140°

SAW Games Gone - Brash Entertainment Closes Its Doors

From OXCGN:

"Brash Entertainment is another company to suffer at the hands of the heavy financial times that are upon not only the rest of the world, but now making its way into the gaming industry. The industry usually weathers heavy financial downturns, but it seems some won't be so lucky this time round. They are not alone, as many game developers and publishers are suffering, even the big boys like EA have had losses in excess of $US310mil in their last '08 quarter, and have had to shed 6% of its workforce."

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xboxoz360gamer.com
Immortal Kaim5643d ago

So much for the people claiming the gaming industry wouldn't be effected, it's a damn shame.

Acj23235643d ago

Ever industry will be effected just some more then others, it is a shame and i hope no more will drop out.

gaminoz5643d ago

Will only EA, Ubisoft, and Activision survive (besides 1st party publishers), with all smaller studios either bust or under their umbrella?

What will that mean for future games?

The Matrix5643d ago

Yeah it seems that all the small companies will be bought up by those three and we could have a competition much like nintendo vs. sony vs. microsoft.

XboxOZ3605642d ago

It may mean that many smaller companies will survive . . EA have learnt that they can no longer gobble up smaller companies, sell off their assets and lose a competitor, no matter how small it may be.

WHich is why it's new CEO has started the EA Partnership section. Allowing gaming studios to be 'acquired', yet still giving them the freedom of an independent studio, but with the financial backing needed to produce even better games.

They won't have to worry as much as before about cutting corners on a games development to ensure the game meets a smaller budget requirement. Sure, they will still have budgets, but they won't be as strict as they would have been if they were on their own.

So great engines are available to them they would not have had access to if they were a solo company. Having 3 - 4 or so majors with the bulk of the development studios won't change the fact that we still get games, and LOTS of them, it will mean that many smaller studios will be more secure and can weather these sorts of times out, plus reap the benefits when they do.

It also means that there will be more jobs, as the majors do acquire some of the smaller ones, they also open more studios worldwide thus employing more staff. Ubisoft have opened 2 or 3 new studios over the recent year/s and are planning more, which is on top of the smaller studios they have acquired.

Zip5643d ago

3 -
Will only EA, Ubisoft, and Activision survive (besides 1st party publishers), with all smaller studios either bust or under their umbrella?

What will that mean for future games?

damn you are completely right, the crisis will kill blizzards WOW universe, and then we´ll all be doomed ARRRRRRRRRH!

The Matrix5643d ago

Have they made any other games besides the would-be SAW game?

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90°

7 Iconic Games That Put The PS1 On The Map

The first PlayStation is home to an array of iconic video games that went on to define the sheer significance of this console.

SimpleSlave12h ago

I think from a historical perspective I would change Spyro for Grand Turismo. It's the franchise that made the PS1 look like an absolute unit. Other than that, I can't argue with the rest when it comes to games that defined the PS1.

And to be honest, there should be space for Tekken 3, Wipepout and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater in order to round out the PS1 identity as the machine to own at the time.

With Tomb Raider 2, Silent Hill, Symphony of the Night, Tenchu, and Soul Reaver as backup contenders.

290°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv722d ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle2d ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18812d ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio2d ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning772d ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga2d ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

darthv721d 20h ago

to you it may seem like the minority... but your bubble is shrinking because more and more are following suit. convenience is a hell of a drug and its also why physical sales only amount to 30% of overall game sales. times are changing, you either get with them or you get left behind.

neutralgamer19921d 14h ago

Darth

30% physical sales: yet Phil and xbox division are in a rush go give up on that 30%. they don't have any right to give up any piece of the pie since the control such a little of the pie to begin with

also, the market is clearly speaking that the model Xbox is pushing isn't working right now the keyword being right now. you are right about freedom to play anywhere so i hope they put their games on steam

shinoff21832d ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga2d ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan2d ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

S2Killinit1d 20h ago

MS is after diminishing consoles as a medium. They want to destroy this market because they couldnt win. MS’s vision is to dissolve console gaming.

romulus232d ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv722d ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

TheEroica1d 20h ago (Edited 1d 20h ago )

Perfectly reasonable post down voted by insecure corporation friendly folk.... But not gamers. Real gamer want accessibility and ease of acquisition for all.... Company shills are the only ones still telling us that hardware locking people from games is good for us.

Chevalier1d 15h ago

@Darth

You should stop parroting metrics like an idiot without context.

"Xbox content and services revenue grew 62% in Q3 from a year earlier, “driven by 61 points of net impact” from the purchase of the third-party video game giant, Microsoft said."

61 of the 62% was from their merger so net increase is ONLY 1%

https://www.mesaonline.org/...

itsmebryan1d 6h ago

@chevalier

It looks like made a great purchase. Much better then Sony buying Bungie. 😉
Cheers

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1d 6h ago
purple1012d ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos2d ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-2d ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac2d ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1012d ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic2d ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead2d ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2d ago
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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein2d ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno2d ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k42d ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson2d ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu2d ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson2d ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -