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Football Manager 2013 was pirated over 10.1 million times, once in the Vatican
Sports Interactive studio head Miles Jacobson revealed that Football Manager 2013 was illegally downloaded over 10.1 million times in a talk at the London Games Conference, MCVUK reported. He explained that the cracked software featured a "Home" flaw, which let the developer track the IP addresses of all pirates. Among the regions Jacobson discovered the illegal downloads in, China led the group with 3.2 million downloads followed by Turkey with 1.05 million copies of the game. Jacobson added that one person in the 547,000 that illegally downloaded Football Manager 2013 in Italy was located in Vatican City. While the developer said it would "be ridiculous to think" that every illegal download equated to one lost sale of the game, he estimated that 176,000 sales were lost to pirating, and that 1.74 percent of downloaders would have potentially purchased Football Manager 2013 had the cracking software not been available. Putting it in tangible terms, Jacobson equated the lost sales to $3.7 million in revenue that Sports Interactive and publisher Sega won't see. Jacobson was previously optimistic in November 2012 about the new anti-piracy measures placed in the game, noting that Football Manager 2012 wasn't pirated until two weeks after release. By comparison, Football Manager 2013 went 119 days without being cracked, the official LGC Twitter account noted during Jacobson's talk.
Steam Summer Getaway sale: Football Manager 2013, DmC, System Shock 2
Another day, another round of deals in the Steam summer sale. Today's highlights include Football Manager 2013 for $10, DmC: Devil May Cry for $25, Alan Wake for $3, System Shock 2 for $2.50, Orcs Must Die 2 for $3.74, Sleeping Dogs for $6.24 and Mark of the Ninja for only $3.74. The daily flash deals – which rotate every eight hours – also have some choice discounts, ripe for the plucking. Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Serious Sam 3 are both only $4 apiece, while Scribblenauts Unlimited is $5 and Assassin's Creed 3 has been marked down to $24.
Football Manager 2013 is series best-seller, FM2014 to tackle Linux
Soccer coaching sim Football Manager 2013 is the best-selling entry in the series' history, going all the way back to the original Championship Manager line in the 1990s. Sports Interactive Director Miles Jacobsen announced the landmark on Facebook, noting the game had scored over a million sales since its launch in November 2012. As this Euro soccer season nears its end, fans are already looking ahead to the next one, and the next Football Manager. On the back of the latest entry bulging net sales, we now know Football Manager 2014 will take to the pitch on Linux. Jacobsen revealed FM2014 is confirmed to come to PC, Mac and Linux. It'll be a crossplay game, meaning any purchase enables play on all three platforms. So now SI's seemingly unstoppable black hole of time has one more way to claim lives - you have been warned.
Sega Sammy posts fiscal net profit, Aliens: Colonial Marines shipped 1.3M [update]
Sega Sammy reported financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31 2013 today, noting a net profit of ¥33.5 billion, which converts to $331 million. The figure represents annual growth of 53.3 percent. However, the company's operating profit decreased year-on-year by 67.3 percent, down now to ¥19.1 billion, or $189 million. While Sega Sammy made significant net profit, largely through gains on the sales of "investment securities" and transfers of employees' pension benefits, the company noted decreased demand for packaged games in light of global economics. Sega Sammy said it must adapt to a market leaning towards games on social networks and smartphones. That decreased demand was coupled with a year of restructuring at Sega Sammy's US and European divisions. With less games coming out as a result, it's no surprise Sega Sammy saw decline in packaged software shipments, down to 10.8 million overall. They include 1.31 million units of the critically panned Aliens: Colonial Marines, as well as 1.36 million for Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed and 940,000 for Football Manager 2013. Meanwhile, Yakuza 5 shipped 590,000 units since its launch in Japan in December 2012. Sega Sammy's biggest success gaming-wise looks to be Phantasy Star Online 2. The PC and Vita MMO has a subscription base of over 2.5 million now, and the company said revenue from in-game purchasable items "exceeded forecasted levels." Sega Sammy forecasts it will ship 11 games on PC, 7 on Wii U, 7 on PS3, 6 on 3DS, 5 on Vita, 4 on Xbox 360, and 2 on PSP in the fiscal year ending March 31 2014 - of course there'll be some crossover there. The company estimates a 41 percent growth in net profit for the next fiscal year, up to ¥47 billion, or $464 million. Update: Sports Interactive's Miles Jacobson tweets Football Manager 2013 has now passed the 1 million mark for sales, having done so five months earlier than FM2012 did.
Football Manager 2013 better thanks to anti-piracy measures
Sports Interactive, developers of the Football Manager series of soccer management simulation games, added "17 or 18" people to the team this year. Studio head Miles Jacobson credited the development team's growth and the heightened expectations for Football Manager 2013 to its anti-piracy measures, in an interview with MCV."With the measures that we used last year, the game wasn't pirated for two weeks. The extra sales that we got in that time has helped us to get the new members of staff this year," Jacobson said. He added that Football Manager 2013's new anti-piracy system had yet to be cracked."If we can hold another, three, four weeks, as long as we can really, it will benefit the retailers and ourselves and ultimately, the consumer as well. If we do much better this year, we'll be investing that back into the studio, take on more people to be able to do more features," he said.
Assassin's Creed 3 is second biggest launch of year in UK
Red-coat murder simulator Assassin's Creed 3 is publisher Ubisoft's biggest launch ever in the UK. According to Chart-Track, along with the previously mentioned achievement, AC3 is also the second biggest launch of the year (behind FIFA 13, natch). This fifth installment in the franchise (1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, 3) sold double that of Assassin's Creed 2 during its launch week, and 117,000 units more than last year's Revelations.FIFA 13 sits comfortably in second, followed by three new titles and Medal of Honor: Warfighter's quick fall from grace. WWE '13, Football Manager 2013 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted debut in spots three through five, respectively. Kick it on past the break for the UK top ten.
Football Manager 2013 launching worldwide November 2
The latest in Sega's addicting Football Manager series is slated to launch on November 2 for PC and Mac. Those that pre-order the soccer management game in advance will receive a code for a single-player beta version, available two full weeks before the game's launch.According to the Football Manager 2013 site, the game will see improvements in the match and training system, as well as manager and specialist coaching roles.
