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Activision bringing Cut the Rope: Triple Treat 3-game pack to 3DS
Activision Publishing has announced plans to bring the Cut the Rope series to the Nintendo 3DS in "early 2014." Cut the Rope: Triple Treat combines three games in the ZeptoLabs franchise: the original mobile release and its expansions Cut the Rope: Experiments and Cut the Rope: Time Travel. Cut the Rope is a single-player physics-based puzzle series where players must devise the best way to make a piece of candy fall into an adorable little monster's mouth. Basically, it's a game about healthy eating habits, as written by small children. According to an announcement press release, Triple Treat features over 650 levels, in-game achievements and leaderboards. Since first arriving on the competitive mobile scene, Cut the Rope has struck big with players, surpassing 3 million downloads soon after its 2010 launch. Originally published by the EA-owned Chillingo, Cut the Rope's expansions and sequel were subsequently self-published by ZeptoLabs.
Activision Publishing layoffs at Minneapolis office
Activision Publishing has had a round of layoffs at its Minneapolis location, in preparation for a smaller slate of licensed games next year. Joystiq has been told that 30 full-time employees were let go. These cuts were made at the publishing level and no studio personnel were affected."Like any successful business, Activision Publishing consistently works to align its costs with its revenues – this is an ongoing process. In 2013, we expect that our Minneapolis division will release fewer games based on third-party licenses than we released during 2012," an Activision spokesperson informed Joystiq in a prepared statement."As a result, we are realigning the structure of our Activision Minneapolis division to better reflect our slate and the market opportunities. We are working to redirect those employees that are impacted to other parts of the company where possible, as well as offering them outplacement counseling services."Activision's Minneapolis branch mostly handled licensed titles, like the Cabela series and Bond. Activision's 2012 slate was fairly licensed game heavy, but the company is stepping back from that in 2013.
Activision hires ex-Microsoft CFO Dennis Durkin
Dennis Durkin may not be a name you recognize, but for 12 years he's worked in the belly of the beast that is Microsoft as corporate VP, COO and CFO of the company's Interactive Entertainment Business. The last few years he's worked specifically in the games division. Today, Activision has snatched Durkin up, Microsoft has announced. Mitchell Koch, currently Microsoft's VP of worldwide sales and marketing, will succeed Durkin effective March 19.Dennis Durkin will report directly to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick as the company's chief financial officer, overseeing all finances for the publisher. Thomas Tippl has served as interim CFO since 2010, when he was bumped up to COO.
Here come the Men in Black, in Activision's new game [update]
Someone must have flashy-thinged us recently, because we don't remember hearing the news of a new Men in Black movie coming out next spring. Activision Publishing was informed about the news, at least, with enough of a lead to get to work on a game that'll be released on "consoles and handhelds" alongside the theatrical run of the movie. Dan "One of Swords" Amrich showed a couple of small screenshots on his blog, noting "Based on those, the game could be anything, but we know this much: it will be something." It's something developed by Fun Labs, who has made a lot of Cabela's games for Activision. Educated guess: it's going to be a shooter, about shooting aliens, while wearing a black suit.%Gallery-136442% Update: added gallery and developer info.
You are the fishing pole in Rapala for Kinect
Activision Publishing's latest Rapala Fishing game doesn't come with any kind of fancy fishing rod controller. Instead, the Kinect title tasks players with pantomiming the actions of setting the fishing hook, casting, and reeling in fish. You'll also engage in boat races from spot to spot, miraculously not scaring all the fish away while doing so. The emphasis here is definitely not on realism: you can capture an image of your face to place on one of the game's "boss fish," Seaman-style, and you'll constantly be subjected to "hilariously entertaining jibber jabber" from your lures. Even so, it's still possible to extract a convincingly real (but, by design, not immersive) experience out of Rapala for Kinect when it comes out this November. Just say the magic words: "Game Boat."%Gallery-132989%
Wappy Dog screens are the wappiest screens you'll see today
We've seen new media for a lot of games during Gamescom. But what about Wappy Dog, the DS game about interacting with a robot dog? We made it all the way to Friday without seeing any more about the only game that comes with a robot. Luckily, Activision Publishing finally indulged us with some wappy new screens of the DS game component. You and your battery-powered pal will be able to play a Whack-a-Mole game together, catch falling fruit in a basket, play rock-paper-scissors, shoot ... cannons at sharks ... and then just have a heart-to-cold-robotic-heart.%Gallery-131143%
Modern Warfare 3 being tested for glitches and 'sploits by glitchers, 'sploiters
"mapMonkeys are a community of gamers who have become infatuated with discovering and sharing glitches, exploits, tricks, and strategies found in the video games they play." And now, that very same community is putting its prodigious abilities to use ... at Infinity Ward? "Four members of mapMonkeys are being flown out to California on Sunday, July 10th, to test Modern Warfare 3," founder Rezzo wrote on the mapMonkeys forum. "The mapMonkeys are correct," Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling told CVG. "They're out at the studio to help us run Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer through its paces." While the 'Monkeys had previously lent their talents to World at War and Modern Warfare 2 -- two Call of Duty games that still suffered from a fair amount of glitches and 'sploits -- this time is different. Rezzo said, "We've been flown out to test other games in the past [...] but we only had 2 or 3 days to test the game and find glitches, which wasn't nearly enough time." This go-round, they'll have an entire week to ... un-glitch and, uh ... de-exploit the game. While we love seeing this kind of preemptive planning, the cynics in us have already preemptively stopped playing Modern Warfare 3 because of all the future-glitches and neo-hacks! Can the mapMonkeys do the impossible, reach directly into our shared futures and de-hack the game? And if so, think they'd pick us up an iPhone 5 while they're over there?
Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg on True Crime, Bizarre Creations, the 'Hero' franchise, and transparency
When Eric Hirshberg stepped into the role of CEO of Activision Publishing last July, the company had just begun an ugly, public battle with the founders of Infinity Ward, having fired the creators of the company's Call of Duty cash cow just four months prior. Frequently villainized in the press, the appointment of Hirshberg seemed to indicate that Activision was eager to turn its brand identity around. Hirshberg cut his teeth as CEO and chief creative officer of marketing firm Deutsch LA making ad campaigns for brands like PlayStation -- you may not recognize that name, but if you've seen a Kevin Butler commercial, you know his work. And as Activision Publishing narrows its focus and energies into a few key brands, notably the aforementioned Call of Duty, tasking a marketing man with running a game publisher starts to make a lot of sense. Last month I had the opportunity to speak with Hirshberg in his office at Activision headquarters in Santa Monica. It was less than a week after a massive leak upended the company's carefully prepared marketing plan for the latest in the blockbuster Modern Warfare series and, for Hirshberg, it was a chance to connect with that audience. "We woke up with a marketing crisis," Hirshberg told me, "and wanted to go to bed with a marketing win." Throughout our conversation, Hirshberg mentioned the need to be transparent with consumers, so I challenged him to explain some of the company's more controversial decisions since he's been CEO: the cancellation of True Crime; the closure of Bizarre Studios; and the very public retreat from the Guitar Hero and DJ Hero games.
Nintendo mass announces Wii, DS game launch dates
Clearly, Nintendo wants the back half of your year to have a strong financial plan. In two lengthy lists we spotted on the company's press site, everything from Kirby Wii to Pro Jumper! Chimaki's Hot Spring Tour Guilty Gear Tangent was given a more clear release date, with Kirby arriving some time in fall and the latter mystifying DSiWare shopgoers on June 23. If one game starring a puffy pink monster just wasn't enough, how about one for your DS on September 19? 'Cause that's exactly when Kirby Mass Attack is launching. A whole mess of other release date/windows/seasons are categorized for your fiduciary planning needs, just beyond the break.
The Modern Warfare 3 leak, from Activision's perspective
"Friday was a really interesting, a really kind of cool day," said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg, as he reflected on last week's massive Modern War 3 leak and the company's response. "Cool" was a word I was not expecting out of the man in charge of shepherding an enormous marketing campaign that had just been knocked off of its horse. "No one wakes up and thinks, 'I hope there's been a leak and our timing gets all messed up,'" Hirshberg mused as he and I discussed the incident this week at a meeting at Activision HQ, but "if members of the government and the military aren't safe from this stuff, it's a part of our world now." "And while it's definitely not cool to steal other people's intellectual property, and while it's definitely not cool to leak stuff that's not yours, there are ways that you can respond that actually turn the lemons into lemonade," he added. "And that's what we tried to do on Friday."
Activision Publishing CEO says perception of the company is different from reality
As co-CEO at ad company Deutsch LA, Eric Hirshberg was partially responsible for turning the PlayStation 3 from something that freaked us out into a platform for the VP of Awesome. Now, HIrshberg is able to comment on a similar turnaround at Activision. As the CEO of the publishing group, he says that "some of Activision's reputational challenges are not based in the reality of the company that I've experienced here so far. ... What I can tell you is since I've been here there's not a day or an hour that goes by without a conversation or focus on creative excellence in delivering great gaming experiences to our fans. That's what this place is focused on and about." Yes, Activision may have put a "for sale" sign on UK racing studio Bizarre, laid off staff at Neversoft and Radical Entertainment and elsewhere, and weakened studio after studio, but Hirshberg says all the cuts are indicative of just how tough this business can be. And even in a tough business, says Hirshberg, "we do everything we can to make the relationships with our developers work, and to find a commercially viable use of their talents, and it's only when we've exhausted every other opportunity that [shutdowns and layoffs] happen." The video game industry, he says, is "a high stakes game when everyone's trying to get into that upper echelon of performance and there's no middle class," which means, presumably, that Activision has to be judicious when choosing who gets to keep working. That may be true, but Hirshberg's going to need more than that if he wants to turn Bobby Kotick into PlayStation's KB.
Activision Publishing names Eric Hirshberg as new CEO
Activision has announced that Eric Hirshberg has joined Activision Publishing* as its new CEO, replacing Mike Griffith, who is being promoted to the position of Vice Chairman of Activision Blizzard. Hirshberg was formerly the CEO and Chief Creative Officer of ad company Deutsch LA. "In contemplating the requirements for the role of Activision Publishing's new CEO," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in the announcement, "we believed it was vital to have a leader who was a dedicated gamer, inspired creative thinker, and possessed the ability to manage and lead creative talent in a manner that produced both superior products and provided superior shareholder returns." Kotick called Hirshberg "one of the most inspiring people I know" with a "keen understanding of popular culture." Hirshberg will report to (and inspire!) Activision Blizzard COO Thomas Tippl. *Did you know? Activision Publishing, Inc. (a.k.a. "Activision") is a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, which is majority owned by media conglomerate Vivendi. Activision Publishing continues to exist as a separate brand entity, developing and publishing games, as does Blizzard Entertainment.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 now on iPhone
Update: Added a trailer to the post. Tony told us it would drop soon and lo and behold, you can now download Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 from the App Store. The iPhone game will set you back $9.99 and features 13 different environments and skaters, plus accelerometer-enhanced controls, if you don't mind looking like the weirdo shaking their iPhone on the train like it owes them money. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 ($9.99) %Gallery-89570%
Activision confirms Infinity Ward studio heads' departures; Publishing execs take over
According to the official statement we've all been waiting for, Activision has announced that Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with the studio. Activision Publishing chief technology officer Steve Pearce and head of production Steve Ackrich will head up the development house on "an interim basis." Furthermore, Call of Duty-related business will now be overseen by Philip Earl (now ex-head of Activision's Asia-Pacific region). We first heard rumor of the Infinity Ward shakeup in the wee hours this morning and saw a few clues throughout the day regarding the two, now ex-Infinity Ward heads. While Activision's formal announcement is certainly confirmation of the sudden changes, it lacks any real explanation. We've put in word to both Infinity Ward and Activision to learn more about the future of the studio and what caused the apparent schism.
Luxoflux shuttered as layoffs hit Activision dev studios, publisher confirms
Reports began circulating this morning about major layoffs at a handful of Activision-owned development studios, affecting as much as half of Radical Entertainment's staff (Prototype), an undisclosed amount of Neversoft employees (Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk), and the entirety of Luxoflux (Tranformers). An Activision rep confirmed two former studio layoffs to us this afternoon, though a representative didn't city any official numbers -- the rep also told us he could "confirm the closure of Luxoflux." The full, significantly more vague, company statement given out to everyone reads: "Activision Publishing continually evaluates its resources to ensure that they are properly matched against its product slate and strategic goals. In 2010, the company's SKU count will be smaller than in 2009 driven in part, by a decrease in the number of music-based games we will be releasing. As we discussed on our earnings conference call yesterday, we are directing our resources against the largest and most profitable business segments, and as part of this initiative, we are realigning our resources to better reflect our slate and the market opportunities. At the same time, we are increasing our digital/online capabilities as we expect that digital/online will continue to become a more meaningful part of our business model in the years ahead."
