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The Force is with SWTOR: EA stock bounces back, budget revealed

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, Star Wars: The Old Republic

It seems like everyone is obsessed with the exact amount of money EA spent creating its most expensive title ever, but the Los Angeles Times may have a final number to end the discussion: Apparently, Star Wars: The Old Republic cost $200 million. Other interesting details from the Times' investigation into what it calls a "galactic gamble" include the fact that it was made by 800 people on four continents with an additional 1,000 voice actors (doing three languages) handling 4,000 characters.

The project was such a massive undertaking that BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk likened it to "teaching elephants to do ballet." One of the interesting details of this behind-the-scenes expose is that BioWare said that certain movies and TV miniseries influenced class storylines, such as Big Trouble in Little China for the Smuggler and Band of Brothers for the Trooper.

There's also some good news following yesterday's word of EA's stock hit. MarketWatch reports that several brokers have defended the title, resulting in a 2% bounce back in EA's stock. As part of that, a Pacific Crest analyst raised his predictions of quarter sales for SWTOR from 1.5 to 2.2 million, with 800,000 subscribers. Another analyst claims that over two million units of SWTOR have been sold since launch with an expectation that 75% to 90% of players will stay on as paid subscribers following the first free month.

The Force is with SWTOR: EA stock bounces back, budget revealed originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Electronic Arts stock drops because of SWTOR fumbles

Matt Daniel — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

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!]

Electronic Arts stock drops because of SWTOR fumbles originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nexon's Japanese IPO aims at raising $1.3 billion

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Legal, Miscellaneous

When Nexon is finally added to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December, the company has to be planning a massive "We're in the money!" song-and-dance to celebrate. TechCrunch reports that this will be the biggest IPO in Japan in 2011, with a corporate goal of raising $1.3 billion (100 billion yen) from the listing.

The Korean company recently moved its headquarters from Seoul to Tokyo, and is well-known for its popular MMOs such as MapleStory, Mabinogi, and Vindictus. Nexon has over 3,000 people in its employ across the world, and previously said that it is open to purchasing more companies in Japan after the IPO.

The company commented on its post-IPO strategy in a brief statement: "As we pursue our strategic objectives, we regularly review our options for accelerating our growth. We have made no decisions or announcements about any specific financing or other plans and cannot comment on rumors."

The IPO will be handled by Nomura Securities, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs. Nexon is hoping that the move will raise its market cap to $9 billion, which will make it the biggest online gaming company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company is currently worth $7.7 billion.

Nexon's Japanese IPO aims at raising $1.3 billion originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trion Worlds may go public following RIFT's success

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Legal, RIFT, Miscellaneous

Want to own a piece of your favorite MMO studio? If you're a fan of Trion Worlds, then you may yet get your chance.

The company announced that it is mulling over a decision to put the company on the market with an IPO. CEO Lars Buttler says that it's just a matter of time at this point: "As we build scale and become more profitable, [an IPO] is clearly on our horizon at some point. We've had a lot of bankers coming to us recently. We keep all of our options open at this point. We definitely have enough substance and enough skill to be a public company at the right time."

Trion has been doing well for itself lately, as it's doubled its staff in 2011 and raised $100 million from investments since 2007. RIFT's success has helped to convince the company that an IPO is a solid move. "RIFT is vastly profitable. It is profitable every single week and every single month," Buttler said.

RIFT isn't Trion's only project, as the company is working on End of Nations, Defiance, and the Red Door publishing platform.

Trion Worlds may go public following RIFT's success originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney looking to buy out Faxion Online developer

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Legal, Miscellaneous, Faxion Online

Disney could become a major player in the future of Faxion Online if it goes ahead with a proposed deal to buy out the rest of UTV Software Communications' stock. Currently, Disney has a majority stake in the company -- 50.4% -- but this move would bring it up to a nice round 100%.

The Ignition Entertainment label would fall under this deal, which has already been struggling with numerous layoffs and studio closings. We recently reported that UTV Ignition had to cut a good portion of its programming, maintenance, and customer service staff as part of these problems.

Whether or not this deal will prove a boon or a hammer blow to Ignition remains to be seen. Disney has previously closed down developers Black Rock and Propaganda Games, although Mickey's parent company is looking to move in the direction of more social and casual gaming. We'll keep a close eye on this deal to see how it plays out.

Disney looking to buy out Faxion Online developer originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Storyboard: The stock

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous

So there I was, sitting down and preparing to play through Mass Effect for the third time, except this time it was with the intent of playing a character straight through to the end of the franchise. That meant going through the list of regular roleplaying characters I had, trying to decide who made sense in context. I had already played through twice, which meant my options were a bit more limited, but I was willing to bet that I could find someone in my stable of characters worth playing.

How is this relevant to roleplaying with MMOs? Simple: These are characters whom I'd played and generally created via MMOs, heroes and villains alike. And the lure of sticking to a strong character is seductive because you know whom you'll be playing and how to play the character for maximum impact. But you run a very real risk of being locked into a narrow range of character possibilities, and after a while, having stock characters built up becomes limiting rather than liberating.

Continue reading Storyboard: The stock

Storyboard: The stock originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV, Alganon, Allods Online, Perfect Ten

Well, this is it, folks. The end of the year. A time of reflection, of massive weight gain and of lists. Man, we like our lists, do we not? Fortunately, at Perfect Ten Industries, we've been excelling in lists for months now. Frankly, we're just getting warmed up!

While 2010 may not have been much to write home about in terms of newly launched MMOs, there was more than enough controversy to keep the discussion brewing for months. MMOs are big business, and when every move you make is closely scrutinized by millions of gamers, there's no room to slip up unless you like forum hyenas pouncing all over you, snapping and snarling at your faulty flesh.

So let's take a jaunt down our top 10 list of the most controversial stories of 2010 on Massively, keeping in mind that it was devilishly hard just to keep this list to 10 at all. What's a week without being riled up about pixels and polygons, after all?

Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010

The Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Final Fantasy XIV draws a $26 million ragequit

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Events, real-world, News items, Consoles, Rumors, Final Fantasy XIV

You may or may not be one of the people unhappy with Final Fantasy XIV in its current state. Certainly the game has both drawn its fair share of ire and praise, and it's hard to picture a launch with more strongly divided opinions. But even if you hate everything the game turned out to be, you have to admit that you can't make quite the spectacle that one unnamed Japanese player did -- a rage-fueled quit that involved selling off $26 million worth of Square-Enix stock as a parting gesture.

Square-Enix experienced a definite dip in stock value on the 7th, dropping from 1800 yen a share to 1735 a share before recovering later in the day. According to Japanese sources, this was preceded by a rather angry dispatch from a shareholder explaining that he was so disgusted by Final Fantasy XIV he no longer wanted any of the stock. While there is some debate as to the chain of events and their veracity, it would certainly make this event the ultimate response to the question of "can I have your stuff?"

[Thanks to Stormwaltz for the tip!]

Rumor: Final Fantasy XIV draws a $26 million ragequit originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom CEO sells company stock

Shawn Schuster — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Real life, Age of Conan, Economy, MMO industry

Sure it may be completely innocent, but it's interesting nonetheless. According to a recent announcement, Funcom's CEO Trond Aas has recently sold 400,000 shares of his company's stock. The announcement also states that these shares were sold "primarily to cover Mr. Aas' acquisition costs of the shares as well as accumulated wealth tax costs of the past six years as a result of the holdings in Funcom." This 400,000 number represents only a fraction of the shares owned by the CEO.

While this Brighthub article tends to focus on the timing of the sale, pointing out that Age of Conan has already lost nearly half of its customers, no official connection has been made. However, the stock's price has fallen quite dramatically lately, closing at $13.60 per share on August 22, 2008, which is down from $55.50 per share on Age of Conan's release in May.

Update: This is a take on the Brighthub article more than anything, blaming AoC for everything, not to be confused with this original post. Plus, we get a look at the actual announcement about the stock sales itself. Sorry for any confusion of duplicates.

Funcom CEO sells company stock originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom suffering a loss of investor confidence

Alexis Kassan — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Age of Conan, Business models, MMO industry

Funcom, makers of Age of Conan, are dealing with some serious financial flux. Since the launch of AoC, their stock has tumbled from $54 to $24 a share on the Oslo Stock Exchange (last price as of the end of the trading day on Friday). This represents the loss of over 55% of the stock value. With little news coming from the world of high finance on the subject, it seems that investors may be jumping ship from the gaming industry starlet.

Much speculation continues to be made regarding the true status of Age of Conan and its success or failure, with references to the bugs of all sizes seen post-launch. There have also been several accusations of forum censorship and a number of highly publicized player flights from the game, which may be contributing to market fears that the game is in trouble with its fan base.

On the flip side, it should be noted that the price of Funcom stock had been fairly steady, around $25, for several months prior to March of this year. A sharp increase in price coincided with the release of X-Play pre-order statistics for AoC about two months before boxes hit the shelves. That was followed by a distinct downturn just a few weeks after the game's drop date and the slide has continued since, returning it back to familiar price territory just this past week.

So the question remains: was the $54 stock price just a temporary bubble around the launch when pre-orders were running rampant or have investors been scared off with the sentiment around the game?

Funcom suffering a loss of investor confidence originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft: has the focus shifted?

Jonathan Northwood — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Tabula Rasa

NCsoft -- known for such stunningly beautiful games as Guild Wars and Lineage/Lineage II -- is slowly expanding its focus in Korea into the non-game sector. Working with in-house studio Openmaru, the company is building a series of online services to aid in comforting investors. Admittedly, the South Korean Won (KRW) is trading in a slightly stronger position against the United States Dollar (USD) now than it was in October, but that doesn't stop their concern over seeing NCsoft's stock slowly spiral downward from 86,4000 KRW in October (approximately $94.43/share) to 45,000 KRW ($48.27/share) as of Friday's market close. As a result of this move, CEO Kim Taek-jin has promised that the company will increase its investment in online applications, including data and schedule management programs and social-networking services.

Continue reading NCsoft: has the focus shifted?

NCsoft: has the focus shifted? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Value of Second Life

Akela Talamasca — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:45:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Economy, MMO industry, Second Life

This TechCrunch article lets drop that one of Linden Lab's early investors, Catamount Ventures, sold ten percent of their stock to a third party for an undisclosed amount that was valuated at 'above half a billion' dollars, as stated by an anonymous source with knowledge of the company.

What surprises me most about this article, beyond the massive amounts of money being mentioned, are the mostly positive comments after the article. Having seen rather a lot of these go by, I expected a ton of lame duck jokes about the value of Second Life being virtually nothing, etc. but by and large people are taking it seriously. Of course, for me and thousands of others, the true value in SL is its social component. Without that one-to-one connection, there truly is little to value.

(Via techcrunch.com)

The Value of Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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