The monthly NPD reports tend to give a decent macro perspective on the video game industry economy in the U.S. market but there’s nothing like earnings season to unwrap the details. Yesterday, Sony and Electronic Arts opened their books. Sales were up. Today, Nintendo, THQ and Capcom rounded out the story. They and Disney, all reported results. Here’s the earnings wrap up for all four consolidated to a single Metue report:
Earnings season is always a busy time in the corporate finance world but for those watching the media and entertainment sectors, Tuesday was a day of particular information overload. DreamWorks Animation, Electronic Arts, Sony and Viacom all reported quarterly results. The news was mixed. There were some bright spots and some unpleasant surprises too. One by one we’ve got the four consolidated into one place; a single stop to summarize all four quarterly performances.
Streaming movies online can be expensive but not so much so that Netflix has any reason to worry. The mail-order-DVD pioneer came out Friday with better than expected Q2 earnings and up-adjusted guidance for 2008.
By the numbers, overall, Q2 net income rose 3.8% to 26.6m (42 cents a share), up from $25.6m or 37 cents a share for the same period a year ago. Total sales were up 11% to $337.6m. Netflix had previously forecast revenue in the range of $334m to $339m. Excluding special items, profit was 45 cents a share, ahead of Reuters analyst estimates by about 4cents.
Gaming’s love of Hollywood and Hollywood’s love of gaming seems to be blossoming into quite an affair. About a week ago, Ubisoft acquired Hybride Technologies, the Canadian special effects shop behind movies Sin City and 300. Yesterday, Paramount and Legacy Interactive revealed the first games to come from their partnership will be remakes of past Paramount films. Now Electronic Arts has signed up an agent. They’ll look to United Talent Agency (UTA) to help them navigate Hollywood and create movies from games.
In March, Paramount got their game on a continued the trend of movie and gaming convergence. At the time, the Viacom movie studio behind hits as far ranging as Chinatown, Indiana Jones and Cheech and Chong’s Still Smoking, announced a plan to focus on in house game development and publishing (via Variety). Now the first titles to come from that project have been announced. They’ll come from familiar territory: Paramount’s own movie catalog.
Three PC based casual games are on track for a Q4 release. The titles will draw on three different decades of teen film source material and be marketed toward women, who are generally more active players of web based casual games than men.
Everyone’s doing it. It’s the new, old thing. There’s Apple and Microsoft, Netflix and Amazon, there’s TiVo, Roku, Sony, Sezmi (formerly Building B), Vudu and more. They’re all bringing some form of video on-demand services over the Internet; rentals and purchases, some even free. It’s the promise of TV and movies as you like it, when you like it. Thursday, Amazon became the latest entry into the crowded market. Technically, though, it’s a re-entry.
Since 2006, Amazon has offered a video on demand service called Unbox. Click to Read More
When Netflix first revealed their strategy to bring their streamed video service software to consumer electronics by licensing their software, they promised the licensing partnerships would be broad reaching. When the next earnings conference calls comes around, executives at the company will be able to say they have kept their word. After first announcing a deal with LG to tie into consumer electronics (DVD players and Set-Top boxes), then offering a standalone player in partnership with Roku, Netflix is now tackling gaming hardware.
Monday, using the E3 gaming convention in LA as a forum, Netflix revealed a plan to bring their Watch Now on-demand video service to Xbox 360 owners.
