Gamasutra News

Call of Duty franchise sees 40 million monthly active users

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 18:01:00 -0500

Newsbrief: Activision's popular Call of Duty franchise has grown to host more than 40 million monthly active users across all its releases, adding to the recent announcement that Call of Duty Elite has hit 7 million users with 1.5 million paid annual members. During a Gamasutra-attended conference call, Activision Publishing chief executive Eric Hirshberg broke down the numbers by title, noting that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 makes up half the franchise's current playerbase, ...

Gamasutra expert blogs: From residual royalties to customer psychology

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 17:36:00 -0500

[In highlights from Gamasutra's Expert Blogs, industry notables write about diverse topics, including customer psychology on the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace, whether developers should receive residual royalties, and more.] In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only ...

Zynga partners with Hasbro for new toy line

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 17:26:00 -0500

Newsbrief: FarmVille developer Zynga and toy maker Hasbro have partnered up to develop a new line of toys and games based on the social game developer's most popular brands. With this new agreement, Hasbro has the license to create a wide range of new products based on FarmVille, CityVille, Words With Friends, and more -- it even has the right to develop co-branded merchandize featuring both Hasbro and Zynga IP. The two companies hope to ...

Activision Blizzard reports better than expected 2011 thanks to MW3, Skylanders

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 17:02:00 -0500

Major publisher Activision Blizzard today reported better than expected financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter, with much of this revenue earned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Skylanders, and the company's digital products. For the quarter ended January 31, 2011, Activision brought in $2.41 billion in net revenue, down slightly from the $2.55 billion the company saw during this period last year. This latest quarter puts the company's full year revenues at $4.49 ...

DICE 2012: Putting story before gameplay 'a waste of time' says Jaffe

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 16:49:00 -0500

"I don't have any slides," Jaffe apologized at the start of his DICE 2012 speech in Las Vegas on Thursday. "I've been spending the last few days offending women," he joked. Known for his outspoken, open approach to interacting with the video game community, Jaffe was in hot water recently for saying in an interview, that if you buy his upcoming game Twisted Metal, your girlfriend would "suck your dick." In other words, Jaffe is ...

GDC organizers remind on GDC Business Matchmaking for select attendees

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 16:12:00 -0500

With just weeks to go until the 2012 Game Developers Conference, show organizers are reminding GDC Exhibitors, GDC Play participants, and All Access pass holders of the opportunity to participate in the official online GDC Business Matchmaking meetings program. This online tool is available via the official GDC Meetings website, and will allow GDC 2012 All Access Pass attendees to identify, contact, and request and receive meetings with GDC exhibitors of all kinds, including the ...

Speech Graphics unveils lip synch service for game characters

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 14:58:00 -0500

UK-based startup Speech Graphics announced its new technology that analyzes audio to predict how muscles will move on a face to produce those sounds, then syncs that with the animation of a game's 3D characters. The lip synch solution will be initially offered as a service, and is meant to save development time and resources. As part of its voice-based animation service, the company takes facial models and audio assets provided by clients, and then ...

Jersey Shore star lends likeness to social games

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 14:53:00 -0500

Newsbrief: Apps Genius Corp has signed an exclusive worldwide agreement with Jersey Shore's Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and his company to create four social games and mobile apps. The licensed projects, which The Situation promises will "introduce Jersey culture into the social gaming and mobile application industry," are based on the reality TV show star's life and his family. The applications and games will release on Android, iOS, Facebook, and Google+. Apps Genius (Slap a ...

DICE 2012: The five keys to Rocksteady's Batman success

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 14:47:00 -0500

At DICE 2012 on Thursday, Rocksteady's Sefton Hill exposed the fundamental rules that the studio followed to make critical and commercial hits Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. One of those keys, Hill said, is rapid prototyping. "The prototyping is all done in-game," he said. Early in the game's creation, he would present an idea to people on the team. Then they'd break it apart, analyze how it could be implemented, and "get it ...

Turtle Beach claims to be 2011's top accessory maker

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 14:17:00 -0500

Newsbrief: Turtle Beach claims it was the number one third-party video game accessory company in 2011 based on dollar volume, and said its products controlled 50 percent of the headphones and headsets category for games last year. The company credited the popularity of its accessories to growing demand for high quality audio experiences with their games, and its introduction of Ear Force headsets with new features (e.g. presets for customizable audio settings). Referring to data ...