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Google reportedly wants in on Virgin Galactic's space business
Fresh from its $500 million acquisition of satellite specialist Skybox Imaging, Google appears to be ready to make another space-related investment. Sky News reports that the search giant is in advanced talks to take a minority stake in Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic business (which already counted Skybox Imaging as a potential customer) with a view to getting its internet satellite project off the ground. Google may invest around $30 million into the company, which is set to begin commercial flights to space later this year, forming a joint venture that would see Virgin Galactic offer up its technology in return. Reports suggest Larry Page and co. are already preparing to build 180 small satellites that will be placed into a low orbit to provide internet connections to remote areas of the globe. That, coupled with the acquisition of drone maker Titan Aerospace, suggests Google is steadily moving forward with its space project. Virgin Galactic could provide the thrust, so-to-speak, helping get Google's satellites exactly where they need to be.
Journey studio nets $7 million for 'emotionally engaging' game
Journey studio thatgamecompany has raised an additional $7 million in funding for its next project, thanks to a partnership with Capital Today and other investors. Thatgamecompany announced the investment on its blog: "With this new investment, our studio is able to scale up development efforts to focus on making the best game possible in the same spirit as flOw, Flower, and Journey. We'll also begin laying the infrastructure to self-publish, market, and distribute on our own terms for this next project and beyond. Since finishing Journey, the team has been hard at work to make an emotionally engaging experience centered around human connections for players of all ages and backgrounds." Thatgamecompany's next game builds on the studio's vision to create "meaningful interactive experiences that inspire, connect, and emotionally touch the hearts of players around the world." Chances are it's not a first-person shooter filled with hordes of violent enemies. Thatgamecompany said it will reveal more information about the new game as development continues, and thanked fans for their patience.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen restarting with volunteer team
The last major update posted regarding Brad McQuaid's dream MMO, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, didn't leave a lot of ambiguity. The game had no prototypes to be shown off, it had failed at its Kickstarter campaign, and the funding raised by fans had completely worn out. So you'd think that would mean it was the end of the road, but instead McQuaid has posted an update on the state of the game's development, and according to the post, the team is being rebuilt and progress will be made. McQuaid explains that the new development team will be working as volunteers for three main reasons: There's no money to pay this new team, McQuaid doesn't want to go through the same stresses that were involved in putting together the last remote team, and as the team will also be remote, it will require a certain amount of adjustment and uncertainty. If you're still hoping for the game's eventual release, you should take a look at McQuaid's full update on the official site. [With thanks to Cederhill for the tip.]
Omni VR treadmill gets $3 million in seed funding
Following Virtuix's announcement earlier this month that its virtual reality treadmill will arrive in July for its early adopters, the company revealed this morning that it received seed funding. Virtuix received $3 million to "expand production and distribution of the Omni," the $500 platform that has players strapping in to a harness and wearing special shoes to run, walk and jump using their real-life legs in games. The seed investment round was led by Tekton Ventures and Maveron. One of the other investors onboard with the Omni is Radical Investments, a venture capital firm founded by Mark Cuban. Virtuix took a trip to the entrepreneurial ABC reality television series Shark Tank, which Cuban stars on, in an episode that aired in December. In it, Cuban pointed out that Virtuix's Omni is "pretty much based around Oculus Rift" and that "as Oculus Rift goes, you guys go." Virtuix valued its idea at $20 million, which Cuban and the rest of the cast didn't buy into. "I could see you creating 20 million in sales, 25 million in sales with this, but you're competing just like headsets are going to be competing," he said. "You haven't told me that there's a way to get to 50 million in sales." Given Facebook's recent acquisition of Oculus VR for $2 billion, which was cleared by the FTC this week, Cuban now appears to see more hope for the Omni. Aside from private investors, the other groups that funded Virtuix's efforts this week are Scentan Ventures, Scout Ventures and StartCaps Ventures. [Image: Virtuix]
AT&T wants to power the next big video streaming service
AT&T has a new way to take on TV-threatening internet video services like Netflix: it's going to offer a few services of its own. The telecom is teaming up with the Chernin Group -- previously a bidder in the Hulu sweepstakes -- to start a venture that will "acquire, invest in and launch" both online video platforms and on-demand TV channels. While the two companies aren't saying much about their plans, they're already willing to pledge over $500 million to the project and fund providers whether they're ad-supported or subscription-based.
Capcom investing around $80m into two new R&D buildings
Capcom announced it's spending approximately 8 billion yen, which converts to just under $79 million, on two new research and development buildings located near its head office in Osaka. The investment is part of Capcom's ongoing focus to make more of its development internal and centralized with the aim of making higher quality games at lower costs. Work on the smaller eight-floor building began in May 2013, shortly after Capcom announced a $73 million special loss on game cancellations following what the Japanese company called an "excessive" outsourcing of projects overseas. The two buildings will house a significant number of the 1000 further employees Capcom is bringing in as part of its 10-year plan to increase its workforce, and the aim remains to amass a total staff of 2,500 by 2022. Today the company noted the majority of these hires will be recent graduates. "Capcom believes that these actions will give the company a competitive advantage due to the more powerful development capabilities in the rapidly growing mobile and PC online games markets," the company summarized in today's announcement. The 8-floor building will cost around 2.5 billion yen ($24.5 million) to build, and Capcom expects to complete construction in January 2015. Work on Its larger 16-floor sibling begins this month, with total costs of approximately 5.5 billion yen ($54 million) and a planned ETA of January 2016. As for what you'll find in the two new offices, Capcom notes a (probably very fancy) sound effect studio, a new motion capture room, and "multi-purpose" spaces that can hold 100-plus people. [Image: Capcom]
PAX East 2014: The Repopulation's Josh Hall on the future of the game
If you're looking for Kickstarter success stories, The Repopulation definitely qualifies. While the game hasn't yet been released, it's managed to run not one but two successful campaigns looking to fans for funding, and it's managed its development carefully to keep itself on track for release. The game feels like a well-managed professional affair. And it's been a bit more quiet, but that comes down largely to the focus on getting the game out of its current alpha state and into its first beta. At this year's PAX East, I sat down to talk with Josh Hall, one of the core team members on the project, about where the game is in development and what it's heading for in the next few months. While the final alpha stage has taken slightly longer than originally planned, the team is on track for launching the first beta phase at some point over the summer, and it's eyeing further release plans.
Limbo investor funds indie sleepwalker Back to Bed
Sleepwalking puzzler Back to Bed is back on track thanks to assistance from Danish investment firm Capnova. The investment prompted the team of students from the Danish National Academy of Digital Interactive Entertainment (DADIU) to form an official studio now known as Bedtime Digital Games. Capnova's history of video game investments include Playdead's Limbo, PressPlay's Max and the Magic Marker and Full Control's digital adaptation of Space Hulk for iPad. Bedtime Digital Games Project Manager Klaus Pederson told Polygon that the funding from Capnova will make a second game from the developer possible. Back to Bed was scheduled to arrive in late December 2013 before being pushed back during the developer's restructuring. Players guide a sleepwalker through dreamlike, 3D puzzle-platforming environments in the game, which will come to PC, Mac, Linux , iOS, Android and Ouya. The developer earned $13,312 on Kickstarter in March 2013 to initially fund the game. [Image: Bedtime Digital Games]
The Mog Log: There's nothing to say about Final Fantasy XI
At a glance, Final Fantasy XI is doing all right for itself. It's been running for over a decade and has had to deal with only occasional server merges. It launched another new expansion this year. It certainly doesn't have the population that it used to have, but the people who are playing seem happy enough with the game, and that's what matters. And yet for all that I ostensibly write about both of Square-Enix's online games, these days it's pretty much all Final Fantasy XIV. Some readers have asked me why this is. Have I fallen out of love with Final Fantasy XI? Yes. And no. It's complicated. And I think discussing why I'm not writing more about XIV's more classic sibling also bears some discussion in the context of the game as a whole. So let's talk about why there's so little to say about Vana'diel these days, even while Vana'diel continues to be an active environment.
Fire Hose Games' indie incubator: 'It's ridiculous this doesn't exist'
President of Boston's Fire Hose Games, Eitan Glinert, breaks down four types of indie developers he sees in the wild: The developer starving, eating ramen, with no support system because she's nobody The developer begging publishers to give him money, but it turns out the publishers drive him nuts and everything turns to crap The developer mooching off every single relative she has to fund her game He's already famous "If you're already famous, that's great, but if you don't have that stuff it's just so hard to get your thing off the ground," Glinert says. There are options for first-time developers – submitting a game to IGF or the PAX 10, or being featured on big websites – but he says there are still roadblocks in the current system. "I'm sick of it – and it's a solvable problem," he says. He may have solved it, with help from the rest of the team: Fire Hose Games is transitioning into an indie incubator, with plans to take on fresh developers and offer them a place to work, a monthly living wage, revenue share when their games launch, plus advice, experience and a creative atmosphere. "We want to go ahead and remove the hurdles to game development that these small indie developers face, and we can get some absolutely phenomenal talent in the process," Glinert says. "It's a big win-win. We help these developers make the games they want without all the burden of getting all these bits and pieces aligned, when all they want to do is make the game. We get fantastic talent in the process; we get great games in the process and we're all helping each other."
Nexon puts millions into Rumble Games
Rumble Games, founded by former BioWare/Pandemic CEO Greg Richardson, has just received a nice cash boost from Nexon and its investment partners. Rumble announced today that Nexon, Google Ventures, and TriplePoint Capital have invested $17.5 million in the studio, which intends to use the funds to expand its markets and further support its stable of free-to-play and mobile titles. Nexon, the Tokyo-based producer of online games like Mabinogi, Combat Arms, and MapleStory, apparently sees something it likes in Rumble's games, which include KingsRoad, Ballistic, and Nightmare Guardians.
The Nexus Telegraph: Why WildStar's housing matters
A while back, I got a wonderful letter from a reader whom I'll simply call L for these purposes. L was curious why, exactly, I cared about housing in WildStar, not out of a desire to belittle but out of a genuine curiosity. From his standpoint, housing adds nothing to the game and takes development time away from features that do add to the overall experience. His question was an attempt to see if he was missing some crucial point, something that made housing more important than, say, another raid at launch. Partway through typing a response, I realized that this was a response that deserved more than just a letter; it deserved center stage because L is both right and wrong. In the strictest sense, housing does take away from development time that could go toward other features. For some players it's just not that interesting or relevant. But at the same time it also opens up avenues of design and play that just don't exist without housing in place, which winds up making the game as a whole better even if you don't want to play housekeeper.
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.
WB Games Montreal gets $1.5 million investment from government
Quebec's government has invested $1.5 million in WB Games Montreal, developers of the upcoming Batman: Arkham Origins, as part of a five-year, $63 million expansion which will create 100 jobs at the company. WB Montreal Studio Chief Martin Carrier predicted the studio would play host to 500 people and "be one of the best-known studios in the world" by 2018, CTV News reports. Premier Pauline Marois, who announced the grant, also said that the game development scene in Montreal was the top market in Canada, and that Montreal itself is one of the top three cities in the world leading game development.
Twitch gets $20 million in funding, Take-Two among investors
Twitch has earned $20 million from investors, the company announced. Among the Series C, or third round of investors is Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two, though it is uncertain how much the publisher invested in the video game live-streaming company. The investment round is appropriately timed ahead of the PS4 and Xbox One launches, as Twitch will offer its streaming services on both consoles. Twitch added that its viewership has grown to 45 million unique visitors per month, and expects that number to increase thanks to these next-gen, broadcast-capable systems. Twitch noted that the investment round was led by Thrive Capital, with Take-Two and WestSummit Capital "participating" in the funding. Current investors Alsop Louie Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners also invested more money into the company.
Storyboard: Are we still having fun?
Roleplaying events, like any other sort of roleplaying, require a bit of give and take. The person organizing the event puts in a lot of work coming up with a plan and being ready to adapt to changing circumstances, sometimes to great effect and sometimes to... less great effect. But it's not all down to the organizer. If you're actively participating in the event, you have a certain level of obligation, just like you have an obligation to actively participate in a tabletop game. Nobody likes the guy who isn't paying attention and groans with exhausted relief when you finally get to the part that he was waiting for. Organizers are supposed to make sure that the road to the fireworks factory is neat, but what can you do as a participant to make sure that your interest stays up, even during the parts that drag before you get to the fireworks factory? As you've probably, guessed, I have several suggestions.
Samsung to build five new R&D centers in Korea for $4.5 billion
You gotta spend money to make money. Samsung knows that, which is why the Korean powerhouse will be spending about 5 trillion won (roughly $4.5 billion) to build five new R&D centers over the next three years. All of the facilities will be in the company's homeland, with a $1 billion research center set to open in southern Seoul late in 2015. At that particular building, it's expected that some 10,000 employees will take up residence, focusing primarily on design. Samsung also plans to dedicate new R&D centers to materials and component development, as well as chips and displays. In 2012 Samsung dropped a company-record 11.9 trillion won (about $10.5 billion) on R&D, and there's no sign that it'll be slowing down anytime soon. In fact, its research budget is up about $1.4 billion from 2011. Sure, there might not be as much of an immediate windfall from the investment, like you might see from an advertising blitz or lawsuit, but we're willing to bet it keeps Sammy competitive for much of the foreseeable future.
Qualcomm finishes $120 million investment in Sharp, becomes third-largest investor
Chipmaker Qualcomm has finalized its investment in beleaguered display manufacturer Sharp. Announced back in December 2012 and totaling $120 million, the second portion of the investment was delayed earlier this year when Sharp failed to satisfy conditions for the investment. Sharp's now confirmed the transaction, which gives Qualcomm a 3.53 percent share of the display maker, and will presumably increase its involvement on new screen tech being developed between the two companies. The combination of Qualcomm's MEMs display products and Sharp's high-resolution IGZO screens will apparently make its way into a number of devices in varying sizes. Qualcomm isn't the only company with a vested interest in Sharp's recovery, either -- Samsung also holds a 3 percent stake.
Roku takes $60 million in funding, wants to be the front end for your TV
Despite its image as an underdog, Roku knows how to court some heavy hitters in the TV business: on top of a total $80 million in previous investments, it just received a $60 million boost this week. The new funding round has BSkyB and News Corp returning with checkbooks in hand, but it also includes a fresh contribution from Hearst, which wants Roku's help in building services for its TV channels. The media hub maker is getting more than partnerships in return, however. It's using the cash to expand its Roku Ready program, which now includes 24 hardware partners. The company's Anthony Wood ultimately wants Roku software to be commonplace -- it can be an "operating system for televisions," he tells The Hollywood Reporter. While there's no guarantee that Roku will reach that kind of ubiquity, it may well have the cash to get there.
Google Capital to make investments in maturing tech firms
Google Ventures has a reputation for backing tech winners early on -- it gave a boost to this little startup called Nest, for example. It wants to exert influence every step of the way, however, and it's launching Google Capital to make this happen. The new fund is investing in firms that aren't quite so young, but are doing "amazing things" aligned with Google's interests, according to general partner Mike Pearson. While Google Capital won't make its formal debut until the summer, it has already invested in three unnamed companies; we wouldn't be surprised if we learn a lot more about the fund a few months' time.
