Super Data Research has released their digital sales review of 2013, analyzing how much revenue was made from free-to-play, mobile, console, and PC digital content. In the free-to-play category, the top ten games based on revenues worldwide made a total of $3,574 trillion. Yes, trillion.
The top earner was CrossFire at $957 million, a free-to-play first-person shooter you've probably never heard of. League of Legends came in at second with $624 million, and Nexon's Dungeon Fighter Online came in at third with $426 million.
Other top earners include World of Tanks at $372 million, World of Warcraft with $213 million, Star Wars: The Old Republic with $139 million, and Team Fortress 2 at $139 million. Most impressive to me is that Lineage I, a game that's been out for 14 years now, made another $257 million last year.
Impressive, if not a little disheartening. There's additional stats worth checking out on Super Data Research, just brace yourself at the mobile section when you see how much Candy Crush Saga makes every single day.
US digital games market update: December 2013 [Super Data Research]
Last week, Nintendo revised its annual sales forecast for the Wii U, dropping it from 9 million units to 2.8 million, and president Satoru Iwata said something I've been waiting for him to say for a while: "We are thinking about a new business structure." In a press conference on Friday, he made another remark many of us will be elated to hear.
"The spread of smart devices does not spell the end of game consoles," said Iwata. "It's not that simple ... It doesn't mean that we should put Mario on smartphones."
He believes Nintendo needs to leverage these devices to make consumers aware of the company's titles and encourage them to play on a game console. Sure. More than anything, though, I hope this situation causes Nintendo to rethink its online infrastructure, including game purchases being tied to hardware and Virtual Console not living up to its full potential.
Nintendo's Woes Don't Mean Game Over For Its Consoles [The Wall Street Journal]
After Disney shut down LucasArts, I thought I had completely given up all hope for Star Wars 1313 ever getting made. I have. But that's not to say the project can't affect me from beyond the grave. There was that story about how the game would center on Boba Fett taking jobs from Jabba the Hutt, for instance -- that stung. Perhaps now we have our closure and can move on with our lives: Disney abandoned its trademark for 1313 last month.
As noticed by The Escapist, on December 23 of last year, the trademark's status on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website was changed to "Abandoned because no Statement of Use or Extension Request timely filed after Notice of Allowance was issued."
Well, at least we've got those Electronic Arts-published Star Wars games to look forw--I can't even finish that sentence.
Disney Abandons Star Wars 1313 Trademark [The Escapist]
Out of all the games I feel bad about missing last year, Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons has got to rank among the top of the list. It shouldn't take this much convincing to get me to play something I'm fairly sure I will enjoy, but that's the way of the world. Now I'll have my chance: the game joins the Instant Game Collection for PlayStation Plus members this week.
Look for Brothers as well as Worms: Battle Islands for PSP / PS Vita, another free games for subscribers, on PlayStation Network once the store update goes live tomorrow. Sorry, Worms, but I feel a whole lot less awful about not playing you.
PlayStation Plus: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons for Members [PlayStation Blog]
Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai has taken another opportunity to remind us that the upcoming Wii U and 3DS title will, for better or worse, not have a story mode like The Subspace Emissary. The reasoning -- that players would just upload cutscenes online -- was disappointing, however there's still going to be a single-player campaign of some kind.
We don't know what form this mode will specifically take, but here's a screenshot from the 3DS version of Smash Bros. in which Mario's just chilling in a forest.
Looks a bit like Adventure Mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee. I'd be okay with that, I think -- I don't have particularly high expectations of the series' story outside of what's presented in cutscenes. Those are awesome.
When Retro Studios' Donkey Kong Country Returns released for the Wii in 2010, I was ecstatic. Since I was 13 years old when I played Rare's original Donkey Kong Country for the first time, I marveled at its solid platforming and varied level design. Returns proved to be as solid in gameplay ideas as the original franchise, and when it was re-released in 3D for the 3DS, I did not hesitate to purchase it again.
Next month, Retro Studios is releasing a sort of sequel to Returns in the form of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. After experiencing a solid four-hour chunk of the game that gave me enough time to get to the very end of World 4, I am glad to report that Tropical Freeze won't be just another by-the-numbers sequel, but an engaging addition to the revamped franchise that adds some intriguing new mechanics while taking out minor annoyances of the original Returns.
Don’t Starve has proved to be another hit for Klei after Mark Of The Ninja. You can read reviews of each through the links.
Don’t Starve: Console Edition’s appearance on PS Plus this month pushed the game far beyond the one million players mark, developer Klei has told us. The studio hopes that the game’s appearance on PS4 as a free download will encourage greater sales of the forthcoming DLC, Reign Of Giants, and it will also explore the possibility of bringing the game to additional platforms once work on the add-on is finished.
“Well before the end of 2013 we had over one million Don’t Starve players,” Klei’s Corey Rollins told us. “With PlayStation Plus, beyond promotion of being a featured game, a lot of people who maybe wouldn’t have tried our game did [try it] and really enjoyed it. Some of those people went on to check out the PC version as well, and would maybe be interested in the upcoming DLC.”
The PS Plus release has proved to be a smart move for a studio which was once saved from starvation itself when it released Mark Of The Ninja; after the release of Don’t Starve on PC and with an additional boost in interest from the PlayStation version, Klei can look to the future with greater confidence than ever before, Rollins tells us.
“We’re investigating a proper Vita version [of Don't Starve] at the moment, but we’re not quite sure yet,” he says. “Currently, a lot of people play Don’t Starve: Console Edition using the PS4′s remote play, and really enjoy it. So we’re looking into a proper Vita release. As for iOS and mobile, that is something we’ve also been investigating and we think might work, but it’s not at the front of our development priorities right now. It’s still on our radar, though.”
Beyond DLC, though, Klei’s philosophy is to explore new ideas rather than revisit old ground. Despite its success, it is unlikely there’ll be a sequel to Don’t Starve, and neither will there be a follow-up to any of its other games.
“To be honest, we really like doing new things,” Rollins continues. “We like to explore new things and challenge ourselves. We’ve done everything from puzzle games, to 2D brawlers, to stealth, and now survival with Don’t Starve. We feel pretty strongly about not doing sequels unless you have something really new to bring to table. It’s definitely a possibility, but we’ll need to take some time to think about the best way to revisit [Don’t Starve] if we do.”
Klei’s habit of taking on a new genre with each project will continue with its next game, an isometric turn-based strategy title Invisible, Inc. Formerly known as Incognita, its grid-based strategy, permadeath and procedurally generated skulking grounds draw some inspiration from Syndicate and XCOM, and retains Klei’s eye for dashing aesthetics, this time taking its cues from ‘50s and ‘60s spy fiction. The game’s up for pre-order already, and those who do so gain instant access to the alpha as well an extra copy to gift to friends.
“We have the core mechanic of turn-based espionage, but the major features and content of the game are still being implemented,” says Klei on the game’s official site. “We expect the game to change significantly as we test and release new updates, and as much as we try to keep them out, we’re expecting bugs along the way.”
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