This week is a TV finale-thon: Our Flag Means Death season 2, Invasion season 2, and the final season of Billions are all airing their last episodes this week. But don’t let all those departures worry you: There’s tons of TV to watch as the fall season continues to ramp up into premiere season.
An allergy to transparency | This Week in Business
06.10.2023 - 14:55 / gamesindustry.biz
This Week in Business is our weekly recap column, a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories presented with a dash of opinion (sometimes more than a dash) and intended to shed light on various trends. Check every Friday for a new entry.
This industry is terrified of transparency.
From the secrecy around development to the unnecessary NDAs on everything from ex-employees to underwhelming embargoed news, the games industry likes nothing so much as playing its cards close to the chest.
It's pathological, and it has been consistent for as long as I've been covering the industry.
Was that E3 trailer pre-rendered or in-engine? Is the DLC on the original game disc or downloaded after the fact? Is your game using NFTs?
Even when a bit of secrecy is justified – marketing plans are a thing and there's no need for everyone to know every game you're working on at any given moment – the enthusiasm with which companies like Epic, The Pokémon Company, and MiHoYo sue people for leaking game news is unsettling.
The industry's inclination towards opacity has never been great, and it has gotten worse over the years.
STAT | 326,000 – The number of Xbox 360s Microsoft sold in the US during its first five days on sale, 59% of what the original Xbox sold in its first week, as reported by the NPD Group in December of 2005.
Read the rest of that article and compare the information we used to get about sales to what we see today. Exact sales figures for games. Year-over-year comparisons for franchises and individual publishers. A veritable buffet of actual data, some of it coming directly from the NPD, other bits coming from analysts freely sharing points of interest from the month's numbers.
These days, Circana (formerly NPD) gives a top 20 software list with no numbers. Most months we'll at least be told which console sold the most, but that's about it. And the publishers and platform holders have similarly throttled back the data they release even when things are selling well.
STAT | 2 million – The number of copies Madden NFL 07 sold in its first week, up 12% year-on-year, as EA announced in its victory lap press release for the game in August of 2006.
STAT | More than double – Madden 24 players using cover athlete Josh Allen completed more than double the passing touchdowns of the next most successful quarterback in the game's first week, Patrick Mahomes, one of the bolded points of emphasis in EA's victory lap press release for launch of the game in August of this year.
To be fair, EA also told us the game set a single-week franchise record for digital units sold, saw a 36% increase in games played for week one compared to Madden NFL 23, and had more players in week one, which are some stats you
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gamespot.com
23.10.2023 / 15:37
Xbox Showcase Coming This Week, But It Won't Have News On Activision Blizzard Games
The Xbox Partner Preview event is coming on October 25 with news about Alan Wake 2 and more.
gematsu.com
23.10.2023 / 01:05
This Week’s Japanese Game Releases: Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, Yumeiro Yuram, more
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC, and Yumeiro Yuram for PlayStation 4 and Switch are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.
gamesindustry.biz
20.10.2023 / 15:49
Activision Blizzard goes into the black box | This Week in Business
This Week in Business is our weekly recap column, a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories presented with a dash of opinion (sometimes more than a dash) and intended to shed light on various trends. Check every Friday for a new entry.
gamesradar.com
20.10.2023 / 13:25
The 7 best new movies and shows to stream this weekend
As another week draws to a close, we've got another fresh batch of streaming recommendations to keep you entertained over the weekend. If you're in need of a new binge-watch, take a look at Bodies, a new sci-fi murder mystery on Netflix, with Stephen Graham heading up its ensemble cast. It's a good week for movies, too – horror-thriller Cobweb is now streaming on Hulu and Pablo Larraín's Princess Diana biopic Spencer is available on Netflix in the UK.
gamespot.com
19.10.2023 / 18:51
Diablo 4 Is Not On Game Pass (Yet) But You Can Play It For Free On Xbox This Weekend
Play up to 10 hours of the game from October 19-22.
gadgets.ndtv.com
18.10.2023 / 11:39
Netflix Geeked Week 2023 Announced, Lineup Includes Stranger Things, Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, and More
Netflix's annual Geeked Week digital showcase is back, offering glimpses at its upcoming projects. The virtual event kicks off November 6, marked Stranger Things Day, and continues throughout the week until November 12, with news and sneak peeks from highly anticipated projects such as Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon, Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action adaptation, and more. In addition to the official Geeked Week website, the show will be available to stream on Netflix's YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook accounts. With the streamer's gradual pivot into gaming, fans can expect some exciting development on that end as well — presumably, the ability to cloud stream games onto a TV.
gematsu.com
16.10.2023 / 03:41
This Week’s Japanese Game Releases: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, more
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for PlayStation 5 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder for Switch are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.
gameranx.com
11.10.2023 / 20:21
Nintendo Kyoto Store Will Open To Fans Next Week!
Several things have separated Nintendo from the rest of the gaming powerhouses over the years. And one of the biggest ones is how they’ve used their experience, longevity, and clout to branch out into things beyond games in ways the other publishers can’t. Yes, everyone has had TV or movie adaptations of their properties, but if you look beyond that, Nintendo is doing quite a lot. One such “expansion” they’ve been doing is opening up new stories from which fans can buy merch. One such store, Nintendo Kyoto, is opening up next week!
gematsu.com
09.10.2023 / 05:25
This Week’s Japanese Game Releases: Forza Motorsport, River City: Rival Showdown, Rear Sekai, more
Forza Motorsport for Xbox Series and PC, River City: Rival Showdown for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC, and Rear Sekai for Switch are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.
destructoid.com
06.10.2023 / 23:53
Microsoft reportedly looks to close out Activision Blizzard deal next week
It would seem Microsoft’s long, uphill battle to acquire Activision Blizzard could be nearing its end. The Verge reports via an unnamed source that the deal could be closed by the end of next week, though they mentioned that is still tentative, as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority could still threaten the successful closure of Microsoft’s long-sought deal.
gamingbolt.com
06.10.2023 / 14:33
Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard Will Reportedly be Finalized Next Week
The saga of Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard has dragged on for nearly two years at this point, but after having cleared several major regulatory hurdles, it seems like the $69 billion deal is edging closer to being finalized.