Posts Tagged ‘US’
Friday, October 31st, 2008
Think Services Game Group’s Game Developer Research has recently published its Game Developer Census 2008 report with some interesting numbers. Surveying all companies working in the video game development and publishing in North America, the survey uncovered a 12 percent year on year increase of US employees. This years number clocks gaming industry jobs at a rockin’ 44,400 – up from 39,700 in 2007. If the 12 percent in the US wasn’t enough to make you sit up and take notice, take a look to our neighbors to the north: Canadian video game jobs leaped a healthy 17 percent; up to 9500 from 8100. Combined the North American gaming industry increased 13 percent, from 47,800 to 53,900. Now that’s alotta jobs, and outstanding industry growth.
While a portion of this increase comes from increased staffing numbers related to next-gen games, the driving factor has been continued development and investment in MMOs and Virtual Worlds. VC’s have obviously put their reservations on the shelf, as continued growth in the free-to-play game worlds has spurred increased investments.
Breaking it down in geographic terms, while Governor Schwarzenegger’s statewide economy might not be rocking the Kasbah, 21,200 game developers couldn’t be happier in the Golden State. Washington State ranks a healthy #2 with over 4,700 employees, and the longhorns of Texas calling 3,330 video game industry professionals state residents. In total, seven states (California, Washington, Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Florida) have over 1,000 game professionals as inhabitants. North Carolina and Maryland are just below the 1,000 threshold.
Interesting to note; the census did NOT include game tools companies (who’s your favorite microtransaction payment method firm?), game contracting/services companies, external PR, marketing, legal, and other business services and liaison or licensing divisions at larger media companies. Game Developer Research estimates this number to be in the 18,000 range in North America.
“We’re delighted to present our second Census report, showing a notable increase in the amount of professionals employed in the game industry. With industry revenues at an all-time high, we believe that we’ll continue to see a vibrant market for those employed in the art and science of gaming,” said Simon Carless, publisher of Game Developer Magazine and director of Game Developer Research.
To view a sample data set, or purchase the entire 170 page Game Developer Census 2008 report, visit Think Services at gamedevresearch.com.
Tags: american gaming, California, Florida, game professionals, game worlds, governor schwarzenegger, Illinois, longhorns, Maryland, Massachusetts, microtransaction, MMOs, New York, next gen games, North America, North American, North Carolina, pr marketing, Simon Carless, staffing, Texas, US, video game development, video game industry, virtual worlds, Washington
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Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
According to a new study compiled by Pearl Research and recently published by Research and Markets, approximately 67% of Korean users in their 20s purchase paid digital content. They forecast that the Korean market will exceed $1.7 billion by 2011.
While not surprising, the study found that casual games that are free-to-play, easy to learn, and can be played in “micro-slices”, i.e. games that can be played in ten minute or less segments at a time.
Some highlighted key findings from the study include:
- South Korea has a sophisticated information technology (IT) infrastructure with 80% of households connected to the Internet.
- Korea has one of the highest adoption rates of purchasing virtual items and micro-transactions. Approximately 67% of those in the 20-30 age cohort purchased online paid content. Of those who have purchased digital content, 91% purchased music while 39% purchased community and avatar items
- A common strategy in Korea is the operation of large game portals that provide a wide selection of games, including massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), casual, and web board games all within one convenient site. Top game portals such as CJ Internet’s Netmarble, NHN’s Hangame, and Neowiz’s Pmang can attract 500,000 to 1 million unique visitors a day. More than 11 million Korean adults visit game portals every month, according to this reports estimates.
- While South Korea has a robust games market, critical challenges include intense domestic competition; prevalence of “me-too” or derivative titles; challenges in expanding overseas to the US and China; and rising development costs. The “Games Market in Korea” report provides an in-depth analysis of the Korean online games market and contains an executive summary; 2007 to 2011 forecasts for the online games platforms; inhibitors and drivers to growth; deep marketplace analysis; discussion of key market players, and strategic conclusions.
With all the flurry surrounding Korea’s neighbor to the west, it’s often easy to lose site of the ‘other’ gigantic market in Asia. With a 67% purchase rate, Pearl’s prediction of $1.7 billion by 2011 could be spot on. The question is…who’s handling all these microtransactions, and how do you and your title reach the market before it’s too late? The answer is already staring you in the face. fatfoogoo can bring your title to the Korean marketplace in days rather than months. With out vast experience in multi currency transactions, fraud detection and prevention, and plug and play integration, we can help YOU today!
Tags: Asia, China, cj internet, free to play, games market, internet korea, korea report, korean market, korean users, marketplace analysis, micro transactions, mmorpgs, Neowiz, netmarble, nhn, online role playing games, role playing games, South Korea, US
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Friday, August 8th, 2008
CDC Corporation has recently released its financial results for the second quarter 2008.
CDC Games reported that during Q2 2008, total revenue was USD$10.8 million which represents a 24 percent increase from Q1 2008. This is the second consecutive quarter of sequential growth for CDC games. The primary driver for this increase comes via Yulgang (aka Scions of Fate), as CDC recently released a new version of the game and renewed licensing agreements with developer MGame. CDC also generated positive Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) in Q2 2008. The majority of CDC’s revenue comes from it’s Chinese market operations, as the company’s US and Japanese operations have generated only nominal revenue thus far. CDC Games firmly believes that the opportunity for free to play games in the US and Japan markets is still in their early stages, as opposed to the already accepted business model in China.
CDC believes that they’ve struck upon a relatively stable, recurring, repeatable revenue base, and that the benefits of its diversification strategy are becoming increasingly clear. CDC Games’ revenue comes from its 5 online games and has planned for the release of new games in the second half of 2008.
Q2 2008 highlights for CDC Games:
- In April 2008, CDC Games commercially launched Yulgang 2.0, major new content update for Yulgang, its widely popular online game, in China, which provides gamers with approximately 30 percent more content and has led to increased revenue for the game.
- CDC games opened a new game zone in the company’s online game, Shaiya. The company has expanded the number of server groups for the game, which it believes will result in a higher degree of community interaction.
- CDC Games has launched 18 web-based casual games, and expects to increase that amount substantially by the end of 2008. Among all web-based casual games operators in China, CDC is one of the largest. Revenue from these web-based casual games has been nominal to date.
In addition, CDC Games has two games it intends to launch in Q3 2008:
- Digimon. Digimon is an online game based on the animated Japanese series, where players can collect virtual pets and battle each other. In addition, Digimon has secured the No. 1 ranking for the last several weeks in the user survey chart on Baidu, the top search engine in China; and
- Street Gears. Street Gears is a casual skating game where players can race each other or compete in trick contests.
CDC Games believes that these new titles will continue to add diversity to it’s inventory, and will expand the casual games offerings. In addition to Digimon and Street Gears, within the next 6 months, CDC plans on releasing Life Online, a next gen, 3D free to play MMO developed by SONOV. SONOV is the development branch of Sonokong, a major Korean toy and game entertainment company.
In addition to releasing new titles, CDC feels that they have developed a more cost effective process for launching games which includes cross promotion and leveraging a combined base of active players.
Tags: casual games, CDC, China, chinese market, Digimon, ebitda, free to play, Japan, microtransaction, scions of fate, sequential growth, SONOV, US, Yulgang
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Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Capcom has ‘officially’ announced the details of the new Super Street Fighter II Turbo High Definition Remix beta today. Super Street Fighter II Turbo High Definition Remix. Could they make that any longer, or more difficult to say?
The beta will be available to anyone that’s already got a copy of Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 on Xbox Live Arcade. The Wolf of the Battlefield game will set you back 800 Microsoft points, or roughly 9.60 Euro/15 US bucks.
The Super Street Fight….oh forget it. SSFIITHDR…even that is too long. SSFII? Street Fighter HD? Capcom’s new beta will allow you to duke it out as either Ken or Ryu online. Different game modes include Player, Quarter Match, Ranked Match and Tournament Mode. If fighting against the unknown isn’t your style, you can always “shoryuken” it with an offline 2 player battle.
Beta days run until on or around August 20th. It’s all up to Capcom as to when they want to close the beta doors. Unfortunately, the beta is available only to Xbox Live players right now. Sorry PS3 peeps…btu hey…you’ve got a blu-ray player.
Details on accessing the beta (from capcom’s blog):
Step 1: Buy Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 for 800 MS Points (aka “render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s”)
Step 2: Select the “SFII HD Remix Beta” option on the main menu of Wolf
Step 3: You will be taken to a download blade where you can confirm your download (this will not be visible until the code is live on Arcade tomorrow)
Step 4: Once the Beta has finished downloading, head to the “Games” blade on your 360
Tags: Arcade, August, battlefield, Beta, blu ray player, capcom, Definition, Ken, shoryuken, SSFIITHDR, street fighter ii, Super Street, US, Wolf, Wolf Step
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Thursday, June 12th, 2008
And in the red corner….weighing in at 165 lbs. and hailing from the great state of Arizona….The GOP nominee…..Senator…Jooooooooooooooooooohn McCaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain.
Yes, you heard me right (and I know you just did the voice in your head as well), Arizona Senator and Republican party nominee John McCain steps into the ring with Illinois Senator and Democratic nominee Barak Obama via play.de’s McCain vs. Obama – the fight of the century.
You yourself can now determine the fait of the US presidential race! Hop in the ring, choose your side and knock the opponent silly with jabs, bob and weaves, and the death blow: Upper Cut! Upper Cut! Think it’s game over for Hillary? Not so much. She’s built into the game as the super powerful, super sexy ring girl that appears between rounds in her stars-and-stripes bikini. Guest appearances in the on looking crowd also include GW Bush, Sly Stallone, Dick Chaney, Bill and Chelsea Clinton, Condi Rice, and Rudy Gulliani.
The game, developed by play.de, one of Europe’s largest online gaming sites, can be played in two different modes: PvP or PvC. Both candidates have equal chances to win, regardless of age, height, and battle experience (don’t forget that McCain is not only a decorated Vietnam war veteran, but also has first hand boxing experience).
You can give John and Barak a ‘fight to the death’ at: http://obama.play.de/us
And play a number of other titles at: http://www.play.de
Tags: Arizona, arizona senator, Barak, barak obama, battle experience, Chelsea, Clinton, condi rice, death blow, dick chaney, Europe, fight to the death, gop nominee, gw bush, Hillary, Illinois, illinois senator, john mccain, PvC, republican party nominee, ring girl, rudy gulliani, sly stallone, stars and stripes, stars and stripes bikini, US, Vietnam, vietnam war veteran
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Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Awww yiy boy! Gameloft is kickin’ out the old school jams and serving up the timeless classic ‘Oregon Trail’ to a whole new generation of gamers. Gameloft announced yesterday that they’ve released the award-winning title, The Oregon Trail for mobile handsets. Working closely with The Learning Company, this release marks the first re-release/make of the educational title which until now was only available for PC users.
Gameloft has given the game a complete makeover with modernized graphics and new features, allowing the classic game to feel modern and fresh, all the while staying true to the original storyline. In case you need a refresher, players assume the role of a wagon leader and have to make strategic decisions to safely guide their party along the perils of the Oregon Trail route.
Oregon Trail game features include:
• Select your profession: Banker, Carpenter, Farmer; choose your crew by customizing the names
• Five different mini-games help to break up your long journey and allows you improve your health and safety through hunting, rafting, fishing, crossing the river and repairing your wagon
• Unpredictable occurrences such as hitchhikers, robbers, bandits, increase the challenge along the route; strategy and smart decision-making enables you to minimize the damage
“The Oregon Trail is an iconic game that has been enjoyed by parents and students alike over the decades,” explains Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president of Publishing, Gameloft. “The Oregon Trail has always provided an ideal way for players to recount an important part of American history, and we are confident that the new mobile version will capture the exciting journey for today’s tech savvy audience.”
The Oregon Trail is available now across most US carriers. To check the game’s availability with your carrier, text “WAGON” to 82174 on your mobile phone.
Tags: bandits, fishing, mini games, mobile version, Oregon Trail, oregon trail game, oregon trail route, pc users, perils, robbers, senior vice president, US, WAGON
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Sunday, June 8th, 2008
In case your living under a rock, The9 is a leading retailer in China’s ‘Holy cow, that’s just enormous’ gaming industry. They focus mainly on operating and developing top titles for the Chinese online gaming market. The9 does this either directly with in house titles OR through affiliate licensing deals. Some of the titles in The9’s portfolio are Granado Espada, Soul of the Ultimate Nation, and a small title you may have heard of: World of Warcraft. To say that The9 are a small deal would be a large mistake.
So it might come as a bit of a surprise that Chief Financial Officer Tony Tse has decided to step down from his post with The9. Mr. Tse has resigned sue to personal and family reasons according to The9’s PR rep. Tse will leave the 9 effective July 4th.
When you’re managing that amount of cash, time really IS money. Wasting now time or money, The9 have also announced that they’ve appointed Mr. George Lai as new man behind the bucks, effective July 3rd (So they have 2CFO’s on the 3rd? Who gets the office?)
Prior to The9, Lai has worked at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu since 2000 and served in various positions including audit manager and senior auditr in Hong Kong, New York and Beijing. In other words, don’t even try to squeeze a penny by this guy…he knows his stuff.
Mr. Jun Zhu, The9′s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Although we are sorry to see Tony’s departure due to personal and family reasons, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to his hard work during his serving period at The9. In addition, we are very pleased to welcome George on board as our new Chief Financial Officer. George has extensive knowledge in US GAAP and solid background in dealing with public company issues, especially in the fast booming internet industries, and we believe he will fully utilize these knowledge and skill-sets to perform the important managerial role of Chief Financial Officer at The9.”
Tags: Bejing, chief executive officer, chief financial officer, Chief Financial Officer Tony Tse, China, deloitte touche tohmatsu, gaming industry, gaming market, Hong Kong, internet industries, jun zhu, Mr. George Lai, Mr. Jun, Mr. Tse, New York, the9 limited, US, World of Warcraft
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Saturday, June 7th, 2008
If you live anywhere outside the US, your chances of picking up the super spiffy Collectors Survival Edition of Fallout3 are pretty much slim to none.
To add insult to injury, even residents of the Great White North are going to have to pack it up and make a day trip over the boarder to their American P.O. box to receive their copy.
The survival edition comes decked out with a life-sized replica of the wrist mounted Pip-Boy 3000 worn by characters in the game, a super smooth Vault Tech metal lunch box, a Vault Boy bobble-head (who’s ride or desk would be complete without one?), an ‘Art of’ book and a ‘Making of’ DVD. Oh, and the game is included as well.
Amazon.com confirms that the item will only be shipped within the US (and or APO/FPO boxes), and hits the streets October 7th.
So the question is, how on earth will those of us in Europe that are serious fanboys of all things 3000 get out hands on this rockin’ wrapping of Fallout 3? Well, look no further, as yours truly has a connection in the States, and can get my hands on a copy shipped direct from the land of cadilliacs and cheeseburgers. So who’s up for a contest? Based on repsonses below, I might even be able to convince upper management to sponsor a contest with the Survival Edition as the grand prize. In addition to Fallout 3 Survival Edition, we’d be sure to chuck in all kinds of fatfoogoo goodies as well.
So let’s hear it….who is Europe’s biggest Fallout fan?
Tags: amazon, Contest, edition, Europe, fallout 3, fanboys, game, grand prize, great white north, metal lunch box, pip boy, Survival, US
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Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Turbine Inc. makers of top titles ‘The Lord of the Rings Online’, ‘Shadows of Angmar’. ‘Dungeons and Dragons Online’, and ‘Asheron’s Call’ have sealed a $40M financing deal with top investors Time Warner Inc. and CGV Captial.
Time Warner Investments target non-control strategic investments, and is an integral part of the Time Warner parent company, a leading (if not THE leading) media and entertainment company in the US.
CGV Capital is a leader in expansion-stage venture capital investments in the U.S. and China. The firm manages over $1B in global capital from it’s offices in Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Singapore.
“Our investment in Turbine is an important addition to Time Warner’s entertainment initiatives,” said Rachel Lam, Senior Vice President and Group Managing Director of Time Warner Investments. “Online interactive
entertainment is a huge growth market and we are very excited about Turbine, its unique capabilities and the obvious opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP.”
“The demand for massively multiplayer online worlds is exploding both geographically and in terms of platforms served,” said Hany Nada, managing partner, GGV Capital. “Turbine is a proven leader in massively interactive online entertainment and the incredible technology that supports it. We look forward to marrying our strengths both here and in Asia with Turbine’s unique capabilities.”
Turbine CEO Jim Crowley says, “This is truly an exciting time for Turbine. The addition of Time Warner, one of the world’s largest media companies, and GGV Capital, one of the financial community’s most sophisticated investors, adds a level of access, perspective and experience to Turbine that is singularly unique in the global online entertainment space. Turbine has an extraordinary team, incredible technology and a growing portfolio of games based on some of the most popular brands ever created. With this funding we are uniquely positioned to change the future of online entertainment as we bring new titles to market, expand the platforms we support and introduce new technologies to sustain self-evolving game worlds.”
Tags: Asia, capital one, ceo jim, CEO Jim Crowley, cgv, China, dungeons and dragons, dungeons and dragons online, entertainmen, Entertainment, entertainment space, expansion stage, jim crowley, lord of the rings online shadows of angmar, rachel lam, rings online shadows of angmar, s entertainment, Shanghai, silicon valley, Singapore, sophisticated investors, stage venture, strategic investments, time warner inc, Turbine, US, venture capital investments
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Monday, June 2nd, 2008
The Dutch Game Garden has announced that they’ll be launching at the NLGD Festival of Game on June 19th in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Coming hot off a nice pat on the back, the Dutch gaming industry is 
poised to be a major force to contend with in the Euro gaming market. The Dutch Game Garden foundation is financed in part by the Dutch government, and is supported by a number of universities and schools. These schools along with the government are extremely interested in promoting the growth of the gaming sector. In 2007, the Dutch gaming industry revenue exceeded that of the Dutch film industry, and figures report the gaming sector to have a growth rate of 50% faster than any other Dutch economic sector.
The Dutch Game Garden will support, encourage, and do all it can to help fledgling developers and startups located in the Netherlands, along with companies that choose to relocate to the Netherlands. They tackle this via a three pronged attack:
The Game Development Club which seeks to encourage students of game design, media, arts and programming courses at universities and school to work together in collaborative projects.
The Game Incubator is a pot o’ soup for talented young entrepreneurs. The Incubator project helps young entrepreneurs navigate the often hectic ropes of not only setting up a company, but keeping it afloat, and ultimately, bringing their product to market. By providing training in entrepreneurship and coaching, assisting with housing, providing tools and a network of technical, financial and legal experts, the Incubator seeks to help Mr./Ms. ‘Hey I got an awesome game, but where the heck do I start?’ to hit the ground running.
The Game Development Business Centers provide top-notch facilities for existing and growing game firms in the Utrecht region. The ultimate goal of these facilities is to create a hotspot of gaming, with access to other important companies, A1 research institutes, universities and schools.
The Dutch Game Garden will offer an official presentation along with a panel discussion at the NLDG festival.
To learn more about the Dutch Game Garden: http://www.dutchgamegarden.nl
To learn more about the NLDG: http://www.nlgd.nl
Tags: business centers, collaborative projects, developers, dutch film, dutch game, dutch government, entrepreneurship, Euro, game, game design, game development business, game development club, gaming, gaming industry, gaming market, gaming sector, hotspot, important companies, incubator project, Legal, legal experts, Market, NLDG, programming courses, setting up a company, The Netherlands, US, Utrecht, young entrepreneurs
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While a portion of this increase comes from increased staffing numbers related to next-gen games, the driving factor has been continued development and investment in MMOs and Virtual Worlds. VC’s have obviously put their reservations on the shelf, as continued growth in the free-to-play game worlds has spurred increased investments.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=7d224445-b0a3-4449-a61d-01a433c7cef5)
