Author: DomsPlaying

Avid Gamer & Pinballer. Games Industry Commentator. Business Enthusiast. Reviewer. Researcher. Gaming, Media & Tech Site: Working Casual [email protected]

Earnings Calendar Apr & May 2017: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

DomsPlaying

 

Updated 5/15/2017

 

It’s “earnings season” again, and you know what that means! Time to get geared up with an updated calendar covering the usual gaming, media and tech companies. This particular part of the year is especially interesting and important, as many companies end their fiscal years in March and will be reporting both quarterly and annual figures.

 

As always, the image above shows you a number of relevant dates for this earnings season. Feel free to save or share, or if you’d like to view this in Google Doc form where it’s easier to access the links, check it out below.

 

Working Casual Earnings Calendar Apr & May 2017: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

 

 

As I mentioned, this time of year is always super important since full-year figures are provided, and then forecasts are given by companies on their upcoming fiscal years. Aka even more data than usual!

 

Within gaming, the “Big Three” console hardware manufacturers will all be presenting annual earnings within the next week: Microsoft $MSFT and Nintendo $NTDOY on April 27th then Sony $SNE on April 28th.

 

Out of these, I’m certainly most interested in hearing from Nintendo. Of course. It’s the first earnings release after the Nintendo Switch hybrid console launched in early March, and we will now know how many units were actually shipped/sold and also its early contribution to profit. Indications are that the Switch is doing quite well. Originally, the company said it would ship 2 million Switches in its initial roll-out, and according to NPD Group, 906K of those were sold in the United States during March. For some context, that’s more than the legendary Wii console sold during its launch month, and that console went on to sell over 100 million units. I’m not saying that the Switch will sell close to that in the long-run, but early on it’s certainly showing strong demand.

 

There have even been quotes as high as 2.4 million Switches being sold worldwide, per SuperData Research, so we’ll know for sure come next week how many fit into the time frame leading up to the end of March and more importantly, how these hardware sales and software like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are contributing to its bottom line.

 

 

As for other notable companies on the list, both Alphabet (Google) $GOOG and Samsung Electronics numbers come in next week, then the largest company on the planet, Apple $AAPL, will present on May 2nd. All will be quarterly reports.

 

Both Samsung and Apple will be sharing ongoing sales stats of their flagship smartphones of course, including the iPhone 7 which launched in September, and it will be worth watching Samsung especially to see how much financial impact from the Note 7 debacle. I expect it was much worse from a PR standpoint than it was on its profits, personally, since the Note series doesn’t contribute as much as other products. Note that Samsung launched its Galaxy S8 smartphone line today, so sales there will be reflected next quarter.

 

 

Rounding out reports during May will be a couple of European companies, in particular Vivendi $VIV and Ubisoft Entertainment $UBI. I mentioned these two side-by-side as we haven’t heard much about the former’s ownership stake in the latter for a number of months now. At last measure, Vivendi owned 25.15% of Ubisoft, which signaled to some analysts that a hostile takeover was upcoming. Personally, I don’t know if that’s a battle Vivendi wants to fight right now, especially as Ubisoft strengthens with two of the best-selling games this year in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands and For Honor. I don’t expect a takeover to happen just yet.

 

Note that there are still some companies that haven’t announced dates yet, including Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent Holdings, Japanese game makers Sega Sammy and Square Enix plus noted domestic publisher Take-Two Interactive $TTWO, so I will update accordingly when we hear from them.

 

Any companies on the list that you’re keeping an eye on? Did I miss any? Are you as excited as I am (you should be!)? Let me know, and thanks for checking in!

 

Sources: Each of the companies listed, Google Finance, NPD Group, SuperData Research

 

Disclaimer: I have owned Intel Corp $INTC stock in the past. As always, this is not a recommendation to invest in any companies but used for informative and analytical purposes.

 

-Dom

ESA Report: Essential Facts About Computer & Video Games Industry

DomsPlaying

 

The Entertainment Software Association, better known as the ESA, has released its annual “Essential Facts” report about the gaming industry in the United States. I’d like to share the report itself and highlight some of its more interesting statistics, especially in the context of how much is spent on games here in the States and how much the industry contributes to the overall economy. This will be a bit more of a visual post, with some written excerpts from the report itself and commentaries from yours truly.

 

First, a quick overview of the report: it’s based on a survey of 4,000 U.S. homes plus data provided by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), NPD Group (who you’ll recognize from its monthly reports on the U.S. gaming industry) and gaming research and consulting firm EEDAR. If you’re interested in gaming and the business surrounding it, these are among the best sources to follow and I often reference data provided by them.

 

 

Now, let’s dig into the report. Above images show some of the general talking points and statistics:

 

  • 67% of U.S. households own a gaming device, and 65% are home to someone that plays 3 or more hours of games per week.
  • Average gamer is 35 years of age. Women under the age of 18 play more games than men within the same age bracket.
  • Consumers spent $30.4 billion on video game software, hardware and accessories in 2016.
  • 1 in 3 of the “most frequent gamers” said they were likely to buy a virtual reality device in the next year.
  • More than half (53%) of the “most frequent gamers” play multiplayer games at least once per week.

 

Keep in mind that these stats include mobile games, so a gaming “device” is everything from smartphones to computers to dedicated gaming consoles.

 

 

Given that my focus here is mostly on the business side of technology and gaming, I’d like to expand on the spending and economic impact sections of the report.

 

In 2016, almost 3/4 of gaming purchases were digital. You’ll notice above that this is a sizeable shift from where this number was even a handful of years ago, such as in 2012-2013 when the split between digital and physical was about even. As games become more service-oriented and publishers continue to support games long after release with additional content or cosmetic items, I expect this trend to continue and settle somewhere in the 75% to 80% digital range.

 

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, $30.4 billion in total was spent on video games last year. This includes software, hardware and accessories. “Content” spending, or the money people spent on games, was $24.5 billion. Hardware accounted for $3.7 billion, while the remainder was accessories such as controllers and virtual reality devices.

 

Basically, since 2010, annual dollars spent on games has grown 40% to that $24.5 billion figure. Today’s households are spending much more on games, and I attribute that to a variety of reasons: the rise of mobile gaming, digital purchasing capabilities become more widespread on all devices plus gaming becoming more mainstream and an alternative to more “mature” forms of entertainment such as films and TV. With new hardware such as the Nintendo Switch and Microsoft’s Project Scorpio combined with the ubiquitous nature of smart phones, I anticipate the growth will continue at its current pace into at least next year.

 


Going further into gamers’ spending on individual software, the best-selling games of 2016 were Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Activision Blizzard $ATVI), Battlefield 1 (Electronics Arts $EA) and Grand Theft Auto V (Take-Two Interactive $TTWO). Sports games Madden NFL 17 (Electronics Arts $EA) and NBA 2K17 (Take-Two Interactive $TTWO) rounded out the Top 5.

 

Yes, you read that right. A game that originally released in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V, was one of the best-selling games of all last year. This ties back into my earlier comment on digital spending in that the reason it’s been so successful is in part to the ongoing support provided by its developer Rockstar Games. Granted, it’s basically the must-own game this generation and is often purchased when someone buys a new console, but its constant online updates and live events entice players to stick around and spend more time (and more importantly, money) than they would in other games.

 

Breaking the top-sellers out by genre, the most was spent on “Shooters” at 27.5%, which makes sense as the two best-selling games of the year fall into this category. “Action” titles were next, accounting for 22.5%, while Role-Playing represented almost 13% of total spending. More than half of the overall spending was on just these three segments.

 

 

The last area I’d like to cover is where the report reveals a good amount on how gaming contributes to the overall U.S. economy. More than 2,300 game developers operate across all 50 states, while over 500 publishers are present in 44 states. As for employees, more than 65K folks are employed in gaming across the country, with an average salary of $97K annually.

 

These companies, both public and private, contributed $11.7 billion to the overall U.S. economy last year as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The largest public gaming companies headquartered in the country by market capitalization include familiar names like Activision Blizzard $ATVI ($26.8 billion), Electronic Arts $EA ($23.8 billion) and Take-Two Interactive $TTWO ($4.2 billion). All of these sizes are as of year-end.

 

Note there are many more topics in the full report from the ESA, including the demographics of U.S. gamers plus what drives purchasing decisions. It can be viewed here.

 

Personally I think these are fun to talk about since it allows us to better understand the industry and where it’s headed, and I look forward to seeing where the trends go next year! That said, how do you compare to the “average gamer” in the United States? How much do you spend on gaming purchases in a given year? Did you buy one of the best-selling games last year? Feel free to comment or shoot me a note on Twitter!

 

Sources: Entertainment Software Association, The NPD Group, EEDAR, Google Finance.

 

-Dom

Bungie Reveals Destiny Sequel Via Images On Social Media

DomsPlaying1 Comment

 

Hi folks!

 

As you’ll notice, this is going to be a bit of a different post in that it’s mostly news. I just am excited to share that game developer Bungie, the Washington-based studio behind early games in the Halo franchise, has posted the above image on its Twitter account. This tweet officially announces the sequel to its 2014’s shared-world shooter Destiny, simply entitled: Destiny 2. Like the original, it will be published by Activision Blizzard $ATVI.

 

Two more images below were posted almost simultaneously on Destiny’s Facebook page, showing a variation on the above image then a more detailed look at the bottom half of the area featured in the other two shots.

 

 

 

 

Humor me for a moment, as these are exciting times. Astute Destiny fans will notice that these imagines actually tell us a bit more than it may seem at first glance. The Last City is depicted as being on fire and burning to the ground, assumingly from some sort of attack from an enemy faction. In the original game, The Last City is the only remaining area populated by humans but it was in-tact and not under siege. I can only presume that the player character will be the one responsible for defending The Last City from these evil-doers, or maybe bringing the fight to them in order to take revenge in the name of humanity!

 

These photos also show the Traveler, that mysterious spherical body above The Last City, is essentially unharmed at least for now and it still resides above The Last City in its usual spot. Many in the Destiny universe revere the Traveler as being a “protector” over the last inhabited city on Earth, and it seems humanity desperately needs both it and the player to defend it in the upcoming sequel.

 

 

As for more details on the game itself, no further information from Activision Blizzard or Bungie was shared. So we don’t know anything formally yet on release date, new content, trailers etc. But the indication from the leaked poster above, which surfaced last week after being allegedly leaked by a GameStop Italy employee, is that that Destiny 2 will release on Friday, September 8th later this year. This would be almost exactly 3 years after the original, and for big fans like me, a perfect opportunity for Bungie to expand on the universe it established in the first game while also enhancing all of its aspects including narrative, exploration and of course, my favorite part, its “raids” which are six-person mega-missions that usually feature puzzles, unique enemies and big bosses to overcome.

 

 

 

Lastly, another interesting part of the timing in that it’s right before Bungie kicks off the last live event in the original game’s life span: Age of Triumph. This event is basically the ultimate fan service, where the developer is offering some new quests, bringing older content up-to-date then offering new, remixed versions of gear from the early days of the game which is something players have been requesting for a while. Age of Triumph begins tomorrow, Tuesday, March 28th.

 

What about you? Did you play the original, and if so what was your final verdict on it? Are you excited for Destiny 2 or will you be passing on the game? Feel free to leave a comment, or reach out on Twitter with your thoughts.

 

Sources: Bungie, Activision, Lega Network

 

-Dom

Mass Effect: Andromeda Game & Sales Preview

DomsPlaying

 

Next Tuesday, developer BioWare is set to release Mass Effect: Andromeda, the latest installment in its long-running Mass Effect video game series which saw its first entry a decade ago. Published by Electronic Arts ($EA), Mass Effect: Andromeda is being billed as a new standalone type of space, role-playing adventure that has loose ties to the original trilogy of games but is the start of a brand new story.

 

Now that the marketing speak is out of the way, I’d like to touch on my early impressions of playing the game while also give a brief explanation of my sales expectations for this year and beyond. Especially now that it’s been five years since Mass Effect 3, a game that was well-received but also lamented for certain aspects especially its ending.

 

I’ve played Mass Effect: Andromeda in a trial run under EA Access, the publisher’s subscription service that allows earlier games and previews of newer ones. My impressions have been mixed overall, to say the least, with a skew towards optimism once I was finished up.

 

 

First, the highlights of the early game for me:

 

  • Setting. The original trilogy was set in our own Milky Way galaxy, while the new game is (quite obviously) set in the Andromeda galaxy. This opens up much more potential for exploration and finding new species of planet, wildlife and aliens to encounter.

 

  • The game looks great. When it comes to visuals, art direction and color palette, the game has been stunning especially on its first “major” planet. I’m playing on Xbox One, though based on the consensus of previews online, this holds true for all platforms.

 

  • You have a Jet-Pack! I said it on Twitter recently but I will reiterate it here: BioWare has added a jet-pack to the game, and it’s the the single, most important update to the series in its history in my opinion. One of the biggest knocks on earlier games is that the combat and mobility isn’t on par with other games in the genre. Having a jet-pack completely changes combat, especially when used with the game’s diverse suite of abilities.

 

  • Story. I think there’s more to the story than the generic sci-fi setup that takes place early on. The premise is you are a key part of the Andromeda Initiative, a plan for humans to colonize a new galaxy. You wake from cryo-sleep to face hardship and a mysterious threat early on. I enjoy the way the game frames you has a futuristic explorer, dubbed a “Pathfinder,” rather than as a member of the military as in earlier titles. You have the choice at the beginning to play as one of two characters that are brother and sister, Scott or Sarah Ryder, then the other becomes a non-playable character existing in the world alongside you. The early story offers intrigue as to your background and how the relationship with your parents ties into your current situation, plus there are definite overtones of artificial intelligence and the relationship between mankind and machines.

 

  • Customization options. Suffice it to say there are a lot of ways you can spec your character, from appearance and skills to gear and weapons. But the most important improvement is that now you aren’t “locked in” to a certain type of character role as older games required. You can move swiftly between styles: soldier, tech specialist, ability-enhanced bad-ass and the like!

 

 

But that last point actually leads me to the first item on my list of concerns with the game..

 

  • All the customization, upgrade, skill, research and development options are overwhelming. After the game’s drawn-out prologue, it basically throws all its systems at you early on and it feels overwhelming even to someone that has played a lot of similar games. There are so many choices to make, the game boasts! Which is not always a good thing, especially early. I know this will ease over time, and you can re-spec your character as I mentioned above, I just don’t know where to focus my efforts in the early-game or have a good idea which combat abilities best suit my play-style. I almost wish there was a firing range or test area right away that I could leverage, rather than relying on the quick mini-tutorial videos that display each ability.

 

  • Odd first impression. The game starts…. slowly, and makes an odd first impression. Most games now have a glorified tutorial area masquerading as a mission, and Mass Effect: Andromeda is no different. I know I said just above that I wish more of the game was “tutorialized,” but I mean that from a customization and choice standpoint, not from a story or gameplay one. It seemed like most of the time at the start of the game was walking, stopping, walking, stopping, sometimes shooting but mostly walking. At least I had a jet-pack to make it to faster!

 

  • Animations. Especially those face animations. I can’t say much more than the internet has already said. There are plenty of videos and GIFs displaying the funny facial and other animations that are just a Google search away, and during my early play-through, I noticed the faces are particularly creepy.

 

  • Generic characters. Perhaps it’s because I’m familiar with the older games, but right now all of the characters feel generic and “safe.” Same races and similar roles that populated the original trilogy, albeit with less of a military focus. This will assuredly change as I progress, I mean we are exploring a brand new galaxy, right!

 

  • Controls. My last complaint, though it’s actually my biggest one too, is a through-line across all Mass Effect games. The controls are not good. They are still “loose” and never as responsive as I’d like. It doesn’t feel as good as other third-person action games. (Then again, it never did.) I don’t think there’s an easy way to swap weapons, or the game doesn’t go a good job of communicating if there is. Plus navigating the game’s variety of menu screens is tedious and cumbersome, not as snappy as it could be. Not to mention the fact that I have to press multiple buttons to even view the map in a game that’s based around exploration is beyond me.

 

 

All in all, I am mostly enjoying my time with the game despite its glaring flaws especially its frustrating controls. I’m planning on playing it more and seeing it through to completion, no doubt, as it appears BioWare has crafted a robust space RPG with just a few super rough edges.

 

 

As for sales, let’s jump right into fun prediction time: I expect the game to sell around 4 million copies during 2017. Then, it will have upside of 6.5 – 7 million worldwide during its lifetime, implying I think around 60% of its overall sales should take place this year. If it hits this amount, it would be the best-selling game in the storied franchise.

 

Why, you ask? This is my best guess based on the publisher’s own launch expectations, historical sales plus the current install base and environment of the latest generation of gaming consoles.

 

According to its most recent earnings call, EA itself anticipates the title will sell 3 million units to consumers within its launch week and up through the end of March. We can compare this figure to the launch numbers that EA presented for its earlier titles, though it’s not a perfect analogy of course since these will be shipped figures: Mass Effect 2 shipped 2 million launch week, while Mass Effect 3 shipped 3.5 million in the same type of time frame. Caveat being that not all of them sold, but it gives a good indication of the supply factor.

 

Going further, EA also said the launch figure of 3 million sold will be around “30% to 50%” of its lifetime sales, which implies a range of 6 to 10 million copies sold when all is said and done. As you’ll see, I’m leaning towards the lower range of this guidance.

 

To me, even these days when games have longer life-cycles due to offering downloadable content, ongoing multiplayer events or discounts, I still expect at least half of a game’s sales to happen near launch if not more. Especially for a game with a massive focus on single-player campaign launching early in the year, when there are less “blockbuster” titles. (You could argue this year has more early competition than usual, between Horizon: Zero Dawn, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, For Honor etc but it’s still less busy than a fall release slate.)

 

After the launch window, I’d expect the natural bump near the year-end holidays for most triple-A franchises, including one as well-known as Mass Effect. Between launch week sales and those throughout the year with a skew toward the holidays, 4 million sounds reasonable for 2017.

 

As for my lifetime sales estimate of up to 7 million, I mentioned this would make it the best-selling game in the franchise to date even though it’s technically below EA‘s guidance. We know Mass Effect 3 moved around 6 million copies, its publisher just said so on the same earnings call, then historical figures show Mass Effect likely sold 3.2 million implying Mass Effect 2 at roughly 4.8 million considering the franchise figure of more than 14 million was announced a couple years back.

 

 

The reason I’m coming in at the “lower” end of EA‘s guidance is I think some folks have been turned off over the years due to the game’s flaws or how Mass Effect 3 ended, and the series is already divisive enough to this day as illustrated by Mass Effect: Andromeda’s mixed previews. Not to mention 2017 is shaping up to be one of the best years for gaming in recent memory, with stiff competition if games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Destiny 2, Assassin’s Creed “Egypt” and more release in the 2nd half. I’d rather be conservative on sales, despite being mostly optimistic about my own enjoyment of the game.

 

Have you played the Mass Effect series, including this latest game in a preview or trial? Did you find it to be enjoyable, or were put off by certain aspects? Are you bullish on its sales potential, or conservative in today’s climate? Feel free to comment or get in touch on Twitter.

 

Sources: Electronic Arts, BioWare, Polygon, Motley Fool

 

Note that screenshots above were taken by me on an Xbox One, except for the photo of the woman character named Foster Addison, which is sourced from Polygon.

 

-Dom

Casual Friday: February 24th, 2017

DomsPlaying

 

Hi! Yup, it’s me again. Dom. I know it seems like it’s been a while.

 

I’m back with a new edition of Casual Friday for February 24th, where I round up the week’s most recent and relevant news to give a quick commentary. This week the companies featured are Nintendo, Koei Tecmo, Sony and Microsoft. Take a load off, keep it casual!

 

 

It’s hard to believe that the newest console from Nintendo ($NTDOY), the Switch, is out just a week from now next Friday, March 3rd. But it’s true, it’s around the corner and that means previews of the console-handheld hybrid itself plus its launch games such as Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 1-2 Switch are starting to pop up. While we won’t get full reviews on the Switch until next Wednesday, March 1st or Zelda until next Thursday, March 2nd, we do know the early impressions are somewhat mixed on the hardware.

 

The concept of the Switch is awesome: a device that you can dock at home to play games on your TV, then bring on the go as a handheld gaming device. But according to previews and hands-on impressions, the execution is where it’s lacking so far leading me to believe the launch of the system is a bit premature. The reason? I think it’s that Nintendo wants to release it before fiscal year-end in March, before which the company has stated it will ship 2 million units. All hardware launches are messy, granted, but the Switch is being bogged down by a number of concerns: lackluster launch line-up apart from Zelda, technical issues with its “Joy-Con” controllers, no Virtual Console at launch (a service where gamers can download and play classic Nintendo games) and lastly, certain aspects of its online services will not be available right away.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for the console and will personally be a day-one buyer. I just feel that Nintendo is soft-launching the Switch hardware around its financial calendar, which is causing some features to be non-existent and lots of games are still in development. Good news is that I fully expect the console to look a whole lot better come holiday season later this year.

 

 

In very upbeat news, Japanese publisher Koei Tecmo ($3635) shared that its latest samurai action game Nioh has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide in just its first two weeks on sale. This is great news for the publisher of games like Dynasty Warriors and Ninja Gaiden, the latter of which being made by Team Ninja, the same team responsible for Nioh. You’ll also recognize the Tecmo name from classic sports titles like Tecmo Bowl during the late 80’s. Nioh features action and role-playing elements and is lauded (or cursed, by some) for its very challenging difficulty, pitting the main character William against tough human enemies and supernatural bosses during a trek across 1600s war-torn, Sengoku-era Japan.

 

There are a number of reasons I find this number quite impressive. First, the game is a PlayStation 4 exclusive title and a brand new IP for Koei Tecmo in somewhat of a niche genre. Also, the game is almost entirely in Japanese and its story is communicated via subtitles. Lastly and arguably most notably, Koei Tecmo totally underestimated how much demand there would actually be for this game as it based physical shipments on pre-order figures. This is proven by the firm openly acknowledging that retailers do not have stock. Even the game’s Amazon listing has shown a one to two-month shipping target for the past week or so. I can’t recall the last time that’s happened for any game!

 

What that means is this sales figure could have been even higher if more physical copies were available. Especially in Japan, where in a show of goodwill, the company offered a discount on the digital version if you were to purchase it in lieu of a physical disc.

 

 

 

As you can see, it’s quite a busy time for tech and gaming in particular. In other big gaming news, Sony ($SNE) and its internal studio Guerilla Games is releasing sprawling open-world action title Horizon: Zero Dawn next week and it’s been getting rave reviews. Horizon is another PlayStation 4 exclusive title, set in a world where humans have reverted back to tribal ways and now coexist with technologically-advanced animals of all kinds. It features a strong female protagonist named Aloy (not the most “traditional” name, I know) that is trying to find the origins of both her people and the mysterious, mechanical creatures.

 

Reviewers have compared Horizon to games like Tomb Raider, as both star leading ladies with bad-ass bow-and-arrows, or even RPGs like Witcher 3 in that they are set in beautiful, lush open worlds. Friends at Super Data predict that the title could sell around 8 million copies over its life span, but I actually think it could reach almost that amount just this year IF Sony bundles Horizon with a version of its newest console version the PlayStation 4 Pro. Which it would be silly not to, honestly.

 

Think about a triple-A console exclusive such as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which has sold roughly 8.7 million copies since its release mid-last year. Granted that’s an entry in a well-established series, while Horizon is a new brand, but I still think it proves there is huge upside for a great exclusive within Sony’s ecosystem. Especially since I predict there will be at least 60 million PlayStation 4’s sold by this year’s end, if not more, I believe Horizon can eclipse 7 million in a year’s time implying roughly 11% of PS4 owners have bought the game. Not an unrealistic amount.

 

 

And now to wrap things up, let’s briefly chat on Sony’s main competitor this generation, Microsoft $MSFT. The firm’s Xbox brand has announced its Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) briefing will take place on Sunday, June 11th at 2 pm Pacific/5 pm Eastern. Now, I tend to place less stock in the importance of public press conferences than other gamers, but even I admit it’s a big opportunity for Microsoft to tell us a lot about the future of its Xbox hardware family, Project Scorpio.

 

It’s no secret Xbox One is not selling as well as the PlayStation 4 this generation. Or that gaming revenues have declined recently for the firm overall. But I still think there is a lot of brand recognition and confidence behind Xbox, and it’s crucial to maintain healthy competition in the console gaming market. Microsoft’s online gaming service Xbox Live user base is up 15% since mid-2015 to 55 million active players despite being the lagging console in terms of hardware sales. Plus, sales are gaining within gaming software and services businesses, with digital game transactions hitting $1 billion for the first time in its history during 2016’s second financial quarter.

 

Additionally, the Xbox division under Phil Spencer’s leadership has placed user-friendly efforts of backwards compatibility (where you can play older games on the Xbox One) and cross-play across console and PC in the forefront. Sure, these types of features don’t necessarily sell consoles, but it’s crucial for Xbox to continue providing fan service in the interim before its (expected) big reveal of Scorpio in June at this E3 presentation. And I think it will be just that: a big reveal that will reinforce my confidence that Xbox can remain a viable competitor in the console space.

 

What are your thoughts on upcoming gaming hardware in Nintendo Switch or Project Scorpio? Have you played Nioh? Do you plan on trying out Horizon: Zero Dawn? Feel free to comment or chat on Twitter, and enjoy your weekend!

 

-Dom

 

Sources: Nintendo, Koei Tecmo Twitter, Sony, Open Critic, Super Data, Microsoft, Xbox Twitter

Earnings Calendar Jan & Feb 2017: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

DomsPlaying2 Comments

 

Here we have the first “earnings season” of 2017 for gaming, media and technology stocks, and just like last quarter, I’m right here to map out the schedule so you can keep up-to-date with all sorts of fun, interesting financial results. Why else would you be here!

 

As usual, above I’ve compiled a list of numerous companies that are reporting results this quarter. Since it’s the beginning of a new year, some will even report full-year figures from their latest fiscal years. Bonus content!

 

Below is also a Google Docs link you can use as a reference, in particular if you want to check out a company’s Investor Relations website as I’ve listed each alongside company name and ticker:

 

Updated 2/6/2017: More companies and dates are present

 

Working Casual Earnings Calendar Jan & Feb 2017: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

 

A couple higlights include Nintendo $NTDOY having its first earnings meeting since formally revealing its newest console, the Nintendo Switch. Might hear some sales expectations if we’re lucky.

 

This is also the first earnings release for Time Warner $TWX after announcing it will be acquired by AT&T $T. Might be some further guidance on this deal and its timetable, as it was one of the largest acquisitions announced in 2016.

 

And lastly, we’ll see if Vivendi $VIV provides more information on its ownership stake in publisher Ubisoft Entertainment SA $UBI. At last count, Vivendi owned more than 25% of Ubisoft, which has pundits thinking a hostile takeover is fast-approaching.

 

Before I go, note that a handful of companies like Alibaba, Netflix, Samsung and Verizon and have reported already earlier this month, so going forward I’ll shoot to have this article up a bit earlier. Apologies, but hey we’ve got plenty of earnings season left to enjoy. Let me know if you are looking forward to any resutls in particular, or if I missed any you might want to see on the list. Thanks!

 

-Dom

2016 Year-In-Review: Top 3 Impactful Deals of the Year

DomsPlaying

During this Year-In-Review post, I wanted to acknowledge some of the merger and acquisition activity impacting the sectors I cover.

 

The following are three of the most “impactful” deals of 2016, which will lead the involved companies into growth areas for 2017 and beyond. Two of them revolve around mobile gaming companies and the last involves a major wireless firm with a media conglomerate in one of the largest mergers announced last year.

 

In chronological order, here are three of the deals that impacted gaming, media and technology markets in 2016:

 

 

February: Activision Blizzard completes its purchase of King Digital Entertainment PLC for $5.9 billion, allowing the major game and software publisher exposure to the ever-growing mobile market via the Candy Crush series in particular.

 

 

June: Chinese tech giant Tencent announced it is set to purchase Supercell for $8.6 billion, further strengthening its mobile dominance and expanding to markets outside of Asia with the Clash of Clans franchise among others.

 

 

October: AT&T agrees to purchase Time Warner Inc for a monumental $85.4 billion, establishing the wireless giant as a gargantuan media conglomerate with not only ownership of physical and digital distribution channels but content creators themselves such as CNN, HBO and Warner Bros.

 

Sources: King Digital Entertainment PLC, Supercell, Time Warner Inc, Wall Street Journal

 

-Dom

2016 Year-In-Review: Top 5 Influential Gaming Companies of the Year

DomsPlaying

Back again with another 2016 Year-In-Review post!

This time, let’s keep it a bit free form. I wanted to post about some of the companies that have influenced my gaming habits this year, or those that have had significant impact on the industry as a whole.

So, in alphabetical order, here are five of the most influential companies in gaming for 2016 and a quick note about each. Which companies, developers or publishers influenced your habits this year?

 

 

Activision Blizzard, Inc.

Annual Revenue: $4.6 billion

Major public publisher produced some of the year’s most recognizable and top-selling games, including Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, World of Warcraft: Legion expansion and newcomer Overwatch.

 

 

Bethesda Softworks (Subsidiary of ZeniMax Media)

Annual Revenue: $89.2 million (Parent Company)

Independent, private publisher responsible for various notable titles in 2016, in particular: id Software’s DOOM and Arkane Studios’ Dishonored 2.

 

 

Electronic Arts

Annual Revenue: $4.4 billion

Along with its usual annual sports titles, which it continues to support with “Ultimate Team” fantasy-type modes, EA produced a pair of notable FPS games: the resurgent title in the Battlefield series, Battlefield 1, and critical darling Titanfall 2.

 

 

Sony Corp

Annual Revenue: $72.1 billion

Sony manufactures what continues to be the highest-selling console this generation, the PlayStation 4, which saw an upgraded “Pro” version in 2016 plus the firm launched its foray into virtual reality with the PlayStation VR headset.

 

 

The Pokémon Company & Niantic, Inc.

Annual Revenue: NA

TPC and Niantic were responsible for the year’s biggest gaming phenomenon in Pokémon GO, not to mention the former published two new entries in the Pokemon handheld franchise late in 2016 in Pokémon Sun and Moon.

 

 

-Dom

2016 Year-In-Review: Top 10 Video Games of the Year

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For the next installment of my 2016 Year-In-Review, here’s a look at my favorite video games of the year. How does it compare to your list?

Dom’s Game of the Year

1. Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment, Activision Blizzard)

Blizzard’s expertly-made competitive hero shooter is probably the game I played the most in 2016, both with friends and solo, as it features an excellent blend of competitive gameplay hooks, positive reinforcement and casual appeal with some of the most well-crafted characters this generation; as is expected from the developer, who is known especially for its attention to detail.

 

 

2. DOOM (id Software, Bethesda Softworks)

Developer id Software successfully reinvigorated this classic action-packed series in 2016, which is much more than a standard popcorn blockbuster game with its smart level design, fast-paced gameplay, fluidity of movement and surprisingly deep narrative, making it my favorite single-player first-person shooter campaign in years since probably another id property: Wolfenstein: The New Order.

 

 

3. Pokémon Go (Niantic, Inc., The Pokémon Company, Nintendo Co Ltd)

I’m not sure I can say much more than already has been said about 2016’s cultural phenomenon that was Pokémon Go: Niantic’s augmented reality mobile title took not just gamers but the world by storm after its summer release, and while admittedly it’s not the deepest game, it is severely addicting and caused millions to adventure to places they normally wouldn’t to collect all the cute creatures in the long-running franchise has to offer; including me, as I’ve sunk at least a hundred hours and still play to this day.

 

 

4. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog, Sony Computer Entertainment)

Naughty Dog’s epic conclusion to the Uncharted series is a technical marvel that expands on the swashbuckling, action-adventure gameplay by opening its level design and offering even more approaches to missions than its predecessors including a well-design stealth mechanic; Not to mention it’s the best-looking game I played in 2016, there were at least a half dozen times I stopped to take in the scenery, and it nails the landing on a story following its most-beloved characters that fans have known for years.

 

 

5. Watch Dogs 2 (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft)

Ubi’s sequel to its 2014 open-world stealth-hacking game Watch Dogs is just lots of fun to play, in its much brighter setting of San Francisco plus more relatable main character Marcus Holloway, who is a parkour master with a variety of cool apps and drones at his disposal, allowing for creativity during mission approaches and clever puzzle-solving that results in an enjoyable main storyline with worthwhile side quests; even collectible hunting becomes unpredictable and more fun than usual, as many can’t be completed without creative approaches using Marcus’ drone hardware.

 

 

6. Ratchet & Clank (Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Insomniac’s modern rebuild of the cartoony 3D platformer is not only among my favorite games of 2016, but it’s the one that took me most by surprise since it wasn’t on my radar until after its release; and with that surprise came moments of pure joy, as playing through the beautiful, colorful planets alongside the humorous narrative as the Lombax/robot duo warmed my heart like few games can.

 

 

7. Dishonored 2 (Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks)

Arkane’s follow-up to the original 2012 stealth title is exceptional in that it keeps the magic of the first Dishonored, with its wonderful level layouts and character designs plus dreary-yet-beautiful setting and art, while expanding upon its best elements since it now offers two playable characters both with unique talents, boasting a plethora of abilities and tools to ultimately allow the player to decide if she or he would be a silent ghost or a vengeful assassin.

 

 

8. The Witness (Thekla, Inc.)

Plain and simple, The Witness by designer Jonathan Blow is my favorite puzzle game of 2016 as it’s not only one of the most stunningly-beautiful minimalistic first person games I’ve played, its focus on mind-bending puzzles (some of its best are secretly hidden within the environment) and collectibles that reveal philosophical ruminations ranging from the nature of consciousness to the existence of God prove that there are layers upon layers to this modern day indie classic; if only its ending was more powerful, it would be higher on this list.

 

 

9. Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts)

Yet another sequel, I know, but this time Respawn studio head Vince Zampella and his team injected a thrilling single-player story into its mech-shooter that originally debuted in 2014, and crafted a comfortable balance between fast-moving mechanics and narrative quality (especially in one much-discussed mission focused on the manipulation of time) not to mention reinforced the already strong multiplayer mode featured in the first game to shape what I think is the year’s second best shooter campaign behind DOOM.

 

 

10. Oxenfree (Night School Studio)

Rounding out my Top 10 is this weird, adventure-mystery game, made by a small team featuring folks previously from Telltale Games and Disney, which follows teens on a trip to a deserted island; Oxenfree plays on dialogue and choice like few other games have done to tell a unique coming-of-age story in a very cool, supernatural manner and truly allows the player to decide the outcome of various story elements.

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

 

Let It Die (Grasshopper Manufacture, GungHo Online Entertainment)

This 3rd person roguelike hack-and-slasher made by Japanese designer Goichi Suda (Suda51) and team at Grasshopper grabbed me randomly for a few weeks after its surprise announcement at the PlayStation Experience, and features some of the coolest characters this year along with challenging-yet-rewarding gameplay; but its free-to-play elements and difficulty spike are the reasons why it couldn’t crack my Top 10.

 

 

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood & Wine (CD Projekt Red)

I’m including this excellent expansion for last year’s fantasy masterpiece The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in the honorable mentions essentially on a technicality, since it’s not necessarily a brand new game; Though with that said, Blood & Wine rivals most standalone role-playing games in its quality, gorgeous setting and breadth of content plus it puts a bow on this legendary story in a way that most games seldom accomplish.

 

-Dom

2016 Year-In-Review: Best & Worst-Performing Gaming, Media & Tech Stocks

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Overall for 2016, the global stock market saw gains of 5.3%, as measured by the MSCI World Index, and U.S. stocks were up around 9.5% as measured by the S&P 500 Index.

 

Focusing on individual stocks within gaming, media and technology, the following are the five best and worst-performing stocks for the calendar year within these segments of the global market. You’ll see that chip-maker AMD and graphics card manufacturer NVIDIA performed the best, while fledgling accessory maker Mad Catz and social media provider Twitter tumbled.

 

2016’s Best-Performing Gaming, Media & Tech Stocks

 

 

2016’s Worst-Performing Gaming, Media & Tech Stocks

Sources: Google Finance, Company Websites and iStock Photos.

-Dom