What's happened in the business of video games this past week ...
QUOTE | "Games are not about being told things. If you want to tell people things, write a book or make a movie."—Game designer Warren Spector on the commandments of game design he developed for Deus Ex.
STAT | 1 million—Number of copies of Madden NFL 25 sold to customers in North America in the first week; this is down from last year's 1.65 million units in the first week.
QUOTE | "You could think it's kind of crazy to decide you're going to set up a new studio and ship a AAA within three years."—Ubisoft Toronto managing director Jade Raymond discussing the task of setting up the studio.
QUOTE | "For this game, it's the right decision, mostly because of the expectations that come with the IP."—Matt Firor, head of ZeniMax Online Studios, defending the choice to make The Elder Scrolls Online a subscription-based game.
QUOTE | "In the next two to five years this thing is going to be much bigger than it is."—Ian Swanson, American Express VP, justifying AmEx's sponsorship of League of Legends.
STAT | $2.88 billion—Amount of money spent in the U.S. on games in the second quarter, according to NPD; digital revenue accounted for 61% of the total, and the total was a 3% drop from last year.
QUOTE | "It's always obvious that the best stuff comes when capable talent is very passionate about what they're trying to do."—Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software, explaining why Gearbox invested in Homeworld: Shipbreakers.
QUOTE | "PlayStation on the other hand, has been very, very closed, almost to the point of ignorance."—Dennis Fong, CEO of Raptr, comparing Sony and Microsoft's policies for dealing with companies like his.
This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International
Image by Miriam Doerr | Shutterstock