Today on Headline
RePLAY: Nexon makes a bid at EA, Nintendo reports its first-ever net loss and EA
Montreal encounters layoffs.
Rumor has it that
South Korean MMO giant has made a bid to purchase Electronic Arts, speculation
that industry experts flatly reject.
Wedbush Securities
analyst Michael Pachter calls it a “silly rumor” and a deal that “cannot
happen.” Pachter cites a variety of reasons, such as the CEO not ceding
control, Nexon’s inability to provide a stock-for-stock deal and skepticism on
whether or not Nexon can run EA’s assets more efficiently.
“I still love EA
stock,” said Pachter, “but expect this to be denied by its management by the
end of the day.”
|Source: GamesIndustry International
2011 was a fiscal
disaster for Nintendo—the publisher posted a historic annual operating loss of
$530 million. The loss was attributed to poor hardware sales, a strong Japanese
yen and the financial roller-coaster that was the Nintendo 3DS.
Prior estimates had
the 3DS selling 14 million, 10 million Wiis and 5.5 million DSs—benchmarks that
Nintendo didn’t quite reach. What Nintendo received was less than ideal: the
3DS sold 13.41 million units, the Wii 9.84 million and the DS series at 4.1
million.
Nintendo is optimistic
about the 2012 fiscal year, however. “While [Nintendo] did post a loss for the
recently completed fiscal year,” said Nintendo in a statement, “the continuing
momentum of the Nintendo 3DS and the global introduction of the
highly-anticipated Wii U home console will drive the company back into
profitability in the current year.”
Nintendo is even
expecting an operating profit of $429 million for 2012 fiscal year starting on
April 1.
|Source: Nintendo
After denying allegations that any massive layoffs are taking place, GamesIndustry
International is reporting that EA
Montreal is dismissing a number of
employees.
“EA Montreal is
reorganizing some teams to focus on digital initiatives, including new mobile
and social projects,” EA corporate communications told GamesIndustry
International. “These are routine changes which address the cyclical nature of
the game industry. A very small number of employees will be impacted—many will
be assigned to new projects at EA, others will leave the company.”
“Overall, we expect
that EA’s headcount will be up at the end of this year.”
|Source: GamesIndustry International
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