News business Epic Games Store, Xbox, Gas Giant Games… Les actus business de la semaine
Published on 03/19/2023 at 17:00
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Sales figures, studio buyouts, financial statements, developer transfer window, investments… if these topics interest you, you’ve come to the right place. We offer you here an update on the business news of the past week.
Summary
Epic Games Store: update on the health of the platformMicrosoft continues to sign partnerships to seduce regulatorsTwo veterans of the Diablo franchise found and present their own studioAt a glance in the business news of the weekOur other business articles of the week
Epic Games Store: update on the health of the platform
Presented and launched as a competitor to Steam, the Epic Games Store has, for several years now, rolled out a very aggressive strategy to convince publishers and players. Sharing of income fairer, games offered, regular reductions, everything has been done, or almost. The Epic Games Store is still far from being as provided in functionality than the Valve platform. The wishlists arrived quite late, and the platform has just been opened to submissions for self-publishing.The latter must in particular respect two rules: not to offer pornographic content featuring real people, and integrate crossplay features with other PC supports. Epic Games provides an API for this, but developers can use their own as well.
Support is extended to consoles, but only PC crossplay is required. For the rest “it’s good, but not great”. The EGS has indeed experienced a 2% drop in turnover in 2022, to reach $820 million. At the same time, sales of third-party games increased by 18% (355 million dollars), and it is a very good signal for a store that seeks to sell third-party games and attract an audience accustomed for many years to using Steam. Unfortunately, first party games aren’t as buoyant. Fortnite, Rocket League or Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout have not generated than $465 million in 2022, compared to $540 million in 2021. A drop in particular attributed to the end of the containment measures. Epic Games boss Tim Sweeny said the number of active users had held steady, but that session times and expenses have decreased.
Speaking of these users, they are decreased from 31.1 million in 2021 to 34.3 in 2022 (daily). As for the figures concerning active users overall, in which we find people with launched the EGS at least once during the year, they go from 62 to 68 million. Let’s finish with free games, the main argument of the EGS to attract players. In 2022, these are 99 games that were offered for free, worth a total of $2,240. Steve Allison, general manager of the Epic Games Store, says that the smaller games offered were downloaded between 6.5 and 7 million timeswhile the most imposing titles were taken from 20 to 25 million times.
Microsoft continues to sign partnerships to seduce regulators
Pending final advice from the CMA in the UK at the end of April and from the European Commission at the end of May, Microsoft continues to try to show paw as part of the Activision Blizzard King takeover. After having announced agreements with NVIDIA and Nintendothe Redmond firm has announced that it has signed a contract with the Ukrainian cloud gaming platform called Boosteroid. Already having 4 million subscribers worldwide, Boosteroid is an independent leader in the American, British and European markets.
We believe in the power of games to bring people together. That’s why Xbox is committed to giving people more ways to play their favorite games, on all devices. Bringing Xbox PC games to Boosteroids members, including Activision Blizzard titles such as Call of Duty once the deal is done, is another step in realizing that vision, said Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer.
Boosteroid shares Microsoft’s vision of bringing games to as many people, places and platforms as possible. Our goal has long been to give gamers the ability to enjoy their favorite titles on any device at their fingertips. Today’s announcement is another step in that direction. Additionally, with our Ukraine-based development team, we appreciate Microsoft’s continued commitment (…), and we will work together on an initiative supporting our local game development community to further invest in the country’s economic recovery. , added Ivan Shvaichenko, CEO of Bobooster.
This agreement is therefore part of a larger agreement, in which Microsoft provides technological and financial aid to Ukraine following the invasion of the country by Russia. Support hailed by Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and amounted to more than 430 million dollars since the start of the clashes.
This partnership builds on the $430 million in technology and financial assistance we have provided to Ukraine since Russia’s illegal invasion, and demonstrates the steps we will continue to take to support the 160,000 developers of Ukrainian software. This also builds on our recent agreements with Nintendo and NVIDIA, making it even clearer to regulators that our acquisition of Activision Blizzard will make Call of Duty available on many more devices than ever before, said Brad Smith.
Obviously, Call of Duty, the main point of confrontation between Sony and Microsoft in the context of the takeover, is never far away. But this is not the only agreement signed in cloud gaming. Microsoft also found common ground with Ubitusa platform based in Japan.
Microsoft and Ubitus, a leading cloud gaming provider, signed a 10-year partnership to deliver Xbox PC games as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closed. Our commitment is to give players more choice.
Two veterans of the Diablo franchise found and present their own studio
Many Blizzard veterans have launched their business in recent years. We think in particular of Frost Giant Studios, Red 5, Dreamhaven, Notorious Games ou encore LightForge Games, But it is not finished. This week we learned of the birth of Gas Giant Games, created by Jay Wilson and Julian Love. The first worked at Blizzard from 2006 to 2013, while the second was part of the adventure from 2002 to 2021. These two veterans, we find them in particular to credits from World of Warcraft: Legion, Diablo III, Diablo IV or even the controversial Diablo Immortal. To accompany the two companions, we find Dan Kellywho will chair the studio after having worked at Disney et THQ. Obviously, this announcement is accompanied by a press release, in which we learn that many developers are already part of the adventure, with varied experiences ranging from Cyberpunk 2077 to Kingdom Hearts via Overwatch.
Although we are not yet ready to reveal all the details of our current project to the world, we can say that fans of our previous games will be delighted with what awaits them. I can tell you that our game will deliver visceral and insane combat, engaging progression systems, and a unique survival experience, all set in a new and original world that we’re sure you’ll love exploring, said Jay Wilson.
Gas Giant Games’ first title will therefore take the form of an action-RPG eyeing the side of survival. The team wants to bring together two genres that are still too distant from each other for their taste through a title that will be released on PC and consoles on a date still unknown. Public communication around this first game will not start right away, but a privileged few will be entitled to a presentation in a few days on the occasion of the GDC from San Francisco.
Briefly in the business news of the week
Emmett Shear, PDG de Twitch, announced his resignation in order to spend time with his newly born first child. He is replaced by the president of the platform, Dan Clancy. The legal department of the FTC is not satisfied with the information provided by Microsoft. It asks for additional data concerning agreements signed, exclusivities Zenimax, and the next generation of Xbox consoles. Six British studios and publishers invited by the CMA to speak out said in favour of the takeover of Activision Blizzard. In the 9th week, Hogwarts Legacy (PS5) dominates the French physical market in value. It is ahead of God of War: Ragnarok (PS5), Metroid Prime Remastered, Kirby and the Forgotten World and finally Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.Only Onealwho led Blizzard for three months, has rejoint Jay Allen Brackwhom she had replaced, within the studio Magic Soup Games recently founded. There is also John Donham. Notable feature, everyone is working remotely.
