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EA reveals SWTOR subscription and sales numbers, beats financial predictions [Updated]
It looks like Star Wars: The Old Republic didn't let its daddy down, as EA has reported much better sales than expected for the December quarter, largely thanks to the runaway sales of the new MMO title (as well as many of EA's other heavy-hitters). The company ended up earning an adjusted $344 million for a total net loss of $205 million, which isn't too shabby if you consider how much money just went into the development and launch of The Old Republic. Perhaps most interestingly to players, however, is the fact that EA has reported sales of more than 2 million units of The Old Republic with about 1.7 million subscribers. Those are the highest (and the hardest) numbers we've heard so far. EA's Chief Financial Advisor, Eric Brown, stated in an interview that EA managed to pull in more SWTOR subscribers than the studio had initially anticipated. He added that at launch, the studio was able to add a great number of users per server courtesy of some technical improvements. If you're economically minded and want to get the full, dirty, stock market details, just click past the link below. [Thanks to Gabriel for the tip!] [Update: Darth Hater has compiled some additional TOR-related statistics and Q&A from today's EA earnings call: "2,000,000+ copies sold, 40% sold through Origin; 1,700,000+ active subscribers, 1 million concurrent." The company also notes that "Active subscribers means anyone paying OR in their trial period. MOST of those 1.7m are paying at this point."]
Electronic Arts stock drops because of SWTOR fumbles
Electronic Arts' stock appears to be in a bit of trouble following Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch. The company's shares fell by almost 3% to $17.75 US this morning after a stock analyst working with Brean Murray Carret & Co. "cut his price target on the stock to $22 [US] from $28 [US]." In a note to his clients, analyst Todd Mitchell wrote that he felt some "creeping concerns" regarding The Old Republic's performance so far; he added that "initial sales appear to be below expectations, and casual observation of early play is causing us to rethink our churn assumptions." Now we just get to sit back with some popcorn and see whether BioWare can get its business together in time to make a recovery, so take a seat. [Thanks to Chum for the tip!]
RIFT revenues reached $100 million in 2011, Trion secures new funding
How successful is RIFT? That's hard to say without knowing how much it cost, but it's safe to assume that Trion executives are smiling after the game generated $100 million in revenue in only 10 months. CEO Lars Buttler told Reuters that the company is still considering an initial public stock offering, and it has also secured an additional $85 million in funding as it readies RIFT for the South Korean and Chinese gaming markets later this year. Trion is also developing an MMO shooter called Defiance and an MMORTS known as End of Nations.
Zynga reports record revenue in last quarter
A recent SEC filing from Zynga, creator of the social gaming epidemic known as FarmVille, revealed that the company is reporting a record quarterly revenue of over 306 million USD, though -- bizarrely enough -- profits are almost 54 percent lower than they were this time last year. Revenue isn't the only thing that's on the rise, either. The company reports 152 million unique monthly players, compared to the 151 million the company reported in June. The average number of daily players, however, dropped from 59 million to 54 million. At any rate, the company seems to be going strong, with new titles such as the recently announced (supposed MMO) CastleVille just on the horizon.
ChangYou reports impressive profit and revenue gains
It's been a great year for ChangYou, and the Chinese developer responsible for Tian Long Ba Bu and Duke of Mount Deer recently reported its fifth consecutive double digit growth quarter. Tian Long Ba Bu has seen two successful expansion packs thus far in 2011, with a third scheduled for September. According to Gamasutra, Duke of Mount Deer recently increased its server headcount to 110 (up from 64), and the success of both titles powered ChangYou's $54.2 million profit as well as a 35.1 percent revenue jump over the previous year. ChangYou also bought into a browser-game specialist called 7Road last spring with the intention of expanding its interests beyond traditional MMORPGs. All told, Gamasutra says that ChangYou contributed an impressive $327 million in revenue to a $5 billion Chinese game market.
Fallout Online's future in jeopardy as Interplay's finances suffer
There's a bad moon a risin' for all you MMO-playing Vault-dwellers out there. Fallout Online, the in-development MMO from Interplay, has been through some rough waters already, but it looks like the situation may be about to go from bad to -- pardon the pun -- apocalyptic. A recent SEC filing by Interplay indicates that the company is going through some rough financial times, which doesn't bode well for the Fallout Online's future. According to the article at GamePolitics, Interplay is skating on thin ice with "a cash balance below $3000 and a working capital deficit of $3 million." The company also states that if the financial situation doesn't change sooner, rather than later, it could be forced to declare bankruptcy or even sell the studio entirely. We here at Massively wish Interplay the best in hopes that someday we'll all be able to step out of the Vaults and into Fallout's uniquely retro post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Square-Enix bracing for big financial losses
By all accounts, Square-Enix has had a rough year. Lukewarm reception of its Final Fantasy XIV MMORPG last fall, followed by the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami this spring, have conspired to paint a bleak portrait of the gaming giant's immediate financial future. Gamespot reports that Square-Enix has warned investors to brace for a $148 million loss for the year-long period that ended on March 31st, and the figures indicate an alarming reversal of fortune when measured against the previous year's $117.44 million profit. The data come on the heels of a down-beat full-year financial outlook issued last February and also stem from what the company calls "tightened selection regarding title lineup." Translation: SE has trimmed some fat from the development budget, notably an FPS named Gun Loco that was originally planned for the Xbox 360. You can read the full report at Gamespot.
Visualized: Google charts the rise and fall of United States revenues
Where would we be without Google? Well, we wouldn't have pretty charts to gawk at, for starters! The Mountain View squad has pulled 10 years' worth of fiscal data from the US Census Bureau and compiled it into some gorgeous, infinitely sortable, and re-organizable graphs. They inspire both our admiration and apprehension, as their lines illustrate most starkly the shrinkage that replaced US economic growth over the latter half of the last decade. We've only picked out a few of the big states here, but all 50 are in Google's public database -- why not hit the source link and check up on your local governors' pecuniary (mis)management skills, eh?
Microsoft also declares record revenue, but Apple still on top
Apple isn't the only technology company that's posting record revenue this year -- Microsoft has brought in $16.20 billion in the last quarter, which stands as a record with a 25 percent increase from the same time last year. The Seattle giant also increased net income to $5.41 billion, so it looks like Halo Reach (in September) and Office 2010 (in July) sent things in a good direction. Apple announced revenue of $20 billion last quarter, which puts the Cupertino company on top by $4 billion in terms of incoming money. But Microsoft still rules net income, with Apple pulling in $4.31 billion for the same quarter. That may change next reporting period, given Apple's steam in the industry so far, but no matter which way you slice it, both of these companies are rolling in the dough.
QuickBooks 2011 to add multi-user support, more
Intuit is preparing to release QuickBooks 2011 for the Mac on September 27th with some great new features like multi-user support (finally!), mileage tracking, and more. We had a chance to explore this new version with William Lynes, QuickBooks product manager. It's quite Mac-like, and I suspect it will be a welcome update for QuickBooks users. The marquee feature of this update is multi-user support. "It was our number one request," Lynes told us. Many customers have experienced the frustration of wanting to work in QuickBooks, only to be denied because another user has a certain file open. Stop us if you've heard this one before. Fortunately, QuickBooks 2011 fixes all of that.
Rumor: Realtime Worlds lays off staff, puts APB up for sale [Updated]
Tweet var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Rumor_Realtime_Worlds_lays_off_staff_puts_APB_up_for_sale'; One of the most recent MMOs to hit the market is already in deep trouble, according to multiple reports popping up over the internet. According to unconfirmed rumors, Realtime Worlds has fired the entirety of its MyWorld team, made drastic cuts and layoffs elsewhere, and might be putting APB up for sale. Announced last month, MyWorld was to be a social gaming experience scheduled for a 2011 launch. If these rumors are true, then Realtime Worlds is mired in financial trouble and is scrambling to keep from going under. A VG247 source reported, "As of 11:30 GMT Realtime Worlds have put a large proportion on their workforce on gardening leave ranging from 4-8 weeks. APB's staff will be reduced to admin and a skeleton staff of devs and artists to keep it running and do general updates, but this looks like the end of RTW." A developer on the APB European forums briefly addressed the situation by saying, "As we''ve announced we had to restructure the company to make it so that we can focus totally on APB. APB is still going strong and we fully intend to support 100%." We do know that Realtime Worlds fired several employees last month in an effort to restructure the company. Massively has contacted Realtime Worlds for comment, and we will update you as soon as we hear anything. [Update: Realtime Worlds has issued a statement confirming that some MyWorld employees, though not all, have been made "redundant," but that APB itself remains intact. "APB continues to be our primary development focus, and we remain fully committed to the game and its players." According to 1UP, Colin Macdonald emphasized that Realtime Worlds has "got the whole team working on making APB as good as it can be. It's a shame things haven't turned out the way we had envisaged them, but then the beauty of online gaming is that we can address problems and keep on improving experiences. We're completely behind APB, it's got huge potential, and we'll continue to make new content for it." Stay tuned for more updates!]
Nintendo posts Q1 loss on strong Yen and lower DS prices
Although foreshadowed, it's hard to believe that the once mighty Ninty, a company with unshakable profits even during last year's global economic downturn, just recorded a Q1 net loss of ¥25.22 billion ($288 million) compared to a net profit of ¥42.32 billion during the same 3-month period a year earlier. Revenues dropped from ¥253.50 billion to ¥188.65 billion. Lower DS portable gaming machine prices coupled with a strong Yen (86.5 percent of its sales were outside of Japan) helped pull Nintendo into the red. Regardless, Nintendo continues to forecast a full year net profit of ¥200 billion on revenue of ¥1.4 trillion. We'll see.
Nintendo net profit declines for first time in six years, panic remains inadvisable
Nintendo's 2009 financial results have just been released and, shockingly enough, the company hasn't been able to break its profit record yet again. In fact, annual net profit dipped -- for the first time in six tenths of a decade -- to $2.44 billion, a 12 percent drop from the previous fiscal year's $2.79 billion. Sales of the Wii were down 21 percent year-on-year, but Nintendo still managed to shift 20 million units globally, so it's not exactly all doom and gloom at Mario HQ. And while Microsoft and Sony are working on their own motion-sensing offerings, Ninty is reloading the only way it knows how -- bringing the noir Wii to fashion-conscious Americans, and an all-new 3D portable console for the rest of us. Anyone willing to bet against Nintendo's income sheet improving next year? [Original image courtesy of Anarkyman]
Quicken Essentials adds features, drops price
Intuit has added new features to Quicken Essentials for the Mac, dropped its price by twenty dollars, and is offering the difference as a refund to those who bought it at the original price of US$69.99. Two major new features will be added to the software by the end of April; users will be able to protect imported files and export data to the spreadsheet software of their choice. In addition, Intuit has listed several features it plans to add throughout 2010, including options to export tax-deductible items to software like TurboTax, to track budgets across several months, and accept investment holdings data from brokerages that do not provide downloadable data for Quicken. The new, lower price is live on the site right now. Customers who purchased Quicken Essentials before April 19th, 2010 are eligible for a $20 refund for a limited time. You'll find full details here. We took at good look at Quicken Essentials for the Mac and spoke with Aaron Patzer, the VP/GM of Intuit's Personal Finance Group, back in February.
Update: 38 Studios sets facts straight on Copernicus
In a follow-up to our story posted yesterday, 38 Studios has contacted us with a response on the issue of the game's cost to be between 50 million and 100 million and their "tenative release date" as reported by the Boston Globe.According to 38 Studios, the 50 to 100 million figure came from the Boston Globe and not 38 Studios, as finances were never disclosed to the newspaper. Production costs were never mentioned as well during the interview. What was noted in the interview was that MMOs can be quite expensive to build, sometimes costing tens of millions of dollars to put together. As said to us by the company, "38 Studios is a private company and does not, and has never, disclosed financials."Furthermore, the company wishes to stress that the supposed "December 2010" release date is not a date they wish to acknowledge. The company will release the game codenamed Copernicus when it is ready, currently wishing to not set any dates for their upcoming game.Follow after the break for the full release from 38 Studios regarding the release date of Copernicus.
Sony Ericsson posts $299 million Q2 2009 loss, PlayStation-integrated phone (probably Aino) coming Q4
The good news, if you want to call it that, is that Sony Ericsson's most recent quarter loss is not as bad as its epic $382 million tab prior, and at this point there's no talk of further en masse job cuts. That said, this new report isn't exactly sunshine, and the Q2 results show a 213 million Euro ($299 million) net loss. Product shipments were around 13.8 million, down 43 percent compared with last year. Some blame is attributed to the focus on mid-tier feature phones in lieu of a greater smartphone push -- SE says it's working to correct that direction, but its higher end devices won't hit until fourth quarter. One interesting note is that one of those late-year handhelds is said to "integrate with PlayStation," but before you get excited over the oft-rumored PSP phone, we'd venture to say it's more likely that description's referencing the Remote Play-supporting Aino. From what we can tell, there's no indication of what's in the cards to improve Q3, so we won''t exactly be surprised if the story repeats itself three months from now.
Steve Jobs spending less on flying
This might be obvious to most of us, but the WSJ feels it's fit to print: while Steve Jobs' reimbursed budget for his private jet has been fairly considerable over the past year or so -- $580,000 for a six-month period a year ago and $30,000 during a quarter period, the past few reports have seen the budget much, much lower. For the first three months of this year they didn't pay him at all, and for the previous six months before that they've only reimbursed him for $4,000.What does this mean? Nothing, really -- while the WSJ points to it as evidence Jobs hasn't been traveling overseas to help bring the iPhone to China and carry out other big Apple deals, we've already known that Jobs wasn't involved much in the day-to-day business anyway; besides, it's hard to recuperate at home and fly around the world simultaneously. There are lots of other reasons for the budget to be down -- that $580,000 period would have been right around the manufacturing point of the iPhone 3G, and since most of the focus lately is on software, it's not like Jobs needs to be jetsetting off exotic plants to make sure production is on schedule.And of course gas prices are back down quite a bit, and companies are under a little more scrutiny and pressure in this economy, so teleconferencing may be just as good as a plane ticket these days. Apple is still saying Jobs is expected back in June, and though these plane figures are interesting, the fact that Apple is still confident of his return says more about the company's future.
Rumors abound of a massive layoff at Mythic Entertainment
Joystiq is reporting today that Mythic Entertainment has been hit by another round of layoffs, this one much more substantial than the first. Using information corroborated by Massively.com sources, they're reporting that anywhere between 60 and 130 people have been let go from the company. Unlike the last round of layoffs, which primarily affected infrastructure positions, these have cut deeply into the design and development departments. Including, it is rumored, cutting into the ranks of the senior designers. This comes less than a week after the announcement of the Call to Arms expansion to Warhammer Online. The ambitious live event expansion is to introduce two new character classes and an entirely new zone's worth of content to the title, which just launched last year. Both Massively and Joystiq have extended invitations for comment to EA and Mythic, and we hope to have more information on this news soon. Update: Mark Jacobs, in a post to the Warhammer Herald, attempts to assuage possible player anxiety over today's layoffs. He describes the layoffs as a part of moving from the pre-launch to post-launch footing, alongside layoffs in line with EA's general cost-cutting measures.
Financial site Mint.com releases iPhone app
I've been using Mint.com (not to be confused with Shawn Inman's great Mint web stats tracker) to track my financial information for a while now. It's very nice -- completely free, and hooks right into your bank accounts, investments, or other financial accounts online (securely, of course -- they've got over 7,500 institutions in the system) to let you know what you're spending, when, and where. I'm lazy when it comes to budgets, but Mint will automatically make budgets for you based on what you spent the month before, so I can see if my groceries, bus fare, or, ahem, iPhone app budgets go over one month.And now they're released an iPhone app, so you can have access to all of that information on the go. It's pretty much a portable Mint -- you've got all of your usual account information, alerts are pushed off onto their own screen, so you can see at a glance where you're overspending, and you can flip through and see your expenses for the month, where your cash is going, and any budgets you've programmed into Mint. The app is quick and easy to use -- like Mint.com, but in the palm of your hand. It's free and on the App Store right now (though of course you have to set yourself up on their website first).One security issue: the app wisely recommends that if you don't have a passcode on your phone already, you put one on it, since your financial information will be available to anyone using your phone. The Mint.com folks also tell us that you can disable iPhone app access from their website, so even if you do lose your phone, you can keep unwanted users from reaching your information. But as with everything, there's a tradeoff of convenience and security -- while it's helpful to have this information anywhere you are, the flip side is that it's that much more likely to fall into the wrong hands.
Stargate Worlds studio faces cash flow issues
Get ready for some dubious corporate drama. We were contacted by a tipster claiming to be a Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment employee. He or she alleged, among other things, that CME/Firesky is in critical financial condition -- that it has accrued a large debt, that massive layoffs are planned, and that the future of Stargate Worlds might be in jeopardy. Knowing full well that potentially-scorned anonymous employees are rarely a wholly reliable source, we contacted the company and provided them an opportunity to comment.We were told that the tip was full of inaccuracies and overstatements. The official comment was this: "Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is a start up, and like many start ups, we face the typical cash flow issues that all pre-revenue companies face. CME continues to fund its operations in the same way it has done for three years and the viability of the Stargate Worlds project is not in question. We fully expect to complete and ship Stargate Worlds in 2009."
