Archive for May, 2009

1. Phil Harrison leaving? Is Atari changing strategy again?

   May 29, 2009

   The rebirth of Atari seems to be very painful, if the latest corporate shenanigans are anything to go by. Today’s announcement by Atari sets out a change of senior management. Phil Harrison becomes a non-executive and Jeff Lapin (former CEO of Take-Two and representative of investors Blue Bay) becomes COO. The new executive board is: [...]

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   Posted in: Analysis

   Tagged with: atari, phil harrison, speculation, starred

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2. Pay-TV from Sky comes to Xbox 360

   May 29, 2009

   More evidence that convergence is finally happening and the console is fighting for its role as the home entertainment hub The Financial Times reports today that from the autumn, Xbox 360 owners will be able to see Sky programming on demand through their console without being Sky customers. “Viewers will be able to view Sky’s [...]

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   Posted in: Sandbox

   Tagged with: bskyb, console, convergence, film, microsoft, starred, xbox 360

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3. Sheridans/TIGA self-publishing seminar

   May 28, 2009

   I’m speaking this evening at the Sheridans/TIGA seminar focused on self-publishing for developers. Some illustrious developers are going, many of whom have already started self-publishing. I’m getting a little nervous… But the good news is that I’ve been working on a “Guide to self-publishing for developers” for a while. It will be available exclusively to [...]

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   Posted in: Events

   Tagged with: games, gamesbrief, self-publishing, sheridans, tiga

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4. Grin reduces staff numbers by 50%

   May 28, 2009

   Swedish developer GRIN is reported to have laid off over 100 developers in its Stockholm, Barcelona and Gothenburg offices. GRIN is best known for its work on GRAW 1 and 2 and Bionic Commandos and was founded by Bo and Ulf Andersson

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   Posted in: Game Over Zone

   Tagged with: grin, job loss tracker, layoffs, redundancies

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5. Stronghold goes massively multiplayer and online as Firefly announces Stronghold Kingdoms

   May 28, 2009

   I don’t normally cover product launches at Gamesbrief (this is a blog about the business of games after all), but this announcement of the launch of Stronghold Kingdoms from Firefly Studios is different for several reasons: Firefly is not only “taking Stronghold online and massively multiplayer, but we are funding this ourselves as an independent [...]

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   Posted in: Sandbox

   Tagged with: clients, firefly studios, gamesbrief, online games, stronghold kingdoms

   1 Comment

6. In-game advertising forecast to grow to over $1 billion in the next five years

   May 26, 2009

   Screen Digest has just released a report covering the in-game advertising market in detail. The report focuses on dynamic advertising (i.e.: that which uses proprietary networks like those operated by Massive, IGA and Double Fusion) and views them as “virtual out-of-home display formats.” This suggests that the $1 billon figure excludes: Product placements Advertising revenue [...]

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   Posted in: Sales

   Tagged with: advertising, forecasts, internet, online advertising

   1 Comment

7. Designing for sign-up

   May 26, 2009

   For any games developer thinking about building a community or selling their games directly to the public, website design is a critical issue. This slide-show sets out a number of issues about to encourage users to complete a sign-up process and argues that bad form design is the least of our problems. Well worth a [...]

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   Posted in: Marketing

   Tagged with: self-publishing, web marketing

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