GamingShogunDavid Haddad Named Senior VP of Digital Publishing for Warner Bros. Interactive
BURBANK, Calif. May 9, 2013 – Games Industry Veteran David Haddad has been named Senior Vice President, Digital Publishing, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, it was announced today by Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Haddad will oversee the global publishing business of the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s digital games business, which includes Light Persistent World, Massively Multiplayer Online, Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, Free-To-Play PC and other digitally distributed games. He will also be responsible for identifying and evaluating new business opportunities in the digital games space and will manage virtual merchandise sales as well as in-game advertising and product placement…
Disney and EA Both Release Statements on Star Wars Deal
IN addition to the official news release regarding Disney and EA signing a multi-year Star Wars game agreement, each party has released additional info and reactions. Check them out below: From EA’s Frank Gibeau: “The Force is strong with this one.” I love that line. It instantly transports me back to my childhood, to an epic world that had a powerful influence on my life. Like hundreds of millions of people, I am a true believer – someone who can’t get enough of the story, the culture, and the ethos of Star Wars. Today, The Walt Disney Company has announced…
Disney and EA Sign Multi-Year Star Wars Games Deal
BURBANK & REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced a new multi-year exclusive licensing agreement to develop and publish globally new games based on Star Wars characters and storylines. Under the agreement, EA will develop and publish new Star Wars titles for a core gaming audience, spanning all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres, while Disney will retain certain rights to develop new titles within the mobile, social, tablet and online game categories. “This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to…
The ESA Applauds USTR for International Copyright Protection
May 1, 2013 – WASHINGTON, DC – The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today released its annual “Special 301” Report, in which it highlighted shortcomings in copyright protection and/or market access for U.S. copyrights in more than 40 countries and territories by assigning them to the Priority Watch List or Watch List, launching reviews, and in the case of Ukraine designating it a “Priority Foreign Country.” The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) applauded these decisions and other country placements which follows recommendations made by it and other industries that depend on strong intellectual property protection and enforcement. “Protecting…
Madden Breach of Contract Case Heading to Trial
San Francisco, Calif. – After more than two years of legal maneuvering by Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), a California federal judge has denied EA’s final attempt to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Robin Antonick, who, according to the lawsuit, was the original designer and developer of its best-selling video-game Madden NFL. Antonick is seeking millions in allegedly unpaid royalties, punitive damages and disgorgement of all profits arising from the $5 billion Madden NFL franchise and related sports videogames, according to court filings. The case will now proceed to a trial, scheduled to begin on June 17, 2013. Antonick, according to…
2K Games Will Not Have E3 2013 Booth
On its forums today, 2K Games Ronnie Singh announced that the company would not have a booth at this year’s E3 expo. Forum Post: At 2K, we’re excited for the new opportunities coming with the next generation of hardware, and are hard at work preparing our announced titles for release. While 2K will not have a booth on the show floor at this year’s E3 conference, we will have a lot of great news coming your way this spring. Our slate of titles coming this year include highly anticipated games like Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World, XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iOS,…
Nintendo Clarifies its E3 2013 Plans
Early this morning, bleary-eyed gamers were surprised to see that Nintendo president Iwata said the company would be skipping out of the E3 press conference war. Today, however, Nintendo of America’s SDCC, Charlie Scibetta, has issued a statement clearing up the company’s plan for the yearly gaming event. He released the following statement: “As you’ve already seen, a lot of news about Nintendo games and services that traditionally would be held until E3 is being delivered this year through Nintendo Directs, and various press events. This approach will continue between now and E3. No matter where you are in the world,…
Nintendo Will Not Have Large E3 Press Event
According to a Gametrailers post, Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, has stated that the company will not hold a traditional, large-scale E3 press event as they have done in years past. Instead, the company will be holding a number of smaller events focused directly on the West. Here is a translation of Satoru’s comment from a recent investor conference: “Unlike previous years, we will not have a large-scale presentation [at E3] directed to everyone in the world. Instead, we are planning several smaller events focusing on software for America. Among these hands-on events will be one for American distributors and another for western media.” Depending…
Xbox Reveal Event Set for May 21
Looks like Microsoft is all locked and loaded to show off their next Xbox game console on May 21st, 2013. That’s only 19 days prior to the start of the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Should be a great show and it will be very interesting to see how all the rumors of used game prohibitions, 24/7 connections, and everything else play out in reality. The event will take place at 10AM Pacific time and will be streamed online, Xbox LIVE, and on Spike TV. Stay tuned!
Cloud Imperium Games Opens Santa Monica Office
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 23, 2013 — Cloud Imperium Games™, led by legendary game designer Chris Roberts, has opened an office in Santa Monica to help create Roberts’ new space sim game, Star Citizen™. The game marks Roberts’ return to the gaming industry and has garnered headlines in the last six months by bringing in more money via crowd funding than any other game to date. Cloud Imperium has raised more than $8.6 million since October of 2012 for the development of Star Citizen. Roberts is best known for creating the hugely popular Wing Commander line of games in the 1990s. Those games sold millions of…
Nordic Games Picks Up Darksiders, Titan Quest, Red Faction, Others
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (23. April 2013) – Nordic Games announced today that it was one of the successful bidders in THQ´s auction process, which ended on April 15. Subject to approval of the bankruptcy court overseeing THQ’s case, Nordic Games will acquire more than 150 SKUs for a purchasing price of USD 4.9 million spanned across PC, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony platforms. This constitutes the biggest acquisition deal in the company history of Nordic Games so far. The acquisition is handled by Nordic Games Licensing AB, based in Karlstad, Sweden, whereas the day-to-day business (sales and distribution of said titles, evaluation of…
Ubisoft Acquires Related Designs
SAN FRANCISCO — April 11, 2013 — Today, Ubisoft announced the acquisition of Related Designs, a leading German development studio for PC strategy games, including the critically-acclaimed AnnoTM franchise. Ubisoft previously owned 29.95 percent of the company and is acquiring the remaining 70.05 percent in a cash transaction. Established in 1995, Related Designs is a highly accomplished studio known for creating the award-winning PC titles Anno 1701TM, Anno 1404TM, Anno 2070® as well as real-time strategy games such as No Man´s Land and Castle Strike. As part of Ubisoft, Related Designs’ experienced 65-person staff will continue development of the browser-based…
Disney Closes LucasArts
According to Kotaku who got word through a un-named LucasArts source, Disney has shut the doors on the long-time game developer, also canceling Star Wars 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault. We are filing this under rumor until a reliable source can be located. *UPDATE: Sadly, this is official, folks. Here is the official statement from Disney received by GameInformer: “After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs…
John Riccitiello Leaving Electronic Arts
The Associate Press is reporting that Electronic Arts CEO, John Riccitiello, is stepping down on March 30th. The report claims the CEO, who has led EA since 2007, broke the news to the company in an official letter to its employees. “My decision to leave EA is really all about my accountability for the shortcomings in our financial results this year,” Riccitiello wrote in a message to EA employees. “It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the…