Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has told GamesIndustry.biz that both publishers and industry observers have been "caught by surprise" by the level of recent growth.
Pachter's comments came after Wedbush raised its estimates for three major publishers. THQ's quarter 2 revenue estimate is up from USD 195 million to USD 205 million, while EA's rises from USD 670 million to USD 700 million. WM also increased the figure for Activision from USD 135 million to USD 145 million.
"In a nutshell, the publishers all based their forecasts on industry sales that would be flat to down 5 per cent this year," Pachter told GI.biz.
The new unit comprises over 500 developers representing the entire World of Warcraft development team.
I used to be anti-union, it kills productivity, investment and turns product mediocre. Their games suck anyways though so what was lost? Might as well get their people paid until they are dissolved.
Modders have cooked up something pretty special – a Wii console which is small enough to fit on your keys. A wee Wii.
Another studio has held layoffs, this time its Humble Games letting go of its entire QA team according to social media posts.
They will rehire cheaper labor during the restructuring. The stupid thing is that they are struggling and the first thing they do is lower the quality.