Borderlands
Documents about Borderlands
Post Punk
The primary focus of this analysis is the financial and operational fallout surrounding the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, specifically examining the impact of its removal from the PlayStation Store on CD Projekt Red’s fiscal performance.
- CD Projekt Red reported a 65% drop in profits, a decline attributed to the fallout from the troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077 and its subsequent delisting from the PlayStation Store.
- EA’s Ultimate Team modes generated $1.62 billion in revenue last year, accounting for approximately 29% of the company's total business.
- Sony has blocked cross-platform multiplayer for Borderlands 3 on PlayStation, reinforcing a corporate stance that cross-console play does not provide a clear benefit to the PlayStation business model.
Embracer Group and The Gearbox Entertainment Company Merger
The merger between Embracer Group and The Gearbox Entertainment Company represents a strategic acquisition designed to bolster Embracer’s portfolio through the integration of a highly profitable, established developer and publisher.
- Embracer Group acquired The Gearbox Entertainment Company for an upfront consideration of $363 million, with a total potential deal value of $1.378 billion tied to a six-year earnout structure.
- Gearbox joins the Embracer ecosystem as its seventh independent operating group, retaining its existing management team and creative autonomy.
- The acquisition includes Gearbox’s operations in Frisco, Texas, and Quebec City, Canada, encompassing a workforce of over 500 employees.
Take-Two 10-Q — Q3 FY2020 (November 2020)
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. released its Q3 FY2020 10-Q to disclose financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 and to provide context on liquidity, equity activity, tax provisions, and regulatory compliance.
- Take-Two reported Q3 FY2020 net revenue of $841 million, a 4.5% year-over-year increase, with net income reaching $99 million.
- Digital-online sales surged by 84.6%, with recurrent consumer spending now accounting for 58.9% of total net revenue.
- Revenue growth was primarily driven by Grand Theft Auto Online/V and the NBA 2K franchise, which helped offset declines in Borderlands 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2.
Three Key Discoverability Takeaways From the Epic/Apple Lawsuit
This analysis examines internal data from Epic Games revealed during legal discovery to identify trends in platform revenue and discoverability.
- For major free-to-play titles like Fortnite, console platforms significantly outperform PC, with the PlayStation 4 generating 46.8% of total revenue compared to 18.7% from PC between early 2019 and mid-2020.
- The Epic Games Store (EGS) relies heavily on paid exclusives to drive revenue, evidenced by Borderlands 3 generating $100 million in recoupable revenue within two weeks of its launch.
- EGS struggles with long-term user retention, as only 7% of users who joined the platform specifically to claim free game giveaways eventually purchased a paid title.
Scumbag Randy Pitchford Keeps Borderlands 3 Bonuses | Games ReCAP
Gearbox Software, a Texas-based game developer, has faced significant internal backlash following a decision to drastically reduce royalty bonuses for employees who worked on the commercially successful title Borderlands 3.
- Gearbox Software significantly reduced royalty bonuses for Borderlands 3 employees, despite the game achieving billion-dollar status as a global brand.
- The studio historically utilizes a compensation model featuring below-average base salaries supplemented by quarterly revenue-sharing bonuses.
- Leadership attributed the reduced payouts to increased development costs and an expanded headcount, specifically citing a mid-development transition from Unreal Engine 3 to Unreal Engine 4 that necessitated restarting production work.
Baked in Accessibility: How Features Were Approached in Borderlands 3
This analysis examines the integration of accessibility features into the development of Borderlands 3 at Gearbox Software.
- Integrate accessibility into the development culture by maintaining dedicated communication channels, such as internal chat rooms, to keep the topic in the foreground throughout the entire production cycle.
- Empower cross-functional teams to experiment with accessibility solutions; for example, Gearbox’s effects director independently developed a tiered loot beam system that used varying heights, bloom intensities, and particle densities to convey rarity information.
- Prioritize direct user testing with the target audience, as the lack of thorough focus testing was identified as the primary flaw in the Borderlands 3 accessibility implementation.
Real Data: Inside Epic's Plans for Epic Games Publishing
This analysis examines internal strategic shifts at Epic Games based on court documents surfaced during the Apple vs. Epic legal proceedings.
- Epic Games is shifting away from aggressive minimum guarantee (MG) payments for store exclusivity after finding that titles with MGs under $10 million recouped only 20% of their lifetime forecasts.
- The Epic Games Store struggled with organic discovery for indie and mid-tier titles, leading to significant unrecouped costs for many exclusive releases.
- Epic Games Publishing (EGP) was established to move toward a multi-platform co-publishing model rather than relying on PC-only store exclusivity.
Take-Two Revenue Reaches $857.8 Million in FQ2 2019
Take-Two Interactive experienced significant financial growth during the second fiscal quarter of 2019, which concluded on September 30.
- Take-Two reported $857.8 million in net revenue for the second fiscal quarter of 2019, representing a 74% increase compared to the same period in 2018.
- Net bookings reached $950 million for the quarter, a 63% year-on-year increase driven primarily by the launches of Borderlands 3 and NBA 2K20.
- Digital sales generated $695.3 million, accounting for 73% of total net revenue and marking a 63% increase over the prior year.
Take-Two Interactive Quarterly Report: Q2 FY2020
Take-Two Interactive demonstrated robust financial expansion during the second quarter of fiscal year 2020, characterized by significant year-over-year growth in both net revenue and net income.
- Take-Two Interactive reported significant revenue growth driven by the September 2019 launch of Borderlands 3 and continued performance from Red Dead Redemption 2, which has sold-in over 25 million units to date.
- Grand Theft Auto V remains a cornerstone of the company's portfolio with over 115 million units sold worldwide, though the company noted a decrease in net revenue from Grand Theft Auto Online during the period.
- Operating expenses rose by 35.8% to $314.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, primarily due to a $55.4 million increase in selling and marketing costs associated with the release of Borderlands 3.
Take-Two Interactive Form 10-Q: Q1 FY2020
Take-Two Interactive experienced a period of robust top-line growth during the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, ending June 30, 2019.
- Take-Two Interactive reported net revenue of $540.5 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, representing a 39.3% increase compared to $388.0 million in the same period of 2018.
- Net income declined to $46.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, down from $71.7 million in the prior year period, driven by higher costs of goods sold and increased operating expenses.
- Grand Theft Auto products accounted for 28% of net revenue, while Red Dead Redemption titles contributed 16% of net revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.
Portrayals and Pitfalls of Fatness in Games
Video games frequently perpetuate systemic fatphobia by relying on reductive tropes that equate larger body types with moral failings, incompetence, or comedic relief.
- Video game character design frequently reinforces systemic fatphobia by using larger body types as shorthand for moral failings, incompetence, or comedic relief.
- Fat characters are often relegated to the 'sitcom effect,' where their physical appearance is treated as a punchline or an object of pity rather than a component of a well-rounded character.
- Nuanced representations of fat characters remain rare outliers, with titles like Borderlands 2, Pokémon X/Y, and Saints Row serving as exceptions to an industry-wide lack of body diversity.
iOS Gaming Leaders: October 2015
This analysis provides a performance overview of the iOS gaming market for October 2015, utilizing data from the Store Intelligence platform to track downloads, revenue, and growth trends across the United States and international markets.
- Game of War overtook Clash of Clans as the top-grossing iOS game worldwide in October 2015, driven by an 8% month-over-month revenue increase while Clash of Clans saw a 1% decline.
- Smashy Road: Wanted became the most downloaded iOS game in the U.S. for October 2015, gaining nearly four million downloads over the previous month.
- Electronic Arts' Need for Speed outperformed Smashy Road: Wanted internationally by approximately 1.5 million downloads, despite losing the top spot in the U.S. market.