What's happened in the business of video games this past week ...
QUOTE | "If I was starting again now from a blank slate, without an existing fan base, I wouldn't touch mobile with a ten foot pole."—Paul Johnson, indie game developer, talking along with others about how indies are moving back to PC and even console.
QUOTE | "When you put a disc slot on a machine certain expectations come with that."—Microsoft's Phil Harrison, on how their long term vision for the Xbox One "hasn't changed at all."
QUOTE | "Seeing companies investing tens of millions of dollars in new IP is a great sign of health."—Mike Hogan, GameStop EVP for strategic business, on why GameStop is excited about the console game business.
STAT | $5 billion—Value of Candy Crush developer King based on its upcoming IPO; by comparison, Zynga has a value of $2.9 billion and Nintendo a value of $14.7 billion.
QUOTE | "What is the equivalent of a Pixar film in the video game industry, where adults and kids can have fun together? They don't exist right now."—Jenova Chen, designer of Journey, on the "huge markets" that await game developers.
QUOTE | "It's a scary thing, but games are becoming harder to make, more expensive to make."—Mark Rubin, Infinity Ward executive producer, on how it's a "bummer" that games are getting more difficult to make.
STAT | $20 million—Amount that Chris Robert's Star Citizen has raised through crowd-funding; Cloud Imperium is still raising money to "create a true AAA game without a publisher".
QUOTE | "The increasing breadth and diversity in games is wonderful. Why is difference such an enormously threatening concept?"—Jessica Curry, developer of Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, on how people don't seem to know how to classify this game.
STAT | 12.75 million—Number of 3DS units sold so far in Japan; this number exceeds the 12.69 million Wii consoles sold to date in Japan.
QUOTE | "There's a perception that publishers are a necessary ingredient in game development."—Teppo Soininen, COO of Mountain Sheep (developer behind iOS hit Minigore) on the strategies indies can use to survive in the fast-changing industry.
This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International
Image by Kaygorodov Yuriy | Shutterstock