E3 Group Announces New Leadership After Report Of Disarray At The Organization

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The Entertainment Software Association, the United States-based video game organization that lobbies for the industry with lawmakers and also runs E3 every year, has announced new leadership. Stanley Pierre-Louis, who had been serving as interim CEO following the departure of former president and CEO Michael Gallagher, is taking over effective immediately. The timing of the news is noteworthy, as it comes just a day after Variety published an explosive story that detailed what is said to be rampant disarray within the ESA.

Pierre-Louis joined the ESA in 2015 as general counsel. Before the ESA, he was senior vice president and associate general counsel for intellectual property at Viacom where he worked on brands like Nickelodeon, MTV, and Paramount Pictures. He also worked for the recording Industry Association of America.

“I look forward to leading the ESA and advocating for the industry with a strong voice and clear vision,” Pierre-Louis said in a statement. “The future of our industry is bright and limitless. Video games are a part of the fabric of American culture and a cornerstone of entertainment.”

The bombshell Variety report cited numerous current and past ESA employees who described the organization as a “toxic environment rife with internal politics, witch hunts, and in-fighting.” Regarding the claims against Gallagher, it is alleged in the story that he was “very difficult to work with.” Some said he was “manipulative, moody, and sometimes nasty,” and at times sent “vicious, belittling emails to employees.”

Gallagher left the ESA in October 2018. At the time, the situation surrounding his exit was unclear, but Variety’s story claims members of the ESA board–including Xbox boss Phil Spencer–visited the ESA’s HQ in Washington D.C. to hold meetings with employees to discuss Gallagher’s management style and behavior. Gallagher ultimately resigned, while Variety’s report said “some believe he was forced to leave the association.” Gallagher denied all claims against him.

Variety’s story contains numerous other details about the goings-on at the ESA, including a claim that ReedPop, the group that runs the PAX events and Star Wars Celebration and owns various gaming media sites, made an offer to take over E3, but it never happened. Read the full story at Variety.

E3 2019 runs June 11-13 in Los Angeles. We’re expecting a lot of big news and reveals, including a new console from Microsoft. Check out the video embedded above to see a rundown of what we know so far about the E3 2019 press conferences.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-group-announces-new-leadership-after-report-of-/1100-6466867/

GTA, Red Dead CEO Skeptical Of Subscription Models For Games, But Optimistic About Streaming

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The top executive at Take-Two Interactive, the parent publisher of Rockstar Games and 2K Games, has weighed in on two major video game industry trends: subscription and streaming. CEO Strauss Zelnick said today on an earnings call that he is skeptical of subscription-based models but more optimistic about streaming, at least in some scenarios.

Starting with subscription services, Zelnick said Take-Two as a company is open-minded because it wants to “be where the consumer is.” Take-Two could get on board if it makes sense from a business and creative perspective–and that might not be so easy.

“You have to find that intersection in business models that serve the customer successfully and also serve everyone else who participates in the value chain,” he said. “And that may prove to be a little challenging for subscriptions in this space because people do consume video games differently than they consume linear entertainment.”

Zelnick said the average American household spends around 5 hours each day and 150 hours per month consuming linear programming like TV and movies. For interactive entertainment like video games, the average American home spends 1.5 hours daily or 45 hours monthly playing games, he said. A subscription service makes sense with TV and film content because people largely watch many different programs or movies that they can roll through quickly and move on to something new. This makes an all-you-can-eat model like Netflix appealing, Zelnick said.

But with video games, which people spend relatively more time with, a subscription model might be a tougher sell, Zelnick said.

“In the case of video games, it is possible that the average user in those 45 hours might be playing 1, 2, maybe 3 titles; certainly not 70 titles,” he said. “In that event, if you play 1, 2, or 3 titles and you play them for months in a row–which often happens in [the video game world]–then a subscription model may not be such a great deal for the customer.”

Zelnick went on to say that he is no soothsayer, and overall, Take-Two wants to release games where the consumer is. “This all remains to be seen; we’re open-minded,” the executive explained. “We want to be where the customer is. But I don’t think it is a foregone conclusion that subscription will be as massive for interactive ent as it has proven to be for music and motion pictures and television. But we’ll see.”

In regards to streaming services like Google Stadia, Zelnick said the ability to play AAA games without a console could be a significant opportunity for Take-Two, as it would (theoretically at least) expand the size of the gaming audience overall.

“We’re very optimistic about the notion of streaming technology bringing our titles to consumers who currently do not have access to them,” he said. “The promise of being able to sign on to a service with virtually no barriers; without a box in between, and being able to play our games on any device whatsoever around the world and to do it with low-latency, well, that’s very compelling if that can be delivered. The folks at Google minimally have said it will be delivered, and it will be delivered in relatively short order. Conceptually, we want to be where the consumer is. We’ll support new entrants. We are a believer in streaming services. We need to have business models that make sense for us, but so far we’re pretty optimistic.”

In addition to Google Stadia, Microsoft is working on an Xbox game-streaming service of its own under the working title xCloud. Sony has for years already operated its PlayStation Now service, while companies like Amazon, Verizon, and Wal-Mart are all reportedly preparing their own game-streaming services to come.

Cloud-based gaming is a fairly new and complex technology; be sure to check out our detailed explainer on everything you need to know about cloud gaming.

For more from Take-Two’s earnings report today, you can check out the stories below:

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gta-red-dead-ceo-skeptical-of-subscription-models-/1100-6466866/

More Than 1 Million People Still Play 2012’s Borderlands 2 Every Month

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The Borderlands franchise has reached new sales heights ahead of the release of Borderlands 3 later this year. Parent publisher Take-Two Interactive announced today that entire shoot-and-loot series has now hit 43 million copies shipped across all titles.

Take-Two, which owns Borderlands publisher 2K Games, added that Borderlands 2 alone has shipped around 20 million copies. Management added that the game is still played by more than 1 million monthly unique users, which is impressive given the game released all the way back in 2012.

With Borderlands 2 shipping 20 million copies by itself, that leaves a further 23 million across the other the other releases. The figure was announced as covering the entire Borderlands franchise, so this presumably includes Borderlands 1 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, though it’s not clear if it also counts sales of spinoffs like Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands or the iOS game Borderlands Legends. The latest Borderlands release is the Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, which launched in April.

Borderlands 3 comes out in September for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and Take-Two expects it to be yet another hit. CFO Lainie Goldstein declined to share a specific unit sales projection figure for the title, but she did mention that Take-Two expects all of its new games to perform better than the previous release, and this is no different for Borderlands 3.

“For Borderlands 3 we have really high expectations, and we’re really excited for the title,” she said.

Goldstein also fielded a question regarding the margin profile of Borderlands 3, which is developed by Gearbox, a studio that it does not own. She confirmed that margins–that is, how much Take-Two will make on the game–are “in line” with games that Take-Two’s own studios develop internally.

For more from Take-Two’s earnings report today, you can check out the stories below:

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/more-than-1-million-people-still-play-2012s-border/1100-6466864/

Red Dead Redemption 2 Sales Slowing Down As Online Mode Leaving Beta Soon

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Red Dead Redemption 2 is a huge hit, though sales appear to be slowing. Take-Two Interactive, which owns developer Rockstar Games, announced today that the open-world western has now shipped 24 million copies.

That’s up from the 23 million figure that Take-Two announced in November. Growth for the title seems to be slowing. Red Dead Redemption 2 shipped 17 million copies right at launch, with a further six million coming by November. One million copies shipped since then is impressive but it’s on a slower pace than before.

Red Dead Redemption 2 also makes money from Red Dead Online’s microtransactions. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed on an earnings call that Red Dead Online will exit beta during the current quarter, so it should happen soon. Red Dead Online launched in November as a beta, and it has remained in beta since then with Rockstar supporting it with new content regularly.

The signs are looking good for Red Dead Online to continue to be a huge success, as Zelnick said Red Dead Online is performing better than GTA Online over similar periods of time after release. “We have very high expectations for that title going forward,” Zelnick said. This is specifically related to various engagement metrics that Zelnick did not expand on. He did add that Rockstar learned a lot from the release of GTA Online, lessons that were applied to RDR Online.

A PC edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 is rumored, but nothing is confirmed at this stage. Whatever the case, launching on PC would presumably help improve sales, which might be what Take-Two is looking for given sales of the game on PS4 and Xbox One are slowing.

Take-Two also announced in its earnings report today that Rockstar’s previous game, Grand Theft Auto V, has now shipped an astonishing 110 million copies sold. It was also confirmed that NBA 2K19 has now shipped 9 million copies.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/red-dead-redemption-2-sales-slowing-down-as-online/1100-6466863/

GTA 5, Which Is 6 Years Old, Continues To Sell Incredibly Well

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Grand Theft Auto V has reached yet another massive sales milestone. The Rockstar Games open-world action game has now reached almost 110 million copies shipped, parent publisher Take-Two Interactive announced on an earnings call today. That is up from the 100 million figure announced in November 2018. This means that Grand Theft Auto V, which was initially released in 2013, shipped around 10 million copies since the previous figure was announced.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said GTA V and GTA Online performed better than expected for the publisher. GTA Online is the game’s multiplayer mode, and it brings in money from its various microtransactions.

GTA V’s ongoing success is due in part to the game’s quality: it is very good. Zelnick said it has proven to be must-have title on any system that it’s on. Not only that, but GTA Online receives regular updates to keep things fresh and interesting for players.

GTA V was originally released in 2013 for PS3 and Xbox 360 before coming to PS4 and Xbox One a year later. A PC edition was released in 2015.

Fans have for a long time wondered if GTA V would get single-player DLC, but Rockstar confirmed in 2017 that the game will never add new story content. “We did not feel single-player expansions were either possible or necessary, but we may well do them for future projects,” Rockstar design director Imran Sarwar said.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gta-5-which-is-6-years-old-continues-to-sell-incre/1100-6466862/

Wolfenstein: Youngblood’s Levels Have “A Lot Of Similarities” To Dishonored

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Wolfenstein: Youngblood continues the rebooted Wolfenstein story, but transitions the narrative away from series’ stalwart BJ Blazkowicz in favor of his twin daughters, Jessica and Sophia. A different set of protagonists isn’t the only change being implemented in Youngblood though. The game is also leaving behind the fairly straightforward structure of previous Wolfenstein games for a more open-ended Dishonored approach.

“I think players will see a lot of similarities to level design in the Dishonored games, so in that sense it can be a little bit different as an experience but it can be for the benefit of the game, especially when it comes to finding different ways of approaching a combat scenario or a mission in general,” Youngblood executive producer Jerk Gustafsson told Official PlayStation Magazine.

“Regarding game length, it’s hard to say,” MachineGames senior producer John Jennings wrote in a Reddit AMA. “We’re doing a much more open-ended/branching gameplay structure on this one so, while there’s a golden path to finish the main story, if you want to play all of the side missions you’re easily looking at a length more similar to [Wolfenstein: The New Order or Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus] than [Wolfenstein: The Old Blood].”

In that same AMA, Jennings also spoke about how it was to work with Arkane Studios, the developer behind Dishonored, Dishonored 2, and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. “It was great working with [Arkane]; they’re a really awesome team,” Jennings wrote. “We certainly learned some things from them and I’d like to think they learned some things from us too. It’s really nice being part of the Zenimax/Bethesda family; there are so many studios you can talk to and share experiences with. Our past collaborations have been mostly with [id Software] in the past though, so it’s been great to work with Arkane directly for the first time.”

During the AMA, Jennings also spoke about game development crunch culture, and how MachineGames is trying to eliminate it. Wolfenstein: Youngblood is expected to launch this July for Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and PC. Pre-ordering the Youngblood Deluxe Edition nets you a pretty nice bonus, allowing you to more easily play through the campaign’s optional co-op mode with a friend without needing to buy two copies of the game.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wolfenstein-youngbloods-levels-have-a-lot-of-simil/1100-6466857/

Hundreds Of PC Games Discounted In Huge May Madness Sale

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It’s been a great few weeks for PC game deals at Fanatical recently. The digital store’s big Ubisoft sale is still going on until Wednesday, and it’s already kicked off an even bigger sale on hundreds of more PC games. Dubbed the May Madness sale, the promotions are running all week long with new flash deals and other game discounts revealed every day.

Even better: There’s an available coupon that’ll slash an additional 10% off the current sale price, dropping many of these games even cheaper. The promo code to use is MAY10, and you can use it on most of the games, excluding pre-orders, Star Deals, bundles, and new releases like Rage 2 and Mortal Kombat 11.

Here’s an overview of what’s available right now; we’ll continue to update this story as more deals are revealed throughout the week.

Flash deals

The current flash deals are:

Remember that you can use the promo code MAY10 and take an additional 10% off the discount price shown here (except for the bundle). These flash deals run for 48 hours or while supplies last, and you’ll receive your Steam key immediately after purchase.

More PC game deals

Besides daily flash deals, over 1,000 PC games and DLC will be on sale by the end of the week. More than 600 titles are available now, with more deals coming soon. Some notable bundles are marked down right now, including the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis Classics Bundle, which is currently on sale for $7.49 and includes nearly 60 classic games; the DotEmu Classics Bundle, which normally sells for $62 and is down to just $2; and the Dreamcast Collection, which is available for $7.19.

This is a good chance to grab new and upcoming releases for less than $60. Rage 2, which releases May 14, can already be snagged for $10 cheaper on PC. Mortal Kombat 11 is on sale for $45, and Resident Evil 2 is discounted to $37.19. Meanwhile, both Far Cry New Dawn and Far Cry 5 are selling for around $20, and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is marked down to $18.59.

Check out more of our picks from the sale below, and browse the full offering of game discounts at Fanatical. Note that Ubisoft titles are available to redeem on Uplay, rather than Steam. The 10% off promo code MAY10 will make the below prices even lower, excluding certain games and bundles.

SHOP FANATICAL’S MAY MADNESS SALE »

*not eligible for additional promo code discount

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/hundreds-of-pc-games-discounted-in-huge-may-madnes/1100-6466853/