Sales figures, studio buyouts, financial reports, developers’ transfer window, investments … if these subjects interest you, you are in the right place. We offer you an update on the business news of the past week.
Tencent organizes its international editorial division
Level Infinite. This is a name that you are likely to come across quite often in video games in the years to come. Behind this name hides the name of the global publishing center of Tencent, the Chinese giant whose activities are extremely numerous and above all varied. Developing its own studios and having invested in a large number of structures around the world, Tencent decided to create a clearly identifiable brand. It is therefore the name of Level Infinite that we will now find displayed on titles such as Path of Exile, PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile, or Pokémon Unite. The only real exception seems to be Riot Games which, despite being under the Tencent flag, will not directly display the label.
Michelle Liu, CEO of Tencent Games, said on the occasion that “the launch of Level Infinite represents the next step in Tencent Games’ evolution as a global publisher and a trusted brand. We look forward to bringing players great quality songs wherever they are and however they are played. ” Currently, the label includes titles published by Timi Studios, Lighstpeed, Quantum Studios, Shengqu Games (Don’t Starve: Newhome), Next Studios (SYNCED: Off-Planet), but also games such as Conan Chop Chop, Metal: Hellsinger, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, GTFO, Warhammer: Vermintide 2.
Raven Software (Activision-Blizzard): Layoffs in the quality assurance team, employees mobilize
This week, the Washington Post published an article in which it was learned that a third of the workforce of the QA team of Raven Software (Call of Duty: Warzone), would be invited to find a new job at the latest after leaving of January 28, 2022. Facts quickly confirmed by Austin O’Brien, community manager associated with Raven Software, still in office, and who indicated to be “disgusted” by the situation and that it was “unfair for these people to chain them by promising them something better and then driving them away. ” That something better was the promise of full time for some people as well as an overall increase in wages. The situation then surrounded the situation, before a representative of Activision-Blizzard came to confirm and then explain these departures:
Activision is increasing its overall investment in its development and operating resources. We will convert approximately 500 temporary workers to full-time employees over the next few months. Unfortunately, as part of this change, we also informed 20 temporary studio workers that their contracts would not be extended.
Of these 20 departures, a dozen relate to the QA department of Raven Software, which provoked an immediate reaction from the employees of the studio, and, more broadly, of the ABK Workers Alliance, the internal union behind the strike movements. organized after the publication of the Wall Street Journal survey on corporate culture and Bobby Kotick’s involvement. A new strike movement was announced Thursday, accompanied by the creation of a support fund for those made redundant.
To protect the incomes of Raven workers and all those who strike in solidarity with them, we have established a strike fund. If you can, we ask you to contribute to this fund via this link, so that all our peers can show solidarity with us without financial difficulties. ABK Workers said in a statement that since this summer the management of the company continues to want to break the union movement while remaining “insensitive to the wishes of the workers”. In particular, the union is demanding the immediate hiring of every worker in Raven Software’s QA department, including those who have been notified of their dismissal.
To protect the incomes of Raven workers and all those who strike in solidarity with them, we have established a strike fund. If you can, we ask you to contribute to this fund via this link, so that all our peers can show solidarity with us without financial difficulties.
ABK Workers said in a statement that since this summer the management of the company continues to want to break the union movement while remaining “insensitive to the wishes of the workers”. In particular, the union is demanding the immediate hiring of every worker in Raven Software’s QA department, including those who have been notified of their dismissal.
Nintendo loses one case, but wins another
Almost three years ago, Germany took Nintendo to court over pre-orders made on the eShop, which cannot be refunded. A year later, the plaintiffs were unsuccessful, but decided to appeal the decision. A few days ago, a new twist occurred, since the justice, Norwegian this time, reversed its decision. According to the court, by refusing to refund a pre-order, Nintendo is breaking European laws. The publisher / manufacturer, estimated that the experience began with the purchase, but justice thinks for its part that it does not begin until the game is really playable. Nintendo was therefore ordered to immediately cease this practice.
The right of withdrawal is an important achievement in consumer protection and should not be circumvented by companies. It’s a good thing Nintendo must now give consumers the right of withdrawal to which they are entitled, says Rosemarie Rodden of the Federal Consumers Association.
If this is not done, fines of 250,000 euros per offense will be imposed, alongside potential prison sentences for the management of Nintendo of Europe. The matter should end there, as Nintendo has decided not to appeal and will reimburse anyone who requests a refund, as long as the product is scheduled for release more than a week after the request. The case of this final week could however create a new conflict. Finally, it is important to note that due to common laws within the European Union, the decision pronounced in Norway also applies in Germany, from where the complaint originated, but it is still unknown about the rest of the ‘EU will follow.
However, another case has taken a more positive turn for Nintendo, that of opposing it to the Canadian hacker Gary Bowser (that cannot be invented). Member of Team Xecuteur, he was arrested in October 2020 alongside Max Louarn, a 48-year-old French national from Avignon, Yuanning Chen, 35, from Shenzhen in China for having offered various hacking software to crack Nintendo Switch, 3DS or even the first Xbox. The verdict was recently handed down by the court, which ordered Gary Bowser to compensate Nintendo up to 10 million euros.
In fact, he will have to pay at least $ 4.5 million and could spend up to 10 years in prison. This verdict came after Gary Bowser pleaded guilty to “developing, producing, promoting and selling a wide variety of devices that allow users of the complainant company to play pirated versions of copyrighted video games. ‘author.”
Mobile: The top 10 most profitable games unveiled by Sensor Tower
As we know, mobile video games are becoming more and more democratized in the world, but have largely dominated the market in Asia for many years. Each year, Sensor Tower analysts publish reports detailing the behavior of the video game industry. The one that interests us today concerns the mobile market and contains the top 10 most profitable games on iOS and Android. The mobile market is estimated to have generated $ 89.6 billion in revenue this year on both carriers. The global share of video games goes from 74 to 72%, but still represents 78% of the total on Android and 61.5% on Apple.
All OS combined, PUBG Mobile brought in the most money, ahead of Honor of Kings, Genshin Impact and Coin Master. On iOS, Honor of Kings takes the lead in the rankings ahead of PUBG Mobile, Genshin Impact and Roblox. Finally, Android users put Coin Master at the top of the rankings, ahead of the Vietnamese game Garena Free Fire, Genshin Impact, the indefatigable Candy Crush Saga and Pokémon GO. On this medium, PUBG Mobile only takes 6th place. For the coming year, Sensor Tower estimates that the mobile market will grow 10% to generate $ 52.3 billion on the App Store, and $ 37.3 billion (up 16%).
Ubisoft: The company recognizes errors in the management of the harassment crisis
It will not have escaped anyone’s notice until last year, a joint investigation by Liberation and Numerama highlights numerous cases of harassment and mistreatment at work within Ubisoft. The publication of these papers caused the departure of several people, including that of Serge Hascoët, until then number 2 in the company. Another survey, this time published by Kotaku, specifically pointed to cases of discrimination and harassment in the Singapore studio. As part of the changes promised by the company to improve the situation, we find the appointment of Anika Grante as director of human resources.
She recently spoke, admitting that many employees had lost confidence in the process put in place by the company to improve things. A process that took a long time to put in place, “Ubisoft wanted to ensure that it had the process in place and that it could successfully carry out investigations.”
At the start of the crisis, we spent a lot of time making sure that we had the right process in place, that we were able to investigate very quickly in order to get the first results. In doing this, I think we have missed out on the experience of our employees. I don’t think we’ve always communicated enough with the people who reported a problem. Unfortunately, people have lost confidence in this process.
Nevertheless, she believes that, while the company is not yet where it wants to be, the number of complaints filed has decreased, as have the number of “serious” complaints. In short, Ubisoft admits having made mistakes, is aware that there is still a long way to go, but is already seeing improvements. The grouping of Ubisoft employees, ABetterUbisoft, for its part indicated last August no longer having confidence in the actions of the company and called for stronger and more concrete actions.
