Tag: Corporate
News Sony Completes Turnaround with 10 Year Stock High
The biggest electronics maker in Japan
Kaz Hirai will probably be remembered by most for his goofy E3 presentations, but in truth the ex-Sony CEO proved his business credentials by transforming the encumbered organisation back into a global juggernaut. A new article from Hollywood Reporter reveals that the conglomerate’s stocks have hit a 10 year...
News Ubisoft Fights Off Vivendi Vultures Once and for All
Flawless boardroom victory
Ubisoft has countered Vivendi’s attempted hostile takeover with a flawless boardroom victory that will see it buy back a whopping 30,489,300 shares. The move will see Tencent invest in the French publisher, as it attempts to leverage the firm’s intellectual property in its native China. More importantly, Vivendi will...
News Sony Doubling Down on PlayStation Exclusives in Corporate Reshuffle
First-party more important than ever
Sony has reiterated its commitment to first-party franchises as part of an organisational reshuffle that will see some of its most forward-facing executives promoted up the corporate ladder. Shawn Layden, who will continue to front Sony Interactive Entertainment America and act as the Chairman of Worldwide...
News Sony Boss John Kodera's Twitter Account May Have Been Fake
Update: Shuhei Yoshida confirms
A new Twitter account for incoming PlayStation president John Kodera appeared this week, retweeting corporate intel like PlayStation 4 sales figures and such. It was promptly followed by various Sony employees, lending legitimacy to the handle. However, as of this morning it’s been suspended, suggesting it may have...
News The Story of Kaz Hirai, Sony's Oddball CEO, Is Worth Reading
The suit who saved Sony
Sony was a bruised behemoth when Kaz Hirai took the helm in 2012; the company is now on the verge of recording its best-ever financial performance since all the way back in 1998. The former PlayStation president has completely transformed the juggernaut’s fortunes, then – but what is the secret to his success? A brilliant...
E3 2017 13 Sentinels, Yakuza 6 Feature on This Year's Badges
Lovely lanyards
E3 is so weird that the badges… Actually get sponsored by upcoming games. Whatever, this has given us an excuse to finally break out the E3 2017 article prefix, as it’s been revealed that Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim will adorn this year’s lanyard fodder. Atlus usually occupies the spot solo, but this...
News Ubisoft Has a New Logo and a Pretentious Explanation for It
French swirl
Ubisoft’s got a new logo that’s… Virtually identical to the old one. The purple swirl that you may have become accustomed to seeing at the start of Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, or Far Cry is now a transparent white swirl. The font’s different, too, so there’s that. But why all this change? Here’s what the publisher had...
News Roughly 40 Per Cent of PSN Users Subscribe to PlayStation Plus
Equals a lot of revenue
Earlier we reported that the PlayStation Network has 70 million monthly active users, and now Sony has followed up with a presentation confirming that as of 31st March, a whopping 26.4 million were subscribed to PlayStation Plus. That means that just under 40 per cent of people who log in to PSN at least once a month are pa
News PSN Surges to 70 Million Monthly Active Users
Have some MAU
Sales numbers are important, but engagement metrics are just as meaningful in this social media age. Sony has revealed, then, that the PlayStation Network currently has 70 million monthly active users. To be clear, this statistic is not restricted to paying PlayStation Plus subscribers – it accounts for anyone who’s logged in to...
News E3 2017 Will Be Open to the Public for the First Time Ever
Times are changing
For the first time in its storied history, E3 2017 will be open to the public. Previously only open to those in the industry, the Entertainment Software Association – which organises the event every year – has announced that an initial allocation of 15,000 tickets will be made available to the public starting Monday, 13th...
News Sony Profits as PS4 Sales Continue to Surge
PlayStation offsets earthquake disaster
Sony is still in the black, though it can thank PlayStation for offsetting the costs inflicted by Japan's recent earthquake disaster. Profits plunged 42 per cent year-over-year in the three month period ending 30th June, with the company racking up ¥56.2 billion ($542 million) in operating income. The...
E3 2016 Attendance Drops as E3 2017 Is Dated
Ready to go again?
Whether you enjoyed E3 2016 or not, we're going to do the whole damn thing all over again next year. The ESA has confirmed that E3 2017 – we suppose we better get the tag ready – will run between 13th June and 17th June in 2017, which is more or less identical to this year's show. That's despite attendance for this year's...
News Sony Expects to Sell a Lot of PS4 Consoles This Fiscal Year
Like, a lot
Sony's released its sales forecasts for the fiscal year which started in April, and they paint a very interesting picture for the PlayStation 4. According to the company, it expects to sell 20 million new-gen systems through the period which ends 31st March, 2017. That's a sizeable increase on previous fiscal years, with the console...
News Sony Has Now Shipped a Staggering 40 Million PS4 Consoles
Beast mode
PlayStation helped propel Sony to a very profitable financial year, with the company's operating income up 329 per cent to ¥294.2 billion (~$2.7 billion). The company's gaming division played a huge part in that, its own sales up 11 per cent, with profits doubling to ¥88.7 billion (~$819 million). For a snapshot of just how well the...
News Sony Computer Entertainment Officially Rebrands As Sony Interactive Entertainment
Not an April Fools' joke
Yes, it's still 1st April in some parts of the world – though the period of pranks is surely over globally at this point – but the formation of Sony Interactive Entertainment is no joke. You may remember us reporting on this a few weeks ago – well, now the deed is done, the documents are signed, and the new logo is...
News Sony's Doing Pretty Darn Well at the Moment
Company smashes earnings expectations
For a huge chunk of this site's life, we've reported on Sony's financial losses. You could guarantee that each quarter without fail, the firm would be in the red. But ever since Kaz Hirai took the helm, the company's trajectory has started to change. And, while it's nowhere near the juggernaut that it once...
News Konami's Really Sorry You Don't Like Its Mobile First Future
But it's going ahead anyway
Konami's finally broken silence on the turmoil that's very publicly taken place inside the organisation of late. As part of an enormous, grovelling statement sent to IGN, it apologised for the anxiety which "conjecture" surrounding its future has caused, and stressed that it will continue to create console games –...
News Sony Admits PS4 First-Party Lineup Is Looking a Little Sparse This Year
Firm's working hard with third-parties to fill the gap
Sony understands the importance of PlayStation 4 exclusives as it highlighted them in its investor relations presentation earlier today – but president Andrew House is well aware of the fact that the platform holder's first-party lineup is looking a little light this year. "Our first-party...
News Sony's Success Strategy Involves More PS4 Exclusives
A pleasant reminder
Sony, by and large, is starting to turn around its fortunes under the leadership of former PlayStation president Kaz Hirai. While it's still got some way to go, it's a much leaner organisation these days – and it's getting closer and closer to turning a profit. The
News PS4 Sales Push Past 22.3 Million as Sony Plans Profits
Holding out for a Hirai
Hacking scandals and closures caused Sony to sink to yet another $1.1 billion loss for the fiscal year that ended on 31st March, but the organisation is finally planning a profit for the 12 months ahead. The company expects to make a cool $1.2 billion for the coming business term, and while iPhone c
News Sony Picks Up 140 Patents from Cloud Rival OnLive's Carcass
"We have a formidable patent portfolio in cloud gaming"
OnLive is shutting down – and Sony's whipped out its cheque book. The platform holder's announced today that it's purchased 140 patents off the closing cloud gaming company, a move which it stresses has earned it a "formidable patent portfolio" in the emerging sector. It's unclear how much it...
Rumour Konami Power Struggle Leads to Hideo Kojima Craziness
War never changes
Just as we were going to press with our report on suggestions that Hideo Kojima has parted company with Konami, our friends at GameSpot posted a slightly more speculative article regarding the inner-happenings at the Japanese publisher. According to the site – via an anonymous source – a power struggle between the organisati
News Has Metal Gear Solid Maker Hideo Kojima Quit Konami?
!
The web has gone utterly bonkers today – and not just because Push Square has been offline for the majority of it. While we were playing office charades waiting for our server rack to be fixed, Konami was busy removing references to acclaimed video game veteran Hideo Kojima from virtually every asset under its umbrella. Seriously, it's almost as...
News The Hunger Games' Lionsgate Makes a Large Investment in Telltale
Studio planning 'super show'
Lionsgate, the film studio behind The Hunger Games, has announced that it's made a significant financial investment in The Walking Dead developer Telltale Games. While no new titles have been announced, it has been confirmed that the movie company's boss Jon Feltheimer will join the studio's board of directors. Former...
News PS4 Takes Centre Stage in Sony's Big New Three Year Strategy
Growth driver
It's been obvious for a while, but Sony will continue to bet on the PlayStation 4 to put it back in the black. As part of a corporate strategy meeting earlier this week, the Japanese giant labelled its gaming business as a "growth driver", and recognised it as pivotal in its ambition of raising ¥500 billion ($4.2 billion) in earnings...
News Colossal PS4 Sales Propel Struggling Sony to Profitability
Job done
If you wondered why Sony was doubling down on PlayStation across the board, then its financial report for the quarter ending 31st December should give you some idea. According to data released by the Japanese giant overnight, the company turned a rare profit over Christmas – aided significantly by staggering PlayStation 4 sales numbers...
News SEGA Downsizing as It Turns Its Attention to Digital Games
American division relocating
SEGA's sadly been on a downward decline ever since it ditched the Dreamcast, and the company will continue to shrink over the coming months as it offers "voluntary retirement" to around 300 employees. It's not yet clear where the firm will be hit the hardest, but SEGA of America has announced plans to relocate from San...
News See, the Console Wars Don't Have to Be Mean
Just slimy instead
War never changes – unless, of course, they’re console wars. Ever since Sony dropped its anti-DRM bomb at E3 last year, both the Japanese giant and Microsoft have learned that the best way to ingratiate themselves to potential consumers is to act like their best friend. Every press conference now concludes with a message of...
News Sony's Still Bleeding Money, But PS4's in Beast Mode
Marathon sprint
The reason behind Microsoft’s temporary Xbox One price drop is looking clearer by the minute: Sony has now shipped 13.5 million PlayStation 4 consoles worldwide – and it hasn’t even been out a year yet. The company added 3.3 million units to the system’s total tally in the quarter spanning July to September, boosting game...
News Despite PS4's Success, Sony Expects to Lose a Lot of Money Again
Just a few billion
Just when things were starting to look up for Sony chief Kaz Hirai, the sky has come crashing down again. The company has quadrupled the amount of cash that it expects to lose for the current financial year, this time blaming its smartphone business on the issue. It described the problem as “the impairment of goodwill in the...
News Wow! Sony Gaffer Kaz Hirai Knows How to Take a Bucket of Icy Water
Wet and smiles
Kaz Hirai may be a shrewd businessman, but he’s also quite a fun character. The current Sony chief executive – who worked his way up through the ranks at PlayStation – has taken the ice bucket challenge after being nominated by brand founder Ken Kutaragi, and, unsurprisingly, he deals with the arctic drenching like a boss...
Rumour Minecraft Maker May Be Purchased by Microsoft for $2 Billion
Good job they finished the PS4 version
Minecraft has already proven that it’s a pixelated license to print money, and Microsoft apparently wants the lucrative brand under its umbrella. A report on the Wall Street Journal states that the Redmond-based firm is in talks to purchase Mojang, the organisation behind the bricklaying game. According to...
News Amazon Coughs Up $970 Million for Streaming Site Twitch
Someone's rich
Twitch has been acquired for a whopping $970 million – but not by Google as originally anticipated. Instead, it’s mega retailer Amazon that’s coughed up the extraordinary amount of cash required to purchase the streaming site, with its bidding rival
News PlayStation Boss Gets Punished for All of E3's Boring Bits This Year
This is for Powers
Regardless of whether or not you liked the content, Sony’s big Gamescom 2014 press conference was much better paced than its E3 2014 one. The folks at SCEE cut out all of the fat, and peppered the organisation’s media briefing in Cologne with trailers, announcements, and very little corporate gobbledygook. SCEA boss Shawn...
News PlayStation Hardware Sales Leave Xbox in the Dust
PS4 reverses firm's fortunes
It’s no real secret that the PlayStation 4 is a runaway success, and that’s been reflected by Sony’s latest hardware sales figures. In the platform holder’s most recent financial report, the company claims that its gaming business has seen a 95.7 per cent increase in revenue year-over-year, with the division...
Rumour Google Gets Twitchy and Acquires Streaming Site for $1 Billion
Paranoid Android
You can’t blame Google for wanting to flash a little cash – after all, with corporate competitors Apple and Facebook both splurging some spare change of late, the search engine giant must have been feeling left out. Fortunately, it’s reportedly managed to find a use for the coins stashed down the side of its office sofa – by...
News House: Having Kaz Hirai As My Boss Is a Help and a Curse
PlayStation president spills the beans on Sony gaffer
Andrew House’s tenure as PlayStation president couldn’t have gone smoother so far. The British businessman’s first major task was to announce and release the PlayStation 4, which has already gone on to surpass the organisation’s lofty expectations. However, as part of a candid interview...
News Kaz Hirai: PS4's Success Will Be Determined by Continued Install Base Growth
Platform already profitable
There’s no doubt that the PlayStation 4 has raced out of the blocks in fifth gear, but Sony overlord Kaz Hirai reckons that the company is not resting on its laurels yet. While the firm is extremely satisfied with the success of its next-gen device to date, the intelligent executive noted that the system will be...
News Sony Expects to Remain in the Red Next Year As Well
Company can't stop losing cash
Sony’s the corporate equivalent of one of those kids that drops a fiver on the floor and refuses to pick it up because that would be deemed ‘uncool’. Despite confirming an expected loss of $1.26 billion overnight, the Japanese giant has admitted that it’ll remain in the red next year as well – predicting a...
News Sony Bosses Forfeit Bonuses Ahead of Billion Dollar Loss
Hip hip Hirai
There’ll be no wad in the back pocket of Sony gaffer Kaz Hirai this week, as the ex-PlayStation president – along with 40 of the organisation’s top executives – will forfeit their bonuses ahead of this week’s expected billion dollar loss. It’s believed that many of the senior employees will sacrifice a third of their annual...
News How's Sony Doing Financially Now That the PS4's Out?
Well, the only way is up
There’s good news for Sony overlord Kaz Hirai: the PlayStation 4 is selling spectacularly. Not even the most optimistic of industry analysts could have predicted that the next-gen system would sell over seven million units in its first six or so months on the market, but that’s exactly what it’s achieved, and it’s...
Weirdness Developer Marvelous AQL's New Logo Certainly Makes an Impact
For better or for worse
While many developers are worshiped by an army of dedicated fans, others are met with humble logo recognition while players hammer at the start button waiting for a main menu to appear. Marvelous AQL, the developer of niche titles such as New Little King's Story and co-developer of the grotesque Soul Sacrifice, may fall into...
News PS4 Propels Sony Back to Profitability, but Kaz Hirai Vaporizes Vaio
All change in the television business, too
Oh no, it’s not financials day, is it? This disgruntled editor may have studied business for several years, but can’t seem to bring himself to look at a balance sheet these days. Nevertheless, our favourite electronics manufacturer has dropped a bit of a humdinger today, confirming that it’s dumping...
News This Is What Kaz Hirai's Been Up to Over the Past 12 Months
Smiles and suits
Since stepping into the big office at Sony Corp, Kaz Hirai’s presence has been diminished across the gaming division. The former PlayStation president now has much bigger fish to fry than petty console disputes, such as the health of a stumbling corporation. Fortunately, the executive’s not been wasting his time playing Rid
News Sony Drops Data Loss Appeal, Will Have to Pay £250k Fine
Chunk of change
Remember when the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK fined Sony a whopping £250,000 for the PlayStation Network hack in 2011? At the time, the platform holder said that it planned to fight the charges – but it’s since dropped the case, meaning that the firm will be forced to cough up the extortionate sum. "After...
News You'll No Longer Have to Deal with EA's Annoying Online Pass Codes
Changing public perception
The days of entering codes into your PlayStation 3 before connecting with your peers are long over, as EA has announced that it’s doing away with its Online Pass system. In an email sent to GamesBeat overnight, the company’s senior director of corporate communications John Reseburg confirmed that the publisher’s...
News Sony Doubles Profit Forecasts Ahead of Financial Report
Holding out for a Hirai
After years of reporting on Sony’s slumping sales, it looks like the company may finally be on the ascension. Games Industry.biz notes that the Japanese conglomerate has doubled its profit forecast for the fiscal year that ended on 31st March, raising the tally from ¥20 billion ($201m) to ¥40 billion ($403m). That’s a...
News EA's Peter Moore: We've Made Plenty of Mistakes, But We Will Do Better
Executive promises improvements at under fire publisher
EA’s not exactly having the best of times – the recent departure of CEO John Riccitiello is evidence of that. But while the publisher’s managed to badly bungle the launch of SimCity and produce some below-par games, we can probably all agree that it doesn’t deserve the ‘Worst...
News Disney Dumps LucasArts in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars 1313's fate not looking good
Disney’s questionable treatment of non-Star Wars: Episode VII content has continued today with the closure of legendary video game arm LucasArts. Following the Mickey Mouse marker's acquisition of LucasFilm along with its various subsidiaries late last year, the company has opted to shutter a large portion...
News Yoichi Wada Exits Square Enix Following 'Extraordinary Loss'
Final Fantasy maker down on its luck
John Riccitiello is not the only high-profile video game executive to be heading for the exit door, as Square Enix gaffer Yoichi Wada has been ousted from the company following a dire financial forecast for its current fiscal year. The outgoing boss had been in the job since 2000, but he’ll now be replaced by...
