Every three months or so, all of the publishers release their financial results for the quarter. Sometimes it's good news, sometimes less so. This quarter was a mix.
Take Two unsurprisingly had a strong quarter, even with only a couple of weeks of Grand Theft Auto V sales. We learned that 29 million copies have been sold at this point. We also learned that the publisher has ten next-generation games currently in development, including Turtle Rock's Evolve, which it picked up from the THQ bankruptcy auction.
EA also had a strong quarter, as CEO Andrew Wilson presented for the first time in his new role. If you play EA Sports titles, expect Ultimate Teams to stick around. That revenue stream saw enormous growth year over year. More importantly, EA confirmed that Titanfall will be exclusive to Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC "for the life of the title." This is only for the first game (right now), as Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella took to Twitter to clarify.
We learned that Nintendo only shipped 300,000 Wii U consoles in the second quarter, but still hopes to increase its overall sales from 3.91 million units to 9 million units (a difference of over 5 million) by March 31, 2014. I find this number to be extremely aggressive and absolutely unattainable. Even an immense holiday season doesn't get Nintendo to 9 million Wii U units shipped over the console's lifetime.
Capcom had a strong second quarter, largely on the back of Monster Hunter 4 on 3DS in Japan. 2.8 million copies have been sold, with another half-million targeted for the second half of the fiscal year. Sales of Lost Planet 3 were lower than expectations (300,000), and the publisher is targeting 1.2 million copies of Dead Rising 3 to move by March 31, 2014. I think this is likely a bit aggressive, but I expect that title to be a standout among the Xbox One launch lineup.
As for Ubisoft, who has already had its earnings call for the quarter, things aren't getting any better. After the delay of Watch Dogs and Driveclub pounded the company's finances, another blow was dealt this week. South Park: The Stick of Truth has been delayed from December until March 4, 2014, just one week before the release of Titanfall. More importantly, this is only three weeks before the end of the fiscal year. Ubisoft citeed significant quality issues in a blunt statement posted on the company's blog.
This week also brought a flood of next-generation news. Activision confirmed that Call of Duty: Ghosts will run at native 1080p on PlayStation 4, but will be upscaled from 720p on Xbox One. Additionally, Sony released an enormous FAQ that details 22 launch titles along with some information about key features. We did learn that the PS4 will not support external system storage, nor will it serve as a media server. For more on the highlights of the FAQ, check out our coverage.
We're getting close to the launch of both systems, and if one thing is becoming clear, it's that both will likely evolve quite a bit in the first year. This is an exciting time, but just remember that the systems we bring home next month will grow and mature over the life cycle.
Quick Hits
Mortal Kombat Movie Director Leaves The Project
Sony Details Game Sharing And PlayStation Plus On The PlayStation 4 With A Handy FAQ
Castlevania: Mirror Of Fate HD Available Now, Includes Lords Of Shadow 2 Demo
Nvidia Drops Price On Some Video Cards, Enables TV Streaming For Shield
Grand Theft Auto V iFruit App Now On Android
Sine Mora Is This Week’s Free PlayStation Plus Title
EA Sports To End Relationship With Tiger Woods
Tiger Looking For New Video Game Deal
Square Has Considered An American-Developed Final Fantasy Game
Pikachu Becomes A Detective In Upcoming 3DS Title
Forza Motorsport 5 Getting Sixty Cars For Season Pass, More Than Forza Horizon
New Xbox Live Terms Of Use Ask Users To Keep Contact Information Current
Dark Souls II Beta Test Now Scheduled For November
Nintendo Confirms the Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds 3DS XL For North America
Online Pass Activates Some Assassin's Creed IV Single-Player Content
Ubisoft Eliminates Passport Fee For Assassin’s Creed IV, Will Not Use Them Again
EA Shuts Down In-Development Command & Conquer, Victory Studios Closed
Upcoming Outlast DLC To Follow New Protagonist And Story
Heavenly Sword Animated Film Announced, Trailer Released
In Its 10th Year, Steam Announces It Now Has 65 Million Accounts
Rockstar Kicks Off The First GTA V Snapmatic Photo Contest
Techland’s Hellraid Slips Into 2014
The Witcher 3 Developer Promises No DRM In Open Letter
BioWare's Official Mass Effect N7 Day Is Right Around The Corner
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Celebrates 1.5 Million Registrations
Tony Hawk Eyes Mobile For His Next Video Game Outing
November’s Xbox Live Games With Gold Announced
PlayStation Plus In November Introduces PlayStation 4 To The Family
Animated Shorts Based On The Legend Of Zelda And Pikmin Arriving To Nintendo Video
Nintendo Stops Swapnote SpotPass Service Over Offensive Material
Microsoft Releases Detailed Xbox One Privacy Statement
Microsoft's Phil Spencer Talks About Gears Of War's Future
Grand Theft Auto V Stimulus Package And Update Coming Next Week
People Can Fly Is Now Working On Fortnite As Epic Games Poland
Warner Bros. Montreal Details Upcoming Batman: Arkham Origins Fixes, Apologizes
FAA Regulations Changed To Allow Electronics During Takeoff And Landing
Opinion/Feature
Activision Badges – The Original Gaming Achievement
Opinion – Shut Up And Have Fun
Rey Mysterio Talks WWE 2K14 And His Upcoming Return
Opinion: Let Games Pull You Through Them At Their Own Pace
Five Franchises Telltale Games Should Do Next
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – A Beginner's Guide
Connection Failed: Troubled Online Launches
Battlefield 4 Dos and Don'ts
Which Game Console Had The Best Launch Lineup?
When Little Details Make A Big Difference
Top 10 Monster Games
Celebrating Lesser-Known Horror Games
Scared Off By Dead Space
Next-Gen Consoles: Solid Release Dates, Fluid Machines
Top 10 Creepiest Masks In Video Games
Game Informer's Scariest Video Game Moments
Top 10 Alternate Costumes
Top Of The Table – Eldritch Horror
Don't Be Such A Zombie, Play These Undead-Themed Mobile Games Instead!
The Best DLC To Play On Halloween
Ten Of The Most Grotesque Video Game Creatures Ever
GI Show 179: Battlefield 4, Assassin's Creed 4, Batman Origins, Extra Life
Five Franchises Sony Should Bring Back As Downloadable Games
Opinion – Kill Current-Gen
Previews/Reviews
The Order 1886 (November 2013 Issue)
Sir Galahad: The Hero Of 1886
The Weapons And Gadgets Of The Order: 1886
Morning Glory: Inside The History Of Ready At Dawn
Anomaly 2 - Renewing The Tower Offense (Preview)
Media Molecule’s Tearaway Utilizes Vita’s Full Capabilities (Preview)
Clockwork Empires Lets You Build A Successful Colony Then Burn It To The Ground (Preview)
WWE 2K14 Review – The Showcase Of The Predictably Entertaining
Battlefield 4 Review – Holding The Line
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Review – Pursuing The Root Of All Evil
Device 6 Review – The Next Step In Interactive Fiction
Sonic Lost World Review – Another Portable Misstep For Dimps
Announcements/Release Dates
Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Z Announces January 28 Release Date With New Trailer
Trine 2: Complete Story Comes To PlayStation 4
Halo: Spartan Assault Coming To Xbox 360 And Xbox One In December
Sega Releases Typing Of The Dead: Overkill On Steam
The Walking Dead: Season Two Coming Later This Year
Sid Meier's Ace Patrol Pacific Skies Lands Early November
Planetside 2 Arrives On PlayStation 4 Early Next Year