Nexon America Q2 Sales Up 26%
Nexon America has reported second quarter revenues up 26 per cent year-over-year.
The free-to-play specialist behind MapleStory told VentureBeat that June sales alone were up 36 per cent from a year earlier, although it doesn’t disclose actual financial figures.
Out Soon: E218
Introducing our latest issue, looking at Microsoft's bid to revitalise its console and revolutionise the gaming landscape.
Sega Games Business Slashes Q1 Losses
Sega parent Sega Sammy posted a profit and increased sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2011, but continued losses for its games division means the company will increase its focus on content geared towards social networking services and smartphones.
Lovefilm Likely Headed To PS3, Wii
A newly signed deal between Lovefilm and streaming technology provider Widevine will enable the European film rental service to offer movies on demand via game consoles and other devices.
The Friday Game: Drop7
Format: iPhone, Android, Flash
Developer: Area/Code
Direct App Store link
ESA Q2 Lobbying Spend Down 5%
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) spent $1.1 million lobbying on behalf of US game publishers and developers in the second quarter of 2010.
The figure is down five per cent on the trade association's spend in the second quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of this year, the Associated Press reports.
Force Unleashed Exec Producer Steps Down
Haden Blackman, executive producer and writer of the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed series, has resigned from LucasArts.
Blackman had served at the studio for over 13 years and is credited on games including The Force Unleashed, Star Wars: Galaxies and Star Wars: Force Commander. He also helped write and produce a number of Star Wars books and comics.
The Making Of: Little Computer People
Format: C64
Release: 1985
Publisher: Activision
Developer: In-house
Once upon a time, in a less cynical age, we weren’t afraid to call successful videogame designers geniuses. Indeed, it was a tag thrown at many of the young people wrestling with 8bit console and computer hardware in the early ’80s (and doing very nicely out of it, thank you very much), often by exciteable journalists seeking to romanticise the Silicon Valley dream beyond its already dizzy visage. Some, however, were more deserving than others.
Handhelds Dominate Japanese Sales
PSP-3000 remained the bestselling gaming hardware in Japan during the week ended July 25, while the DS line of handhelds continued to lead overall platform sales.
PSP Slim & Lite shifted 28,747 units, ahead of DSi XL’s 24,189, but combined DS sales came in at over 47,000, versus total PSP sales of 29,500.
Zynga Opens Japanese Studio
Zynga has partnered with telecommunications and media firm Softbank to develop and distribute social games across Japan.
The new joint venture, Zynga Japan, was officially announced as Softbank completed a $150 million investment in the San Francisco headquartered Farmville maker.
The deal marks the developer’s first foray into the Japanese market, for which it will create social games out of new Tokyo-based studio Zynga Japan.
Richard Garriott Wins $28 Million In NCsoft Suit
Ultima and Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott has been awarded $28 million following a lawsuit looking into his departure from MMO publisher NCsoft.
Wii Party Back On Top In Japan
Wii Party returned to the top of the Japanese software chart during the week ended July 25.
Nintendo’s mini-game compilation sold 99,000 copies in its third week on sale, topping the 72,000 sales achieved by the week’s highest new entry, Marvelous' Fate/Extra for PSP, which debuted in second place.
Chips Goes Into Liquidation
Chipsworld ltd has gone into liquidation, closing 12 company-owned stores and laying off 29 staff this week.
However, the retailer’s website and 13 franchised outlets will remain operational, the company told MCV.
Realtime Worlds Unveils Project: MyWorld
APB developer reveals project which combines social media and traditional 3D gaming .
Realtime Worlds, the developer behind Crackdown and APB, has unveiled its latest project. Project: MyWorld combines social networking with traditional gaming genres.
Gameloft Q2 Sales Rise 15%
Gameloft has reported sales of €33.6 million ($44m / £28.1m) for the second quarter of 2010, up 15 per cent year-over-year.
Europe and North America both represented 34 per cent of the French publisher’s sales during the quarter, while the rest of the world accounted for the remainder.
Sales for the first half of the year now stand at €66.6 million ($87.2m / £55.7m), up 11 per cent year-over-year.
XBLA Sales Up 13% In First Half Of 2010
Xbox Live Arcade revenues for the first six months of 2010 came in at $46.1 million, representing year-over-year growth of 13 per cent, according to a new report from analyst firm Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment (FADE).
The company said that it expects full year XBLA revenues to reach $130-$140 million.
Annual Xbox Live revenues topped $1 billion for the first time last year.
FADE Top 10 Estimates for H1 2010, by revenue: