     |
 |
 |
 | | | | |
 |
|||
 |
||||||
          |
 |
 |
||||
|
Game Developer's Top 20 Publishers, 2006
Year formed: 2003 2005–2006 saw a conservative release schedule from the Japanese publisher, with less than one title released for each month of the period considered. Sequels in mainstay series performed well, including Dragon Quest VIII and especially the Buena Vista Games partnership Kingdom Hearts II, which sold even faster than its predecessor. Square Enix nurtured its online games business during the period, with Final Fantasy XI receiving an expansion during the year and increasing its subscriber base to over 500,000 users. A friendly takeover of Japanese publisher and arcade distributor Taito was completed during the period, but that merger has not had much of an effect on U.S. software publishing to date; Taito’s strengths are in amusement machines and mobile development. A high average review score and the successes of its mobile releases helped the publisher rise from two previous years spent in the number 16 spot on our list.
Year formed: 1979 Capcom rises a notch this year, thanks in part to the runaway success of Monster Hunter 2 (PlayStation 2) and Monster Hunter Freedom (PSP). Financial reports issued by the company obliquely referred to brisk sales for lower-priced titles, which seems to indicate good revenues brought by Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition and Capcom’s wide variety of retro remakes and compilations made available this year. The DS version of the innovative courtroom adventure game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney surpassed Capcom’s sales expectations again and again in the U.S., and the title received four reproductions over five months of release. Two of the Japanese publisher’s attempts to appeal more to the Western market fell flat however, with Beat Down and Final Fight Streetwise failing both critically and commercially. Those titles’ poor critical reception helped drag down the publisher’s average review score this year, and Streetwise’s failure was the final nail in the coffin for California-based internal developer Capcom Studio 8, which was shut down in March. But more talent was brought on board this year as Capcom’s new mobile division, Capcom Interactive, bought up Ontario wireless developer Cosmic Infinity in May.
Year formed: 1997 New to the Top 20 Publishers list is Korean company NCsoft, whose sales of Guild Wars have reached more than two million, bringing the company to our list for the first time. An expansion to the online role-playing game entitled Guild Wars: Factions, which also sold well, has helped to make up for another new release this year that didn’t fare so well: Auto Assault. Overall, NCsoft boasts only three releases for the year considered, which definitely helped the company secure the highest overall review score in our listing (which also contributed to its ranking this year). Regardless of its three decent games, the publisher’s future among the big 20 may already be in doubt: the first of said releases, City of Villains, reportedly has been experiencing a drop in subscriber headcount (as of press time), which likely contributed to significant layoffs among NCsoft’s U.S. staff in June. Analysts have expressed concern over Auto Assault’s failure and whether Richard Garriott’s long-awaited MMO Tabula Rasa would make its current launch window. Luckily, the publisher doesn’t seem opposed to diversifying its efforts: NCsoft formed a partnership with the veteran staff at Spacetime Studios for a new online game, and it will also be publishing the Barcelona-developed, hooligan-friendly Soccer Fury. |
|||||||||||||||
Features
Previous
|
|
|