News business Battlefield, Cyberpunk 2077, Farming Simulator 22 … the business news of the week
Sales figures, studio buyouts, financial reports, developer transfer windows, investments … if these topics are of interest to you, you’ve come to the right place. We offer you an update on last week’s economic news.
Battlefield: Big changes announced for the franchise
In the wake of the complicated launch of Battlefield 2042, Electronic Arts decided to make several internal remodels to determine the future of the license, we learn in an article by GameSpot. First, DICE Studio General Manager Oskar Gabrielson will leave the company. He will be replaced in his office by Rebecka Coutaz, who led Ubisoft Annecy for almost ten years.
Another significant change, Veteran Vince Zampella has been blamed for the Battlefield franchise. As a co-founder of Respawn Entertainment, Zampella has made a name for himself in the past with Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Titanfall and Apex Legends. He will share his responsibilities with Byron Beede, the former Call of Duty license general manager who was hired by EA last June. The US publisher has also decided to appeal Marcus Lehto, one of the creators of Halo. He is currently building a new studio in Seattle that will be responsible for creating narrative content for the Battlefield franchise. The Ripple Effect Studio, to which we owe the portal mode of Battlefield 2042, is for its part working on “a new experience” for the same game. Overall, the number of developers dedicated to the Battlefield franchise is increasing “grow significantly”.
EA has also expressed its currently unclear wish to have a “Battlefield Connected Universe”. There are currently no specific details, but Zampella has indicated that all possibilities are being explored. After the successes of Call of Duty Warzone and Apex Legends, we can easily imagine the arrival of a free-to-play, knowing that a Battlefield Mobile is already in the making.
“EA GameSpot shortly announced that DICE, Ripple Effect and Lehto’s new studio in Seattle will be working together to develop and improve Battlefield 2042. The other Battlefield games and experiences in the pipeline are meant to serve as extensions in some ways. Part of the new Battlefield universe EA is trying to create. There are still no details on what new games and experiences EA will create or when they will be released. “, summarizes GameSpot. EA’s main goal therefore remains to improve Battlefield 2042, which this week hosted a third update that includes many bug fixes, weekly missions, and even user interface improvements.
CD Projekt presents its results and takes stock of its projects
CD Projekt unveiled his financial results for the quarter of July to September 2021. If the Polish company realizes an increase in sales, the profit will decrease compared to the previous year. In question: the disappointing performance of Cyberpunk 2077 after the record month of the launch (13 million sales), but also higher expenses than in the previous year (27.3 million dollars compared to 17.3 million dollars), generated by the successor to Cyberpunk 2077 (corrections ), PS5 / Xbox Series patch, expansion) and studio buyouts (Digital Scapes, The Molasses Flood). Another disappointment: The PC game store GOG.com, which posted a net loss of one million dollars this quarter.
CD project results
| period | sales | Operating profit | net profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| July to September 2021 | $ 30.8 million | 3.2 million dollars | 3.4 million dollars |
| July to September 2020 | 22.3 million dollars | 6 million dollars | 4.8 million dollars |
In CD Projekt’s balance sheet, a graphic shows the current distribution of the workforce according to the projects, knowing that the company has 660 developers. We are realizing that the team responsible for fixing and optimizing the new generation of Cyberpunk 2077 is losing more and more members. Conversely, the team dedicated to the first expansion of the game is strengthening, a sign that its development is accelerating. The next game update (1.5) will be released in early 2022 along with the PS5 / Xbox Series patch. The New Gen version of The Witcher 3 is not mentioned in the graphic as it was developed by an outside studio, Saber Interactive. It is expected in the second quarter of 2022. On the part of Gwent and The Witcher: Monster Slayer (Spokko) there is no significant change to report. Finally, note that CD Projekt President Adam Kiciński has announced that the group is not looking for a buyer or investor.
Nacon: Declining results and shifts
It is also time to take stock for Nacon, his own Results for the semester from April to September 2021. The figures obviously suffer from the comparison with those of the previous year, helped by the extraordinary dynamism of the video game market during the months of imprisonment. But the most important thing from this assessment is that the French publisher has decided to postpone four games “to optimize future earnings”
Nacon results
| period | sales | Operating profit | net profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| April to September 2021 | 73 million dollars | 4.5 million dollars | 3.8 million dollars |
| April to September 2020 | 86.6 million dollars | $ 13.9 million | $ 9.6 million |
The next few months will therefore be calm for Nacon, which will be content with launching Cricket 2022 and the console versions of Roguebook. Fiscal year 2022/2023 (April 2022 to March 2023) will be busier: The publisher plans to release 15 games during this period, including Steelrising, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, Session (version 1.0) and Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown. Enough to expect annual sales between 250 and 300 million dollars.
MercurySteam (Metroid Dread) and 505 Games team up for an action RPG
After MercurySteam was illustrated by developing Metroid Dread on behalf of Nintendo, it goes on with the announcement a partnership with the publisher 505 Games. The two entities will work together on a third-person action RPG set in a dark fantasy world, Answer to the code name “Project Iron”. This is a new license that the studio and publisher jointly own. “We are excited to be working with the team at MercurySteam, a proven studio that has created many phenomenal licenses over the years. With the creative vision and talent of MercurySteam and the experience of 505 Games, gamers can enjoy a high quality, engaging and challenging video game “
MercurySteam was founded in 2002 and is based in Europe, in Madrid. The studio is known for developing the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow trilogy between 2010 and 2014, Metroid Samus Returns, Metroid Dread, and the TPS co-op Spacelords.
Farming Simulator 2022: a remarkable start with 1.5 million copies sold
Incidentally, the Farming Simulator franchise is a huge hit. It was born in 2008 and sold more than 25 million copies worldwide before its newest work, Farming Simulator 22, was released on November 22nd. A special episode since it was Self-publication by Giants Software, which has decided to end its longstanding collaboration with Focus Entertainment. The Swiss studio will therefore regain most of the profits from the game, and we can already say that the harvest is looking good: Farming Simulator 22 had the best start in the franchise, with 1.5 million sales per week following its release on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Stadia. It was particularly well received on Steam, where it peaked at 105,636 concurrent players, double the number of the previous work (Farming Simulator 2019).
Coming soon in the week’s business news
- According to Bloomberg, Sony would prepare a new subscription formula, called “Project Spartacus” internally, which would combine the advantages of PS Plus and PS Now. The offer would be split into three tiers: the first would include the benefits of the PS Plus, the second would offer an extensive catalog of PS4 games and finally PS5, while the third tier would include exclusive demos, game streaming and a PS1, PS2. would add PS3 and even PSP title library. You can find all the details in our dedicated article.
- the SELLING revealed the best physical sales in France for the week of November 15th to 20th. The remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, released on November 19, are no surprise. Pokémon Sparkling Diamond climbed to 1st place, followed by Pokémon Sparkling Pearl, then the “Duo Pack”, which combines the two games. Battlefield 2042 (PS5 version) is 4th while FIFA 22 (PS4 version) closes the top 5.
- With more than 22 million copies sold, the Switch is the fourth best-selling console in Japanese history. It has overtaken the PS2 (21.9 million), and only the Nintendo 3DS (25.2 million), Game Boy (32.4 million) and Nintendo DS (32.9 million) are ahead.
- Sunday, November 28th, ” ‘Steam hit a high of 27.3 million concurrent users, breaking the previous record (26.9 million) set in April last year. The most popular games Currently on the platform are CS: GO, Dota 2, PUBG, Apex Legends, New World, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, Halo Infinite or GTA V.
- Dead Cells just passed six million sales. The Motion Twin rogue-lite will be eligible for a new expansion, The Queen and the Sea, in the first quarter of 2022.
- The Swedish group Zordix has bought the publisher Maximum Games and its label Modus Games (Cris Tales, Trine 4 …) for 37 million dollars.
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