business news Amazon x Tomb Raider, Sonic Frontiers, Fortnite… this week’s business news
Sales figures, studio acquisitions, accounts, developer transfer window, investments… if these topics interest you, you’ve come to the right place. We offer you an update on the past week’s business news.
Summary
- Charts Europe: Pokémon and God of War do not prevent a drop in sales
- Sonic Frontiers starts with 2.5 million sales
- Fortnite: accused of creating addiction, Epic Games is sued in Canada
- Amazon Games will release the next Tomb Raider game from Crystal Dynamics
- Short in the week’s business news
- Our other business articles of the week
Charts Europe: Pokémon and God of War do not prevent a drop in sales
18.1 million video games were sold in Europe during the month of November 2022as revealed The gaming industry in its latest monthly report. One the result fell 17% compared to November 2021 with in retail 7.8 million games sold for download (-15%) and 10.4 million in physical (-18%). It’s worth remembering that in 2021, Call of Duty Vanguard was released in November, while this year’s installment – Modern Warfare 2 – landed in October. GamesIndustry also points out that sales of FIFA 23 in November were lower than the previous installment in 2021, despite the boost provided by the World Cup in Qatar.
Despite this, there have been a few big launches, starting with God of War: Ragnarok on November 9th. Best start in PlayStation Studios game history with 5.1 million sales worldwide in five days, Santa Monica Studios’ games top the monthly rankings on the old continent. In its first three weeks, it sold 62% more copies than its predecessor in 2018. 69% of sales were recorded on PS5, and the rest on PS4.
If God of War Ragnarök appears at No. 1 in the ranking, the reality would have been completely different if Nintendo shared its sales figures on the eShop. Counting only their physical sales and combining them, Pokémon Scarlet and Purple are second only to Kratos’ latest adventure.. In other words, they would undoubtedly make it to the top spot with digital included. Released on November 18, they achieved a historic launch with 10 million sales in three days worldwide.
Two other new features are worth noting, and they both come from SEGA: Sonic Frontiers (6th) and Football Manager 2023 (10th). Before we let you discover the complete top 20, we should point out that we’re still finding six Sony games and six Nintendo games.
Top 20 sales in November 2022 in Europe (physical + dematerialized)
- God of War Ragnarok (Sony)
- FIFA 23 (EA)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard)
- Pokemon Purple (Nintendo)*
- Pokemon Scarlet (Nintendo)*
- Sonic Frontiers (Sega)
- Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe (Nintendo)*
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)
- Football Manager 2023 (Sega)
- Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo)*
- The Last of Us: Part 2 (Sony)
- Horizon: Forbidden West (Sony)
- NBA 2K23 (2K Game)
- Gran Turismo 7 (Sony)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Warner Bros)
- God of War (Sony)
- It Takes Two (EA)
- Splatoon 3* (Nintendo)
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Sony)
.* Download sales not included
Sonic Frontiers starts with 2.5 million sales
Sonic was born more than 30 years ago and is on the rise. After his theatrical success with Sonic the Movie and its sequel, released earlier this year, it looks like SEGA’s mascot has succeeded in his bet with Sonic Frontiers. Its unique formula in the saga that focuses on exploration and RPG mechanics has already won over more than 2.5 million buyers worldwide one month after release.
that press release from SEGA not saying if it’s the franchise’s best start, but we’re probably not far off. To compare to previous 3D operations, Sonic Generations sold a total of 1.85 million in six months, while Sonic Unleashed had stalled at a total of 2.45 million. Even the much-loved Sonic Mania, released in 2017, had only reached one million in eight months.
However, note that if Sonic Frontiers is sold at a price of € 59.99 in dematerialized form, it is already possible to find it for around thirty euros in a new physical version at certain retailers. Remember that its journey is far from stopping, as SEGA has planned a whole series of updates that will add new free features, including new playable characters, in 2023. Finally, the license will continue to be talked about beyond the video game : The animated series Sonic Prime was just released this week on Netflix, Sonic the movie 3 is in preparation for December 18, 2024 in France, and a Sonic live action series will also be released on Paramount + on an as yet unknown date.
Fortnite: accused of creating addiction, Epic Games is sued in Canada
Canadian court will consider a class action lawsuit accusing Epic Games of “create addiction” comparable “to what heroin or cocaine can create”as indicated by a document from the Superior Court of Montreal dated December 7. “The court finds that there is a serious question to be argued (…) regarding the existence of risks and dangers arising from the use of Fortnite”can we read.
This class action was initiated in October 2019 by the parents of three children who were aged 9, 13 and 15 when they started playing Fortnite. You would have played 7,781 games in two years, “at least three hours a day”, sometimes until the middle of the night, while another was reportedly diagnosed with “internet addiction”. Excessive practice that is accompanied by significant expenses to obtain V-Bucks, the game’s famous virtual currency: between 200 and 400 euros for the two youngest and up to 4,100 euros for the oldest. Plaintiffs thus state that Fortnite “would encourage excessive spending” and also reports symptoms such as “migraines, back and neck pain, lack of basic hygiene, sleep disturbances and significant social disturbances”.
In short, Epic Games must defend itself against having marketed a product “dangerous and harmful” and not to disclose the risks. The American company’s lawyers have already highlighted the absence of “expert report” and investigations regarding “harmful effects of a video game”. The plaintiffs, on their part, request the recognition of “moral and material damages as well as reimbursement of services”or refund any purchases made by underage players.
Remember that Epic Games had already been hit by a class action lawsuit in the United States in 2019, which more specifically related to loot boxes included in Fortnite and Rocket League. The American company ended up conceding a $26.5 million deal in February 2021.
Amazon Games will release the next Tomb Raider game from Crystal Dynamics
Embracer may have several publishing centers (THQ Nordic, Plaion, Deep Silver …), it is Amazon Games that will publish and support the production of Lara Croft’s next adventure. With this agreement the American giant confirms its ambitions to become a major third-party publisher and diversifying by adding a single player AAA to its catalog and not an online game like Lost Ark, New World and Blue Protocol.
that communicated does not reveal anything new about this new Tomb Raider, but just remembers that it was developed with the Unreal Engine 5 engine, while evoking its ambitions:
This new Tomb Raider game, untitled as of yet, is a single-player narrative adventure that continues the story of Lara Croft. Featuring all the elements that make Tomb Raider one of gaming’s most beloved franchises, it allows players to take on the role of brave, multi-faceted heroine Lara Croft in environments that emphasize exploration and puzzle solving, with brilliant puzzles and a wide variety of enemies to defeat. Crystal Dynamics leverages the power and industry-leading technology of Unreal Engine 5 to deliver innovative storytelling in what will be the largest and most expansive of all Tomb Raider games. The game is currently in early development and further details will be revealed later. Amazon Games press release.
As a reminder, Tomb Raider has not had a new opus since the release of Shadow of the Tomb Raider in September 2018, which concluded the trilogy that began in 2013 with the Tomb Raider reboot. The license was bought from Square Enix by Embracer a few months ago, in a batch consisting of three studios (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, Square Enix Montreal) and almost 50 other licenses (Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain…) only $300 million in total.
Short in the week’s business news
- Released on June 30 on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch for €7.99, Cuphead’s The Delicious Last Course DLC has surpassed 2 million sales.
- Subsidiary of Take-Two, Private Division has signed a deal with Bloober Team (The Medium) for a new survival horror game that shouldn’t be released until 2025.