The main thing for the weekend (November 4-6)
Hideo Kojima admitted that he does not plan to sell his studio even for a lot of money, DDM released a review of deals in the gaming industry for the third quarter, Polish analysts recommended buying CD PROJEKT shares, – we tell you what happened in the gaming industry this weekend.
In the Brain Structure podcast, Hideo Kojima said that companies from all over the world are constantly offering to buy Kojima Productions. Moreover, some are ready to pay “ridiculously large” sums for the studio. Nevertheless, the game designer doubts that he will ever accept these offers, because he values creative freedom and wants to make games that are interesting to him.
The director of the cyberpunk platformer The Last Night said that for many years he has also rejected offers from investors – he has been offered millions of dollars for the purchase of IP rights. Tim Soret pointed out that there is too much “poisoned money” in the gaming industry and recalled the problems of the P.T., Metal Gear Solid, Star Wars: Battlefront III and Disco Elysium teams.
The authors of Final Fantasy XVI reported that there will be little racial diversity in the game. According to producer Naoki Yoshida, the developers were inspired by medieval Europe and took into account the cultural, political and anthropological standards prevailing in the region at that time. This explanation disappointed some gamers and industry representatives and caused discussion on social networks, mainly among the Western audience.
The Mythical Games studio specializing in blockchain games has cut 10% of its employees, including three top managers – one of the founders Rudy Koch, Chief Operating Officer Matt Nutt and Senior Vice President Chris Ko. The reason for the layoffs in the company was called the economic downturn.
The massive cuts on Twitter have not bypassed the gaming direction. One of those fired was Shiraz Siddiqui, a leading communications manager with the gaming community. He worked in the social network for nine years.
The amount of investment in video games in the third quarter fell by 55% compared to the second, according to a recent DDM report. In total, 156 investments worth $2.2 billion were made in July-September. Analysts also said that 66 M&A deals totaling $6.5 billion (-65%) were concluded in the gaming industry during the quarter.
The parent company FromSoftware has reported for the first financial half of the year. Kadokawa Corporation reported that due to the success of Elden Ring, net sales in its gaming division increased by 255% to $116.8 million, and operating profit jumped immediately by 1116% to $51.7 million.
The Polish analysts from Trigon DM raised the valuation of CD PROJEKT shares to 154 zloty ($32.6) apiece and assigned the status “buy” instead of “sell”. Experts are pleased with both the updated strategy of the company and the hype around Cyberpunk 2077. They also noted that the revenue of developers in 2023 may increase to $ 244 million, but in 2024 it may fall to $180 million.
▪️13 million people have played Grounded. Matt Booty from Xbox Game Studios shared the success of survival in a conversation with Skill Up.
