Category: Industry News
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Action Audit: Revenue Is Not Profit
Every time we see the hyper connected, online, games community discuss the very unfortunate event of layoffs, I’m reminded of a very real problem when it comes to gaming discussion: Revenue is not profit, and people often confuse the two financial metrics because they don’t know what they actually mean. “How can we have layoffs…
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Game Business Misconceptions: Pricing
It’s definitely an interesting time in the games industry. There are numerous acquisitions in the market, certain products are still difficult to find, and dozens of games are just over the proverbial horizon. That said, today I’m here to talk about the concept of pricing. As you may be aware, the standard “MSRP” of a…
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An Interview with the CEO of Whitethorn Games – Part 1: Our Fair City
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two part series. We spend over two hours talking about the games industry, the role of publishing, and challenges with certain platforms. The first part of the series (this article) is focused on the experience of founding a tech company in a small city, and the general…
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Action Audit: Thoughts On E3 2021
E3 2021 is over and I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts. The normally in-person event was virtual only this year (due to Covid-19 concerns) but all things considered, the show went off without being dragged down by technical challenges. We don’t know the full details on E3 2022 [update: cancelled for 2022], but…
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Our Take: WB Patents The Nemesis System – It Is Unlikely To Affect The Industry
On February 5, 2021, IGN reported that Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment (WB) secured a patent for the Nemesis system used in their Lord of the Rings “Shadow” games (Shadow of Mordor / Shadow of War). At first glance this might seem like nefarious attempt to lock down a video game mechanic, potentially using patent law…
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How Decisions Are Modeled – A Discussion About Anthem
Update 2/24/2021: In an update posted on Bioware’s blog, Christian Dailey announced the end of further development for Anthem. The cancelation of Anthem Next (or whatever it was to be called) might make this article appear “wrong”, but what I describe here is how projects are modeled. It just so happens that EA ran their…
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Xbox Game Pass is Changing How & What We Play…And That’s A Good Thing
There is a pattern emerging within Xbox Game Pass – a renewed exploration of unique, focused, “indie-like”, experiences. Bleeding Edge, Psychonauts 2, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves come to mind, but a quick browse of Game Pass right now demonstrates just how wide a net Microsoft has cast in terms of bringing a variety of…
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Action Audit: Looking Back on Battlefield V and the End of New Content
EA & DICE have announced the effective end of new content for Battlefield V. The last content update comes in June of 2020, with all follow-up updates being strictly focused on support & community games. This means that after approximately two years of content updates, BFV will move into “support mode”, reducing the overall financial…
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Our Take: Industry Insights – EA Responds to Investors Q3 FY2020
We are pleased to announce our third audio/visual experience is up on our partner YouTube channel – RallyCarDelta Gaming. In this edition of Industry Insights, we examine EA executive responses to investors during their Q3 FY2020 investor call. It clocks in around twenty minutes and we cover everything from Apex Legends to monetization strategies. Why…
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Action Audit: Why Horizon Zero Dawn is (probably) Getting a PC Release
Kotaku recently published an article stating that Horizon: Zero Dawn (HZD) will get a PC release in the 2020 calendar year. This is noteworthy because Sony has generally avoided PC releases for the titles that they own, opting instead for a “walled garden” strategy (meaning: you need to buy a PS4 to play their first…