Here is a youtube video that gathers a lot of info:
Ow, so Bungie just fired Marty O’Donnell. This makes me think that something has gone very wrong over there.
I’ll just re-post this from the journalism thread.
Marty O’Donnell posted this on Twitter:
I’m saddened to say that Bungie’s board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014.
Bungie posted this regarding the termination:
For more than a decade, Marty O’Donnell filled our worlds with unforgettable sounds and soundtracks, and left an indelible mark on our fans. Today, as friends, we say goodbye. We know that wherever his journey takes him, he will always have a bright and hopeful future.
We wish him luck in all his future endeavors.
Uhhhhh… Rumor mill has started.
Wow, that’s wild. Halo’s sounds and soundtrack were excellent.
Are they running out of money? What a weird story.
It’s kinda weird that he says the board of directors fired him. Was he in a position that could only be fired by the board?
Most of the time if you get canned, it’s an owner or executive. Businessweek only lists Jason Jones on the Bungie Board, though they could simply not have the rest of the board.
Not unreasonable. They’re banking on it being a “billion-dollar franchise” and much of the initial $500 million is for the reportedly extensive infrastructure start-up cost.
COD:Ghosts sold through $1B in the first 24 hours, and it was widely panned. Its metacritic score averages around 75 on the standard 7-9 scale.
Now that’s sales, not revenue. A lot of that went to the various middle-men. But keep in mind, that’s just the first 24 hours!
$500m is totally reasonable for a moon shot like Destiny.
Personally, I’d love to hear how much money Activision turned down from Sony and MS to make it exclusive. My guess is those bribes would have covered a substantial portion of the budget, and they would have kicked in for heavy marketing as well.
Here’s how Activision justifies the budget:
The tentpole trinity going forward for them is Destiny, Skylanders, and CoD.
Internal Estimates on getting record Pre-Orders?
wow.
Hey man! They’re spending a jillion dollars on marketing!
Er… no.
Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), announced today that the company sold more than $1 billion of Call of Duty®: Ghosts into retail stores worldwide as of day one.
Sure, CoD: Ghosts overall still ends up making lots of cash for ATVI - but selling in $1b to retail isn’t that much of an achievement for what already is one of the biggest brands in the entertainment sector. It was a cheap trick to top previous numbers and GTA V publicly by switching from sell-through to sell-in.
Uh, sales and revenue are the same thing. Now profit and sales/revenue are not the same thing which I assume is what your really meant.
“…for a new IP”.
Incorrect. If my company makes widgets for a quarter each, and sells them to hardware stores for fifty cents each, who in turn marks them up to a dollar then the breakdown for a million units sold would be:
Sales - 1 million dollars.
Revenues (to my company) - 500k
Profits - 250k
See how the numbers can differ?
sales does not equal revenue nor does revenue equal cash. On income statements, you’re usually look at “net” revenue which implies some accounting calculations which can vary depending on the company. in video games, I suspect they don’t account for returns much but other industries would.
Your company’s sales and revenue were $500k. The retailer’s sales and revenue were $1MM.
Sales isn’t what the company upstream from you gets, and revenue isn’t what the downstream company gets. Your company has sales/revenue, and the company you sell to has sales/revenue. They are one in the same.
Try this:
The first line on any income statement is an entry called total revenue or total sales. This figure is the amount of money a business brought in during the time period covered by the income statement.
Actually, it is.
nor does revenue equal cash.
Agreed.
On income statements, you’re usually look at “net” revenue which implies some accounting calculations which can vary depending on the company. in video games, I suspect they don’t account for returns much but other industries would.
Yes, net revenue (or net sales) would be net of any returns or other similar adjustments.
I mean, the bottom line is that to break even they will have to sell more copies then there are currently next-gen console owners. Which is silly.