digital-distribution
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Nintendo to introduce digital pre-loads with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Wii U and 3DS owners will soon have the ability to download games prior to their release in order to play them immediately at launch, Nintendo announced as part of its investor-facing quarterly financial report this week. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will be the first game to offer pre-downloads starting next month. Nintendo 3DS pre-download support will be introduced next year. Several Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games have allowed players to pre-load purchased content over the past year, including The Evil Within and the upcoming Dragon Age: Inquisition. The feature is also common on PC digital platforms like Steam and Origin. Nintendo additionally announced plans to introduce an automatic download system for its consoles, giving players the option of downloading games via SpotPass while shopping at nintendo.com. [Image: Nintendo]
GameFly sells off digital distribution business
GameFly has sold its online games distribution service to AtGames Holding Ltd, the company revealed in a brief announcement at its digital storefront. The service will remain active during its transition between owners, and users will still be able to access and play their purchased games after transferring their account information to AtGames. AtGames notes that it will "build upon an extensive product line-up" with continued releases. GameFly established its digital distribution catalog with the purchase of IGN's Steam precursor Direct2Drive in 2011. AtGames, founded in 2001, manufactures a number of retro-focused replica consoles and handhelds, including the Atari Flashback and the Sega Genesis Classic Console. [Image: GameFly]
Report: 92 percent of PC game sales in 2013 were digital
Console games may still occupy a large amount of retail space with physical copies, but PC games are another story altogether, according to research firm DFC Intelligence. The organization told website PC Retail that 92 percent of all PC games sold across the world in 2013 were distributed digitally, and that the number is expected to grow. DFC also told PCR earlier this year that PC gaming had exceeded consoles in terms of revenue, but with a new generation of consoles - both of which are offering more games digitally on the same day as their physical counterparts - both of these claims could change by the time we look back on 2014. But then, we also know how well our wallets fare during a Steam sale ('not well' is the answer). Really, it's anybody's guess as to where the market will shift. In the meantime, analysts gonna analyze. [Image: Valve]
Good Old Games glitch gave away free games in Linux sale
Getting a good deal in a sale is kind of the whole point, but clearing out a promotion's spread without spending a cent is pretty unheard of. Good Old Games users kicked off its Linux Launch promotion this week, but users that were quick to browse the sale discovered its offerings could be had for free. Members began posting in the GOG forums about a potential glitch, which has since been corrected. A day after the promotion had begun, a forum member posted an e-mail they received from GOG's support staff, which explained that the free games were obtainable "due to a small glitch on our end." While the email explained GOG would remove games the erroneously-free games from a customer's shelf if they so desired, it also stressed that "it's totally cool with [GOG]" if a user would prefer to keep them. Class acts then, all the way around. If you're interested in actually purchasing games from the sale, the Linux Launch promotion will last until 12 a.m. EST Tuesday. Don't Starve, Kentucky Route Zero and Sir, You Are Being Hunted are among the sale's offerings. [Image: Good Old Games]
Perfect World's Arc expanding to include Path of Exile and APB
Perfect World is making a strong play to establish Arc as a vital digital platform for gamers. The company announced today that Arc will be expanding to include several titles outside of the PWE brotherhood, including Path of Exile and APB: Reloaded. The announcement of Arc's embrace of third-party developers comes with the platform's transition to "fully live" status. PWE CEO Alan Chen hopes that this will make Arc a one-stop gaming experience: "Our goal is to make Arc the premiere destination for the best free-to-play online games for both our players and partners, and to achieve this by growing the platform with new games, a constant stream of content, and features specifically designed for the PC gaming audience."
Ubisoft's digital sales jump 32% in fiscal 2014
Ubisoft reported digital sales of 195 million euros ($266.6 million) for the financial year ending March 31, 2014. That represents a 32 percent increase over last year's 148 million euros ($202.3 million) in sales for the segment, which includes digitally-distributed games as well as downloadable add-ons and items. Ubisoft specifically called out South Park: The Stick of Truth in its report, which showed "higher-than-expected digital distribution levels." The publisher said the digital segment was a "substantial contributor to our business," and accounted for 19 percent of the company's total sales for the year. Sales for 2014 were down 17 percent year-over-year to 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Ubisoft projects "strong digital growth" for fiscal 2015, expecting the digital segment to amount to 25 percent of the group's total revenues, including its free-to-play efforts for the year, according to the publisher's earnings presentation. [Image: Ubisoft]
Analysts: 75 percent of US core gamers prefer physical copies
According to sales and marketing analyst NPD Group, 75 percent of American core gamers prefer physical game copies to digital distribution. The firm surveyed 7,900 core gamers to arrive at its conclusion. It defines "core gamer" as someone who plays at least five hours worth of action, adventure, fighting, flight, MMO, racing, RTS, RPG, shooter, or sports games per week on PCs, Microsoft or Sony consoles, or Macs. The firm concludes that 34 million US gamers fall under its core definition, with the average core gamer playing 22 hours per week. NPD's report also claims that while the overwhelming majority of its survey participants favor physical game copies, digital distribution is up five percent year-over-year.
Take-Two makes it rain $1 billion more in fiscal 2014
Take-Two reported net revenue of $2.35 billion for fiscal 2014 (the year ending March 31, 2014), a 94 percent growth from its reported revenue of $1.21 billion in 2013. It also reported a net income of $361.7 million, which compares rather favorably to the net loss of $31.2 million it suffered last year. As of the end of fiscal 2014, Take-Two had "cash and cash equivalents of $935.4 million," plenty to make it rain a few times. As for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, Take-Two's net revenue was $195.2 million, a 34.8 percent decrease compared to the same quarter last year ($299.5 million). It also reported a net loss of $30.8 million for the quarter, which compares to the net gain of $21.2 million reported in Q4 2013. The publisher's digitally-delivered revenue increased 65 percent year-over-year to $435.1 million on a non-GAAP basis (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). In its earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick noted that Grand Theft Auto Online was the "single largest contributor" to the company's digital revenue growth. Take-Two also reported that it has shipped 33 million copies of GTA 5 to date. Looking ahead to the next fiscal year (ending March 31, 2015), Take-Two projects its non-GAAP net revenue to fall between $1.35 billion and $1.45 billion, and anticipates its net revenue between $120 million and $135 million for the next quarter, also on a non-GAAP basis.
Titanfall won't come to Xbox 360 Games On Demand
Titanfall publisher EA has nixed potential plans to bring the robot-infested shooter to the Xbox 360 as a digital download. A new entry on EA's help site explains the decision: "After extensive testing, we felt that [a digital release] simply did not represent the true Titanfall experience and it was decided not to release a Games on Demand version. We hope players understand this decision was all about quality and making sure you get the best Titanfall experience." While this is disappointing news for anyone counting down the ongoing death of physical media, we will remind would-be mech pilots that the disc-based version of the game has been performing admirably in our ongoing State of Service tests. Our latest report notes minor, isolated issues in the PC version, but otherwise all of the game's servers appear to be chugging along nicely. [Image: EA]
Fast2Play hosting sales of Steam keys from Humble Bundles
Having a great Saturday where everything feels right in the world? Well uh, sorry, but we might derail that train of contentment. Game Informer reports that 7 Entertainment's online storefront Fast2Play and sister site Kinguin are hosting the sale of Steam keys purchased through Humble Bundles. Given that Humble Bundle patrons typically split their payment between the bundle's game developers, charities and the Humble Bundle staff, those groups would be cut from the profits made on resold keys. The Humble Bundle's terms also state that its licenses are not meant for commercial use, making the resale of keys obtained through Humble Bundles a violation of those terms. Ed Key, a developer of Proteus, told Game Informer that he was able to confirm Fast2Play's selling of Steam keys obtained from Humble Bundle purchases. Key discovered this by purchasing Proteus through Fast2Play, then comparing that Steam key to an inventory that had been sold through Humble Indie Bundle 8. Key has since succeeded in having Proteus removed from Fast2Play and some of its sister sites. Game Informer points out that Fast2Play is also hosting sales of Steam Gift versions of Awesomenauts and The Binding of Isaac. While that doesn't affect charitable proceeds, Steam Support states that "any accounts tied to a redeemed gift from a fraudulent source may be suspended." This possibility is noted in the "Activations Details" section of its Steam Gift sales, which asks customers to "please remember you are doing it at your own risk!" A 7 Entertainment representative has responded to the story, explaining that it was "never in our intention to expose any indie developer to any financial losses." The representative states that Fast2Play is an e-store with products from official suppliers, adding that it's awaiting an explanation from the distributor of the involved codes. The representative also described Kinguin as "an Ebay for gamers," explaining that Kinguin itself does not own those keys. [Image: Fast2Play]
Origin to cease sales of physical games on April 4
Those of you buying physical games through Origin will soon have to embrace digital distribution or scope out another store - Origin will cease its offering of disc-based games on April 4, when it transitions to serving solely as a digital license storefront for PC and Mac. If you're still set on buying discs, remember that this announcement is just for Origin, not EA's general distribution efforts. You'll presumably still be able to pick up physical copies of Dragon Age: Inquisition and the next Mass Effect through other stores. [Image: EA]
Crowdfunded Veronica Mars movie will hit theaters and your living room simultaneously
It wasn't enough that the Veronica Mars film turned the standard studio model upside down by going to Kickstarter for its funds. Now word is that the feature length Kristen Bell vehicle will be available online to rent or purchase on the same day that it opens in 270 theaters across the country -- March 14th. Normally AMC (which owns 260 of those screens) requires that a movie not be available for home viewing until 90 days after its theatrical release, but Time Warner has found a way around that policy. Rather than doing a standard release and spliting the box office earnings with AMC, the company is simply renting out the theaters where Veronica Mars will be shown. That means that Time Warner is laying out a significant chunk of change up front to screen the film, but will pocket all of the cash from the ticket sales. That's in addition to a significant portion of the proceeds from on-demand rentals and digital purchases, which will mostly be delivered by cable and satellite providers. Don't expect this to become a standard model for movie releases, however. Time Warner views this primarily as an experiment that caters specifically to the passionate Veronica Mars fan base.
GOG to use regional pricing for three upcoming games
Good Old Games has shared plans to implement regional pricing for three upcoming titles due in the "next couple of months." The DRM-free digital distribution service explained that the addition is part of efforts to get more preorder options and launch day releases from publishers, in contrast to their expansive offering of retro games. The post is unable to state which titles these pricing options will be available for due to non-disclosure agreements, but it describes them as a strategy game and two RPGs. The post notes GOG's plans for these games are similar to its adjusted Witcher 2 prices in the US, UK, European Union and Australian markets. It will be interesting to see if users will be able to sidestep regional censorship or higher prices with these future titles by buying from another region - Australian Witcher 2 fans were able to do both after GOG stopped basing a user's region off of their IP address. [Image: Good Old Games]
Microsoft 'testing' lower pricing for digital games on Xbox One
A sale on Ryse: Son of Rome, which puts the game at $39.99 starting tomorrow and runs until February 24, may be the beginning of a trend, according to a series of tweets from Xbox studio manager Mike Ybarra. "Lot of people asked for better deals on our digital marketplace, so we're testing some," Ybarra wrote, before noting that the $39.99 price is lower than a used physical copy at GameStop. One responder asked Ybarra if being able to pre-order digital content so that it could begin downloading at midnight on the date of release would be possible. Ybarra said he would "love" the feature, and claimed that Microsoft has "a long list" of features they want to bring to Xbox Live. Now we and Microsoft just have to wait for the test results. Will the strip turn blue? [Image: Microsoft Studios]
Valve can restrict resale of digital games in Germany, court rules
The Regional Court of Berlin has dismissed a lawsuit from the German consumer organization VZBV against Valve, for now granting Valve the authority to prevent Steam users from reselling their libraries of digital games. Business as usual, that is. In September 2012, VZBV brought a desist letter against Valve, asking that the company (among other things), allow users to resell their "used" digital game accounts, in accordance with a Court of Justice of the European Union ruling made in July 2012 preventing authors from opposing resale of their digital software. Valve had until October 10, 2012, to respond to the desist letter, or the VZBV would bring about a lawsuit – Valve didn't change its policies, and the lawsuit moved forward. The VZBV argues digital games fall under the doctrine of exhaustion, which dictates that copyright owners have limited ability to control individual copies of their products once those items have been distributed. "A second case dealing with the precise copyright status of video games (coming, incidentally, from Germany) is currently still before the European judges, so the case law on this issue must be considered in flux," legal team Osborne Clarke writes. "But at least for the moment, it looks like digitally distributed video games are not subject to exhaustion in Europe." This was the VZBV's second lawsuit against Valve and its digital resale restrictions. The first lawsuit made it to Germany's highest civil court, the Federal Court of Justice, but was dismissed in 2010. [Image: Valve]
Steam now allows users to cancel pre-orders on their own
Pre-ordering games you're really excited about makes sense, but so does canceling said pre-order once you get suspicious that a game won't turn out to be any good. Changing your mind used to be a bit of a process on Steam, since canceling pre-orders required going through the service's support system. That seems to have changed, though - Steam users have reported the surprise appearance of a "Refund an item" button that displays on a user's store transactions page. Reddit user lak3108 posted an image from his Steam account showing his refunded Resident Evil 4 HD purchase. The image states the funds were refunded as a wallet credit that can be used toward future purchases. Shortening transaction processes will always be a welcome thing, so it's great to see that people can manage their Steam shopping with a bit less hassle. Just don't pre-order everything you've ever wanted and then change your mind once a game you forget about releases.
Minecraft sales exceed 1 million in first month on PS3
After a month of generating new lands for PS3 users to explore, Minecraft has sold one million copies on the PlayStation Network. Mojang's David Kaplan shared the news on Mojang's blog, proving that there are actually still people on this Earth that have yet to buy the build-what-you-want adventure game. Kaplan noted that the Mojang team is grateful for the support and hopeful that fans are receptive of future updates. As a sales recap, 11 million units of the PC version were sold by last June, and the Xbox 360 version has creeped out another 10 million players with the unsettling hiss of Creepers. Wii U sales are just a bit lower in comparison, as Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson noted in December that there are "no current plans" to reach the console.
Led by mobile and free-to-play, U.S. digital sales see big gains in 2013
The digital games market is still on the rise, generating $11.7 billion in sales in 2013. According to market research firm SuperData, this total marks an 11% increase over digital sales in 2012. SuperData noted that Christmas and New Year's occurring in the middle of the week may have helped spiked end-of-year numbers; December 2013 saw a 36% increase in digital sales compared to December 2012. Mobile titles claimed the largest percentage of the digital pie, representing $3.6 billion in sales. Free-to-play titles were up 45% year-on-year to $2.9 billion. Perhaps most interesting for MMO players is the fact that F2P MMO offerings from games like World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic landed in the top ten, though the top three free-to-play earners in 2013 were CrossFire, League of Legends, and Dungeon Fighter Online. Data used by the firm is gathered by collecting digital transaction data directly from developers and publishers. [Thanks to Hagu for the tip!]
Microsoft UK explains price increase for select digital Xbox One titles
Following reports that prices for digital copies of Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5 and the standard version of Dead Rising 3 had increased by £5, a Microsoft UK representative explained the change to GameSpot this week. "Digital content pricing is subject to change and we may occasionally offer various deals or promotions," the spokesperson said. "Yes, pricing for select digital content in some markets has changed since launch." With the changes in price, all of Microsoft's first-party, retail-sized games that are now available for download on the Xbox One are currently £49.99.
Good Old Games adds 36 games to its Mac storefront
Good Old Games has discovered a new branch of software compatibility wizardry that apparently involves a magic bucket, which has resulted in 36 games being added to its storefront for Mac. Some of these have previously been available for Mac on other services like Steam, but we're not one to question the selection process of magic buckets. Among the newcomers is Fallout Tactics, Smugglers 5, Iron Storm, Enclave and Wizardry 8. The full list is provided here, though, if you'd prefer to see which of the new additions cater most to your interests.
