NCsoft confirms new layoffs

Guild Wars publisher plans to cut 70-90 support positions in US, Europe as part of final Western-focused label reorganization; rehire up to 80.

In September, Korean massively multiplayer online role-playing game company NCsoft announced sweeping plans to restructure its North American and European operations under a single, unified label: NCsoft West. Immediately, the initiative resulted in NCsoft laying off about 30 employees from its Austin, Texas studio and establishing an NCsoft West headquarters in Seattle, Washington.

Today, NCsoft announced what it plans to be the final element of its corporate restructuring efforts, revealing an additional round of layoffs that it expects will affect 70 to 90 employees. The cuts will primarily come in support services, and an NCsoft West representative assured GameSpot that no in-development projects will be adversely affected by the cuts.

"In order to solidify and streamline company operations across all NCsoft West territories, we are implementing some structural changes this week which will impact 70 to 90 employees," an NCsoft West representative told GameSpot in a statement. "We are working with these employees to determine the best fit for approximately 80 alternate positions within the company."

"The European office is transitioning to have a stronger focus in marketing and sales, with many of the existing disciplines being consolidated in our studios on the US West Coast and our headquarters in Seattle," said NCsoft West. "Additionally, we are transitioning to an embedded quality assurance (QA) model in which the QA staff works in our studios directly with the development teams, providing support throughout the entire development process.

"This finalizes the NCsoft West reorganization plan which began last September, and the resulting structure will better support the company's direction," the statement concluded.

Like many other game makers, NCsoft has been left grappling with a rough economic environment. As part of its most recent earnings announcement in November, the publisher saw profits fall 50 percent to 5.0 billion won ($3.58 million) on sales of 78.3 billion won ($56.1 million). The results were made all the worse on news that celebrity game designer Richard Garriott would be exiting the company, and that his unsuccessful sci-fi MMOG Tabula Rasa would go offline at the end of this month.

Sony prepping hybrid Blu-ray movie/game discs

PS3 maker plans to offer two to three titles that include both feature-length film, interactive tie-in this year.

Sony is facing an intense uphill battle if it hopes to catch up to its rivals in the current-generation console sales race. Hamstrung by a dour global economy, the $399-$499 PlayStation 3 is consistently outpaced month to month by Microsoft's Xbox 360, the cheapest of which sells for $199. And that's to say nothing of Nintendo's market-dominating $250 Wii, which has outsold the PS3 45 million units to 21 million through December 2008, despite the fact that both consoles have been on the market for a comparable period of time.

Sony isn't without an ace up its sleeve, however. From its inception, the PS3 has been marketed as much as a high-definition Blu-ray Disc media player as a gaming machine. By the end of the year, Sony will begin to better synergize the two defining elements of its system by releasing discs that contain both a Blu-ray movie and a game, reports Video Business.

"We are actively pushing, and the way that we see the future is that the movie and the game are placed on the same disc," John Koller, director of hardware marketing for the PS3, told Video Business. "There are a lot of developers who say, we have this game based on a movie, wouldn't it be great to marry these concepts? We will definitely see this stuff this year."

Video Business reports that details on the initiative have yet to be ironed out. As it currently stands, Sony reportedly plans to offer an entire movie on the same disc as a PS3 game. PSPs would also factor into the proceedings, as gamers could transfer and then watch the film on their handhelds. Sony expects two to three titles to ship using the hybrid method this year.

GTAIV named EMA's GOTY

Rockstar's opus takes the top prize from retailer trade group; World at War and Wii Fit garner three awards each.

Award season in the gaming industry isn't over just year. The Entertainment Merchants Association today announced its Video Game Home Entertainment Awards, with Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV taking home the retailer trade group's Game of the Year honors.

Niko thinks winning GOTY but not the 360 or PS3 GOTY awards is a turd sandwich thiiiis big.

The blood-spattered immigrant tale also claimed the Action/Adventure Game of the Year category, but was bested by a pair of games in terms of award quantity. Nintendo's Wii Fit earned three awards from the retailer group--Most Innovative Game of the Year, Wii Game of the Year, and Casual Game of the Year. Meanwhile, Activision's Call of Duty: World at War took home its own trio of honors as the PlayStation 3 Game of the Year, Xbox 360 Game of the Year, and Military/Shooter Game of the Year.

Nominees and categories were chosen by an EMA committee consisting of retailers and distributors. The winners were then chosen by the rest of the EMA's retailer and distributor member base. To be eligible, a game had to be released during the calendar year 2008.

Aliens vs. Predator rehatched, Colonial Marines barracked to 2010

Sega commissions Rebellion to develop new title based on clash-of-the-sci-fi-titans crossover series; Gearbox's shooter, Obsidian's RPG pushed back to next year.

The past several weeks have seen a steady stream of dreary financial results, with THQ, Sega, Sony, and Electronic Arts all announcing losses and layoffs. However, several companies have issued positive earnings reports, including Ubisoft, Take-Two, and Nintendo.

Today, the biggest third-party publisher of them all, Activsion Blizzard, weighed in with an earnings announcement that is both good and bad. On the one hand, the company's record $2.3 billion in October-December net revenue beat the $2.15 billion a Thomson Reuters survey of analysts had predicted. On the other, the company posted a $72 million loss during a quarter when it launched new entries in its three biggest franchises: Guitar Hero World Tour (October 26), Call of Duty: World at War (November 10), and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (November 13).

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick played down the loss with a backhanded dig at staff-cut-beset competitors. "We won't be distracted by layoffs and restructuring and things that other companies are going to be distracted with," Kotick told Reuters. "We don't respond to managing our operating expenses because there's a financial crisis, we do it all the time."

Despite Kotick's upbeat tone, the markets reacted swiftly and negatively. In after-hours trading, Activision Blizzard's stock was down over 5 percent, trading at $9 as of press time.

Speaking with analysts in a conference call, Activision Blizzard CFO Thomas Tippl said that the company may take advantage of the dismal economic climate to add talent to its internal roster. "A long, challenging economic environment may provide acquisition opportunities due to strong cash position," he said. According to Kotick, Activision Blizzard currently has over $3 billion in cash reserves with zero debt load.

Looking ahead, Activision predicts revenues of $4.2 billion for the full year ending March 31, 2009. The company said that included $600 million in downward revisions--$400 million due to a stronger-than-expected US dollar and $200 million "from the company's lower margin distribution and the co-publishing businesses."

Live highlights from the conference call include:

--DJ Hero reconfirmed as coming out in 2009 on a variety of platforms, with the Wii specifically mentioned; no price point yet.

--2009 will see a new Tony Hawk game on the Wii. It is unclear if the game will be the widely rumored, skateboard-peripheral-based Tony Hawk's Adrenaline.

--Upcoming Tony Hawk again described as being radically different. "We said we would reinvent this franchise from the ground up, and we've developed an interactive approach for Tony that should allow us to broaden the appeal of skateboarding beyond the core to mass market audiences," Activision Publishing president Michael Griffith told analysts. "More details later for competitive reasons."

--X-Men Origins: Wolverine has apparently been renamed "Wolverine: Uncaged."

--New Guitar Hero game coming to DS.

--New Greatest Hits Guitar Hero games for 360, PS3, and Wii, which will feature full-band renditions of top songs from earlier, guitar-only GH titles.

--Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is now officially official.

--New racing game from Bizarre Creations confirmed by year's end. Again, no details for now "due to competitive reasons."

--Starcraft II beta test will begin "in the next few months." No launch date yet.

--Fee-based PVP tournaments coming to WOW "very soon." Cash prizes will go to the victors.

--Guitar Hero "installed base" now tops 32 million worldwide. Executives later clarify this number is the total number of Guitar Hero units sold and doesn't take into account multiple guitars and games owned in the same households.

--Guitar Hero outsells Rock Band 4 to 1 in terms of overall series sales, say executives.

Activision Blizzard posts Q4 loss despite record revs

[UPDATE] Call of Duty: WAW, Guitar Hero World Tour, and Wrath of the Lich King help mint $2.3 billion in three months; megapublisher still loses $72 million but rules out "mass layoffs"; Wii DJ Hero confirmed for this year, Starcraft II beta coming in "next few months."

The past several weeks have seen a steady stream of dreary financial results, with THQ, Sega, Sony, and Electronic Arts all announcing losses and layoffs. However, several companies have issued positive earnings reports, including Ubisoft, Take-Two, and Nintendo.

Today, the biggest third-party publisher of them all, Activsion Blizzard, weighed in with an earnings announcement that's both good and bad. On the one hand, the company's record $2.3 billion in October-December net revenue beat the $2.15 billion a Thomson Reuters survey of analysts had predicted. On the other, the company posted a $72 million loss during a quarter when it launched new entries in its three biggest franchises: Guitar Hero World Tour (October 26), Call of Duty: World at War (November 10), and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (November 13).

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick played down the loss with a backhanded dig at staff-cut-beset competitors. "We won't be distracted by layoffs and restructuring and things that other companies are going to be distracted with," Kotick told Reuters. "We don't respond to managing our operating expenses because there's a financial crisis, we do it all the time."

Despite Kotick's upbeat tone, the markets reacted swiftly and negatively. In after-hours trading, Activision Blizzard's stock was down over 5 percent, trading at $9 as of press time.

Speaking with analysts in a conference call, Activision Blizzard CFO Thomas Tippl said that the company may take advantage of the dismal economic climate to add talent to its internal roster. "A long, challenging economic environment may provide acquisition opportunities due to strong cash position," he said. According to Kotick, Activision Blizzard currently has over $3 billion in cash reserves with zero debt load.

[UPDATE] Looking ahead, Activision predicts revenues of $4.2 billion for the full 2009 calendar year (not the current fiscal year, as was initially reported). The company said that figure included $600 million in downward revisions--$400 million due to a stronger-than-expected US dollar and $200 million "from the company's lower margin distribution and the co-publishing businesses."

In a conference call with analysts, executives noted the $200 million revision was in part due to the delay of the next James Bond game. The title, rumored to be a driving-centric game from Bizarre Creations, is being pushed back into calendar year 2010 "to avoid head to head competition with Call of Duty: [Modern Warfare 2.]"

[UPDATE] Highlights from the conference call are listed below:

--DJ Hero reconfirmed as coming out in 2009 on a variety of platforms, with the Wii specifically mentioned; no price point yet.

--2009 will see a new Tony Hawk game on the Wii. It is unclear if the game will be the widely rumored skateboard-peripheral-based Tony Hawk's Adrenaline.

--Upcoming Tony Hawk again described as being radically different. "We said we would reinvent this franchise from the ground up and we've developed an interactive approach for Tony that should allow us to broaden the appeal of skateboarding beyond the core to mass market audiences," Activision Publishing president Michael Griffith told analysts. "More details later for competitive reasons."

--Yet another Guitar Hero game coming to DS. No word on whether it will use the Game Boy Advance slot, which the forthcoming DSi does not have.

--New Greatest Hits Guitar Hero games for 360, PS3, and Wii, which will feature full-band renditions of top songs from earlier, guitar-only GH titles.

--Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is now officially official.

--New racing game from Activision-owned Bizarre Creations confirmed by year's end. Again, no details for now "due to competitive reasons."

--Starcraft II beta test will begin "in the next few months." No launch date yet.

--Guitar Hero "installed base" now tops 32 million worldwide. Executives later clarify that this figure is the total number of Guitar Hero units sold worldwide and doesn't take into account multiple guitars and games owned by the same person or in the same household.

--Guitar Hero outsells Rock Band 4 to 1 in terms of overall series sales, say executives.

--The PS2 edition of Guitar Hero: Metallica will trail the other versions, due in March, by several months.

--Activision says its continued support of the PS2 will depend on whether Sony cuts the console's price down the line.

--Tippl admits Activision "could've done better on the cost front in terms of the launch of Guitar Hero World Tour." Says production issues raised the per-unit cost, and Activision is making adjustments to prevent the same problems occurring in the coming year.

--The sinking cost of petroleum--which is used to make the plastic in the guitars and drum kits--will also improve Activision's profit margins on Guitar Hero hardware in the coming year.

Next 007 game pushed to '10, Wolfenstein due this summer

Activision delays rumored James Bond driving game to next year, says Raven's sequel to id's shooter series is just months away, with Singularity following.

Buried in the financial facts and figures of today's Activision Blizzard earnings report was date information for two top-tier games. The first was of the unwelcome sort--namely, that the next James Bond game from the publisher won't be released until calendar year 2010. According to leaks from a closed-door event, the next game based on the venerable film franchise will be an original, vehicle-focused game from Bizarre Creations, which is also launching an all-new racing franchise later this year.

According to Activision, the delay of the as-yet-untitled 007 outing was "to avoid head-to-head competition with Call of Duty: [Modern Warfare 2.]" Last year, the publisher released James Bond: Quantum of Solace on November 4 to tie in with its filmic inspiration's debut in theaters (November 2 in the UK and November 16 in the US). Despite being released on six platforms, the Treyarch-developed game went on to sell less than 500,000 units in the US, according to NPD. One week later, Call of Duty: World at War--also developed by Treyarch--hit North American retailers and went on to sell just under 3.3 million units through December 31.

In happier news, Activision today revealed the release window for Wolfenstein, the relaunching of id Software's supernatural WWII action series. In development at Madison, Wisconsin-based Raven Software, the game is now expected in the summer months on the PC and Xbox 360. It will be followed later in the year by another Raven release, the time-shifting sci-fi shooter Singularity for the PC, 360, and PlayStation 3.

Guitar Hero getting Greatest Hits, new DS title

Activision readying compilation of full-band versions of tracks from older Guitar Hero games; third offering on Nintendo's handheld by year's end.

To date, the biggest Guitar Hero game of 2009 has been Guitar Hero: Metallica, the first full-band installment in the series to be based on a single group. However, a subsequent installment in the series may very well contain tracks from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith--the first band-focused GH game--which use more than just a virtual six-stringer.

Next stop: Guitar Hero: Freedom Rock

Speaking with analysts in a conference call today, Activision Publishing CEO and president Mike Griffith announced that the publisher will be releasing "a separate Greatest Hits compilation Guitar Hero game that includes full band versions [of previously released songs]." Though no specific titles were mentioned, the Greatest Hits will likely draw on all prior titles in the Guitar Hero series, which began with the eponymous 2005 original game for the PlayStation 2.

Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits will be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii before the end of 2009. The year will also see the release of a third Guitar Hero game for the DS, following last year's Guitar Hero: On Tour--the top third-party title for the platform--and its sequel Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades. Activision did not say if the new GH DS game's peripheral would use the GBA slot, which is not present in the forthcoming DSi model.

Greatest Hits and the new Guitar Hero DS game will also be joined by DJ Hero, which will arrive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii sometime in 2009.