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Activision shake-up continues with closure of studio behind Blast Works, Guitar Hero ports, trimming of California QA team; 88 positions impacted.
After finding instant success with the acquisition of Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane in 2006, Activision went on a spending spree of sorts. The publisher picked up Bizarre Creations in 2007 to jump-start its efforts to establish a presence in the racing genre, and purchased Blast Works developer Budcat in 2008 for its work on the Guitar Hero franchise and Nintendo platforms.
The publisher is apparently enduring some buyer’s remorse, as Activision confirmed for GameSpot today that it is considering selling Bizarre, and has outright closed Budcat.
“We continue to streamline our music development resources to ensure that they are aligned against our slate and strategic goals,” the company statement reads. “As a result, we are implementing a targeted reduction in jobs in our Quality Assurance team in California and closing our Budcat studio in Iowa. Budcat has been a great partner to Activision and has created a lasting impact on the Guitar Hero franchise.
“Approximately 88 positions, or approximately 1 percent of our global workforce, will be impacted by these reductions,” the statement continued. “We are working to redirect those employees that are impacted to other parts of the company where possible, as well as offering them outplacement counseling services.”
Budcat already had a working relationship with Activision before being acquired by the publisher, having developed the PlayStation 2 ports of Guitar Hero games like World Tour, Legends of Rock, and the Aerosmith-dedicated spin-off. Beyond that, the developer had worked on ports for the Madden NFL series and Psychonauts, as well as original titles like New York Times Crosswords on the DS and Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy on the Wii.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Budcat put down” was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:53:00 -0800 -
Activision shake-up continues with closure of studio behind Blast Works, Guitar Hero ports, trimming of California QA team; 88 positions impacted.
After finding instant success with the acquisition of Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane in 2006, Activision went on a spending spree of sorts. The publisher picked up Bizarre Creations in 2007 to jump-start its efforts to establish a presence in the racing genre and purchased Blast Works developer Budcat in 2008 for its work on the Guitar Hero franchise and Nintendo platforms.
The publisher is apparently enduring some buyer’s remorse, as Activision confirmed for GameSpot today that it is considering selling Bizarre and has outright closed Budcat.
“We continue to streamline our music development resources to ensure that they are aligned against our slate and strategic goals,” the company statement reads. “As a result, we are implementing a targeted reduction in jobs in our Quality Assurance team in California and closing our Budcat studio in Iowa. Budcat has been a great partner to Activision and has created a lasting impact on the Guitar Hero franchise.
“Approximately 88 positions, or approximately 1 percent of our global workforce, will be impacted by these reductions,” the statement continued. “We are working to redirect those employees that are impacted to other parts of the company where possible, as well as offering them outplacement counseling services.”
Budcat already had a working relationship with Activision before being acquired by the publisher, having developed the PlayStation 2 ports of Guitar Hero games like World Tour, Legends of Rock, and the Aerosmith-dedicated spin-off. Beyond that, the developer had worked on ports for the Madden NFL series and Psychonauts, as well as original titles like New York Times Crosswords on the DS and Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy on the Wii.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Budcat put down” was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:53:00 -0800 -
2K Sports’ annual basketball sim boosts software sales to positive gains, but overall industry sales slip 4% to $1.07B; Fallout: New Vegas on 360 top software SKU with 692,000.
2010’s game industry sales contractions have officially carried over into October. Today, the NPD Group released its October 2010 US retail sales report, and the results show a 4 percent year-over-year decline in total industry sales. New console, portable, and PC game sales combined with hardware and accessory sales to bring in $1.07 billion.
October’s declines can primarily be attributed to a substantial shrinkage in the console and handheld market. Though NPD no longer issues unit sales figures, the industry stat-tracking firm did say that console and handheld hardware sales contracted 26 percent during the month to $280 million. According to NPD, the DS topped the hardware sales chart during the month, but the Xbox 360 was the only system to grow its sales over last October.
As of press time, Microsoft is the only hardware manufacturer to promote its system’s performance during the month, saying the Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in October with 325,000 consoles sold. The software giant noted that the Xbox 360 is now officially the best-selling console in the US thus far in 2010, having sold 3.5 million units to date. (The handheld DS remains the best-selling hardware in 2010.)
The software side of the story could be considered a happier one, even if October’s figures fell well shy of analysts rosy growth projections. New console and hardware sales accounted for $605 million of the month’s total, a 6 percent rise from last year.
Capitalizing on EA Sports’ decision to bench NBA Elite 11, 2K Sports took home the sales crown for top-selling multiplatform title in October with NBA 2K11. In fact, sports titles proved to be the most popular genre on the chart, with FIFA Soccer 11, Madden NFL 11, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 securing the eighth, ninth, and 10th slots.
Bethesda Softworks has already touted Fallout: New Vegas’ 5 million-units-shipped milestone, and NPD also declared the game a sales winner. Achieving second place on the multiplatform chart, New Vegas also boasted the top-selling single SKU title during the month, with the Xbox 360 version selling 679,000 units, according to NPD.
EA’s Medal of Honor was the third best-selling game during the month, followed by fellow October releases of Fable III (fourth), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (fifth), and Just Dance 2 (seventh). Rounding out the list was September’s chart-topper, Halo: Reach, for the Xbox 360.
The dramatic rise and fall of the rhythm game genre has played a large role in the continued year-over-year US game industry sales declines. As such, NPD specifically called out the performance of this year’s biggest new entry in the genre, Rock Band 3.
“Rock Band 3 was the 15th best-selling game at the title level (across platforms) for the month of October,” commented NPD analyst Anita Frazier. “Note that this title was launched on Oct. 26, which only represents a few days in our October sales data. Based on solid reviews, this game has the potential to perform well over the holidays.”
OCTOBER 2010 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total: $1.07 billion (-4%)
Non-PC total: $1.03 billion (-4%)
Non-PC hardware: $280 million (-26%)
Non-PC software: $605 million (+6%)
Accessories: $142 million (+18%)TOP 10 GAMES
Title (Platforms) – Publisher
1. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PS2, PSP, WII, PC) – 2K Sports
2. Fallout: New Vegas (360, PS3, PC) – Bethesda Softworks
3. Medal of Honor (360, PS3, PC) – Electronic Arts
4. Fable III (360) – Microsoft
5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (360, PS3, WII, PC, DS) – LucasArts
6. Halo: Reach (360) – Microsoft
7. Just Dance 2 (WII) – Ubisoft
8. FIFA Soccer 11 (PS3, 360, WII, PS2, PSP, DS, PC) – Electronic Arts
9. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP) – Electronic Arts
10. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 (PS3, 360, PS2, WII, PSP) – THQRead and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“October software rebounds on NBA 2K11 – NPD” was posted by Tom Magrino on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:59:11 -0800 -
2K Sports’ annual basketball sim boosts software sales to positive gains, but overall industry sales slip 4% to $1.07B; Fallout: New Vegas on 360 top software SKU with 692,000.
2010’s game industry sales contractions have officially carried over into October. Today, the NPD Group released its October 2010 US retail sales report, and the results show a 4 percent year-over-year decline in total industry sales. New console, portable, and PC game sales combined with hardware and accessory sales to bring in $1.07 billion.
October’s declines can primarily be attributed to a substantial shrinkage in the console and handheld market. Though NPD no longer issues unit sales figures, the industry stat-tracking firm did say that console and handheld hardware sales contracted 26 percent during the month to $280 million. According to NPD, the DS topped the hardware sales chart during the month, but the Xbox 360 was the only system to grow its sales over last October.
As of press time, Microsoft is the only hardware manufacturer to promote its system’s performance during the month, saying the Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in October with 325,000 consoles sold. The software giant noted that the Xbox 360 is now officially the best-selling console in the US thus far in 2010, having sold 3.5 million units to date. (The handheld DS remains the best-selling hardware in 2010.)
The software side of the story could be considered a happier one, even if October’s figures fell well shy of analysts rosy growth projections. New console and hardware sales accounted for $605 million of the month’s total, a 6 percent rise from last year.
Capitalizing on EA Sports’ decision to bench NBA Elite 11, 2K Sports took home the sales crown for top-selling multiplatform title in October with NBA 2K11. In fact, sports titles proved to be the most popular genre on the chart, with FIFA Soccer 11, Madden NFL 11, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 securing the eighth, ninth, and 10th slots.
Bethesda Softworks has already touted Fallout: New Vegas’ 5 million-units-shipped milestone, and NPD also declared the game a sales winner. Achieving second place on the multiplatform chart, New Vegas also boasted the top-selling single SKU title during the month, with the Xbox 360 version selling 679,000 units, according to NPD.
EA’s Medal of Honor was the third best-selling game during the month, followed by fellow October releases of Fable III (fourth), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (fifth), and Just Dance 2 (seventh). Rounding out the list was September’s chart-topper, Halo: Reach, for the Xbox 360.
The dramatic rise and fall of the rhythm game genre has played a large role in the continued year-over-year US game industry sales declines. As such, NPD specifically called out the performance of this year’s biggest new entry in the genre, Rock Band 3.
“Rock Band 3 was the 15th best selling game at the title level (across platforms) for the month of October,” commented NPD analyst Anita Frazier. “Note that this title was launched on Oct. 26, which only represents a few days in our October sales data. Based on solid reviews, this game has the potential to perform well over the holidays.”
OCTOBER 2010 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total: $1.07 billion (-4%)
Non-PC total: $1.03 billion (-4%)
Non-PC hardware: $280 million (-26%)
Non-PC software: $605 million (+6%)
Accessories: $142 million (+18%)TOP 10 GAMES
Title (Platforms) – Publisher
1. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PS2, PSP, WII, PC) – 2K Sports
2. Fallout: New Vegas (360, PS3, PC) – Bethesda Softworks
3. Medal of Honor (360, PS3, PC) – Electronic Arts
4. Fable III (360) – Microsoft
5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (360, PS3, WII, PC, DS) – LucasArts
6. Halo: Reach (360) – Microsoft
7. Just Dance 2 (Wii) – Ubisoft
8. FIFA Soccer 11 (PS3, 360, WII, PS2, PSP, DS, PC) – Electronic Arts
9. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP) – Electronic Arts
10. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 (PS3, 360, PS2, WII, PSP) – THQRead and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“October software rebounds on NBA 2K11 – NPD” was posted by Tom Magrino on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:59:11 -0800 -
Strong US showing for Rock Band 3 too.
NBA 2K11 and Fallout: New Vegas were the biggest sellers in the US last month, according to data released by the NPD Group today.
2K Sports’ basketball sim NBA 2K11 topped the charts for the month of October, with Bethesda’s action RPG Fallout: New Vegas taking second spot.
Medal of Honor debuted at three, just ahead of Fable III and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.
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