Blog Archives
Is Warner Bros. Working on a Steam Competitor?
Just when you thought that we were up to the saturation level for online gaming clients and distributors, another publisher wants in on the action. While it was logical for heavyweights like EA and Ubisoft to launch their own stores to make a few extra dollars off of their and other publishers’ games, it may surprise you that Warner Bros. has recently filed a number of trademark filings that they’re looking to launch a Steam/Origin/Uplay competitor.
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GOG Adds DRM-Free Movies to Catalog
We’re only a couple of weeks removed from a bit of Steam datamining revealing that it looks like Valve will be adding movie sales (among other media) to the platform. Well, the folks at GOG have beaten them to the punch. Yesterday, GOG added 21 DRM-free movies to the site’s catalog.
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Amazon Buys Twitch for Almost $1 Billion
So much for the billion-dollar Google deal. After months of rumours, reports, hints and supposed confirmations, it turns out that the $1 billion purchase of game streaming site Twitch by Google/YouTube never actually happened. Instead, Amazon has stepped up and ninja’d their way into a Twitch purchase for the same $1 billion that Google reportedly offered.
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Ubisoft Interested in EA Access-Like Program
When EA announced their EA Access subscription program for the Xbox One, you knew that it was a matter of time before another publisher decided that this was a good idea and took it for themselves. Naturally, it’s EA France- I mean, Ubisoft who are the first to express interest in the subscription model. In an interview at Gamescom, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot expressed interest in launching a Ubisoft version of the service.
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EA Not Issuing Advance Review Copies of The Sims 4
There are certain things that we have learned are major red flags over the last few years. One is major game releases that set a review embargo at such a late time that you can’t cancel your pre-orders. The other is major game releases that don’t even issue review copies of a game to game reviewers and journalists.
For the second time this year, it looks like a major EA release won’t have review copies. Back in March, EA didn’t issue review copies of Titanfall on PC and only allowed Xbox One reviews at a closed event hosted by EA and Respawn. Now, EA is not going to release review copies of the upcoming Maxis title The Sims 4.
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Blizzard Raising UK World of Warcraft Subscriptions by £1
If you’re Blizzard and you’re hemorrhaging subscribers to your flagship game ahead of a hotly anticipated expansion pack, how do you make the money work? If the plan being implemented in the UK is any indication, it looks like you raise the prices.
Blizzard has announced that the monthly subscription prices for World of Warcraft gamers in the UK will increase by £1 per month.
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Microsoft Introducing Digital Purchases at Retail Stores
Microsoft is looking to put an emphasis on digital distribution and downloadable games by bringing them to the brick-and-mortar game shop near you. The green brand is launching a pilot program in the US and UK to allow gamers to buy codes for select Xbox 360 and One games.
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Gamescom 2014 News Roundup
Normally, the summer would be quiet enough for me to be able to post all sorts of news from Gamescom. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way for me so I have to do the big Gamescom news in a few posts. Today, we have news and gameplay videos while all of the Gamescom trailers will be in Monday’s Game Trailers Roundup.
For now, we have four of the more interesting stories that I’ve read from Gamescom. While only one is a game announcement, we have some business of gaming-esque news that’ll probably just make you hate Ubisoft more.
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Xbox Loses $400 Million in 2014 Fiscal Year
The launch of a new video game console is an exciting time to be a gamer but investors are often a little less excited about that. Traditionally, consoles are loss leaders with the manufacturers making up the difference through license fees on game sales, patch certification fees, their own stores and subscriber programs.
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GameStop Updating Trade-In Program and Offering More Money
GameStop catches a lot of flack for their used games trade-in program. Most people feel that the scheme gives sellers too little money compared to what GameStop is able to resell them for. When you take a look at the setup of the program, you can see that it’s geared very specifically to keep money inside GameStop’s “ecosystem” and throws a whole bunch of qualifiers at clerks and customers to do so.
Now, GameStop’s overhauling their trade-in scheme. It simplifies all the variables that affect the price sellers get and increasing the base price for reselling a game by 20%.
et geekera 