180°

Activision and Sony to re-think UK industry support

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has warned that the company will cease to invest in the UK should the government fail to provide incentives or tax relief to the games industry.

Darkstorn5090d ago

Strange that the publishers are calling for tax relief, as they are the ones raking in all of the profits these days. I say only give incentives to developers; the publishers are doing just fine.

ChronoJoe5090d ago

Should be only independent developers.

Developers like Studio Liverpool (no longer really exists but it's the only UK based studio from Sony I could think of), and most of those under Activision, or Sony. Don't need the tax breaks.

You know, if the UK Government was nicer on this type of thing. Haze probably wouldn't suck, and we'd probably all be playing Time Splitters 4 and Starwars Battlefront 3 by now.

sikbeta5090d ago

Hmmm... Publishers Want MORE Money, The Clear Example is Activsion, a Publisher that Buy Studios with "Innovative"/New IPs, Milk the Hell out of them and then get rid of the Studios, like they did With Red-Octane and the Guitar Hero IP/Franchise...

Bigpappy5090d ago

This will help UK to keep and develop more talent. It could grow the industry in UK.

Anon19745090d ago

I know Canada offers all sorts of tax breaks for video game companies to move their business here. When you can develop a game pretty much anywhere, you go where you can balance the talent required and keep the costs of production down.

I'm currently in Alberta taking a game programming program. In my class I have a programmer from the UK that brought his talent here because, according to him, Canada pays their game developers more than they do in the UK, and the cost of living is much lower.

If the UK doesn't do something when others clearly are willing to support the industry they can expect to lose not only companies willing to make games in their country, but the talent to make those games.

Lucreto5090d ago

They should go to Ireland. They have a low corporation tax rate and a excellent IT Infrastructure.

Also last year there was talk of giving a tax break to developers.

Realtime worlds threatened to move and Bioware is opening in Ireland now.

ReBurn5090d ago

Yep. Amazon has a lot of their EC2 cloud infrastructure there. Great environment for IT.

AliTheBrit195090d ago

Such a shame that my Government doesnt truly recognise how important our industry is

Britain without a doubt produces the best games, but hey I'm going to say that, some amazing series, games and developers that have emerged from the UK:

- Grand Theft Auto Series (Rockstar North)
- Burnout Series (Criterion Games)
- Fable Series (Lionhead Studios)
- LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)
- Total War Series (The Creative Assembly)
- Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)
- TimeSplitters (Free Radical Design/Crytek UK)
- Perfect Dark (Rare)
- Operation Flashpoint (Codemasters)

And those are just off the top of my head, probably missing some gems.

BBAM5090d ago

I get my British pride in great games that come from my homeland. I don't want to see that drizzle away because the Government can't budget the country properly. They should rethink with abit more common sense instead of just blaming the state of the economy on Labour even though they did what needed to be done to stop us going from a reccession to a depression.

fOrlOnhOpe575090d ago

to that list too. Sorry Bobby, but it looks like the UK industry may be a prime victim if we're getting the 'belt tightening' treatment for the next five years.
A really sad waste.

5090d ago
BBAM5090d ago

It's pathetic that they went back on their promise. "Same old tories".
The gaming industry is an important export for the UK and gaming companies threatened to outsource to places like France and Canada if there wasn't a tax relief offered similar to what's offered elsewhere.
Not surprised at this news at all. Just extremely pissed off about it.
Not just for the negative effects it'll have on the economy, not just for the negative effects it'll have on the games produced in the UK but also because of the amount of jobs that will be lost as a result of this.

Mann summers5090d ago

lol, nice one
Labour systematically brings the UK economy to its knees over the last 13 years or so and just before the general election, goes around promising tax breaks and funding for all kinds of projects that as a country, we simply can't afford and they knew we couldn't afford. Then when the figures are finally revealed you want to blame the conservatives for being the one that have to try and sort this shit out???
A couple of points,
Only Labour knew the full extent of how bad the level of debt was in this country and they weren't telling, only after the lib dems/cons actually got access to the books after coming to power did they understand it was a lot worse than they had feared, Liam Byrne leaving the infamous "there's nothing left" at the treasury. ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/p...
Gordon brown never attributed the the "good times" with global growth, but was quick enough to pin "Global" in front of "Recession" whenever he could. Sad truth is that even during these times of growth, Britain still had substantial levels of debt, although substantial is now massive.
Please don't blame the tories for the shit that we (as a county) are in. By all means blame them for anything else they do whilst they are in power but not the fact that they are faced with the rather unenviable and (lets face it) thankless task of trying to sort out this country's financial state.
Right, now to find some gaming news.

BBAM5089d ago

I'm blaming them for the inevitable dissolve of the UK gaming industry and in agreement with all the Gaming publishers and developers that the Tories are going about the budget in regards to the promised tax relief completely wrong.

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200°

Sony shares big new PS Plus stat, but not the one we want to see

PlayStation Plus has improved the split of PS4 and PS5 players on its priciest tiers, but Sony continues to hide total subscriber numbers.

Read Full Story >>
theloadout.com
mandf5d ago

lol acting like it’s equivalent to ms numbers

Mr Logic5d ago

Uh...They're definitely not equivalent.

"Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service now has 34 million subscribers."

"the total number of PS Plus subscribers across all tiers was 47.4 million"

darthv725d ago (Edited 5d ago )

That PSN number seems like it should be much higher... especially when you consider that PS4 alone has a sell through of over 117m. To not even be at least half that is rather interesting.

To the XB side, having 34m to an install base of roughly 50m (XBO sell through) or even 85m (360 sell through) is a greater percentage of unit to member ratio than PSN.

bloop5d ago

That's not the "gotcha" you think it is Darth.

darthv725d ago

^^it's not supposed to be bloop.... it's just an interesting observation.

Einhander19725d ago

darthv72

"That PSN number seems like it should be much higher... especially when you consider that PS4 alone has a sell through of over 117m. To not even be at least half that is rather interesting.

To the XB side, having 34m to an install base of roughly 50m (XBO sell through) or even 85m (360 sell through) is a greater percentage of unit to member ratio than PSN."

Have you ever heard of a PC before? I hear they are pretty popular.

fr0sty4d ago

MS started lumping gold subscribers in with those GP numbers... keep in mind.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
shinoff21835d ago (Edited 5d ago )

What. Definitely more os plus subscribers but that makes sense due to actual console sales

Darth the difference between the bases are huge your right but you gotta think. Ps players buy more games, where as the Xbox base relies on gamepass for their gaming. So it makes perfect sense

darthv725d ago (Edited 5d ago )

What makes perfect sense though? You say PS players buy more games... so then logically there should be more PS+ subscribers given the increased number of online multiplayer games in the PS4 generation alone. The PS4 was the first time that + was required for online play much like Gold was for 360 users.

Keep in mind we are talking subscribers, not simply XB/PS users. I assume you meant to say offline single player games, which is most likely true as well. That gen also saw a significant increase in games with an online component comparted to the previous gen.

victorMaje5d ago

I for one will be going back to essential at the next renewal. When I feel a game is good & right up my alley, I’ll check trusted reviews & just buy it.

jznrpg5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I have the top tier until 2028 as they gave me a massive discount for all the years I had left but I’ll most likely go to essential as well. I buy my games but my kids do use the service occasionally. They do prefer to own their games as well since any game can leave the rental service at some point and they don’t like that idea. They mostly use it to demo games then ask me to buy games if they really like it.

RedDevils5d ago

For me, I will cancel it all together but unfortunately I still have it till 2030 lol

meganick5d ago

I would like to see Sony add a fourth tier of PS Plus for people who just want to be able to play games online without any of the perks like monthly games, store discounts, or anything like that, and it should cost $20 annually, $30 maximum. There’s no way I’m paying $80 just to play games online. Even the original $60 fee was too much, and I would often wait for sales to re-up my subscription.

P_Bomb5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

Essential is too expensive, I agree. We’ve got one Essential and one Premium sub. Dropping the Premium when it expires.

gamerz4d ago

Just let my subscription lapse for the first time since 2010. Will sub again every now and then for a month or so to access my old ps+ games but for me it's the end of an era.

DivineHand1254d ago

Let those numbers continue to drop because it is now too expensive. $80 per year just to play online. I noticed they didn't offer any discounts on the subscription or controllers during this year's days of play for the first time in many years and they will feel it when people choose not to renew.

My subscription will lapse next month and it will stay that way until further notice.

KevtheDuff4d ago

There were savings on subs and controllers here in the UK? I bought a controller yesterday in the sale..
It would be weird if those deals were not in other territories too?

80°

Cheat Provider To Pay Call Of Duty Creator Activision Nearly $15M In Damages

Cheat software provider EngineOwning will pay Call of Duty creator Activision nearly $15 million in damages and legal fees.

Read Full Story >>
twistedvoxel.com
Jin_Sakai6d ago

Cheat providers for competitive games should be illegal.

Rynxie6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

This is what developers and manufacturers should do. I know going after cheat devices/makers is a cat and mouse game, and cost money. However, they can get that money back by sueing these manufacturers of cheat devices. Take a page from Nintendo's playbook.

300°

Sony Says The PS5 Is Its “Most Profitable Generation To-Date"

During Sony’s recent business segment meeting and investor presentation regarding its game and network services, the PlayStation company revealed that PlayStation 5 is the company’s “most profitable generation to-date.”

It’s the top slide of the presentation, showing that in its first four years, the PS5 generation has already hit $106 billion in sales, having almost caught up to the PS4’s total $107 billion generated.

Operating income for the PS5 generation has also already surpassed that of the PS4, having now reached $10 billion.

ApocalypseShadow7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

I wouldn't doubt it. They released a high quality system. A lot of high quality games from themselves and their support of 3rd party developers and indies. They released many high quality remakes and remasters. They released a high quality GaaS game going against the naysayers thinking Sony would abandon single player games. And they most likely are profiting a lot more than PS1, PS2 PS4 and the loss leading PS3 that drained all their profits.

Now, I'll wait to see what's cooking tomorrow. But can you use some of those profits to better support your high quality VR headset? Because, by supporting it, you can sell more games and more systems and make more profits?

jznrpg7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

I want RPGs for PSVR2! Good ones of course

shinoff21836d ago

If it had some rpgs I would buy right fking now. It looks dope and alot of fun, but it's biggest game resident evil 4(maybe) I've got no interest in. I'm not a fan of racing games, even with that metro game coming i was never much into that series. Rpgs would be fantastic.

MrNinosan6d ago

Lemme know if ya wanna play some Zenith 🙌
Bought it at release, but haven't played it more than 1-2 hours but for sure on my "todo list".

Cacabunga6d ago

Normal when they released mostly cross gen games so far. That’s a lot of money saved..
We haven’t seen what PS5 can do yet. 4years in and PS4 games still look great to me. The gen leap isn’t quite there yet.

--Onilink--6d ago

The interesting metric for me is the $106billion in operating income/profit (not sales as mentioned in the article) reaching the same as the PS4 did with only half the consoles sold.

In particular because they all are supposed to be making the most per hardware sold after a few years when manufacturing costs are down.

So even putting inflation aside(and the higher console price), it is interesting that they could reach PS4 $ with just half the consoles sold.

Maybe there is more to the metric thats whats seen at face value, but they have clearly been making a lot more money than before on the software side (with also less games released I suppose, given its only been half the generation so far)

VersusDMC6d ago

The bulk of the money has to be coming from the 30% cut on all games and microtransactions. Especially on all the free to play juggernauts like genshin, apex, fortnight, etc.

--Onilink--6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

@Versus

They are definitely making a lot on that for sure (which the $70 price increase factors into as well), but its not like many of those games werent around for the PS4 too.

They might be counting the gen as a whole and not just PS5 itself (so extra profit from PC sales, whatever that may be)

PS+ price increase and different tiers probably amount to part of that too.

But in general, its still quite a surprising metric. Half the time, half the consoles sold, less first party games released so far and still already making more of a profit than last gen is quite something, and as mentioned, there is probably more to it that we dont know, after all, since we are talking about operating income, all the expenses they have also factor into it, so it is also possible that they have found ways to significantly reduce that + all the means of increased revenue that appear to be factoring into the equation

All in all, just an interesting situation from a business perspective

porkChop6d ago

It's for the whole generation, so it would likely be including PC. They also make much more profit on digital sales vs retail, and digital is far more prominent these days. The generation also started at the height of COVID when everyone was home, spending far more money on gaming/hobbies. It makes a lot of sense for this gen to be more profitable.

Abnor_Mal7d ago

This will surely shut up all the new trolling accounts trying to spread lies and non facts in other articles comment sections before this article is posted.

Hofstaderman6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Obscurely, those trolls or troll will not show in these articles as the truth is contradictory to his or their orchard-sized daily dose of copium and hopium.

Tacoboto6d ago

Or... They're intentionally trolling you guys specifically. Because they know it upsets you so easily.

Name-dropping Orchard, after this many months? How long has it been and he's still in your thoughts?

Elda6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

I'm quite sure the individual is reading these positive comments downvoting & seething at the same time. Edit: It just downvoted my comment...lol!!

Hofstaderman6d ago

No I'm entertained by this individual. I love unhinged people, they are so interesting lol.

repsahj6d ago

Wow! I am super impressed that in just 4 years, ps5 already caught up to the PS4's. Congratulations.

JackBNimble6d ago

That happens when half of your games are cross platform. I'm still waiting to see what the ps5 is capable of, because they sure haven't pushed any limits.

And where are all these ps5 exclusive games?

sagapo6d ago

Not really surprised as Sony barely has any competition at the moment.

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