Tag: Technology

Companies of E3 2017: What We Know & What They Should Show

DomsPlaying2 Comments

 

 

The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is fast-approaching, with the pre-E3 festivities and conferences kicking off this weekend and the show officially running from June 13th to 15th. Organized by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and set in its usual location of Los Angeles, CA, E3 is basically a cherished holiday for gamers, tech fans, enthusiast media and industry folks alike.

 

Now that we’ve “set the stage,” if you will, here’s a list of many companies that we know will be there, what we know about them and what they should show in a perfect world. Some are hosting press conferences. Others will be taking part in various streams or interviews with media members. Then even more will be packing the show-floor to demo or host exhibits featuring new games. No jokes, this is the most exciting time of year for video games and we should expect a ton of new announcements, trailers, gameplay videos and, as always, surprises.

 

 

Saturday, June 10th

Electronic Arts $EA: EA Play, 3pm ET

 

Saturday marks the unofficial start of the festivities, as Electronic Arts hosts its second annual EA Play conference in Hollywood, CA. Starting in the afternoon and running through Tuesday, June 12th, this is mainly a fan event which is a theme of late for many companies.

 

What We Know: In advance, EA has posted a list of games to expect at its event. These of course include its Star Wars and sports titles: Star Wars Battlefront II, FIFA 18, Madden NFL 18, NBA Live 18, EA SPORTS FIFA on Switch in addition to other titles including another entry in its racing series, Need for Speed Payback,  then others like The Sims 4 and some mobile offerings. Note that extra content for its hit shooter Battlefield 1 will also be shown.

 

What It Should Show: Of course both fans and investors would love to hear more about its OTHER Star Wars projects, of which there are two more in development that were revealed at last year’s show. Visceral Games and EA Motive are working on an action adventure game, which has some serious development muscle behind it with industry vets Amy Hennig and Jade Raymond running the studios respectively. Then, Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment’s project is a mysterious 3rd person action game set in a completely different timeline than the company’s other titles.

 

But to be honest, EA’s lineup is super “safe” right now, so I think it should also show off some of its other more interesting future games. Mass Effect Andromeda developer BioWare teased a brand new game recently and I think this is the time to reveal more after the mixed reaction to the latest Mass Effect installment. Then there’s the EA Originals line of smaller titles, which includes studio Hazelight’s unannounced project, Fe by Zoink Games then Sea of Solitude by Berlin’s Jo-Mei Games. I even fully expect another EA Original title to be announced, maybe even Unravel 2?

 

Lastly, might be a long shot based on my last note about BioWare, but I think EA should go even further and give us a glimpse of the studio’s next Dragon Age game. The publisher needs a fantasy RPG to round out its lineup, otherwise it honestly may be the most predictable (some would say “boring”) of all the companies this year.

 

 

Sunday, June 11th

 

Microsoft $MSFT: Live E3 Briefing, 5pm ET

 

What We Know: Isn’t it obvious? In its most important E3 to date, Microsoft will finally reveal Project Scorpio. The upgraded, “most powerful console ever” iteration of the Xbox One was announced at last year’s show and ever since it’s been shrouded in secrecy except for an overview of its specs from Digital Foundry. Microsoft has to show us what it looks like, tell us when it’s coming out, share its price and, most importantly, tell us about some of its freakin’ games! A shiny new piece of hardware is well and good, but without software there’s no way the company can close the gap with Sony’s PlayStation 4 shipments (now standing at 60 million units).

 

What It Should Show: In a conference that will run longer than its usual hour and a half according to head of Xbox Phil Spencer, Microsoft absolutely NEEDS to show us the games that it’s been so quiet about recently. We know a new mainline Forza racing game is in development of course, but it’s time we hear more about titles like Crackdown 3 (which I fully expect to launch alongside Scorpio), Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, Cuphead and Below. And we need to hear about its new 3rd party partnerships, because right now it’s basically just Middle-Earth Shadow of War published by Warner Bros that we know is coming to Scorpio.

 

The Xbox team is pushing to cultivate developer relationships with Project Scorpio, and they need to prove it by showing us some surprises or at least confirming some rumors. There will be “something” Halo related during its show, though not likely to be Halo 6, but also what about the sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest rumored to be called Ori and the Will of the Wisps? What about utilizing the Fable license again? Maybe Shadow of the Tomb Raider if the relationship with Square Enix is still going? How about a surprise or two or even more, maybe an RPG to round out its portfolio or a story-based single-player experience to rival a huge Sony hit like The Last of Us? Project Scorpio will only be as good as the games it can offer, and it’s not enough to lean solely on major 3rd party titles because is competitor already has a much larger install base of people playing those exact games.

 

Last quick note is that Microsoft said it will not show anything Virtual Reality-related, unfortunately. So those rumors about a collaboration with Oculus Rift are on hold for now.

 

 

Bethesda Softworks: #B3 Showcase, 12 am ET (Monday)

 

What We Know: Private publisher Bethesda has been providing the industry with some gems lately, think new entries in DOOM, Wolfenstein and Dishonored series plus recent release Prey, and I expect its hot streak to continue at this year’s conference. In the above image, it showed off its plan for E3 called “Bethesdaland,” which reveals a lot about what will be at its showcase and on the show floor. Expect to see Elder Scrolls Online/Elder Scrolls Legends, Quake Champions, Fallout 4 VR, then new content for games that are already out: Dishonored 2, Prey plus DOOM 2016 (perhaps a VR mode for that one?).

 

What It Should Show: You’ll notice that Bethesdaland has a couple of areas under construction. In these spots and at its event/show floor exhibit, I think it should absolutely (finally) reveal Wolfenstein The New Colossus. Gamers have been waiting a year since the title was initially teased. So assuming that’s the first area, what about the other one? Realistically, it’s probably something like Evil Within 2. Or maybe related to Skyrim for Nintendo Switch, which was shown off in the initial trailer for the hybrid console?

 

Super long-shot for this conference is the big rumor circulating: a sci-fi, open world project rumored to be called Starfield. It sounds like the type of thing that would fit nicely in the company’s portfolio. We also know that Bethesda Game Studio is working on a couple projects, but I assume those are not far enough along in development to show here.

 

 

Devolver Digital: Press Conference & All-Night Event, 1 am ET (Monday)

 

What We Know: Well, we know that independent game and film publisher Devolver Digital is having an event overnight. But nothing “official” has been announced in terms of exactly which games will be, except that there won’t be any brand new reveals. Though Japanese developer Suda 51 will be!

 

What It Should Should: Some titles that it should likely show are The Swords of Ditto, Crossing Souls, Minit, Ape Out, Eitr and Serious Sam’s Bogus Detour. Admittedly, I don’t know much about these except for Crossing Souls, made by Spanish developer Fourattic.

 

 

Monday, June 12th

 

Ubisoft $UBI: Press Conference, 4 pm ET

 

What We Know: French gaming firm Ubisoft is known for its unique and energized stage shows, though this year it might be toned down a bit with internal developers hosting rather than comedian Aisha Tyler. Still, in the above video, Ubi and its CEO Yves Guillemot have confirmed we will see South Park: The Fractured But Whole and Far Cry 5 in particular. Technically, that’s all we “know” for sure but in reality..

 

What It Should Show: .. We probably already know most of its show. I’m fairly confident that based on recent leaks, we can guess the “Conference Exclusives” and “New IP Saved for Conference” referenced in the video. One of them has to be Assassin’s Creed Origins, all but confirmed to be the official title of a new game in the series set in Ancient Egypt. Another should be social racing game The Crew 2. And that new IP? I’d wager it’s the Nintendo crossover called Mario x Rabbids Kingdom Battle. There’s also a good chance it features next year’s Just Dance title, or some new content for this year’s version.

 

If it’s not those titles, then what if Ubi goes ahead and treats us to the new triple AAA online multiplayer game it mentioned in its last earnings call? Or the space simulation game, code-name Pioneer, with a trailer in Watch Dogs 2? Or a brand new smaller or indie type of game from UbiArt engine? Or even a Splinter Cell title (however unlikely)? Ultimate long-shot is that it announces some sort of brand new project exclusive to Nintendo Switch, but that’s probably not feasible at this point in the hardware’s life cycle.

 

 

Sony $SNE: PlayStation Live from E3, 9pm ET

 

What We Know: Closing out the last day before E3 technically begins is current console market leader Sony with its PlayStation Live event. And we know it’s had some heavy-hitting conferences lately, despite some of the games featured being early in development or delayed when all is said and done. Be that as it may, Sony shows a ton of games at its show from both internal studios and external partners, so we know games like God of War, Uncharted The Lost Legacy, Spider-Man, Days Gone and Grand Turismo Sport will be shown off. Not to mention those 3rd party games where Sony has established marketing deals, including (my most-anticipated game of all time) Destiny 2, Call of Duty WWII, Far Cry 5, Star Wars Battlefront II and fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

 

What It Should Show: Knowing that Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding project will not be making an appearance, that leaves Sony’s biggest game remaining that I believe it should absolutely show as The Last of Us 2. I know it’s early in development. I know creator Naughty Dog’s leadership team has said it takes a lot of effort to create teasers. I know that the studio is showing off its upcoming Uncharted game already. But wouldn’t a Sony show feel empty now that everyone knows TLoU2 is a real thing instead of a pipe dream? It would at least to me.

 

Otherwise, Sony should really show off what studio Sucker Punch has been working on all these years after PS4 launch title Infamous Second Son. Then round out its show or exhibits with Knack 2 (yes, really), Detroit: Become Human, Housemarq’s in-development title Matterfall, Media Molecule’s Dreams (if it still exists) and Michel Ancel’s WiLD (if it also still exists). Sony also said recently that it has some news surrounding unannounced Japanese games, which have done well for the platform lately. Separately, if Sony is serious about PlayStation VR, it should really show people why they should pony up hundreds of dollars to buy one. The device has been “virtually” non-existent at its last couple of press events. (Apologies, it was too tempting.)

 

Lastly, is it finally time for From Software to reveal Bloodborne 2? Might be wishful thinking, but crazier things have happened at E3.

 

 

Tuesday, June 13th

 

Nintendo $NTDOY: Nintendo Spotlight E3 2017, 12pm ET

Nintendo Treehouse Live, Tuesday, June 13th, 12:30 pm ET & Wednesday, June 14th, 1pm ET

 

What We Know: On the morning of the first official day of E3, Nintendo will have a half-hour long recorded “Spotlight” event. During this show, we know for sure that (my second-most anticipated game of all time) Super Mario Odyssey will be heavily featured. It’s a given that Nintendo’s event and show-floor exhibit will be centered around its most iconic character returning in a 3D platforming game later this year. It even appears Nintendo is creating a real-life version of the location New Donk City featured in the original Odyssey trailer. We also know that the company will be delving deeper into Switch games releasing this year, which are ARMS, Splatoon 2 and Pokken Tournament. In fact, Nintendo is hosting tournaments for all three of three games at E3.

 

What It Should Show: Stuff for Switch, then some more, then even MORE. This is prime time for its hot new console. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild DLC. Fire Emblem Warriors. Super Smash Bros (if a version is coming to Switch). Xenoblade 2. The aforementioned Mario x Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Capcom’s Monster Hunter XX, releasing in Japan during August. Platinum Games’ unannounced title. Skyrim for Switch. FIFA for Switch. Anything for Switch that is new and fresh and keeps its sales momentum going strong. Maybe even news on its online service, voice chat phone app, classic games lineup or, gasp, Virtual Console.

 

Oh, there will be a 3DS and maybe even a mobile presence as well, but the focus HAS to be on Switch’s software and services.

 

 

The Show Floor!

Los Angeles Convention Center, Tuesday, June 13th to Thursday, June 15th

 

Finally, after all that, the show itself will take place across three long but fun days! See the map above for exact locations of big company booths, or the floor plan link here from the ESA which gives every location throughout the convention center.

 

Here’s a quick, general run-down of companies that will have some sort of presence:

 

Activision Blizzard $ATVI

What We Know: Destiny 2, Call of Duty WWII multiplayer reveal, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.

 

What It Should Show: Future Overwatch or Hearthstone plans. Maybe Call of Duty mobile. Next Skylanders. But really, exactly what it’s showing will be sweet!

 

Bandai Namco

What We Know: Code Vein, its vampire RPG Souls-like, which looks very cool.

 

What It Should Show: Is there any future for the Dark Souls series in light of a new game like Code Vein? Is it making any Switch games? Or just bringing classic games to the platform? Also, more information on Ni No Kuni II.

 

Capcom

What We Know: Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

 

What It Should Show: Street Fighter “surprises.” Monster Hunter XX for Nintendo Switch should be there, would be nice to even get a release date for the Western version.

 

Sega/Atlus

What We Know: We actually know everything that Sega and Atlus will have on the show floor this year. Total War: Warhammer 2, Total War: Arena, Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, Yakuza 6, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Then some Nintendo 3DS titles: Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux.

 

What It Should Show: Whatever it shows of Sonic Mania, it should show more, because it could be the best Sonic game in years.

 

Square Enix

What We Know: Per its blog, Square will have “developer interviews, announcements, gameplay sessions” and more. These include content for games including Final Fantasy (both new and old), Agents of Mayhem, F1 2017, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Lost Sphear, Flame vs Blaze, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT and even a concert featuring NieR.

 

What It Should Show: Shadow of the Tomb Raider? The next installment of Life is Strange.

 

Take-Two Interactive $TTWO

What We Know: Take-Two has already said it’s not showing any brand new games, so basically its existing franchises will be there: NBA2K 18 (probably even its Nintendo Switch version), WWE 2K18. Definitely some Mafia III extra content. GTA Online in some fashion.

 

What It Should Show: Red Dead Redemption 2. Borderlands 3. But these won’t. Don’t even get your hopes up.

 

THQ Nordic

What We Know: That the renamed studio will be on the show floor showing its games, both present and future. Presumably..

 

What It Should Show: Darksiders 3, Battle Chasers: Nightwar. Aquanox Deep Descent, Victor Vran.

 

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

What We Know: Five games will be on display from its studios. These are Middle-Earth Shadow of War, Injustice 2, LEGO Dimensions, LEGO Worlds, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2.

 

What It Should Show: I mean, the obvious answer is what the next Batman game looks like especially now that Rocksteady is no longer the development studio. But that doesn’t seem likely given WB has already told us what it’s showing.

 

 

Miscellaneous

 

E3 Coliseum: Tuesday, June 13th to Wednesday, June 14th

 

What We Know: E3 Coliseum is a really cool event at LA Live organized by The Game Awards’ Geoff Keighley, featuring interviews, demos and panels. Games featured include God of War, Destiny 2, Assassin’s Creed, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, Spider-Man, Sea of Thieves, Mortal Kombat, Far Cry 5 and Call of Duty WWII but more interestingly, the people that make them. I’m looking forward to a number of these, namely the conversation with Bungie, creators of Destiny, plus of course legendary Japanese developer Hideo Kojima himself will be making an appearance (of course!).

 

There you have it. Thanks if you made it this far, or are using this as a reference to see when each company is having its event. And to those attending the show, have fun and know I’m quite jealous. Am I missing anything that you think should be shown by one of these companies? What are you most anticipating at this year’s show? It’s an exciting time, I’ll have more comments on Twitter and some sort of post mortem once the dust settles as well.

 

Sources: ESA, Company Websites/YouTube, NeoGAF, Geoff Keighley, Gamasutra

 

-Dom

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

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: Best & Worst-Performing Gaming, Media & Tech Stocks

DomsPlaying1 Comment

 

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

Working Casual 2016 Year-In-Review: Summary

DomsPlaying

 

Happy New Year, all!

 

It’s been a while, but I’m finally back this time with a number of topics as part of my Working Casual 2016 Year-In-Review. I’ll be posting thoughts and stats on the following topics, each in separate posts, and aggregating them here once all are published. I hope you enjoy them, feel free to comment and check Twitter for even more insights into last year and 2017 going forward.

 

Best & Worst-Performing Gaming, Media & Tech Stocks

Top 10 Video Games of the Year

Top 5 Influential Gaming Companies of the Year

Top 3 Impactful Deals of the Year

Top 5 Gaming, Media or Tech Stories & Trends of the Year

 

Also, to everyone that has visited, I want to thank you for reading and following my site after its launch this year. I wasn’t as active as I originally thought I’d be, but I do have some article ideas and cool plans for 2017 that I think you’ll enjoy. I can’t express my gratitude for you taking the time out of your busy day to check in and read some ramblings of a financial nerd and gaming, media and technology enthusiast. Hope to chat with you soon!

 

Photo Source: Colourbox

 

-Dom

Earnings Calendar Oct & Nov 2016: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

DomsPlaying1 Comment

working-casual-earnings-calendar-oct-nov-2016

 

Quarterly earnings season has started again for public companies, where they report how business is going over the latest 3 months period. I started this type of post last quarter, and have again compiled an Earnings Calendar above for select companies in the gaming, media and technology sectors that you might be interested in following.

 

This is also available as a Google Doc at the link below, in case you’d like to visit any of the Investor Relations sites with ease.

Working Casual Earnings Calendar Oct & Nov 2016: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

 

Microsoft Corp ($MSFT) and Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) are the first of these firms on the list to report, with results coming after U.S. stock market is closed for the day. This kicks off what is always an interesting, fun time for those of us who enjoy knowing how companies are doing and hoping for as much transparency as possible!

 

Some of the names to keep an eye on this quarter are the following:

 

apple-logo-rainbow

 

Apple Inc ($AAPL): Reporting on Tuesday 10/25, the largest company in the world’s earnings are always a great indicator of consumer sentiment worldwide. It will be especially interesting this quarter with the release of its latest mobile iteration, the iPhone 7, plus the ongoing woes of its major competitor Samsung Electronics ($005935) which recently lowered guidance because of the discontinuation of its Galaxy Note 7 line of products.

 

HACS_001_logo_R_ad

 

Nintendo Co Ltd ($NTDOY): Just this morning, Nintendo announced its long-awaited new console (code-name “NX”) as the Nintendo Switch, a device that gamers can use at the home or on-the-go as a handheld platform. This obviously won’t impact earnings just yet, as it’s slated for release in March 2017, but this will be the first financial release where the very popular mobile game Pokemon GO contributes to sales. Still, I expect another sluggish quarter for Nintendo as it doesn’t receive 100% of the revenue from Pokemon GO plus its existing hardware is getting long-in-the-tooth and doesn’t have many titles driving sales.

 

sony-ps-vr

 

Sony Corp ($SNE): Sony has “lost” the battle with Microsoft in the U.S. when it comes to console hardware sales during the last three months according to the NPD Group, with the Xbox One outselling Sony’s PlayStation 4 during this time frame. A lack of major exclusive games and the Xbox One having a new “slimmer” model are primary factors, though the PlayStation 4 is still leading when it comes to overall sales by a large margin. Sony also released its first foray into virtual reality last week in PlayStation VR, but this happened after its latest quarter ended so its contribution won’t be until next time.

 

Which companies are you watching closely this quarter? Any big products or news stories that you think might influence how firms in these industries are faring? Shoot me a note!

 

Sources: NASDAQ, NPD Group, Company Investor Relations & Press/Media Websites

-Dom

Earnings Calendar July & Aug 2016: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

DomsPlaying1 Comment

Microsoft Logo

 

Every quarter, “earnings season” comes around and gets us financial nerds excited. This is the recurring time period when public companies around the globe announce results for their latest financial period, whether it be quarterly, semi-annually or annually. The releases for this latest quarter usually happen between July and August for the months prior to the end of June i.e. half-way through the year.

 

Different companies have different fiscal periods, of course, but this is the general timetable and it makes for an interesting time since it’s the best way to get a handle on how well a company is performing and also gather reactions from investors, analysts and industry commentators.

 

Ubisoft Logo

 

In “celebration” of our latest earnings period, I’ve compiled a list of select companies in the gaming, media and technology industries and the dates on which each will reveal their latest results. See this full list as follows.

 

This list has been edited as of 8/4/2016, with updates to some that were “estimated” previously. These are NVIDIA, NetEase, Mad Catz and GameStop.

 

Still unsure on Square Enix and NCSoft, will update accordingly!

 

Working Casual Earnings Calendar July Aug 2016 Update2

 

This is also available via the following Google Docs link, in case you’d like to visit the individual links I’ve compiled:

 

Working Casual Earnings Calendar July & Aug 2016: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

 

This is sorted based on timing, and I’ve included a link to each firm’s investor relations site which is where you can go of course to read the full announcements. Public companies will also have an earnings conference call where executives and key personnel announce the results formally and take questions from analysts covering their stock.

 

This is actually my favorite part of the earnings ritual, in particular the analyst Q&A sessions, as the calls offer even much more insight into how a company is doing. Sometimes executives will provide facts or statements outside of what is in the press release or filings, and it helps provide further context for results and also it’s revealing on who is running the company. And there are even times when an executive can’t answer one of the questions, or dances around the real answer, and it’s fun to see the back-and-forth between these parties.

 

Nintendo Logo

 

A couple highlights are today both Microsoft Corporation and Ubisoft Entertainment SA will reveal their latest results, then next week the world’s largest company Apple Inc will be reporting.

 

Nintendo Co., Ltd. will also report next week, after the exceptional initial success of its Pokemon Go venture with The Pokemon Company and Niantic Labs. I wouldn’t expect to learn how much this new mobile game sensation is contributing to revenue just yet, as it’s only been out for a week and a half (hard to believe, right!). Still, Nintendo will likely address the game in some capacity.

 

Technology manufacturer Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is late next week, as is huge retailer Amazon.com Inc. These companies, in addition to Apple, are often a sort of barometer for how consumers are acting on a global scale.

 

Tencent Logo

 

Lastly, in August, we’ll hear from Tencent Holdings Ltd in its first financial release after acquiring Finnish developer Supercell for $8.6 billion. The company is now the world’s largest public gaming firm by revenue, and serves as a benchmark to seeing how well the international mobile games market is faring in particular.

 

Want to hear more about the releases as they happen? I often try to provide perspective and figures/numbers on Twitter when I’m not writing here, so visit me and shoot me a tweet! I should have a write-up on a couple of these companies soon, in particular both Activision Blizzard, Inc. and Nintendo. Until then, did I miss any companies you are following? Please let me know and I’ll add them accordingly.

 

Sources: Company Investor Relations Websites, Wall Street Journal, Newzoo.

 

-Dom

My Approach: Bottom Line, Limited Clutter & Discussion-Oriented

DomsPlaying

Before I dive into more substantive posts, up front I wanted to address my approach to covering the areas of gaming, media, technology and the like. My experience is in financial data and writing, and part of my process is sifting through all the numbers and boiling it down to the key points. Like any good analysis or argument, I try my best to back these thoughts up with supporting details and sources but ultimately, we all know it’s about the bottom line.

With that in mind, I like to isolate the driving factors behind a certain result or trend. For instance, which underlying business is driving a company’s performance? Why is a game selling well in one region and not another? Should a company diversify across hardware and software, or will the cost outweigh benefits? Sure these are complex matters, but getting caught up in the minutiae is not something I’d like to do.

Note I won’t be striving for covering 24/7 news, or live blogging, or merely presenting statements or numbers without any context. Rather I’d like to drum up discussion. Am I missing something? Do you agree or disagree? As people, we all come from different backgrounds and perspectives so let’s express those viewpoints. As I noted in my first post and my bio, I realize this is the internet and it’s ambitious to think all our chats will be constructive. This is my hope here, and we can go from there!

-Dom

Introducing Working Casual: Gaming, Media & Tech Blog

DomsPlaying

Hi all! I know it’s looking basic at this point, but bear with me while I settle in to my new blog. Welcome to Working Casual: Gaming, Media & Tech Blog! Written by yours truly, DomsPlaying (just Dom is fine).

As noted in the sidebar, this is a place where I’d like to interact with the community to discuss video games, the gaming industry and related businesses including media and technology in a way that we all can understand.

My background covers both these various industries and research, business and analysis as I have degrees in both Economics and Journalism & Media Studies, and currently work in the financial data field with hobbies of gaming, following digital media and keeping up on the latest technology. I had a brief foray into blogging earlier in my career, and have been meaning to revisit this interest as the medium evolves and digital media industry expands overall. Not to mention I need to use those writing skills! On a personal level, I’m based in the Tri-State and come from a family-oriented, Italian-American background that loves good food and fun times together.

So ultimately I would like to initiate discussions on topics related to all of these, and provide perspective while also chatting about the games I’m playing, media stories I’m following and technology I’m using. I know that’s ambitious for the internet, but let’s roll with it for now.

I look forward to expanding on this first post, and meeting like-minded folks that have similar interests. Thanks for reading, and feel free to reach out via social media links to the right or email as I’m always open for a good chat or debate.

-Dom