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Infogrames has Sold the Civilization Franchise
Reo Strong writes "Yahoo Finance is reporting that Infogrames isn't making enough money and as part of an announcement it was revealed they are selling the rights to the Civilization series. "Bonnell also said that Infogrames recently sold the franchise for the game
Civilization, making a capital gain of 15.5 million euros, which should help
second-half accounts."
Does anyone know who they sold it to? Firaxis? Another publisher?
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I thought they had adopted the Atari moniker from when they picked up Hasbro Interactive?
As well where is ole Sid Meyer? Did he go as well or will he still be pumping out stuff (mmmmm PIRATES!)
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The article is pretty unclear. I assume that coding for Civ4 is well under way; Civ3 has been out for a while. Will this affect development? Or is it that Firaxis will just be coding for new masters, and little will change in the project? Wow, I would sure hate to see this excellent series start floundering for reasons of ownership...
The Civ series has been one of my favorites for years now. I have probably spent more time playing Civ 2 than any other game and still remember how I failed an eye test following the weekend I received that game. Normally I have 15/20 but too many hours staring at a screen with no sleep can change that. Anyways, I know Civ 4 is in development with Sorea Jackson leading. He gave a presentation regarding franchises earlier this year and mentioned what was being developed in the new edition. I'm confused as to how this series is not making enough money. Civ 3 was a huge success in terms of sales when compared to previous versions. I only hope that the new owners can continue this great series for many years to come. I know they'll get my money the day Civ 4 is released.
I hope as a result of this, more than anything else, the next Civ will have the top-down view option that the first Civ had. I've always had trouble with the side view Civ2 onwards had. The north-south directio n is twice as squished as the east-west and moving diagonally is terrible without the grid.
The other 'features' newer civs have are realistic and animated units, which go through pains to move/attack/fortify, whereas I like to build huge civilizations and move around units real fast, no sounds, animation, messages or delay.
Another feature I'm hoping for is grouping up units, like you do in Command n Conquer and Tiberian Sun, where CTRL-num after selecting a bunch of units bunches them under the number, and ALT-num selects them immediately. Usually I'm using more than one unit attacking a city, transporting them elsewhere, even with workers, flashmobbing a city zone. When you have hundereds of units, civ becomes a pain.
Lastly, the simple queueing of production in cities in Civ3 is terrific, but I'd like more, maybe through scripting. For example NEVER let a city goto civil disorder at the cost of causing starvation, or NEVER let shields fall below at the cost of civil disorder etc.
PS a civ that doesnt end in 2040, and smoothly translates into an Alpha Centauri game wouldnt hurt. At that point it would be civs on planets rather than continents, where the cost of transportation would be very high.
I'd still want Sid Meyer to be part of the development team though.
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Oh man, I hope not. They'll make a sports game out of it. ;P
After Civ II. Whenever someone mentions sequels after II, i just go into 'put-fingers-in-ears-and-shout-nananana'-mode
Hey, it worked for Blender. (-:
How many home-baked cookies would FreeCiv need to sell to raise 15.5 megaeuros, I wonder?
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Yeah, but then we'd get a new one each year. Think of the roster update possibilities - Italy would never be the same twice. :-)
Now before everyone goes OMG THIS ISN'T A HL2 TOPIC (OFFTOPIC#!%!) if a small developer bought Civ and they do not have a publisher they should seriously contact Valve about publishing it through steam. They could run ads in major game magazines and on websites plus Valve would probably advertise it on steampowered.com since it seems to me the average person who would play Civilization is old enough to have a credit card (or the ability to setup a paypal account and use the virtual debit bar) and would be knowledgeable enough to download steam and purchase it through there if a guide was provided (if they really felt it was necessary). Although this is assuming it's a small developer and not one with connections to some conglomerate like EA or VU.
Civ3 drove off a lot of folks. Great game in design and support (AI fixes yeah!) but boring on the whole. When you can't warmonger, you can't game. There's nothing left for that franchise to improve or ruin.
And what are the rest of us supposed to do now, go back to hunting and gathering? Un-evolve? You can't just say "We're franchising civilization," and expect everyone to be able to afford the franchising fees.
I hope they also got a good deal on rubber and uranium from the trade. Maybe after their envoys have created such a good relationship, the two companies will unite in an alliance to smite down the Ottoman Empire, too.
What ever happened to that rumored South Korean Total Annihilation II project anyway?
Isn't Infogames just the publisher/distributor? Firaxis has always been the developer. I'd compare it to a musician signing to a small label to record with, and then a bigger label like Sony to mass produce, market and distribute the final product.
PARIS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Europe's largest video games maker Infogrames posted a smaller-than-expected operating loss for the first half of its 2004/05 year on Wednesday and unveiled a much-awaited plan to pay back its 2005 convertible bond. Infogrames (IFOE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) , which banks on a strong games line-up for the second half, predicted it would post an operating profit of between 20 and 30 million euros for the full year, repeating that sales growth for the year would be moderate. "Games like Dragon Ball Z will have strong sales for Christmas," Chief Executive Bruno Bonnell told Reuters in an interview. Bonnell also said that Infogrames recently sold the franchise for the game "Civilization," making a capital gain of 15.5 million euros, which should help second-half accounts. FIRST-HALF OPERATING LOSS Infogrames posted a first-half operating loss of 3.5 million euros against a profit of 1.7 million a year-ago, as sales fell an already reported 12 percent to 277 million euros. Losses at its U.S. operations also weighed. Its net loss widened to 42.2 million euros from 9.8 million euros, after a one-time loss of 16.7 million euros partly tied to its Nexgen Capital transaction, the statement said. Seven analysts polled by Reuters expected on average an operating loss of 4.4 million euros. Estimates had ranged from a loss of 11 million euros to a profit of 1.3 million euros. Estimates for less-closely watched net income were a loss of 25-35 million euros. Infogrames fiscal year ends in March. 2005 BOND BUY-BACK PLAN Infogrames recently announced it had obtained short-term financing from a banking pool that should help it avoid a liquidity crisis during the Christmas season. But analysts' main concerns had been how Infogrames planned to repay 117 million euros in convertible bonds due in July 2005. These concerns and doubts about Infogrames's ability to generate enough cash to remain a leader in an industry where development costs have soared, have been weighing on its shares that are down 65 percent so far this year. Infogrames on Wednesday unveiled a refinancing plan for the 2005 convertible bond that Bonnell described as "complex" but "balanced for the company, its shareholders and bondholders." If approved by regulatory authorities, bond and shareholders, the plan should be implemented in January 2005. It entails a bonus issue of warrants giving their holders the right to buy new Infogrames shares. Proceeds from the exercise of the warrants will then be used to repay the 2005 convertible bonds. The bonds not tendered under the offer will benefit from an improved conversion ratio but their maturity will be extended and the reimbursement premium scrapped, the statement said. If the operation is successful, the group's gearing ratio or its debt to equity ratio will fall below 1. If 100 percent of the bonds are tendered, the dilutive impact for Infogrames shareholders will range from zero to 37 percent, depending on how many warrants are exercised. The terms of the warrants issue are one warrant for two existing Infogrames shares. Each warrant gives its holder the right to subscribe to a new Infogrames share at a price of 1.11 euros. Infogrames will offer to buy back the 2005 bonds at 35 euros each, paying 60 percent in cash if all the warrants are fully exercised. Infogrames will finance the remaining 40 percent through the issue of a new bond repayable within 3 years and backed by shares in Infogrames's U.S. unit Atari Inc (ATAR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) That new bond has a final maturity of March 15, 2008, and carries an annual coupon of 6 percent.
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Please tell me I'm not the only one who noticed that...
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