Infogrames in financial trouble.

[Chemical Ollie]

They deserve financial problems. PtW was released in the Nordic countries SIX MONTHS after USA.

[statusperfect]

i even forgot to buy it on release since it was delayed about ten times

and the last delay was because of burglary in a infogrames warehouse in stockholm (they got away with loads of PtW copies, wonder who did that )

cheers

[Mad Bomber]

Originally posted by Olaf Hårfagre
They deserve financial problems. PtW was released in the Nordic countries SIX MONTHS after USA.

Not to mention having a patch out 48 hrs after hitting the stores in the US

[statusperfect]

Originally posted by Mad Bomber


Not to mention having a patch out 48 hrs after hitting the stores in the US

isn't that supposed to be a good thing?

cheers

[Capt Dizle]

No, it means they went gold with a product they knew wasn't ready to ship.

[Dinner]

They knew way prior to ship that the product was rubbish and rather then waiting a month or two to fix it so it might be semifunctional upon release they just shoved it out the door. Luckily, I bought my copy from the bargin bin month's after release.

I got burned by the intial Civ3 release and I swore never again.

[Panag]

hi ,

old news , if you see the way they run things in paris , ......

last year they took a hard dip when it turned out patches where needed for civ3 and a bunch of other games , ....

and what ya want , they need for every single version a whole bunch of programers , for each stupid language they bring out , .....

not to mention about the r&d , .....

have a nice day

[WarpStorm]

Over half of the games I've purchased in the last few years had a patch on release day.

There are many reasons for this. The biggest is that the code is sent out for duplication about a month or so before the ship date. Why should the developers not use this time to fix issues?

[Panag]

Originally posted by WarpStorm
Over half of the games I've purchased in the last few years had a patch on release day.

There are many reasons for this. The biggest is that the code is sent out for duplication about a month or so before the ship date. Why should the developers not use this time to fix issues?

hi ,

lets hope this is true with civ conquer

have a nice day

[Catt]

From today's online WSJ:

'Enter the Matrix' Game
Tops One Million Mark

By KEVIN J. DELANEY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


PARIS -- Infogrames Entertainment SA said Friday it had sold more than one million copies of its big-budget "Enter the Matrix" videogame one week after its launch in the U.S. and Europe, underscoring the game industry's attempt to gin up hits through tie-ins with Hollywood movies.

The game, which shares characters and plot elements with the "The Matrix Reloaded" film released last week, is Infogrames's big-money gamble on a blockbuster title. The company is betting that a megahit will help preserve its position among the ranks of top videogame publishers, at a time when it is struggling financially and profitability increasingly depends on having size and scale.

Infogrames, Lyon, France, adopted the Atari brand for all of its activities this month. It is the fourth-largest independent publisher in the world, but has piled on debt and had choppy sales in recent years, forcing it to write down assets and undertake a large restructuring.

Inforgrames's U.S. unit, which trades publicly as Atari Inc., saw its shares rise 74 cents, or 17%, to $4.97 in afternoon trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The Matrix game had a production budget of $20 million, making it one of the most expensive titles ever. When other expenses are factored in, including the acquisition of a small game studio that owned the Matrix videogame license, the total cost of the game could hit $80 million.

Some analysts said first-week sales of more than a million units -- the industry's benchmark for a blockbuster -- were praiseworthy. But they cautioned that the early sales numbers were no guarantee that the game will remain a goldmine. "Enter the Matrix" has received mixed reviews from online videogame reviewers that some analysts say are less enthusiastic than those generally needed to ensure blockbuster sales.

Infogrames said early this month that it was shipping more than four million copies of the game for the launch, based on retailer pre-orders. Actual sales of that level or above would make it one of the top-selling single videogame titles of all time.

Game Stores Group Ltd., one of Europe's largest videogame retailers, said in a statement that it was "very pleased" with initial sales of the Matrix game, but declined to give specific sales numbers.

Infogrames could use a mega-hit. The company is trying to cut a net debt load currently hovering around 435 million euros that has spooked investors in recent years.

Infogrames is trying to renegotiate the buyback of some of the 347 million euros in convertible bonds it has outstanding, according to people familiar with the matter. Infogrames lowered its convertible bond debt by 87 million euros in January.

Company spokespeople weren't immediately available for comment.

Catt

[Spiffor]

Infogrames, Lyon, France

AH ! I knew there is no 's' in English at the end of 'Lyon' !

[Dinner]

So do you folks think Atari, nee Infogrames, will be able to keep the Civ franchise going the way it should?

[player1]

Yep, it's a cash cow.

[Panag]

Originally posted by Oerdin
So do you folks think Atari, nee Infogrames, will be able to keep the Civ franchise going the way it should?

hi ,

who knows , they can bring money , .....

with fresh money we would not see budget cuts in devolpments and patches , .....

have a nice day