the GTA trilogy remaster is doing very well insofar as overall company metrics.

Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick reportedly suggested buying websites in an attempt to control the press.

In an attempt to control the narrative around Activision-Blizzard's damning controversy, company CEO Bobby Kotick reportedly suggesting direct acquisitions of video game press websites like Kotaku and PC Gamer. New reports from The Wall Street Journal say Kotick discussed possible press company buyouts with the board of directors to help stem the tide of scathing articles.

Throughout the last few months, Activision-Blizzard's dirty laundry--which culminates in years of alleged discrimination, sexual harassment and toxic workplace culture--has been aired by dozens of news articles across a multitude of websites as well as official documents like public lawsuit filings.