QUOTE | “We don’t want to dig too big a hole.” - Oculus VP of product Nate Mitchell, explaining why the company isn’t selling the Rift hardware below cost, at least for now.
Elsewhere in the business of gaming this week...
STAT | 38% - GameStop’s year-over-year increase in holiday software sales for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. However, overall new software sales were still down 8.7 percent overall, which the retailer largely blamed on “fewer Nintendo titles available compared to last year.”
QUOTE | “They’re bringing virtual reality to a different group of people who I don’t think were ever really a part of our market anyway.” - Oculus VR’s Palmer Luckey, explaining why he doesn’t see the Rift and PlayStation VR competing for the same audience.
QUOTE | “The more important thing will be the title count at launch. I think that’s going to be big. And from what we can see at this point, Sony seems to have the strongest title count.” - GameStop CEO Paul Raines, picking an early favorite in the VR headset market.
QUOTE | “Enthusiastic reactions to VR at trade fairs or at industry conferences, based on a few minutes of usage, may not convert into mass market demand.” - Deloitte analysts throwing a little cold water on the idea that this is the year VR takes off.
QUOTE | “There will always be people who don’t like the idea of buying unfinished games, but we don’t need to win them over, because there are plenty more that do.” - Payload Studios founder Russ Clarke, telling developers to be careful about taking every piece of negative feedback to heart.
QUOTE | “Consumers, the creators and innovators of our industry, and the investment community deserve better.” - The Entertainment Software Association, taking the NPD Group to task after its US retail sales data showed stagnant US retail sales for 2015. The ESA wanted the tracking firm to release digital and mobile revenue figures as well.
STAT | 18% - The average revenue increase of all Steam apps not in the 500 top sellers over the course of its recent Winter Sale, thanks to the lack of Flash Sale promotions.
STAT | $1.2 million - The amount of money raised for the Prevent Cancer Foundation by the speedrunning event Awesome Games Done Quick. It was the third straight year the event topped the $1 million mark.
QUOTE | “We’re not here because it’s cheap. There are a lot of cheap places. We came here for the skills and the expertise.” - Sumo Digital CEO Carl Cavers, explaining why the developer set up a satellite studio in Pune, India.
QUOTE | “The company is transitioning to a new direction, and unfortunately this is a painful but necessary part of the process.” - Vulcan co-founder Ali Moiz, explaining why the fantasy eSports site a fifth of its staffers less than a year after raising $12 million in seed funding.
QUOTE | “The decision to implement these transactions was taken in view of the evolution of the Activision Blizzard stock price.” - Vivendi explains why it’s cashing out its last remaining shares of the publisher it previously owned. Activision Blizzard’s stock price is nearly double what it was a year ago.