Publishers in the best/worst shape going into next gen.

Publishers in the best shape:

Ubisoft

Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Rayman, The Division, tons of talent, successful advertising campaigns. However i hate Uplay, they are making alot of their games online only, and i hate the way they annually release games like Assassins Creed.

Valve

They could live off of steam easily, but their games are usually very successful as well, SteamOS and Controller are very interesting, there's no real flaw for Valve other than the fact that they wont make a certain game that everyone seems to want.

Sony

Playstation 4 doesnt have any glaring flaws like the PS3 did and its competition has made huge mistakes with their own consoles. Sonys first party is stronger than its ever been, they are priced 100 dollars cheaper than Xbox, and they have a very good reputation amongst gamers right now.

Publishers in the worst shape:

Square Enix

Square Enix is a borderline disaster right now, they have terrible leadership and things are going to get worse before it gets better. Square Enix owns powerful IPs such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Deus Ex, Hitman, Tomb Raider, etc etc, they have hundreds and hundreds of very talented developers and their focus is on mobile games (Which are overpriced, have microtransactions....and are generally shovelware).

If this company were run by Shuhei Yoshida they would be a juggernaut publisher, but with their current leadership they are just kind of sitting around and hoping that their mobile games will take off. Final Fantasy XV looks amazing but i fear for the future of that franchise.

EA

EA reputation is awful and for good reason. They've run several excellent franchises (And developers) into the ground, they wont greenlight a game unless it has some kind of online element, i hate the way they use DLC, Origin is a nuisance.

However they do have seem to properly fund their games and they have their engines ready for next gen.

Capcom

The EA of Japan? Their biggest franchises have no identity, Resident Evil is a horror franchise trying to be an action game, they still sell well but their metacritic scores are way down. The new Devil May Cry was highly rated but it wasnt what their fans wanted, they wont make a Megaman game, they are turning games like Breathe of Fire into Smart phone games.

I will give them credit for their new engine though, it's pretty impressive.

What do you guys think?

EA are not in a bad shape. Being voted the worst company in America and being disliked is irrelavent as long as they keep making good games that sell in large numbers.

No TC, despite who you like or not, SE is the ONLY Publisher that is struggling. All the other Publishers that were struggling are either small dime devs that don't publish, bankrupt, or moved to IOS.Jakandsigz

Sega seems to be in the worst shape. To the point it's effecting their games going forward. 

Square Enix I've read is really struggling financially, and their Japan produced games have been a disaster this gen. However they continue to be strong in their publishing of western titles. 

Capcom is a weird one. Their quality hasn't been as high as Square Enix for sure, but I haven't read as much about them being in trouble financially as the others. 

in no way is EA in bad shape.  

No TC, despite who you like or not, SE is the ONLY Publisher that is struggling. All the other Publishers that were struggling are either small dime devs that don't publish, bankrupt, or moved to IOS.Jakandsigz

Sega seems to be in the worst shape. To the point it's effecting their games going forward. 

Square Enix I've read is really struggling financially, and their Japan produced games have been a disaster this gen. However they continue to be strong in their publishing of western titles. 

Capcom is a weird one. Their quality hasn't been as high as Square Enix for sure, but I haven't read as much about them being in trouble financially as the others. 

[QUOTE="Jakandsigz"]No TC, despite who you like or not, SE is the ONLY Publisher that is struggling. All the other Publishers that were struggling are either small dime devs that don't publish, bankrupt, or moved to IOS.2Chalupas

Sega seems to be in the worst shape. To the point it's effecting their games going forward. 

Square Enix I've read is really struggling financially, and their Japan produced games have been a disaster this gen. However they continue to be strong in their publishing of western titles. 

Capcom is a weird one. Their quality hasn't been as high as Square Enix for sure, but I haven't read as much about them being in trouble financially as the others. 

[QUOTE="Jakandsigz"]No TC, despite who you like or not, SE is the ONLY Publisher that is struggling. All the other Publishers that were struggling are either small dime devs that don't publish, bankrupt, or moved to IOS.2Chalupas

Sega seems to be in the worst shape. To the point it's effecting their games going forward. 

Square Enix I've read is really struggling financially, and their Japan produced games have been a disaster this gen. However they continue to be strong in their publishing of western titles. 

Capcom is a weird one. Their quality hasn't been as high as Square Enix for sure, but I haven't read as much about them being in trouble financially as the others. 

Sony is no where NEAR being in good shape financially. Four months ago, The New York Times reported on a harsh assesment of Sony's Electronics Business by investment banking firm Jefferies who said:

"Electronics is its Achilles' heel and, in our view, it is worth zero." They also went on to say: "In our view, it needs to exit most electronics markets."

There are more details throughout the article if anyone is interested. There have been revisions and what-not since it's posting date.

Sony is no where NEAR being in good shape financially. Four months ago, The New York Times reported on a harsh assesment of Sony's Electronics Business by investment banking firm Jefferies who said:

"Electronics is its Achilles' heel and, in our view, it is worth zero." They also went on to say: "In our view, it needs to exit most electronics markets."

There are more details throughout the article if anyone is interested. There have been revisions and what-not since it's posting date.

Micropixel

EA $3.7 Billion Annual Revenues

Sony $72 Billion Annual Revenues. (and this is well below what it used to be). 

Sony's Operating Cash Flow = $5.2 Billion. Despite all their struggles, Sony's positive cash flow is higher than EA's entire revenue!

Everyone knows that Sony has divisions that have been hemoragging for years. The reason they report financial losses, is usually due to disposition or writing off legacy eletronics businesses or re-organizations. However they are still a massive company, and their actual cash flows are positive. And if they chose to do so they could easily spin off their "entertainment" business - and as a standalone entertainment business Sony would be one of the strongest in gaming (nevermind the movie and music businesses) 

I didnt do a very good job explaining what i meant, i wasnt strictly talking about the companies financial situation.

For instance, Microsoft is much more profitable than Sony, but Playstation 4 is in a much better position right now than Xbox One. Its 100 dollars cheaper, much more powerful, has a better first party, has better value with PS+, and has a much better reputation among gamers.

Sony is no where NEAR being in good shape financially. Four months ago, The New York Times reported on a harsh assesment of Sony's Electronics Business by investment banking firm Jefferies who said:

"Electronics is its Achilles' heel and, in our view, it is worth zero." They also went on to say: "In our view, it needs to exit most electronics markets."

There are more details throughout the article if anyone is interested. There have been revisions and what-not since it's posting date.

Micropixel

EA $3.7 Billion Annual Revenues

Sony $72 Billion Annual Revenues. (and this is well below what it used to be). 

Sony's Operating Cash Flow = $5.2 Billion. Despite all their struggles, Sony's positive cash flow is higher than EA's entire revenue!

Everyone knows that Sony has divisions that have been hemoragging for years. The reason they report financial losses, is usually due to disposition or writing off legacy eletronics businesses or re-organizations. However they are still a massive company, and their actual cash flows are positive. And if they chose to do so they could easily spin off their "entertainment" business - and as a standalone entertainment business Sony would be one of the strongest in gaming (nevermind the movie and music businesses) 

Bioware: sadly, in bad shape. They have a lot to prove with DA3 after the blunder that was DA2. ME4 has to make up for the tricolor ending of ME3. And beyond that people are going to get sick of Bioware if they don't create any new IPs. I'm a huge Bioware fan and I'm hoping they return to the glory days that lasted up until about the release of ME2.

Bioware: sadly, in bad shape. They have a lot to prove with DA3 after the blunder that was DA2. ME4 has to make up for the tricolor ending of ME3. And beyond that people are going to get sick of Bioware if they don't create any new IPs. I'm a huge Bioware fan and I'm hoping they return to the glory days that lasted up until about the release of ME2.

Nintendo's in great shape, I can't believe you didn't list them.charizard1605

Bioware: sadly, in bad shape. They have a lot to prove with DA3 after the blunder that was DA2. ME4 has to make up for the tricolor ending of ME3. And beyond that people are going to get sick of Bioware if they don't create any new IPs. I'm a huge Bioware fan and I'm hoping they return to the glory days that lasted up until about the release of ME2.

Magescrew

This thread is about publishers. Bioware = EA. 

Mass Effect 2 was probably the last game they did that didn't have EA influence.

Bioware: sadly, in bad shape. They have a lot to prove with DA3 after the blunder that was DA2. ME4 has to make up for the tricolor ending of ME3. And beyond that people are going to get sick of Bioware if they don't create any new IPs. I'm a huge Bioware fan and I'm hoping they return to the glory days that lasted up until about the release of ME2.

Magescrew

This thread is about publishers. Bioware = EA. 

Mass Effect 2 was probably the last game they did that didn't have EA influence.

Why even list EA for the worst? They have a pretty large number of the best selling games... and they have what looks to be the hottest new IP for next gen..

If you'd asked this a year ago I would've said THQ - they went bankrupt. Doesn't get much worse than that :P

Capcom is in pretty rough shape, both in terms of money and in terms of the quality of their games. I think Monster Hunter is the only thing keeping them afloat at this point.

Publishers in the best shape:

Ubisoft

Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Rayman, The Division, tons of talent, successful advertising campaigns. However i hate Uplay, they are making alot of their games online only, and i hate the way they annually release games like Assassins Creed.

Valve

They could live off of steam easily, but their games are usually very successful as well, SteamOS and Controller are very interesting, there's no real flaw for Valve other than the fact that they wont make a certain game that everyone seems to want.

Sony

Playstation 4 doesnt have any glaring flaws like the PS3 did and its competition has made huge mistakes with their own consoles. Sonys first party is stronger than its ever been, they are priced 100 dollars cheaper than Xbox, and they have a very good reputation amongst gamers right now.

Publishers in the worst shape:

Square Enix

Square Enix is a borderline disaster right now, they have terrible leadership and things are going to get worse before it gets better. Square Enix owns powerful IPs such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Deus Ex, Hitman, Tomb Raider, etc etc, they have hundreds and hundreds of very talented developers and their focus is on mobile games (Which are overpriced, have microtransactions....and are generally shovelware).

If this company were run by Shuhei Yoshida they would be a juggernaut publisher, but with their current leadership they are just kind of sitting around and hoping that their mobile games will take off. Final Fantasy XV looks amazing but i fear for the future of that franchise.

EA

EA reputation is awful and for good reason. They've run several excellent franchises (And developers) into the ground, they wont greenlight a game unless it has some kind of online element, i hate the way they use DLC, Origin is a nuisance.

However they do have seem to properly fund their games and they have their engines ready for next gen.

Capcom

The EA of Japan? Their biggest franchises have no identity, Resident Evil is a horror franchise trying to be an action game, they still sell well but their metacritic scores are way down. The new Devil May Cry was highly rated but it wasnt what their fans wanted, they wont make a Megaman game, they are turning games like Breathe of Fire into Smart phone games.

I will give them credit for their new engine though, it's pretty impressive.

What do you guys think?

 

crimsonman1245

Overall, seems accurate, but I would move EA to mid tier.

Financially they are doing great, but sales & especially acclaim/good PR are hitting a platto.

EA's buisness practices are starting to backfire, and pull down their devs.

They could easily still turn it around, but they are currently on the same track as Cpcom or SE about 4-5 years ago.

Publishers in the best shape:

Ubisoft

Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Rayman, The Division, tons of talent, successful advertising campaigns. However i hate Uplay, they are making alot of their games online only, and i hate the way they annually release games like Assassins Creed.

Valve

They could live off of steam easily, but their games are usually very successful as well, SteamOS and Controller are very interesting, there's no real flaw for Valve other than the fact that they wont make a certain game that everyone seems to want.

Sony

Playstation 4 doesnt have any glaring flaws like the PS3 did and its competition has made huge mistakes with their own consoles. Sonys first party is stronger than its ever been, they are priced 100 dollars cheaper than Xbox, and they have a very good reputation amongst gamers right now.

Publishers in the worst shape:

Square Enix

Square Enix is a borderline disaster right now, they have terrible leadership and things are going to get worse before it gets better. Square Enix owns powerful IPs such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Deus Ex, Hitman, Tomb Raider, etc etc, they have hundreds and hundreds of very talented developers and their focus is on mobile games (Which are overpriced, have microtransactions....and are generally shovelware).

If this company were run by Shuhei Yoshida they would be a juggernaut publisher, but with their current leadership they are just kind of sitting around and hoping that their mobile games will take off. Final Fantasy XV looks amazing but i fear for the future of that franchise.

EA

EA reputation is awful and for good reason. They've run several excellent franchises (And developers) into the ground, they wont greenlight a game unless it has some kind of online element, i hate the way they use DLC, Origin is a nuisance.

However they do have seem to properly fund their games and they have their engines ready for next gen.

Capcom

The EA of Japan? Their biggest franchises have no identity, Resident Evil is a horror franchise trying to be an action game, they still sell well but their metacritic scores are way down. The new Devil May Cry was highly rated but it wasnt what their fans wanted, they wont make a Megaman game, they are turning games like Breathe of Fire into Smart phone games.

I will give them credit for their new engine though, it's pretty impressive.

What do you guys think?

 

crimsonman1245

Overall, seems accurate, but I would move EA to mid tier.

Financially they are doing great, but sales & especially acclaim/good PR are hitting a platto.

EA's buisness practices are starting to backfire, and pull down their devs.

They could easily still turn it around, but they are currently on the same track as Cpcom or SE about 4-5 years ago.

Publishers in the best shape:

Ubisoft

Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Rayman, The Division, tons of talent, successful advertising campaigns. However i hate Uplay, they are making alot of their games online only, and i hate the way they annually release games like Assassins Creed.

Valve

They could live off of steam easily, but their games are usually very successful as well, SteamOS and Controller are very interesting, there's no real flaw for Valve other than the fact that they wont make a certain game that everyone seems to want.

Sony

Playstation 4 doesnt have any glaring flaws like the PS3 did and its competition has made huge mistakes with their own consoles. Sonys first party is stronger than its ever been, they are priced 100 dollars cheaper than Xbox, and they have a very good reputation amongst gamers right now.

Publishers in the worst shape:

Square Enix

Square Enix is a borderline disaster right now, they have terrible leadership and things are going to get worse before it gets better. Square Enix owns powerful IPs such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Deus Ex, Hitman, Tomb Raider, etc etc, they have hundreds and hundreds of very talented developers and their focus is on mobile games (Which are overpriced, have microtransactions....and are generally shovelware).

If this company were run by Shuhei Yoshida they would be a juggernaut publisher, but with their current leadership they are just kind of sitting around and hoping that their mobile games will take off. Final Fantasy XV looks amazing but i fear for the future of that franchise.

EA

EA reputation is awful and for good reason. They've run several excellent franchises (And developers) into the ground, they wont greenlight a game unless it has some kind of online element, i hate the way they use DLC, Origin is a nuisance.

However they do have seem to properly fund their games and they have their engines ready for next gen.

Capcom

The EA of Japan? Their biggest franchises have no identity, Resident Evil is a horror franchise trying to be an action game, they still sell well but their metacritic scores are way down. The new Devil May Cry was highly rated but it wasnt what their fans wanted, they wont make a Megaman game, they are turning games like Breathe of Fire into Smart phone games.

I will give them credit for their new engine though, it's pretty impressive.

What do you guys think?

 

crimsonman1245

Overall, seems accurate, but I would move EA to mid tier.

Financially they are doing great, but sales & especially acclaim/good PR are hitting a platto.

EA's buisness practices are starting to backfire, and pull down their devs.

They could easily still turn it around, but they are currently on the same track as Cpcom or SE about 4-5 years ago.

Sony is in no way in a good shape.....

EA arent in bad shape. 

Capcom might be heading there but they still are going strong, they are just retarded. 

I hope 505 games get a big push in the future and work on a big title. I like the games they've published. Even Naughty Bear has a disgusting charm.

It's very sad to see the once great Bioware sink to the bottom of a sea of a shit. On the more positive side of things, it's always interesting to follow Valve and specifically Gabe Newell. It seems pretty clear both as a publisher and developer these fellows are well, well above the competition.

[QUOTE="Micropixel"]

Sony is no where NEAR being in good shape financially. Four months ago, The New York Times reported on a harsh assesment of Sony's Electronics Business by investment banking firm Jefferies who said:

"Electronics is its Achilles' heel and, in our view, it is worth zero." They also went on to say: "In our view, it needs to exit most electronics markets."

There are more details throughout the article if anyone is interested. There have been revisions and what-not since it's posting date.

2Chalupas

EA $3.7 Billion Annual Revenues

Sony $72 Billion Annual Revenues. (and this is well below what it used to be). 

Sony's Operating Cash Flow = $5.2 Billion. Despite all their struggles, Sony's positive cash flow is higher than EA's entire revenue!

Everyone knows that Sony has divisions that have been hemoragging for years. The reason they report financial losses, is usually due to disposition or writing off legacy eletronics businesses or re-organizations. However they are still a massive company, and their actual cash flows are positive. And if they chose to do so they could easily spin off their "entertainment" business - and as a standalone entertainment business Sony would be one of the strongest in gaming (nevermind the movie and music businesses) 

Mass Effect 2 was probably the last game they did that didn't have EA influence.2Chalupas

Sony is in no way in a good shape.....

Newhopes

You couldnt have written a better script for Playstation this year.

Wii U is a disaster, it will not take hardly any marketshare away from them.

Microsoft made a 500 dollar box that is significantly weaker than PS4, had always online, didnt allow used games, was region locked, didnt allow self publishing, and had some of the worst PR we've ever seen. They were forced to take alot of that stuff out but the damage was done, PS4 is dominating pre-orders and Microsoft has no answer for Sonys first party or PS+.

I wasnt talking about Sonys stock prices, i was talking about who is in the best position to do well going into next gen, and out of the three hardware makers that is easily Playstation right now.

Capcom is in the worst shape. They have nothing going for them heading into next gen. Square can atleast depend on Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Deus Ex and Tomb Raider.

Capcom is in pretty bad shape, I'm starting to put them on death watch if they don't pick it up soon.  They're almost out of cash.

Valve is doing great and has moved beyond being another publisher. 

Publishers in the best shape:

Ubisoft

Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Rayman, The Division, tons of talent, successful advertising campaigns. However i hate Uplay, they are making alot of their games online only, and i hate the way they annually release games like Assassins Creed.

Valve

They could live off of steam easily, but their games are usually very successful as well, SteamOS and Controller are very interesting, there's no real flaw for Valve other than the fact that they wont make a certain game that everyone seems to want.

Sony

Playstation 4 doesnt have any glaring flaws like the PS3 did and its competition has made huge mistakes with their own consoles. Sonys first party is stronger than its ever been, they are priced 100 dollars cheaper than Xbox, and they have a very good reputation amongst gamers right now.

Publishers in the worst shape:

Square Enix

Square Enix is a borderline disaster right now, they have terrible leadership and things are going to get worse before it gets better. Square Enix owns powerful IPs such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Deus Ex, Hitman, Tomb Raider, etc etc, they have hundreds and hundreds of very talented developers and their focus is on mobile games (Which are overpriced, have microtransactions....and are generally shovelware).

If this company were run by Shuhei Yoshida they would be a juggernaut publisher, but with their current leadership they are just kind of sitting around and hoping that their mobile games will take off. Final Fantasy XV looks amazing but i fear for the future of that franchise.

EA

EA reputation is awful and for good reason. They've run several excellent franchises (And developers) into the ground, they wont greenlight a game unless it has some kind of online element, i hate the way they use DLC, Origin is a nuisance.

However they do have seem to properly fund their games and they have their engines ready for next gen.

Capcom

The EA of Japan? Their biggest franchises have no identity, Resident Evil is a horror franchise trying to be an action game, they still sell well but their metacritic scores are way down. The new Devil May Cry was highly rated but it wasnt what their fans wanted, they wont make a Megaman game, they are turning games like Breathe of Fire into Smart phone games.

I will give them credit for their new engine though, it's pretty impressive.

What do you guys think?

 

crimsonman1245

Overall, seems accurate, but I would move EA to mid tier.

Financially they are doing great, but sales & especially acclaim/good PR are hitting a platto.

EA's buisness practices are starting to backfire, and pull down their devs.

They could easily still turn it around, but they are currently on the same track as Cpcom or SE about 4-5 years ago.

Publishers in the best shape:

Ubisoft

Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Rayman, The Division, tons of talent, successful advertising campaigns. However i hate Uplay, they are making alot of their games online only, and i hate the way they annually release games like Assassins Creed.

Valve

They could live off of steam easily, but their games are usually very successful as well, SteamOS and Controller are very interesting, there's no real flaw for Valve other than the fact that they wont make a certain game that everyone seems to want.

Sony

Playstation 4 doesnt have any glaring flaws like the PS3 did and its competition has made huge mistakes with their own consoles. Sonys first party is stronger than its ever been, they are priced 100 dollars cheaper than Xbox, and they have a very good reputation amongst gamers right now.

Publishers in the worst shape:

Square Enix

Square Enix is a borderline disaster right now, they have terrible leadership and things are going to get worse before it gets better. Square Enix owns powerful IPs such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Deus Ex, Hitman, Tomb Raider, etc etc, they have hundreds and hundreds of very talented developers and their focus is on mobile games (Which are overpriced, have microtransactions....and are generally shovelware).

If this company were run by Shuhei Yoshida they would be a juggernaut publisher, but with their current leadership they are just kind of sitting around and hoping that their mobile games will take off. Final Fantasy XV looks amazing but i fear for the future of that franchise.

EA

EA reputation is awful and for good reason. They've run several excellent franchises (And developers) into the ground, they wont greenlight a game unless it has some kind of online element, i hate the way they use DLC, Origin is a nuisance.

However they do have seem to properly fund their games and they have their engines ready for next gen.

Capcom

The EA of Japan? Their biggest franchises have no identity, Resident Evil is a horror franchise trying to be an action game, they still sell well but their metacritic scores are way down. The new Devil May Cry was highly rated but it wasnt what their fans wanted, they wont make a Megaman game, they are turning games like Breathe of Fire into Smart phone games.

I will give them credit for their new engine though, it's pretty impressive.

What do you guys think?

 

crimsonman1245

Overall, seems accurate, but I would move EA to mid tier.

Financially they are doing great, but sales & especially acclaim/good PR are hitting a platto.

EA's buisness practices are starting to backfire, and pull down their devs.

They could easily still turn it around, but they are currently on the same track as Cpcom or SE about 4-5 years ago.