Sherbytes: Industry News Megathread, v.1

[KaNesDeath]

Todays news is Epic Games following their failed lawsuit against Apple must now pay 90% of Apples legal fee's:

Apple bills Epic Games $73 million in legal costs

Following the end of the Epic Games vs Apple case, the "Fortnite" developer will be required to pay Apple over $73 million in legal fees.

appleinsider.com

 

[KaNesDeath]

This has been bubbling up more and more but is it sensible to interpret this as M/s wanting out of the console battle (and some even extending this to mean the writing on the wall for the Xbox line itself)? Phil conceded defeat in-interview last year to Sony and Nintendo; changing the strategy up seems smart to me of M/s if you know you can't 'out-console' the other two in the space. We now have M/s Gaming CEO, M/s CFO, and CEO all changing tune and in a united front putting the same message out there:

This has been Microsofts goal since the mid-2010's. Once you look at the market share between game devices. Releasing a game to only one device leaves 75% of the market untapped.

In developed countries the console wars lost to Pc gaming in the past ~9 years. Only in developing countries do consoles succeed due to their low cost of entry.

 

[avenue94]

This has been Microsofts goal since the mid-2010's. Once you look at the market share between game devices. Releasing a game to only one device leaves 75% of the market untapped.

In developed countries the console wars lost to Pc gaming in the past ~9 years. Only in developing countries do consoles succeed due to their low cost of entry.

The US has been a developed country for some time and consoles are very popular compared to PC. I wouldn't write off the console razor/razor blades cost so fast

 

[rikwebb]

Info on Rocksteady's co founders new studio found, they left Rocksteady in 2022

 

[SwamiLeoni]

Some guy on social quipped in kind that Ubi needs to get comfortable not getting his money, lol. Thought that pretty funny. Zero surprise that Ubi turns torchbearer on this kind of business model in gaming; has for years felt like a gaming publisher-developer juggernaut with no-one who actually games working there. Their Montpellier subsidiary behind Prince of Persia's new Lost Crown is looking like an exception ATM with the forthcoming MV entry.

That is true. Ubisoft should be happy someone is actually playing their game. PoP, by all accounts, is a great game. But Ubisoft doesn't have the best track record when it comes to releasing great games consistently. The reason I buy digital is because I have kids who destroy things, I've lost games in the past and I want to build my collection for my little man. If I have to pay for another subscription service, I'm going to lose it.

 

[Valhoven]

Info on Rocksteady's co founders new studio found, they left Rocksteady in 2022

Studio name is a de facto positive user review, lol.

 

[method115]

This has been Microsofts goal since the mid-2010's. Once you look at the market share between game devices. Releasing a game to only one device leaves 75% of the market untapped.

In developed countries the console wars lost to Pc gaming in the past ~9 years. Only in developing countries do consoles succeed due to their low cost of entry.

Didn't MS leave PC gaming for a bit and then come back? This might be their plan now but no way has it been their plan since 2010. I'm pretty sure they wanted to dominate the living room with their consoles. Now with Series sales dropping below Xbox one it's clear that wont happen. Nintendo and Sony have dominated the market and with Digital and BC gaming it will be hard for MS to get them back.

 

[Valhoven]

Something interesting too is I'd read an article the other day that visualised gaming revenue going back 40+ years.

Console was around 30B USD and PC 40B USD, but what really had my eyes pop was that mobile dwarfs both combined and exceeds 100B USD. When I saw that, it reinforced a personal opinion on this I've long held that all these devices are apples and oranges.

You can 1:1 compare console to console, or PC part/build to PC part/build, but when you try to conflate all of the above into these marketably broad categories, the comparisons prove porous, owing to end-use; by talking market share or sales like Kane had, one then lands at and must concede mobile > everything else, which is just gross because mobile gaming is straight doo-doo compared to PC and console.

 

[Valhoven]

Surprising stats, IMO, from Shinobi on gaming in 2023 for the USA – Hogwarts #1?



-Hogwarts Legacy was #1 seller, #2: CODMW3, #3: Madden 24, #4: Spider-Man 2
-Game spending up +1% over 2022
-PS5 was the #1 console in December 2023 in units & revenue, setting new record
-Switch sales at #2, Xbox at #3

 

[Valhoven]

YoY hardware sales for Europe from Chris Dring:



Europe YoY hardware sales for 2023:

PS5: +177%
Switch: -10%
Xbox Series: -18%

–––

182 million PC and console games were sold across Europe in 2023, a rise of 1.7% over the year before.

This is based on GSD data, which tracks all physical game sales across major European markets, and digital sales from most major games publishers across every country in Europe.

As usual, EA's football game leads the sales by a comfortable margin. EA Sports FC 24 sold 9% fewer units in 2023 compared with FIFA 23 in 2022, but when you factor in the rebrand and the fact there was a World Cup in December 2022, it's not particularly unexpected. EA Sports FC 24's sales remain ahead of what the FIFA franchise was pulling in pre-pandemic.

In second place is Hogwarts Legacy, and Warner Bros' game has been a massive hit across Europe. In fact, outside of EA football games, no game has sold this many units in a calendar year since these charts began back in 2017.

It was a disappointing year for the new Call of Duty, which unusually didn't make the Top Three this year. Modern Warfare 3' sales are down 32% for the year compared with what 2022's Modern Warfare 2 managed (although it's worth noting that Modern Warfare 2 did launch slightly earlier in the year).

 

[KaNesDeath]

The US has been a developed country for some time and consoles are very popular compared to PC.

In conjunction you are correct.

 

[Valhoven]

Much to snickers of politicians the world over, I’m sure, new study shows playing ‘violent’ video games reduces stress hormones, cortisol levels.

In a surprising twist to the long-debated topic of video game violence, a recent study suggests that playing violent video games might actually decrease stress hormones in some players. Contrary to popular belief, the study found no increase in aggressive tendencies, indicating a more complex relationship between video game content and player responses than previously thought. The findings have been published in the scientific journal Physiology & Behavior.

...

“I am interested in this topic as I am a gamer myself. Since I was little, I was fascinated by video games and the virtual worlds. I played because it was fun, because I enjoyed the competition, to enjoy good stories, but also to relief some stress of my daily life,” said study author Gary L. Wagener, a doctoral researcher at the University of Luxembourg.

“When I started my studies in psychology I was interested in research, and especially on video game effects. I started to notice that there were large inconsistencies in the research on violent video game effects, with some researchers claiming that playing violent video games increases aggressive behavior, while other researchers showed that this was not the case.

Full read here.

 

[KaNesDeath]

In typical Riot Games fashion theyre late to the party. Laying off 11% of their workforce:

Changes at Riot and the Road Ahead

Here’s what these changes mean for our games and what players can expect from us going forward.

www.riotgames.com

Heads of the league and communications department for Valorant NA esports were part of the layoffs.

 

[rikwebb]

Didn't realize the creative director had left already. Elex 2 was disappointing from most opinions I've read but the series had an interesting story arc and they still could have salvaged it with a good third game. Bummer.

The Gothic remake is being done by a different studio but you have to wonder if that's dead now too. Never played the original so I was looking forward to it.

PB have finally posted something

 

[KidBaize]

PB have finally posted something

Yeah I saw that this morning. I'm sure there are insiders that post regularly in that sub so hopefully they keep us updated on their search for a new publisher.

Seems like the gaming industry is undergoing a lot of restructuring and cost cutting so it's not the best time for this to happen but PB has a solid core fanbase so they might not be dead yet.

 

[KaNesDeath]

Oh look, Activision/Blizzard have offloaded another one of their IP esports to Dreamhack:

The Future of Overwatch Esports

Introducing the new Overwatch Esports program and the Overwatch Champions Series

overwatch.blizzard.com

 

[Valhoven]

Cheating apparently worse than ever in current Warzone iteration, namely Ranked; some top players switching to PS5 from PC to disable cross-platform play and compete on a more level playing field:



Cheating has gotten so bad in Call of Duty that former professionals have decided to forego playing on their $5,000 PC’s and have instead resorted to buying PS5’s just so they can turn cross play off to avoid hackers in ranked play.

 

[method115]

PC cheating is really insane. I've actively seen people on my own team cheating in various games. I never see anything like that on consoles. I remember watching one of my teammates shoot someone through a wall. Me and my cousin were pissed cause we knew what was coming. We were going to have our scores adjusted in rank next time we got online. Sure enough the next day it was adjusted.

At one point every single day we got online we were having our rank scored adjusted. This was in Rainbow 6 siege.

 

[Valhoven]

PC cheating is really insane. I've actively seen people on my own team cheating in various games. I never see anything like that on consoles. I remember watching one of my teammates should someone through a wall. Me and my cousin were pissed cause we knew what was coming. We were going to have are scores adjusted in rank next time we got online. Sure enough the next day it was adjusted.

At one point every single day we got online we were having our rank scored adjusted. This was in Rainbow 6 siege.

Yesterday’s PlayStation firmware update officially disables Cronus Zen from working on PS5 too so those strike pack cats can piss right off.

 

[Valhoven]

Yesterday’s PlayStation firmware update officially disables Cronus Zen from working on PS5 too so those strike pack cats can piss right off.

This has everyone in stitches, lol. Well played, sir: