Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Better off... red?
Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold over 17 million copies worldwide
There was a time when westerns were a staple of American pop-culture -- a powerhouse genre for film, television, books and more. That trend kind of died in the 1980s, but maybe it's coming back. Take-Two Interactive, the company that owns Rockstar games reported in its quarterly financials that Red Dead Redemption 2 sold over 17 million copies in just over a week.
It took the original Red Dead Redemption 8 years to sell 15 million copies.
It's a shockingly huge number -- but if you've been keeping track, it might not be that big of a surprise. Just after the game's launch, the company revealed that it made over $725 million in its first few days, the largest opening weekend of any entertainment property ever, according to Rockstar. That's what happens when your game is one of the most anticipated, well-reviewed games in a decade.
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Embracer Group has been backing away from its all-encompassing position in the games industry lately. The latest divestment is Gearbox Entertainment, the studio behind the Borderlands series it bought in early 2021 for a deal that could have been worth up to $1.37 billion to Gearbox had it stayed inside the Swedish conglomerate's grasp.
The buyer is Take-Two Interactive Software, which had previously partnered with Gearbox on publishing Borderlands and other titles. Take-Two will issue new shares of its common stock to pay $460 million for Gearbox, to be completed before the end of June this year. Embracer paid $363 million in cash and stock for Gearbox in 2021 but promised up to $1 billion more should the developer hit earnings goals over six years.
[...] Gearbox has studios in Texas, Montreal, and Quebec City, Canada. The firm had 550 employees at the time of its acquisition, but divisions of the company had seen layoffs in January.
[...] Embracer had been acquiring properties in 2021 and 2022 with an understanding that a planned $2 billion investment from the Saudi-government-backed Savvy Games Group would give the new mega-conglomerate some runway.
[...] Once the Saudi deal fell through in May 2023, however, the firm announced that it would undergo a major restructuring through March 2024. That included the shutdown of Volition in August 2023 and deep cuts at Eidos that took an unannounced Deus Ex title with them.
Gearbox and its Borderlands franchise were the biggest get, however. The looter-shooter series, struck through with (often exhausting) "edge-y" humor, has reportedly sold more than 77 million copies and earned more than $1 billion in revenue throughout its run, according to Bloomberg. Take-Two noted that a Borderlands game was "in active development" at Gearbox in its acquisition announcement.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Sunday November 11 2018, @03:27AM
A New Visualization Technique Clearly Illustrates 'Red Dead Redemption II's HDR Failure [forbes.com]
As it turns out, high dynamic range takes some work to get right, and is subject to creative choices.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Snotnose on Sunday November 11 2018, @04:22AM (1 child)
One thing that made GTA V so great was having 3 different characters to play. And admit it, you enjoyed being Trevor best.
Not criticizing, just sayin...
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 11 2018, @05:43AM
I liked the black guy with the dog best. Playing fetch with grenades...
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 11 2018, @05:09PM (3 children)
Looks like one big cut-scene interspersed with some shooting and running. Very guided in a heavy handed way.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Sunday November 11 2018, @08:19PM (2 children)
I thought it was supposed to be open world with emergent gameplay?
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 11 2018, @10:15PM (1 child)
You can do things in a different order and you get to ride a horse and collect plants. That's about it. Oh, and it looks very pretty.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by arslan on Monday November 12 2018, @12:15AM
So... its a western equivalent of Zelda Breath Of the Wild? Of course in Zelda you can ride bears, buffaloes, Lynels (centaurs), etc. as well instead of just horses though....
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Monday November 12 2018, @04:07PM
Who would have thought that gamer culture would come so far. It seems like only yesterday that gamers were drooling over the realistic portrayal of jiggling boobs in "Dead or Alive". Now it seems what you need is realistic portrayal of horse balls.