Editor’s Note: Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)
Activision (ATVI) on Watch as WoW Competitor Gains Popularity (Street Insider)
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) is on watch as World of Warcraft competitor Final Fantasy is gaining some strong traction. The Squar Enix website today said the following about its MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn, we are currently experiencing extremely long wait times for users to be able to log in and play.
Zynga: Sell Signals And Red Flags (Seeking Alpha)
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), best known for its Farmville games, has been losing ground to its competitors. Mobile gaming has surged with the rise of tablet computers and smartphones, but Zynga continues to struggle. The stock fell 14% following the release of Q2 earnings, but still remains up 20% YTD. Is the latest dip a buying opportunity, or the start of a downtrend in the stock?
Video Games: Behind the scenes of player ratings in EA Sports’ NBA Live 14 (CBS Sports)
The most interesting and widely debated aspect of any sports video game revolves around the process of establishing player ratings. You’re taking a human being, creating a digital version of him, then trying to use various measures to modify that version to be as close to the real thing as possible. It’s basically a digital clone. And it’s a business taken very seriously. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Sports is set to return to the basketball field this summer with NBA Live 14. It’s the studio’s first release since 2009 after the disastrous “NBA Elite 11” title was canceled. 2K Sports’ “NBA 2k” franchise has had a lockdown on the genre for years, and is considered the standard bearer, but EA believes they’re bringing a real contender to challenge 2K with “NBA Live 14.”
Why ex-Xbox boss Don Mattrick may be Zynga’s savior (developer tech)
By now you’ve already heard the news about Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA). In the latest turn of events for the embattled casual gaming company, Mark Pincus has stepped down as CEO. In his place, Don Mattrick, former president of Microsoft’s Xbox division, will be taking his place. There’s no question that Zynga has been going through a rough patch. As the Facebook game ecosystem stagnated and growth in mobile erupted, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) failed to switch gears fast enough.
EA: “If We Stop Making New IPs, We’ll Go On Life Support” (PSX Extreme)
It’s common to hear gamers rip into big publishers like Electronic Arts for doing too much of the same ol’ same ol’.However, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) Games executive vice president Patrick Soderlund takes issue with such a theory. He says his company isn’t only about putting out simple, commercially safe products; they also like to push the envelope with new IPs. In fact, he told MCV that EA has “six to eight new IPs” currently in the works.
