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Perfect World reorganizes its R&D branches
Chinese gaming giant Perfect World Co. has issued a statement declaring a restructuring of research and development teams and the subsequent formation of five new subsidiaries. Says the press release, The structure of forming new subsidiaries that are majority-owned by Perfect World is aimed to help attract and motivate top talent by granting them direct stake in the subsidiaries under the new incentive scheme. Perfect World will support these subsidiaries with the Company's proprietary technology, graphic design, integrated platform, distribution channels and other valuable resources. The Company believes that the new structure will help invigorate the game development process, support game design flexibility, allow faster reaction to changing market trends, and boost game development productivity. Through its subsidiary Perfect Online Holding Limited, Perfect World also recently acquired a 3% stake in Digital Extremes Ltd., which publishes Warframe. Perfect World Co., Ltd., is not to be conflated with Perfect World Entertainment, known to our audience primarily for its custodianship of Cryptic's Star Trek Online, Neverwinter, and Champions Online. PWE is Perfect World Co.'s North American online games publisher.
Rumor: BioWare San Francisco shuts down
According to GamesRadar's unnamed sources, BioWare San Francisco has reportedly been shut down as of today, resulting in the layoffs of 25-30 employees associated with the studio. The studio formerly known as EA2D was responsible for the Dragon Age Legends Facebook game and the browser-based Mirror's Edge 2D. While it was focused on developing mobile and social games, Electronic Arts found that handling development in the area was too expensive and has shut down operations. Our condolences to all those affected by this shutdown.
GamersFirst sees a management shakeup
GamersFirst is in the minds of gamers for its successful relaunch of APB: Reloaded, which went from a lightning-fast shutdown to a successful free-to-play title. The company is also developing new games based on original IPs for future release. But there's some rumbling going on behind the scenes at the company, as the company's parent corporation, K2 Network, saw the resignation of its CEO, Joshua Hong. Bjorn Book-Larsson, former COO and CTO, has been promoted to the CEO position, with Hong's future uncertain. The official statements claim that the transition of power was amicable and pre-arranged, but it also comes on the heels of worldwide layoffs from K2 and rumors of a power struggle behind the scenes. Rahul Sandil, the company's public relations chief, claimed that there was no truth to these rumors and that the plan was to move forward from simple localizations of titles developed in foreign markets. Sandil went on to confirm that APB: Reloaded continues to be a large-scale success for the company and that further development will be centered around work that Book-Larsson had already seen during his time as CTO and COO.
APB retail edition to hit store shelves tomorrow [Updated]
Would you buy a box set for a free-to-play game? It might seem like an odd question, but GamersFirst is hoping that the answer to that question is "yes" once you see what's being offered with the APB: Reloaded boxed edition. With a suggested retail price of $29.99, the box is set to go on sale starting tomorrow, December 9th, and will be sold at Best Buy, Target, GameStop, and Walmart. And what do you get when you buy the game? Aside from an installation disc and manual, you get 30 days free of Premium account status and 500 G1 credits for use in the game's microtransaction store. You also get a faction-specific sports car and a special secondary weapon to help ensure that you're never without a holdout in a protracted firefight. Time will tell if this addition to the game's marketing proves profitable for the game under its current business model. [Source: GamersFirst press release] [Update: We've since been told that the retail launch of APB: Reloaded has been delayed. The team hopes to have an updated date by Friday, December 16th. We'll update you when we know more!]
Nexon looking to purchase Freestyle developer
Do you like street basketball? It certainly seems like the folks at Nexon do, seeing as how the company is in talks to purchase the developer of Freestyle. The rather unique street basketball MMO is developed by South Korean company JCE, and Nexon is currently in meetings with the company's majority stockholders. Successful negotiations wouldn't mean that Nexon could quite make the company a subsidiary, but they would be the first step down that road. Followers of the industry will no doubt notice that this is an ongoing pattern with Nexon's recent acquisition, as the Seoul-based company has purchased a variety of other South Korean development studios in recent months, as well as a Spanish development studio. What this would mean for the games in North America or for the industry as a whole is unclear as of yet, although it would certainly be another installment of Nexon solidifying its MMO catalogue.
Icarus announces company restructuring [updated]
Icarus Studios, developers of the post-apocalyptic science fiction MMORPG Fallen Earth, today announced an immediate reorganization of company resources and staffing. "While this is a challenging step for us, the steps were taken to maintain the growth, continued development and profitability of Fallen Earth," said Icarus Chief Executive Office James Hettinger. A press release on the official site confirms that the newly reorganized company will continue to support core staff members, customer service, and ongoing development of Fallen Earth. The release also notes that work continues on the forthcoming Blood Sports Patch, scheduled for a May 7 release.
