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WildTangent Closes Studio, Lays Off Staff

Tim Grube — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:54:17 -0600

WildTangent, the company behind many games such as FATE and BlasterBall announced today that it has closed its internal development studio, WildTangent Game Studios, laying off around 20 of its staff in the process. CEO and co-founder Alex St. John has also been replaced by Mike Peronto, formerly COO of the firm - but will stay on as chairman.

The company also manages the advertising sales for a group of gaming properties comprised of MMOGs and game portals including PopCap.com, FreeOnlineGames, Jagexs Runescape and FunOrb properties, as well as Artixs AdventureQuest, DragonFable and MechQuest properties.

Approximately 30 of the more than 600 games were produced by the company's own WildTangent Game Studios. The rest of the games on the WildTangent Game Network are from other game developers and publishers.

Warhammer Online Exceeds 800,000 Subscribers

Tim Grube — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:18:14 -0600

Mythic's MMO, Warhammer Online, published by Electronic Arts unveiled that the game has exceeded 800,000 subscribers, according to recently released Electronic Arts financial documents. Within the document it states, 1.2 million copies of WAR has been sold since its release in September.

This Just In: Ubisoft Makes The Money for Q3

Shiva Stella — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0600

Ubisoft has announced its results for the first half of the 2007-2008 fiscal year, claiming that sales are up 52% mostly due to the release of high-profile games, including Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 and Assassin's Creed.

The company also posted a little update on its release schedule following a third-quarter review, all provided at the jump.

Third-quarter business review

The third quarter of fiscal 2007-08 got off to a good start with a number of new games released in November including Assassin's Creed, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, Beowulf, and the range of casual games. Assassins Creed has already notched up record sell-through sales of more than a million units, a positive sign that the brand will be successful and that Ubisoft has created another long-term franchise. The casual games including the Imagine, Petz and My Coach brands have also recorded a solid early performance.

2007-08 games release schedule updated

Ubisoft today announced that Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will be released during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007-08. This release will capitalize on the success of the first episode. In addition, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction, previously scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007-08, will now form part of a stronger line-up for fiscal 2008-09. Lastly, Haze which was due for release during the third quarter of fiscal 2007-08 will now be launched in the fourth fiscal quarter. The targets previously announced by Ubisoft remain unchanged as they already took into account the possible impact of these delays as a preventive measure.