Which publisher could be next on the chopping block?

[BrotherRool]

Remember the Squeenix owns Eidos now. They aren't going down, they've got Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex to keep them strong.

On top of that Square Enix is a lot of companies Japanese publisher. I think even Modern Warfare got pushed out in Japan by Enix.

Still not sure that'll save them.

I guess, but considering FFXIII-2 sold 3 million + by last July, Deus Ex:HR won lots of awards, Hitman did well, FFXI is still going and they practically get a cut of every game sold in Japan =D they've got a lot of reliable revenue streams. The only real downside is they must have sunk an incredibly amount of money into FFXIV without much pay off

I think 12 was a better experience overall, it was much more expansive and the lore was amazing. Everybody seems to loathe it though...

For me the story was worse than XIII, it had a good idea but they didn't really manage to pay it off, perhaps not enough cutscenes. But the gameplay is actually really fun and addictive and I liked all the open environments. I've probably run it through a couple of times (including that one where you pick up the Zodiac spear insanely early on) whereas I think I#ve only done FFXIII 1 and a half times.

 

[Outcast107]

Hmm my money at the moment is on Sony. Though I don't think they will go completely. They will most likely go the route of SEGA and make games or something close to it. Though hell I have no clue. From all the news I keep hearing about Sony its not looking good for them.

Depending on how the next console sells, I believe Sony will either just go to making games or something else within gaming. Since I also heard that their other products aren't doing so hot.

 

[veloper]

Don't get your hopes up. With THQ gone everyone else can breathe a little easier.

Though the Sony mention ^ is a good one, if console manufacturers also count in this thread. Sony is very big and consoles aren't their core business. With Playstation not doing so well anymore and big pressure on the entire business, they may drop out. The vita is an outright failure (sadly) and while the PS3 did alright, it was still in the last place and the most expensive console to make to boot.

 

[Ironside]

Hmm my money at the moment is on Sony. Though I don't think they will go completely. They will most likely go the route of SEGA and make games or something close to it. Though hell I have no clue. From all the news I keep hearing about Sony its not looking good for them.

Depending on how the next console sells, I believe Sony will either just go to making games or something else within gaming. Since I also heard that their other products aren't doing so hot.

Sony are a huge company. I imagine the Japanese government would feel the need to bail them out if they did get to the same point as THQ similar to how the US has bailed out some of their own large corporations in recent years. Its not really their game division which is losing the money though - most of it is down to their tv division.

Don't get your hopes up. With THQ gone everyone else can breathe a little easier.

Though the Sony mention ^ is a good one, if console manufacturers also count in this thread. Sony is very big and consoles aren't their core business. With Playstation not doing so well anymore and big pressure on the entire business, they may drop out. The vita is an outright failure (sadly) and while the PS3 did alright, it was still in the last place and the most expensive console to make to boot.

What is the PS3 last in? Didn't they recently overtake the 360 in terms of number of sales?

 

[Outcast107]

Hmm my money at the moment is on Sony. Though I don't think they will go completely. They will most likely go the route of SEGA and make games or something close to it. Though hell I have no clue. From all the news I keep hearing about Sony its not looking good for them.

Depending on how the next console sells, I believe Sony will either just go to making games or something else within gaming. Since I also heard that their other products aren't doing so hot.

Sony are a huge company. I imagine the Japanese government would feel the need to bail them out if they did get to the same point as THQ similar to how the US has bailed out some of their own large corporations in recent years. Its not really their game division which is losing the money though - most of it is down to their tv division.

Don't get your hopes up. With THQ gone everyone else can breathe a little easier.

Though the Sony mention ^ is a good one, if console manufacturers also count in this thread. Sony is very big and consoles aren't their core business. With Playstation not doing so well anymore and big pressure on the entire business, they may drop out. The vita is an outright failure (sadly) and while the PS3 did alright, it was still in the last place and the most expensive console to make to boot.

What is the PS3 last in? Didn't they recently overtake the 360 in terms of number of sales?

No they just mostly outship them. Never said they outsold them. Though really this far late in the game I don't think it really matters. If microsoft isn't shipping as many as they use to it probably due to the console coming out soon. And I think PS3 is shipping out all their new console out like crazy( How many did they "release" already? and in what colors?).

And I never said their gaming division was hurting them. I said they aren't doing hot period. Their gaming is their saving grace, which they need to focus on more and not their other products. They have their hands in way to many cookie jars to keep up. Plus it seem with every handheld it fails badly as well as they been in the negative for the pass...4 years was it? This year might be different but again depend on how well this console does it. Though to me, a lot of sony mess up seem like they WANT to stop making games. I also state that won't go under fully. They will just go fully gaming like SEGA.

Which another system will take it place in the following months/year.

 

[Sargonas42]

I can't believe this many people think its so common for a major publisher to go under they are placing bets on the next one to do it. Do you realize how monumentally profound of an issue it was the THQ did at all? That was not normal for them to flare out like they did. Granted some of it was their own fault (word is, they supposedly turned down many buy-out offers prior to the end because they were holding out, possibly so they could intentionally chapter 11 to wipe out their debt, then sell to a holding company mande of the same owners). But in any case, things like that are not normal for large scale publishers. A small dev studio? Sure those things flare out a dim a dozen, relatively speaking, a big publisher though is a whole 'nother story.

Some things you need to think about is, it has no direct relevance to how well the company is perceived by gamers, or how "good" the games are. It is much, MUCH more complex than that. Also, big publishers like EA, Activision, Ubisoft, and Sega, they all have cash in the bank that EXCEEDS their total market-cap value. What that means is they have more in their savings account than they are worth, so to speak. This means two things... one, they can bleed dry for nearly a decade before they fold, and B, no one could initiate an agressive buyout unwillingly against them to eat them up unless they wanted to. These guys aren't going anywhere any time soon

On top of all of that, any normal publisher upon entering the dire situation similar to what THQ experienced, would begin to shop themselves around to someone else for a buyout. (Disney is really on the hunt for quality stuff right now, and Activision will never turn down a deal either). They would secure a buy out to an amenable agreement, and continue on... business as (relatively) usual under the new owners. Something like what we saw happen with THQ is a rare occurrence, and the result of a multitude of failing across the board I would not expect to see repeated for many years to come in this industry on the same scale.

 

[GrimHeaper]

Hmm my money at the moment is on Sony. Though I don't think they will go completely. They will most likely go the route of SEGA and make games or something close to it. Though hell I have no clue. From all the news I keep hearing about Sony its not looking good for them.

Depending on how the next console sells, I believe Sony will either just go to making games or something else within gaming. Since I also heard that their other products aren't doing so hot.

Sony are a huge company. I imagine the Japanese government would feel the need to bail them out if they did get to the same point as THQ similar to how the US has bailed out some of their own large corporations in recent years. Its not really their game division which is losing the money though - most of it is down to their tv division.

Don't get your hopes up. With THQ gone everyone else can breathe a little easier.

Though the Sony mention ^ is a good one, if console manufacturers also count in this thread. Sony is very big and consoles aren't their core business. With Playstation not doing so well anymore and big pressure on the entire business, they may drop out. The vita is an outright failure (sadly) and while the PS3 did alright, it was still in the last place and the most expensive console to make to boot.

What is the PS3 last in? Didn't they recently overtake the 360 in terms of number of sales?

Sales don't matter the profit made does.
Sony only just started to make a profit on ps3's again due to how damn expensive of a loss each ps3 was per sale at first. 1000$+ vs 600$
Then the vita bombed right after that. They are not honestly doing that great.
Lets not forget the large compromise of personal info.
Bets on Capcom,Sega,Possibly Sony,and EA,SE

 

[Sargonas42]

Sales don't matter the profit made does.
Sony only just started to make a profit on ps3's again due to how damn expensive of a loss each ps3 was per sale at first. 1000$+ vs 600$
Then the vita bombed right after that. They are not honestly doing that great.
Lets not forget the large compromise of personal info.
Bets on Capcom,Sega,Possibly Sony,and EA,SE

You are not looking at the larger picture, beyond console sales. Sony also gets a decent chunk of a percentage of every single PS3 and Vita game sold from the publisher of said game. They also make money on PSN+. They also get a cut of every bit of DLC sold. Truth be told, even factoring in the console profit loss ratio from day one, they have been running in the profit since the end of the first fiscal quarter of the PS3 life cycle. (The numbers are readily available online.) They are doing just fine... never mind the fact that SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment, the over all global group handling all things Playstation) is under an 8 trillion dollar global conglomerate.

Sony is fine.

 

[GrimHeaper]

Sales don't matter the profit made does.
Sony only just started to make a profit on ps3's again due to how damn expensive of a loss each ps3 was per sale at first. 1000$+ vs 600$
Then the vita bombed right after that. They are not honestly doing that great.
Lets not forget the large compromise of personal info.
Bets on Capcom,Sega,Possibly Sony,and EA,SE

You are not looking at the larger picture, beyond console sales. Sony also gets a decent chunk of a percentage of every single PS3 and Vita game sold from the publisher of said game. They also make money on PSN+. They also get a cut of every bit of DLC sold. Truth be told, even factoring in the console profit loss ratio from day one, they have been running in the profit since the end of the first fiscal quarter of the PS3 life cycle. (The numbers are readily available online.) They are doing just fine... never mind the fact that SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment, the over all global group handling all things Playstation) is under an 8 trillion dollar global conglomerate.

Sony is fine.

Those multi thousand dollar 3d tvs sure are selling well.
Your point with the vita gets blown out because lolvita no one is buying them.
8 trillion sureeeeee.
You do know how much a trillion is right? Right?
$69.97 Trillion GDP
https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=current%20global%20gdp
What are you drunk? If sony was doing that well it would be a damned global power, it would have advertising everywhere, it wouldn't be cutting peoples jobs off.

 

[felbot]

I'm tired of hearing people say EA should be shut down due to Mass Effect 3. Some of you may claim that's not the reason you say (want) them to be the next to go, but you're not fooling anyone.

yeah i must want them to shut down due to a game I haven't even played, it isn't that they sold me a defunct product who refused to install for 500 crowns no no no clearly everyone on this forum has the exact same reason for doing everything.

anyway on topic, I honestly hope ubisoft burns by tomorrow, no matter how much I dislike ea ubisoft is infinitely worse and id love to have them bankrupt.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I'd really like to say EA, just because I WANT them to be next, but I doubt it. A lot of these major publishers seem to have at least one series that they can just pump out with minimal effort. I have little doubt that disingeuous business practices and uninspired releases will eventually kill EA & co., but I think it'll take a while, and I can't say who'll be next.

 

[Sargonas42]

Sales don't matter the profit made does.
Sony only just started to make a profit on ps3's again due to how damn expensive of a loss each ps3 was per sale at first. 1000$+ vs 600$
Then the vita bombed right after that. They are not honestly doing that great.
Lets not forget the large compromise of personal info.
Bets on Capcom,Sega,Possibly Sony,and EA,SE

You are not looking at the larger picture, beyond console sales. Sony also gets a decent chunk of a percentage of every single PS3 and Vita game sold from the publisher of said game. They also make money on PSN+. They also get a cut of every bit of DLC sold. Truth be told, even factoring in the console profit loss ratio from day one, they have been running in the profit since the end of the first fiscal quarter of the PS3 life cycle. (The numbers are readily available online.) They are doing just fine... never mind the fact that SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment, the over all global group handling all things Playstation) is under an 8 trillion dollar global conglomerate.

Sony is fine.

Those multi thousand dollar 3d tvs sure are selling well.
Your point with the vita gets blown out because lolvita no one is buying them.
8 trillion sureeeeee.
You do know how much a trillion is right? Right?
$69.97 Trillion GDP
https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=current%20global%20gdp
What are you drunk? If sony was doing that well it would be a damned global power, it would have advertising everywhere, it wouldn't be cutting peoples jobs off.

Yes. They really are that big of a global power. You do not realize just how BIG the parent company, Sony Corporation, really is. Try this resource on for size: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/2012/financial/

You can see their most recent fiscal 2012 report posted a revenue, GLOBALLY, of 6.4 trillion (or listed as 6,400 billion in this report) from April 1st 2011 to March 31st 2012.

I don't mind having someone throw facts at me to show I am wrong, in fact I welcome it so that I can better learn about what I am discussing... just please make sure you know what you are talking about before doing so. I completely realize that number sounded insane, and you were right to question it. A quick research on it though would show I did not pull it out of my ass. (Though I did typo when I rounded up to 7trillion, and typed 8 instead by accident, and for that I take full blame).

My point stands, Sony is going no where.

OH, and as a PS. I support your statement of LOLVita.. its a silly handheld. We all agree there, but that doesnt change the fact that NPD numbers show that 200k+ are sold each month, and that NPD only *really* accounts for about 3/5ths of the commercial market sales. Yes that's a small number, but thats still several million since launch... thats a lot of people who obviously need to buy games, and sony gets a cut every time they do. I would link the NPD reports for reference but I'm not allowed to link them directly (it's behind a wall anyways) and I don't feel like compiling a month by month report just for this. You can google it if you want.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I don't know, nor do I care. Every company will dissolve eventually. It's kind of like asking which famous person is going to die next.

 

[Skaltura]

Yes. They really are that big of a global power. You do not realize just how BIG the parent company, Sony Corporation, really is. Try this resource on for size: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/2012/financial/

You can see their most recent fiscal 2012 report posted a revenue, GLOBALLY, of 6.4 trillion (or listed as 6,400 billion in this report) from April 1st 2011 to March 31st 2012.

I don't mind having someone throw facts at me to show I am wrong, in fact I welcome it so that I can better learn about what I am discussing... just please make sure you know what you are talking about before doing so. I completely realize that number sounded insane, and you were right to question it. A quick research on it though would show I did not pull it out of my ass. (Though I did typo when I rounded up to 7trillion, and typed 8 instead by accident, and for that I take full blame).

My point stands, Sony is going no where.

Yen. 6.5x10^12 Yen. About 70 billion USD at current exchange rates.

EA is fine, stock prices might be down but revenue and income are up.

Activison is fine, they have Skylanders and Blizzard product will continue to sell well regardless of bad press.

Square Enix, Nintendo and Sega are fine because Japan.

 

[spartandude]

man i would love to see EA go but whether or not that actually happens is a different matter, i doubt it will any time soon. I think they'l just do in 2007/8 and make some new IPs and do good stuff to get back in good with consumers then do what they are doing now, then be adventurous then not. its a vicious cycle built on the paths they desire

 

[GrimHeaper]

Yes. They really are that big of a global power. You do not realize just how BIG the parent company, Sony Corporation, really is. Try this resource on for size: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/2012/financial/

You can see their most recent fiscal 2012 report posted a revenue, GLOBALLY, of 6.4 trillion (or listed as 6,400 billion in this report) from April 1st 2011 to March 31st 2012.

I don't mind having someone throw facts at me to show I am wrong, in fact I welcome it so that I can better learn about what I am discussing... just please make sure you know what you are talking about before doing so. I completely realize that number sounded insane, and you were right to question it. A quick research on it though would show I did not pull it out of my ass. (Though I did typo when I rounded up to 7trillion, and typed 8 instead by accident, and for that I take full blame).

My point stands, Sony is going no where.

Yen. 6.5x10^12 Yen. About 70 billion USD at current exchange rates.

EA is fine, stock prices might be down but revenue and income are up.

Activison is fine, they have Skylanders and Blizzard product will continue to sell well regardless of bad press.

Square Enix, Nintendo and Sega are fine because Japan.

Not to far off google says 76,779,500,000$

Sales don't matter the profit made does.
Sony only just started to make a profit on ps3's again due to how damn expensive of a loss each ps3 was per sale at first. 1000$+ vs 600$
Then the vita bombed right after that. They are not honestly doing that great.
Lets not forget the large compromise of personal info.
Bets on Capcom,Sega,Possibly Sony,and EA,SE

You are not looking at the larger picture, beyond console sales. Sony also gets a decent chunk of a percentage of every single PS3 and Vita game sold from the publisher of said game. They also make money on PSN+. They also get a cut of every bit of DLC sold. Truth be told, even factoring in the console profit loss ratio from day one, they have been running in the profit since the end of the first fiscal quarter of the PS3 life cycle. (The numbers are readily available online.) They are doing just fine... never mind the fact that SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment, the over all global group handling all things Playstation) is under an 8 trillion dollar global conglomerate.

Sony is fine.

Those multi thousand dollar 3d tvs sure are selling well.
Your point with the vita gets blown out because lolvita no one is buying them.
8 trillion sureeeeee.
You do know how much a trillion is right? Right?
$69.97 Trillion GDP
https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=current%20global%20gdp
What are you drunk? If sony was doing that well it would be a damned global power, it would have advertising everywhere, it wouldn't be cutting peoples jobs off.

Yes. They really are that big of a global power. You do not realize just how BIG the parent company, Sony Corporation, really is. Try this resource on for size: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/2012/financial/

You can see their most recent fiscal 2012 report posted a revenue, GLOBALLY, of 6.4 trillion (or listed as 6,400 billion in this report) from April 1st 2011 to March 31st 2012.

I don't mind having someone throw facts at me to show I am wrong, in fact I welcome it so that I can better learn about what I am discussing... just please make sure you know what you are talking about before doing so. I completely realize that number sounded insane, and you were right to question it. A quick research on it though would show I did not pull it out of my ass. (Though I did typo when I rounded up to 7trillion, and typed 8 instead by accident, and for that I take full blame).

My point stands, Sony is going no where.

OH, and as a PS. I support your statement of LOLVita.. its a silly handheld. We all agree there, but that doesnt change the fact that NPD numbers show that 200k+ are sold each month, and that NPD only *really* accounts for about 3/5ths of the commercial market sales. Yes that's a small number, but thats still several million since launch... thats a lot of people who obviously need to buy games, and sony gets a cut every time they do. I would link the NPD reports for reference but I'm not allowed to link them directly (it's behind a wall anyways) and I don't feel like compiling a month by month report just for this. You can google it if you want.

It's yen.
76,779,500,000
They are not even near 1 trillion let alone 7 or 8.
Multi-Billion dollar companies have crashed and burned before due to bad decisions.

 

[Joccaren]

I'm tired of hearing people say EA should be shut down due to Mass Effect 3. Some of you may claim that's not the reason you say (want) them to be the next to go, but you're not fooling anyone.

Yeah, you know, the butchery of the Battlefield Franchise, SWTOR's relative failure, DA2, the new Sim City, the disappointment that was Spore, killing Command and Conquer, the culling of Origin Systems and Pandemic Studios and Westwood ect.

No, no, ME3 is the only reason anyone could ever hate EA AMIRITE?

Seriously, way to have a closed off view of the world and gaming. EAs shares have been dropping since before ME3, and there's a reason for that. One bad game doesn't get people to hate a company as much as people hate EA. Repeated bad games and culling of studios that used to produce good games, but by all accounts were somewhat forced into creating bad games thanks to low budgets and time restrictions are what does that. Bioware aren't the only company owned by EA to have had a downhill streak that people hate. They're just the most recent.

And bringing up Mass Effect 3? Seriously, what do you think is gonna happen? EA are gonna see some fans didn't like it, and blow their brains out? Fans bought it, and will buy the next Bioware game that comes out. That is the beginning and ending of how much your opinion on Mass Effect 3 will affect the companies health.

I'll agree with you that ME3 hasn't immediately hurt their wallets - it sold more than it needed to, and turned them a good profit. Fans will buy the next Bioware game?
Yeah... No.
Some will. Will it be enough? God knows.
Bioware has become somewhat of a forbidden name at all the local conventions and such in my area. You mention Bioware, its expected to start a flamewar and you're told to shut up before one does start. I think there was 1 mention of ME3 in the convention I went to around 3-4 months after its release. That mention was noting its existence, but nothing else. No-one was brave enough to comment on it.
Its not merely the fact that the so called minority that truly hated the endings and a done with Bioware won't buy their games anymore, its the fact that even those who didn't hate Bioware will now be reluctant to buy their games because of what happened with the last game. The community has, as they've noted, become toxic. That sends away customers. Add to that the rather poor rep they've got right now, and those uninformed about Bioware are also unlikely to buy a Bioware game because of what they've heard.
Now, I'm not saying that this means the next game is going to flop. We don't know enough to accurately guess that, and I doubt anyone on Earth does, but its not out of the question. Far as I know EA share prices are still dropping, and unless they fix that they're going to run into problems. Maybe not now, or soon, but the problems will come, and if its too late for them to fix them by that point, they'll end up like THQ.
That's largely why people are saying EA actually. Its because their shareprices are dropping, they are making unsuccessful games and garnering consumer hatred as opposed to trust. Out of the companies around ATM they are a candidate for the next to go, simply because there aren't a ton of companies in financial trouble ATM, and the rest have some form of hope brewing with them. I'd be interested in who you see as the most likely to next fail. All the companies have a reason that they're unlikely to fail soon, but when the time comes, who will it be that falls first?

 

[Sargonas42]

It's yen.
76,779,500,000
They are not even near 1 trillion let alone 7 or 8.
Multi-Billion dollar companies have crashed and burned before due to bad decisions.

You sir, are *exactly* right. I am so used to constantly seeing global fiscal reports always in USD that my eyes completely slid right over the Yen symbol a good 25 times and never once noticed it. I completely spaced on that point and I stand corrected. I screwed up big time there and feel like a total idiot.

However I still completely and faithfully stand by my position that SCE (Sont Computer Entertainment) is not going anywhere anytime soon. They have another console in development, and have grand plans for both the PS3 still AND the "PS4". Also, as we have now agreed, they are part of an 80 billion dollar company, and while 80 billion in revenue may not sound like an earth shattering amount, do realize that according to their report, SCE is only 24% of the 37% "Consumer Products" wedge of that. In other words, out of 80 billion in revenue for 2012, 7.2 billion was SCE. 7.2 billion is still not a small number, and more importantly is only 9% of their total revenue.

That was my main driving point all along. Not the total value, but that SCE is a drop in the total revenue of Sony, and Sony is in this for the long haul. Their overhead from 30 other divisions allows them to eat a lot of loss if it ever happens, to stay committed.

I'd like to also point out that my insistence on their stability is not based on some kind of fanboy-ism. As a matter of fact, SCE and Nintendo are tied right now in my head for my least-liked gaming cooperation.