230°

The inside track on EA’s acquisition of Codemasters

From Develop: "It’s one of the biggest players in the industry, but EA has never been highly acquisitive, and by modern standards it’s positively reticent when compared to many. The home of FIFA has focused instead on its existing stable of huge franchises – with the only major acquisition of the last ten years being its 2017 move for Respawn Entertainment for £315m.

It came as something of a surprise then, when late last year EA outgunned strong competition from Take Two to secure Codemasters for an eyebrow-raising $1.2bn (£860m), some 14 per cent above Take Two’s bid."

DJStotty1098d ago

"EA's acquisition of Codemasters: "We think it’s a opportunity to bring two great companies together"

All i hear is

"We think this is a great opportunity to milk another franchise for all it's worth, add in some MT's, and then close the studio and throw it in the "done" pile"

phoenixwing1097d ago

agreed. I already feel EA is near ready to close down bioware if their next new games aren't blockbuster sellers.

NeoGamer2321097d ago

Why do you think any business mergers/takeovers happen?

They certainly don't think, "Hey, we want to become less profitable, charge less MTs, and have more of our games compete with each other in the marketplace"

Facts are mergers / acquisitions, are pretty bad for consumers no matter how you slice them. Any merger or acquisition gives one company more control of the industry / market segment and they are usually done to save costs. EA probably looked at this said, "Codemasters has great racing games and are locking up the racing market outside of GT and Forza... Let's take them over, and since racing games are pretty much a solved problem in gaming, we will own that market outside of first party studios"

Relientk771098d ago

EA has ruined sports games and turned them into casino simulators. Now they are going to ruin the racing games they own.

StoneyYoshi1097d ago

Yeah, I'm waiting for them to announce a F1 Ultimate Driver mode or some crap lol.

Blank1097d ago

You jest but it’s in the parameters of reality.

1097d ago Replies(1)
Notellin1097d ago

If you liked Codemasters games, you won't like them much longer.

NeoGamer2321097d ago

I actually think EA looked at the last few NFS games and said, "We F---ed up". Then, said, "what can we do?". Codemasters at the same time realized their only profitable gaming stream is racing games and that limits their growth.

So, it is a good company match. I will wait and see if EA takes Codemasters to a crappy place, or they give Codemasters NFS and Burnout and Codemasters re-energizes them. Dirt and Dirt Rally are good, Grid is good, F1 is good.... Would love to see a Codemasters version of NFS and Burnout.

mch2011uk1097d ago

"Two great companies" After Codemasters who is the other one?? 🤔

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130°

Helldivers II sales top 12 million

Gematsu writes: "Cooperative third-person shooter Helldivers II has sold 12 million units as of May 5, publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer Arrowhead Game Studios announced."

shadowT2h ago

Congratulations Arrowhead Game Studios!

Hofstaderman2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

And well-deserved. I'm having a ball of a time so far. Just need to change out my heavy armour, it's a murder on my stamina and sprinting.

derek1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

SIE managed to find success with gaas quicker than I suspected. Arrowhead did a great job getting past that initial launch difficulty, I've been playing again recently doing mostly solo missions. Can't even get off the damn planet after completing everything, lol.

Lexreborn21h ago

12 million is crazy, but it also paints an opposite picture to what the forums would have you believe about gaas. And it being more successful then the single player games of late also kind of proves to an executive gaas IS. what the consumer wants.

RGB52m ago

Disagree, most GAAS games are free, cheaper than or around the same price as Helldivers.

Helldivers II sold very well because of the viral campaign and word of mouth, I can't think of another game that has done numbers like this that wasn't completely free or attached to a service like GamePass/Plus Extra~Premium.

Helldivers II is an exception to the rule, not the norm.

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120°

Microsoft's Absurd Antics Have Me Scared For Dishonored And Arkane Lyon's Future

With Arkane Austin no more and Lyon living for who knows how long, the superb Dishonored is in serious danger; Microsoft cannot be trusted.

Relientk7712h ago

I love the Dishonored series so much and really want Dishonored 3. Microsoft better not screw this up.

JEECE9h ago

I mean, I think the fans will probably kill Arkane Lyon by cooking up reasons to hate whatever they do next without playing it. I've never seen a game so artificially disliked as Deathloop.

thesoftware7309h ago

Lol, why don't we just say, we are worried about all studios owned by MS now. They will keep closing studios until they have none left ...🙄

Skuletor6h ago

Just merge them all into a single studio, have it churn out a single Call of Duty every year and call it a day, lol.

Barlos6h ago

Don't be scared, you'll be fine.

Skuletor6h ago

It's exputer, fine is one word I would not associate with them.

Profchaos5h ago

I think it's becoming clear based on matt bootys comments there's no future for any IP that can't sell above 10 million within the launch window. But is also a small game that gives them prestige

/S it's beyond a joke right now

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250°

Rumored PlayStation May 2024 showcase could happen this week per industry insider

A renowned industry insider has suggested the rumored PlayStation May 2024 showcase featuring Silent Hill 2 could happen this week.

Read Full Story >>
videogamer.com
Petebloodyonion11h ago

Bogus!
Why would Sony do that and how would this benefit them?
1) It would piss off their media partners (IGN, Gamespot, Edge, etc.) since they would have to allocate resources fast to cover the event.
2) Risk of not having great coverage or proper coverage from the various source
3) It could give the impression that they are not confident in their own stuff.
4) They would miss the chance to hype the event losing viewers and losing free marketing time.

Again I'm calling it bogus unless it's a small showcase before the big one or because they want to announce that Hellbalde 2 is also coming on PS5.

SlothLordPootus10h ago

As far as I can remember, they typically give a week heads up for these sorts of things.

Lightning7710h ago

I was about to say Sony always gives a week in advance for their show.

VersusDMC10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Last year it was a weeks notice.

https://blog.playstation.co...

May 17th announcement for may 24th show.

VersusDMC9h ago

Nintendo always tweets that a direct is happening tomorrow but no one cares.

Sony gives a week or days of notice and we get anti sony type fake outrage like this.

But good luck trying trying to get some Sony hate going...

Petebloodyonion9h ago

You just mention it!
Sony gives a week in advance NOT just a couple of days.
So I fail to see what Sony's hate movement I'm trying to start when it's a basic business strategy to not piss off your partners (ask Sega).
And I doubt it's hate to ask how it would benefit Sony in doing so.

thesoftware7309h ago(Edited 9h ago)

@Versus
Huh? What?

Bro you really should relax, if what you read was some kinda negative against Sony.... seriously, is that what you got from the comments?

Bro, he was debunking the rumor, and gave perfectly good reasons why it would be unlikely, and your Nintendo Direct comparison is different, as this is supposed to be a BIG Sony showcase, not a surprise 20 min direct, and Sony 's pattern has been one week.

Slow down warmonger.

VersusDMC8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

@thesoftware730

"1) It would piss off their media partners (IGN, Gamespot, Edge, etc.) since they would have to allocate resources fast to cover the event."

That is implying Sony is preventing them from doing their job properly therefore negatively affecting their business...but i guess that's a reach in your mind?

And it's not like they need that many resources to cover the stream. They just need 3 people to react to the stream live and make some easy articles made up mostly of summaries of Sony provided press releases. They would have enough time to "prepare" if it was announced with one days notice.

Petebloodyonion7h ago

@Versus
" That is implying Sony is preventing them from doing their job properly therefore negatively affecting their business...but i guess that's a reach in your mind"

No, it simply implies that some media all over the world might (keyword MIGHT) not properly cover the event like having proper articles for each game announced, or having a proper preshow. maybe some popular YouTubers won't have time to prepare or simply your local newspaper doing an article on tech and game.

So why would Sony take a chance?
What benefit would that give them?

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 7h ago
Petebloodyonion9h ago

Before I get tons of replies for Sony given a week in advance, my initial comments are related to the notion that the Show could happen this week as the title mentions.
Now to be fair the complete article mentions that Jeff said the Show could happen later in May giving time for Sony to give the normal 7-day notice.

Again not trying to start a negative thing here just thinking that it's bogus that Sony will have a show this week

notachance8h ago

Yeah as much as I’d like to hear what sony’s 1st parties have cooked, it’s not their style to shadow drop a showcase.

Still waiting for ghost of tsushima 2, I’m ready whenever man..

KwietStorm_BLM4h ago

You're assuming media outlets don't know about it.

gold_drake1h ago

i can tell you that no one cares if ign is pissed or not.

watching a livestream and writing stuff aint the world. many habe done that before your god ign.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
9h ago
Hofstaderman8h ago

Going in with no expectations but likely will see something that resonates with me.

DeadlyFire3h ago

Nah they will announce it probably, but it won't happen right away soon though yes.

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