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Red 5 Studios' parent company lines up $24 million Firefall investment
Anyone who has played Firefall wouldn't associate it with more standard free-to-play Chinese MMOs, but the game is certainly generating a lot of financial interest in China. The9, the Chinese gaming company that owns developer Red 5 Studios, is lining up for the game to get a major investment from Oriental Pearl Culture Development Ltd., a major entertainment development organization. That investment shakes out to around $24 million and would make Oriental Pearl one of the largest minority shareholders in the company. Overall, Firefall is apparently valued around $100 million based upon statements released by the companies. This latest investment is still in a non-binding stage and could be cancelled if Oriental Pearl changed its mind and decided against investing in the company. Preliminary reports suggest that the deal will go through, generating quite a windfall for the not yet technically launched game and demonstrating once again just how big the MMO scene is becoming worldwide.
Fund manager David Einhorn sues Apple, wants cash to go back to shareholders
David Einhorn is a fund manager at Greenlight Capital, and he's leading the charge with a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the company hasn't done enough to make sure its shareholders receive the benefits of their success. Apple's been making plenty of money lately, of course, but Einhorn's problem isn't with the making, it's with what Apple is doing with that money. The company from Cupertino has built up a cash bank of nearly $100 billion, and investors have already made it clear they're not happy that Apple hasn't turned that money back into bonuses for shareholders. "We understand that many of our fellow shareholders share our frustration with Apple's capital allocation policies," says Einhorn. "Apple has $145 per share of cash on its balance sheet. As a shareholder, this is your money," he told fellow investors. And so Einhorn has filed suit in a New York court to try and modify a proposal Apple has pending, and change the company's stance on paying off its shareholders. We'll have to see how this plays out. Certainly Apple has a duty to its stockholders, and that is definitely a lot of money (more than any one company's ever seen before). But Apple's R&D costs are rising all the time. If Tim Cook has a good reason to have such a big cash pile, odds are it'll come out in this case.
The future of Activision Blizzard
So now that the news has broken, the CEO has been interviewed, and the dust has settled on this weekend's merger, it's time to ask the big question: Why? Blizzard and Vivendi are on top of the world in terms of their field right now. Why would they combine with Activision, especially if, as they claim, nothing at all is changing? Why go to all the trouble if it'll make no difference in either company's business?And the answer-- in my analysis-- is, as usual with most mergers: money. The fact is that Activision wants to be the biggest gaming company in the world. They want it all-- consoles, PC games, you name it-- and connecting with Blizzard helps them get a big part of that. World of Warcraft has turned Blizzard from a quality game designer into a videogame powerhouse, and Activision, in reaching for the top, has invited Blizzard on their team.Blizzard will profit from it as well-- Activision knows how to get games published and marketed (just look at Guitar Hero III, which has done incredibly well for being a game that was not only not made by the original developer, but actually released up against a strong competitor made by the original developer). Blizzard knows how to make great games, and Activision knows how to release them, so both companies obviously think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.But is it?
Apple shareholders to vote on green
Apple shareholders will vote on removing hazardous chemicals from the Apple product line at the upcoming May 10th annual meeting according to Macworld. Apple's board thinks Apple already has sufficient environmental standards and opposes the resolution, which was introduced by Trillium Asset Management of Boston. Trillium, an investment firm, specializes in "socially responsible investments". The chemicals in question include brominated flame retardents and polyvinyl chloride plastics.
EA gobbles up the rest of Battlefield developer DICE
According to GamesIndustry.biz, "DICE's board of directors has unanimously agreed on a joint merger plan" with Battlefield publisher EA.If all goes well, Digital Illusions CE will become fully owned by the largest 3rd-party publisher in the world when stockholders meet and vote on the measure May 24th. EA already owns two-thirds of the company's shares.Like any large company, EA has bought smaller competitors like Criterion and important industry players like Jamdat to buy its way into new markets and franchises, so this is nothing new. We simply wish DICE the best in the future (with hopefully few future layoffs because of this deal).
