consoles

Electronic Arts Pressured to Outperform in Soft Videogame Market

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on February 1 at 12:32 pm PT

Electronic Arts will be under pressure to report strong financial results this afternoon after the industry experienced a disappointing holiday period.

Kabam Acquires Top LucasArts Game Makers to Help Build Hardcore Social Games

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 27 at 12:18 am PT

Kabam, known for developing hardcore social games such as The Godfather and Kingdoms of Camelot, has acquired a company with deep roots in the console game space.

Kinect Helps Keep Aging Xbox at the Top of Its Game

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 10 at 3:23 pm PT

Turns out the big consumer electronics highlight of Microsoft’s final CES keynote last night was its six-year-old Xbox, thanks in large part to the Kinect.

Americans Played Anything but Social Games During the Holidays

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 3 at 7:30 am PT

The number of people playing games on Facebook tanked last week, as some game makers were unable to capitalize on people’s downtime during the holidays.

PlayStation Vita Sales Tank in Second Week

John Paczkowski in News on December 29, 2011 at 3:45 am PT

Youch. Down more than 75 percent from launch week.

Thank Activision for Record-Breaking Videogame Sales in November

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on December 9, 2011 at 3:19 pm PT

Strong sales of Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 led to a record-breaking month in November for videogame sales.

New Titles Marginally Boost Lagging Videogame Market in October

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on November 11, 2011 at 4:15 pm PT

The videogame industry grew by a minuscule, but welcomed, 1 percent in October, driven by hardcore game launches such as Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City.

Ubisoft’s Digital Games Strategy Has Nothing to Do With Acquisitions

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on October 27, 2011 at 9:05 am PT

Ubisoft is taking a while to grow big, but it’s getting there. Here’s a look at its immediate plans, which include at least seven new games.

Toys Blend With Videogames Even More With Activision’s Skylanders

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on October 7, 2011 at 6:30 am PT

Activision is preparing to launch a new videogame that blends virtual worlds with physical toys. The launch mimics other recent debuts, including one by Disney that links toys and Apple’s iPad.

News Byte

Digital Chocolate Continues Games Consolidation With Acquisition of Sandlot

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on August 15, 2011 at 4:37 pm PT

San Mateo, Calif.-based Digital Chocolate has agreed to acquire Sandlot Games, known for developing titles such as Cake Mania, Super Granny, Tradewinds and Westward, across online, PC, mobile phones and consoles. Sandlot Games, which is based in Bothell, Wash., outside of Seattle, is the fourth recent acquisition in the area, following PopCap by EA, Sucker Punch by Sony’s PlayStation and Griptonite Games by Glu Mobile. Sandlot’s Founder and CEO Dan Bernstein will become VP of Digital Chocolate and manage its studios in and manage its studios in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in Bothell. Terms were not disclosed.