STAT | $143 million - The third quarter revenue generated by PlayStation Now, according to Superdata. The research firm says Sony’s subscription gaming service is the most successful on the market, with Electronic Arts’ trio of Access offerings (EA Access, Origin Access, and Origin Access Premier) accounting for $90 million while Xbox Game Pass brought in $41 million.
QUOTE | “No matter how you want to slice it, there is a big opportunity for us.” - Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is optimistic about streaming and subscription services, but seems to have some concerns about the technology and the business models they currently employ.
STAT | 8.3 million - Peak concurrent player count for Fortnite last week, a new high point brought on by the launch of the game in South Korea.
QUOTE | “We have a long plan for this. These are not brands that are going in and out [of licensing], they’re brands that are going to be around for 10, 20 years.” - Activision Blizzard VP of international consumer products Philippe Bost says Overwatch Lego kits are just the start of a much larger merchandising push.
QUOTE | “We have not yet seen the full core reengage in Destiny, which has led to the underperformance against our expectations to-date.” - Activision Blizzard president and COO Coddy Johnson says the publisher hasn’t been happy with the Bungie shooter series’ performance to date.
QUOTE | “I have a project that I truly wish to solidify as my next challenge after FFXV. For that reason, I have decided to leave my current position and start my own business in order to achieve my goal.” - Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata announces his departure from Square Enix.
QUOTE | “I would say that the Chinese government just doesn’t see games as a priority. It just doesn’t care if the games industry goes bust, or if global developers fail.” - Thomas Rosenthal, general manager of Asia-Pacific for 505 Games, says the recent freeze on new game approvals in China has made the industry re-think a few things about doing business in the country.
QUOTE | “It’s streamlining at its best. It’s working within the parameters of your budget, scope, art style, the works. Minit is a weird little masterclass of design because, weirdly, it feels like there’s so little of it.” - The Swindle developer Dan Marshall takes a closer look at what makes the 60-second adventure game tick.
QUOTE | “A former male employee was allowed to remain in a position of leadership despite regularly making sexual comments in the workplace and drugging and raping another Riot Games employee.” - Excerpt from a class-action lawsuit filed against Riot Games this week by a current employee and a former employee in which they accuse the studio of ongoing sexual harassment, misconduct, and bias in a hostile work environment.
QUOTE | “Whatever you do, don’t treat your Steam Group as an afterthought. Keep talking about the development process. Show your work in progress, including videos and GIFs. Ask for members’ opinions and actually listen to them (within reason).” - AurumDust owner Nikolay Bondarenko gives plenty of advice in his multi-part guide to publishing a PC game from start to finish.
QUOTE | “If you can engineer anything that allows people to slow down, make their own fun, grow something, build something, you’re getting so much more value out of the very expensive assets you use in your games.” - Slime Rancher developer Nick Popovich suggests indies can get a lot of value from making slower-paced, less objective-driven games.