Game News 2.0

CatInABox

Poland has launched an investigation into digital game stores for anti-competitive practices. They specifically mention Playstation Store and Steam, but also say that they have looked at three "entrepreneurs".

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/polish-regulators-to-investigate-ps-store-and-steam-for-anti-competitive-practices

Not sure if anyone else was following the ABK purchase by MS, but the trial over in the states sure threw up some serious concerns about Sonys behaviour, so I'm unsurprised at this news. Good chance MS are being investigated as well, I assume anyway.

Mr Crispy

Another F2P third person actioner has been cancelled by a big studio (following on from the announcement that Remedy were scrapping the Control spin-off yoke).

https://twitter.com/shinobi602/status/1790782808249573851

Heartland never made sense to me anyway, given that they were already also working on the full-blown Division 3.

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122142556#Comment_122142556

Yeah i was looking forward to heartland as I'm a big fan of The Division but then i remembered The Division 3 is in development so heartland is pretty pointless.

Zero-Cool

This is over game i really really hope xbox decide to release on playstation as well. So far, only slatted for xbox and pc.

https://twitter.com/shinobi602/status/1790761493958455333?t=Et14u97ZmzyxBCDHYYLpAQ&s=19

PixelPlayer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122143347#Comment_122143347

This has surprise hit that didn't make enough money written all over it. I.e. looks like it's going to be great.

johnny_ultimate

Bizarre stuff: Zelnick denying Take Two is closing Roll7 and Intercept Games, despite a bunch of documentation indicating they are closing Roll7 and Intercept Games.

https://www.ign.com/articles/take-two-ceo-on-intercept-roll7-we-didnt-shutter-those-studios

Mr Crispy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122147614#Comment_122147614

Just about to post that. Bizarre indeed, but not dissimilar to previous behaviour from them;

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1791221008470278554

Meanwhile, there's a new Activision studio afoot, surely to work on Call of D… WTF? A brand new franchise? You okay Activision?

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/new-activision-studio-established-to-develop-a-brand-new-franchise/

Seriously though, the timing of an announcement like this when MS announced lay-offs at four other studios last week is tone deaf at best.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122147621#Comment_122147621

Have they shut the other studios and rehired all the best guys in this new studio?

PixelPlayer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122147621#Comment_122147621

Whatever they are working on we can now say with absolute certainty it will be a GaaS MT laden pocket money hoarding cash cow.

johnny_ultimate

Microsoft reportedly indeed playing their Game Pass trump card and putting Call of Duty on there, Wall Street Journal reports:

https://www.wsj.com/tech/microsoft-call-of-duty-game-pass-53e8930c?st=mpus38wrzmiye0r

PixelPlayer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122149816#Comment_122149816

Bold move. I don't mean to be overly dramatic but I really do think the service would be unviable if they don't.

Also, They've really got to deal with their leak problem 😁

Potential-Monke

I can foresee a Gamepass edition of CoD, something close to the paid release but maybe missing a thing or two, maybe like Zombies being a paid DLC at a discount for GP members. I can't see them giving the campaign, zombies and MP "free".

Also, maybe the leak is deliberate to gauge feedback, see how the news is taken, and change the plan accordingly.

Mitch Connor

Wonder if they will just to a 'early' release for pre-bookers. So you can pay full price to play it early on PS5, or pay a reduced price to play it early on XBOX (plus DLC packs or something)

Its what they did with Forza and Starfield. the base game 'free' on release day, early access and DLC as an upsell.

Grumpypants

COD makes multiples on their live service as they do on sales. To the point where making a new game every year is slowly becoming less financially beneficial to do so and actually going free to play and dropping a few studios from the cycle is not a million miles away.

johnny_ultimate

I think there's three types of people who'll really benefit from CoD on Game Pass:

1. People who play CoD and already have Game Pass and now don't have to pay 70 quid for the game
2. People who play the new CoD for a month or two and are happy to pay for a month or two subscription to play the game
3. People for whom Call of Duty shifts the needle for Game Pass and they now subscribe

First two lose Microsoft money overall, through lost sales. The third makes them money. It'll be interesting if we get any data about how many subscriptions this potentially drives.

I'd be surprised if it moves the console needle though, as the game will still be available as normal on PS5 and PC. And for a casual player who might only buy CoD as their one game a year, a subscription is a terrible value proposition compared to just buying it outright (though there might be a few who'll actually dip their toes in the non-CoD Game Pass pool, as they should!)

Also would not rule out a price hike for Game Pass - maybe not before CoD drops, but certainly afterwards.

PixelPlayer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122150233#Comment_122150233

In all 3 scenarios they make money on cosmetics and battle passes. The perceived deception of game pass that you didn't pay for the game so you're free to spend money on in game transactions.

Potential-Monke

In reverse news, F2P MT laden early access game Wayfinder is ditching the F2P model, removing all MTs and making the game a paid co-op rpg. A move some other live service games should do, and while I know nothing of this game nor will I due to the co-op requirement, I hope this works out as it may pave the way for less live service games. Imagine what SSKTJL could have been if it wasn't MT focused.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/wayfinder-is-ditching-its-free-to-play-live-service-model-to-become-a-paid-co-op-rpg-without-microtransactions

martyos121

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122150233#Comment_122150233

It’s more of a big-picture decision rather than just relying on a boost in subs though. It’s a move that aims to make the entire Microsoft/Xbox ecosystem a more attractive option than their competitors.

And I think it absolutely does move the needle when it comes to console sales too. It might not get current PS5 owners to switch over immediately, but it does give the COD players a decision to make if Microsoft release something to compete with the PS5 Pro, and if not, for the next generation at least. Selling consoles with a free three months of Gamepass included is suddenly a much more attractive prospect, because it can so easily be advertised as giving COD away for free with the console and it wouldn’t be a complete lie.

The shortfall resulting from the lost game sales would be more than made up for it in the grander scheme of things IMO.

PixelPlayer

Wouldn't it need to be more than just the game on offer on GP? Let's assume most people are paying full price for GP. That is €120 a year. If all you really care about is COD and maybe only pick up the odd game here and there outside.of COD, then it's better value to buy the game.

They're no allowed to have exclusivity, but I wonder have they found something to offer that will be GP only? Are cosmetics considered exclusivity? If not then I think they will probably offer some skins and weapon bundles available on GP only. Some free, others paid for. I can't think of anything else that would make a COD player switch to GP if they do not already use GP.

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122153964#Comment_122153964

Depends on how heavily they spend on mtx, you get a discount on dlc and igc for all games in Game Pass. If you're buying €20 of CoD points a month for cosmetics and the battle pass will save an additional €24 a year.

Buy enough and you'll break even but you'd have to be a massive whale to do so.

CastorTroy

Wouldn't CoD only players still need to pay for online so I guess it works out cheaper for them to pay for Gamepass ultimate? Not sure what live and CoD would normally go for.

Varik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122154343#Comment_122154343

The person playing year round and buying each new one straight away might save unless tempted to buy mtx they wouldn't normally have, but they'd get more for the more casual people. People who skip games or don't sub for the live/essential year round.

Then you've got the warzone players who don't need to buy anything or pay for any subscription.

CatInABox

Dublin based Keywords Studios is being pursued by a Swedish equity group, with the latest of several offers being €2.2 billion.

Pretty impressive, seeing as I never heard of them. They are based out in Leopardstown, and seem to be an outsourcing house for other studios, doing testing, art, some development, etc.

They do seem to be another house that has decided to expand through acquisitions, so I'd be wary if I was employed by them. If be overjoyed if I was a stockholder though, 70% above asking is a good return

https://www.ft.com/content/75886c5a-0f4f-4573-8844-a62efd518a68

Sorry for paywall article.

RedXIV

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159487#Comment_122159487

Keywords are not in any hurry to be bought I imagine, they've set themselves up really well as a localisation studio initially and been using their hooks there to offer ancillary services, like testing you mentioned before. I worked there before they got big and to be fair, they've been smart on what they've done, they've generally got people in on contract before considering whether or not they are a fit for permanent staffing, and as a result they've got a really strong team in there and some of the management have been poached from other publishers/developers as well.

They've offices around the world now too, they really are a great example of an Irish success story so I hope they do right by themselves. Can't believe they got referenced as "UK" as well though :D we get to keep nothing!

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159487#Comment_122159487

Mr Gorbachev tear down this (pay)wall.

https://archive.is/k3sMF

PixelPlayer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159651#Comment_122159651

UK listed means they are on the FTSE UK stock exchange, not that they are located in the UK.

RedXIV

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122160552#Comment_122160552

ahhhhh apologies and good catch!

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122151676#Comment_122151676

The studio heads there were on the latest Friends Per Second podcast talking about this.

( and there is also an interview witht he Hellblade studio, where the studio head tries to sidestep the issues with MS right now….)

ChicoCannon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122122090#Comment_122122090

This wouldn't be new, it depends on the type of ad of course. Rainbow 6 Vegas (I think the first one) used to have billboards and posters for AXE deodrant which i believe is Lynx over there, very random one, sony also like to brand a lot of things in their own games and have done it many times, TVs, CD Players old consoles etc….

johnny_ultimate

Token arcade bar in Dublin closing on June 16th.
https://www.facebook.com/TokenDublin/posts/pfbid02zrwzW8GqBNjEzPnSuwBkbf5x8pZMCdUCy42tcjcbzC5Z55nQcdWp775zAZngUfMjl

"Though often fully booked, we can’t justify raising prices further to meet rising costs. This may not be the end of Token, just our Smithfield chapter. We’ll take a long break and keep an eye out for new opportunities."

Been there many times and while it certainly wasn't a perfect space, Dublin city centre was definitely better off with a venue like it.