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Game Developer's Top 20 Publishers, 2006
Year formed: 1986 Sliding two positions down the list from 2005, Ubisoft’s average review score and pay and perks ratings fell a bit from last year. The Parisian company’s revenues were quite solid, however, and were kept steady by healthy sales of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Peter Jackson’s King Kong, 3DO acquisition Heroes of Might & Magic V, and releases from the Far Cry franchise. While Far Cry developer CryTek has signed an exclusivity agreement with EA, Ubisoft has purchased the game’s engine and intellectual property. Another key acquisition this year was Ubisoft’s purchase of Driver developer Reflections from the ailing Atari. Overall, the company hasn’t been as active as other major publishers in snatching up outside development houses, preferring to develop its existing talent instead, promoting its name talent and original IP whenever possible.
Year formed: 1973 Konami this year has continued its restructuring efforts, which began last year with the consolidation of its Japanese development studios into a single branch. Gaming and non-gaming divisions have been shuffled and reorganized, culminating with the consolidation of Konami’s European business operations into a single branch located in Germany, and the closure of its Honolulu studio. Sales of games in the Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, YuGiOh!, and Dance Dance Revolution series brought the publisher relatively consistent success in the U.S., though PawaPro and Winning Eleven sports titles brought much more success in other territories. Also looking to increase its involvement in the ever-growing mobile market, Konami purchased Los Angeles mobile developer Blue Label Interactive and formed a partnership with casual game publisher PlayFirst for mobile distribution of its games. But the Japanese publisher is clearly affected by the transition as well, with fewer major releases this year and more effort being spent on next-generation development.
Year formed: 1952 (Sega); 1975 (Sammy) Sega Sammy’s consumer games division (the company simply Sega has set its sights on Western audiences for the next generation of consoles. Over the last 12 months, the company has acquired skilled developers Sports Interactive and Secret Level, and has formed partnerships with Obsidian, Petroglyph, and Bizarre Creations for exclusive next-generation and PC projects. Sega has proved apt at managing relations with Western studios like these; the company received high marks with regard to producers and milestone payments in our anonymous survey. The company has tuned up its Japanese-oriented next-gen development as well, with Sonic titles promised across all new home consoles, including the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii, in the coming year. |
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