Archive for July, 2009

1. Sony Online Entertainment is the latest company to reduce headcount

   July 20, 2009

   Despite the successful launch of Free Realms, Sony Online Entertainment, publisher of Everquest,has decided to reduce headcount by 5%. 41 of the company’s 800-odd staff will be affected by the layoffs. (via IndustryGamers)

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   Posted in: Game Over Zone

   Tagged with: job loss tracker, layoffs, redundancies, sony online entertainment

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2. If you buy a book digitally you own it, right? Not if you buy it from Amazon!

   July 20, 2009

   Last week was a bad week for the cloud and digital distribution. First, Twitter’s Google accounts got hacked, and details of its funding and strategy were published for all to see. Next, Amazon reaches out over the ether and yanks back copies of George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 that uses have paid for and [...]

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   Posted in: Distribution, Featured

   Tagged with: amazon, cloud computing, controversy, digital distribution, kindle, starred

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3. Midway closes Newcastle Studio with 80 layoffs

   July 19, 2009

   Warner Bros bid for Midway has gone through, but the global media conglomerate didn’t want Midway Newcastle, the studio formerly known as Pitbull and responsible for the The Wheelman franchise. GamaSutra estimates that 80 developers were affected by the redundancies. Added to the Job Loss Tracker.

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   Posted in: Game Over Zone

   Tagged with: closures, job loss tracker, midway, redundancies, warner

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4. Midway makes 60 redundancies at head office

   July 19, 2009

   The Warner takeover of Midway has gone through, and Midway’s head office staff are paying the price. 60 staff at the company’s Chicago head office have been made redundant, including CEO Matt Booty. It seems that 100 development staff have been offered jobs with Warner Bros. Added to the Job Loss Tracker. (via GamesIndustry.biz)

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   Posted in: Game Over Zone

   Tagged with: closures, job loss tracker, midway, redundancies, warner

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5. VCs give advice on how to pitch, and how not to

   July 14, 2009

   There is some good advice in the Wall Street Journal on how to pitch to VCs. Among the suggestions: Focus on the business opportunity, not the technology/your specific solution Introduce the other members of their team and allow them to talk Distinguish between market size and addressable market (i.e. a snack business is not targeting [...]

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   Posted in: Finance

   Tagged with: advice, investment, venture capital

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6. What teenagers want – a teenager’s view

   July 14, 2009

   Morgan Stanley has just published a highly-subjective note on how teenagers consumer media, written by a 15 year old summer intern. The note is obviously one person’s opinion, and likely to be the opinion of a relatively well-off teenage, given that he has an internship at a global investment bank. It also has some issues [...]

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   Posted in: Sandbox

   Tagged with: teenagers

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7. Console sales fall sharply while online game users rise 22%

   July 13, 2009

   One swallow does not make a summer, but with NPD data showing continued weakness in retail sales and ComScore reporting a strong rise in web gamers, are we moving to the end of the boxed game? 87 million Americans visited a gaming site in May 2009, up 22% from the same month in 2008. Yahoo! [...]

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   Posted in: Distribution, Featured

   Tagged with: boxed games, browser games, casual games, electronic arts, msn, online games, starred, statistics, yahoo

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