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SO DAMN FAKE: India studio Zapak Digital to buy SOE for $300 million.
Cade
Eppur si muove.Registered User regular
Eppur si muove.Registered User regular
Merry Christmas, your fired!
Their customer service.....it shall be so awesome. Now lets go pork Shiva in the knee!
NEW DELHI: Zapak Digital entertainment, the online gaming company promoted by Anil Ambani-led ADAG group, is all set to buy out Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) for around $300 million (Rs 1,200 crore).
According to sources close to the development, the deal will be finalised within the next few days. Sony Online was on the block for the past two weeks and Zapak, which has been looking for acquiring international studios, is finally said to have reached a consensus over the valuation of Sony Online.
“The deal is almost through. It is in the final stages of negotiations and by next week, Zapak will have a full right to all content, owned and published by Sony Online,†sources told SundayET.
Sony Online Entertainment is the game development and game publishing unit of Sony and posts revenue of around $ 150 million (the company doesn’t reveal the exact details for the division). It has in the past come out with popular games such as Everquest, PlanetSide, Star War Galaxies and Vanguard. SOE’s headquartered at San Diego, California, with additional game development studios located in Austin, Texas, Denver, Colorado and Seattle.
This acquisition is in line with the future plans of Zapak Digital, which is planning to enter the gaming space in China by early next year. “This makes perfect sense for us, as around 80% of content in the gaming industry is manufactured internationally. Buying out Sony, will not only give us access but also expand our reach in the global market,†said a senior Zapak Official.
The major expenses in the gaming industry is on content and marketing, and Zapak aims to reduce the cost of publishing a game by buying out those studios and relocating them to India. “This will reduce the cost drastically from $30 mn to $10mn, which will give us the advantage to channelise our funds towards marketing and other activities,†the official said.
In the recent past, Sony has aligned with Virgin Comics, a Bangalore-based collaboration of famed, self-help guru Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and Richard Branson of Virgin Group. After the proposed acquisition, Zapak plans to retain control over all the deals, which has been signed by Sony Online.
According to the latest IMRB report, there are about 2.8 million online gamers in India and the online gaming industry is worth Rs 21 crore. Zapak is one of the top players in the Indian gaming space.
Their customer service.....it shall be so awesome. Now lets go pork Shiva in the knee!
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Well, that's it for the EQ series. They had a good run. I look forward to expansions with the same quality and dedication to customer experience that Indian Tech Support has come to be known for.
"AH, Thanking you very much for these ORC SOLDIER OF INCREASED RANK BELTS. Please to be having 1 gold and this piece of LEATHER CLOTHING THAT IS ARMOR. Have a nice day!"
At least the quality of the GMs can only go UP based on this... Actually, last time I petitioned with their piece of shit web based system, I am pretty sure the GM that replied had a Hundu name, but, maybe not?
Should be interesting.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
That news says they're making 150 million a ... quarter? Month? Year?
And I would have thought that SOE would have been worth significantly more than $300M. Shows how much I know.
You people realize just how much of a seismic tremor this is for the industry if true, yeah?
Not a huge one. SoE hasn't been relevant since WOW came out.
Probably year but that revenue. Hmmmm.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
This is pretty interesting news all in all. It probably explains why EQ2's lead producer and several other key developers recently left.
SOE (and several other MMO companies) also recently signed a deal with a company to do publisher-supported real money trading for virtual items. With that and the Indian buyout, I wonder if they'll get rid of subscriptions altogether and switch to microtransactions.
I think the game would have to be completely re-engineered to support that. I mean, I had a bard, I wasn't hurting for plat. I can't imagine them doing anything that would break that system other than, say, making it so you can't sell anything.
Halo 3 is the only first person shooter that matters because it's the biggest seller durr hurr.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
> turn on light
Good start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.