UK
There are many games companies in the UK, throughout the years is has been expanding. There are a total of 1,902 games companies in the UK which in London has the most with 566 companies.
The estimated gross value is as high as £1.72 billion.
The platform they specialize in is iOS- includes iPhone and iPad.
The percentage of games that grew from 2001-2013 is 22%.
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| Game companies across the UK in a decade |
New businesses include:
- 3D character artist
- Games partnership manager
- 3D animator
- Game programmer
- 2D game programmer
- System designer
http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/games - This industry started over 30 years ago and became popular because it produced successful titles like: RuneScape from Jagex Game Studios.
The top 4 gaming companies in the UK are:
There are an estimated 90,000 game developers and there are 73,148
company names that have been identified.
The top 4 gaming companies in the UK are:
- Microsoft Xbox
- Saga
- PlayStation
- Nintendo
Global
This shows the largest computer and video game publishers
worldwide in 2015, in that year, Electronic Arts’ reached 3.25 billion euros in
their game publishing business, up from 2.69 billion in the previous year.
Biggest (top 3) game companies include:
- Microsoft – Revenue: $10.01 Billion- known for Halo and Gears of War franchises, as well as offering a online system that’s made for multi-platform games like Call of Duty.
- Sony – Revenue: $7.20 Billion- known for their Playstation games which is a massive hit among those looking for sheer power in their console gaming experience.
- Nintendo – Revenue: $6.47 Billion- is known for Mario, the breakout star of the NES system, is one of the most popular video game characters ever created, his theme song a tune that is recognized by many around the world. Also known for popular/classic games like Donkey Kong, Chrono Trigger, F-Zero, and Super Mario World.
However while researching found website about China’s Tencent which reached number one in global games market. For more information on this go to the website- http://www.newzoo.com/insights/chinas-tencent-takes-1-spot-global-games-marketfree-report/
There are 5 features that are said to be expected in the future of gaming, these are:
Rockstar games was founded in 1998 (17 years ago), and was founded by: Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King, Sam Houser and Gary Foreman. Sam Houser is the president and Dan Houser is vice president.
Take-Two Interactive wholly owns Rockstar games, it is one of their Subsidiaries along with 2K Games. Take 2 published a game called "Rats!" (Reservoir Rat) in 1998, developed by Tarantula Games. Later BMG Interactive was re-formed into Rockstar Games in late 1998. While many of the studios Take-Two Interactive has acquired have been merged into the Rockstar brand, several other recent ones have retained their previous identities and have become part of the company's 2K Games division.
A main event in Rockstar is that in 2001 Grand Theft Auto sold 14.8 million copies, which made Rockstar rich then they were able to become vertically integrated and to expand.
A key event is that in October 2011 Dan Houser announced that they are avoiding development in first person shooter genre. he said "We're deliberately avoiding that right now". Also he said that Rockstar "made new genres by ourselves with games like the GTA series. We didn't rely on testimonials in a business textbook to do what we've done. I think we succeeded precisely because we didn't concentrate on profit... If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them."
As of May 2011 Rockstar had released 45 games and the first published game was in 1999 and was called Thrasher: Skate and Destroy.
In the future Rockstar hopes to develop and expand game play and high production values.They also want to push the newest technology to the limit.
Animation Industry:
UK
In the UK animation companies have employment for around 4,700 people and with a large number of others employed in other animation roles in other animation industries. As a whole, animation has over 250 businesses- 57% of these employ less than 10 people and 8% employ over 50 people.
Animation can be used for all areas like music- music videos, web- add animation videos to website, TV- for tv shows or adverts, games- usually all types of games uses animation, mobile- can be for mobile games or apps and can be films/movies- there's a genre for animation.
The animation industry revenues around £300 million in the UK which comparatively small.
The big animation companies in the UK are:
- Immersive Gaming: The return of virtual reality- this has already started making a big leap in the gaming work with the invention of the Oculus Rift.
- Secondary screens for gaming- this is a controller with a built in screen as well as normal screen for TV screen an example of this is the Wii U.
- Open-source Gaming- the cheap/free games that you can get for your mobile phone gives us an idea of the upcoming new game console that will work under the concept of that games should be chesp and easy to but (this console is called Ouya).
- Augmented Reality- this is where you will fed with additional information or data overlay, digitally, in real-time.Soon we will be be able to have a gaming session with wearable UI like Google Glass which you wouldn't need to hold up a console or device, and playing a game almost feels like you’re on the ground in the gaming realm.
- Cloud Gaming- With this people wouldn't need to wait a long time for updates or high quality games. Also games will be cheaper and easier to access.
Research of Rockstar games:
Current
Rockstar is in the sector of games.
They produce just games - their most famous games are: Grand theft auto (mainly V/5), Red dead redemption and Max Payne 3.
Rockstars customers are gamers or anyone that likes their style of games- can be for anyone from age of 15 (but a lot of younger people have them as well).
Rockstar has over 900 employees and over 1,000 people made Grand theft auto V(5)
Furthermore the founders of Rockstar announced that they are planning to be releasing at least one new game this year, the guesses as to what this new game could be are: Grand Theft Auto 6, Red Dead Rebellion or Bully 2 but it could also be something completely new.
What makes Rockstar different is that they do new thing besides copying other games companies, Rockstar's creative vice-president Dan Houser said in an interview that Rockstar was intentionally avoiding developing in the first-person shooter genre. "We're deliberately avoiding that right now", he said, also "It's in our DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing. I suppose you could say that Max Payne 3 is something close to an FPS, but there are really unique aspects to the setting and gameplay there, too, not just in the story. You have to have originality in your games; you have to have some kind of interesting message. You could say that the goal point of Rockstar is to have the players really feel what we're trying to do". Houser then went on to say that Rockstar has "made new genres by ourselves with games like the GTA series. We didn't rely on testimonials in a business textbook to do what we've done. I think we succeeded precisely because we didn't concentrate on profit... If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them."
Rockstar has over 900 employees and over 1,000 people made Grand theft auto V(5)
Furthermore the founders of Rockstar announced that they are planning to be releasing at least one new game this year, the guesses as to what this new game could be are: Grand Theft Auto 6, Red Dead Rebellion or Bully 2 but it could also be something completely new.
What makes Rockstar different is that they do new thing besides copying other games companies, Rockstar's creative vice-president Dan Houser said in an interview that Rockstar was intentionally avoiding developing in the first-person shooter genre. "We're deliberately avoiding that right now", he said, also "It's in our DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing. I suppose you could say that Max Payne 3 is something close to an FPS, but there are really unique aspects to the setting and gameplay there, too, not just in the story. You have to have originality in your games; you have to have some kind of interesting message. You could say that the goal point of Rockstar is to have the players really feel what we're trying to do". Houser then went on to say that Rockstar has "made new genres by ourselves with games like the GTA series. We didn't rely on testimonials in a business textbook to do what we've done. I think we succeeded precisely because we didn't concentrate on profit... If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them."
Their competitors are other big games companies that are very popular too, E.g Nintendo, Valve and Sega.
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| Each of the rockstars logos represent a different location where they are based. The orange one is the main one in New York where their head quarters are. |
Current studios include:
Rockstar Leeds (white with blue 'R') is previously known as Mobius Entertainment, they created Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories for the PlayStation Portable, Max Payne for the Game Boy Advance, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and the music game Beaterator. The studio's most recent work is the Microsoft Windows version of L.A. Noire.
Rockstar Lincoln (light green background 'R') is quality assurance and localisation, previously known as Tarantula Studios.
Rockstar London (pink background 'R') this took over the development of Manhunt 2 after Rockstar Vienna closed and developed the portable adaptation of Midnight Club: Los Angeles.
Rockstar New England (black background 'R') they are previously known as Mad Doc Software. They developed the Wii, Xbox 360, and PC ports of Bully.
Rockstar North (dark blue backgroung 'R') they are famous for the Grand Theft Auto, and Manhunt franchises, as well as the original Lemmings games.
Rockstar San Diego (purple background 'R') they developed the RAGE engine, Red Dead Revolver and Red Dead Redemption, the Smuggler's Run series, the first two Midtown Madness games and the Midnight Club series.
Rockstar Toronto (red background 'R') Previously known as Rockstar Canada. Their most well-known work is The Warriors, an adaptation of the cult classic film and the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.
Rockstar Leeds (white with blue 'R') is previously known as Mobius Entertainment, they created Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories for the PlayStation Portable, Max Payne for the Game Boy Advance, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and the music game Beaterator. The studio's most recent work is the Microsoft Windows version of L.A. Noire.
Rockstar Lincoln (light green background 'R') is quality assurance and localisation, previously known as Tarantula Studios.
Rockstar London (pink background 'R') this took over the development of Manhunt 2 after Rockstar Vienna closed and developed the portable adaptation of Midnight Club: Los Angeles.
Rockstar New England (black background 'R') they are previously known as Mad Doc Software. They developed the Wii, Xbox 360, and PC ports of Bully.
Rockstar North (dark blue backgroung 'R') they are famous for the Grand Theft Auto, and Manhunt franchises, as well as the original Lemmings games.
Rockstar San Diego (purple background 'R') they developed the RAGE engine, Red Dead Revolver and Red Dead Redemption, the Smuggler's Run series, the first two Midtown Madness games and the Midnight Club series.
Rockstar Toronto (red background 'R') Previously known as Rockstar Canada. Their most well-known work is The Warriors, an adaptation of the cult classic film and the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.
History
Rockstar games was founded in 1998 (17 years ago), and was founded by: Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King, Sam Houser and Gary Foreman. Sam Houser is the president and Dan Houser is vice president.
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| These are the founders of Rockstar at the BAFTAs in March 2014 and received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award at the British Academy Video Games Awards. |
A main event in Rockstar is that in 2001 Grand Theft Auto sold 14.8 million copies, which made Rockstar rich then they were able to become vertically integrated and to expand.
A key event is that in October 2011 Dan Houser announced that they are avoiding development in first person shooter genre. he said "We're deliberately avoiding that right now". Also he said that Rockstar "made new genres by ourselves with games like the GTA series. We didn't rely on testimonials in a business textbook to do what we've done. I think we succeeded precisely because we didn't concentrate on profit... If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them."
As of May 2011 Rockstar had released 45 games and the first published game was in 1999 and was called Thrasher: Skate and Destroy.
In the future Rockstar hopes to develop and expand game play and high production values.They also want to push the newest technology to the limit.
Animation Industry:
UK
In the UK animation companies have employment for around 4,700 people and with a large number of others employed in other animation roles in other animation industries. As a whole, animation has over 250 businesses- 57% of these employ less than 10 people and 8% employ over 50 people.
Animation can be used for all areas like music- music videos, web- add animation videos to website, TV- for tv shows or adverts, games- usually all types of games uses animation, mobile- can be for mobile games or apps and can be films/movies- there's a genre for animation.
The animation industry revenues around £300 million in the UK which comparatively small.
The big animation companies in the UK are:
- Blue Zoo Animation
- Distant Future Animation
- Wonky Animation
- Aardman Animation
- Seed Animation
Out of those companies the most popular is Blue Zoo Animations, which have won a BAFTA multiple times and are based in central London.
Global
The video games industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the U.S, in research it is said that the global video game sales will be at $111.1 billion by 2015. Revenues reaching $21 billion as entertainment software companies delivered well-paying jobs, also the worldwide sales in 2013 reached $93 billion- Gartner says that it is due to the growth in mobile phone game play and the release of the eighth generation of game consoles.
The top 5 games industries are:
The video games industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the U.S, in research it is said that the global video game sales will be at $111.1 billion by 2015. Revenues reaching $21 billion as entertainment software companies delivered well-paying jobs, also the worldwide sales in 2013 reached $93 billion- Gartner says that it is due to the growth in mobile phone game play and the release of the eighth generation of game consoles.
The top 5 games industries are:
- Microsoft- Revenue: $10.01 Billion
- Sony- Revenue: $7.20 Billion
- Nintendo- Revenue: $6.47 Billion
- Blizzard Entertainment- Revenue: $4.85 Billion
- Electronic Arts- Revenue: $4.14 Billion
It is said that in the future of gaming it will not be much different than the future of another form of entertainment. As the players determine what they want to get out of gaming, big corporations will throw their money and workforce into providing it. Below are few examples of what it might be like in the future of gaming.
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| This gadget is called the Oculus rift, it makes you feel like you are in the game- you cant see what's around you in real life , all you can see is the game from you point of view and you can look around and move. |
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| This looks like it is inspired by the mobile gaming and might be a new gaming console in the future. |
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| This is from a movie called 'Her' and people are wondering if this was an example of what future gaming would be like. |
Research of Pixar:
Current
Pixar has found itself an industry leader in CGI and completely digital animated feature films.
Pixar has produced 15 feature films, the first being Toy Story (1995) and the most recent is Inside Out (2015). They have also earned 15 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and 11 Grammy Awards, as-well as other awards and acknowledgements. Since the award's inauguration in 2001, most of Pixar's films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Pixar has many customers ranging from children aged around 5 to adults, as the don't only make films for children to enjoy, but also for adults. Ed Catmull (CEO of Pixar) said "we believe very strongly that children live in an adult world. So we want things in the films which they don’t understand- makes things interesting for children is they’re figuring out the world." in an interview which the question to this was to do with Pixars views on the trends they see amongst their 5 year old demographic.
Pixars products:
- Pixar Image Computer
- Renderman
- Marionette
Pixar has a few competitors and their top competitors are:
- LUCASFILM LTD. LLC
- The Jim Henson Company Inc
- Dreamworks Animation Skg, Inc.
Pixar is based in Emeryville, California. Pixar has around 1200 employees or more working there and their scale of business is worldwide.
History
Pixar was founded in February 3, 1986; 29 years ago, and its founders were: Edwin Catmull,
Alvy Ray Smith and Steve Job in America- New York.
The key events in Pixar are:
- In 1986 Steve Jobs purchases the Computer Graphics Division from George Lucas and its new name is Pixar- about 44 people were employed at this time.
- In 1991 Disney and Pixar announce to distribute at least one computer-generated animated movie."
- In 1995 Toy Story is released- world’s first computer animated feature film also the highest grossing film of 1995.
- In 1997, Disney and Pixar announce that they will make 5 movies over the 10 years. Now Pixar employ 375 people.
- In 1999 Toy story 2 is released and is the first animated sequel to gross more than its original.
- In 2001 Pixar now employs over 600 people and Ed Catmull is named Pixar's president.
- In 2006 Pixar celebrate 20 year anniversary, Cars film is released and Disney announces that it will purchase Pixar.
- In 2010 Toy Story 3 is released and will become the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
- In 2011 Pixar celebrate 25 year anniversary.
These key events have made Pixar as well-known as it is now, made it have more profits and have been nominated for many awards. Also it has made Pixar able to make move movies for the future- like the upcoming ones: 30 year anniversary and new films: 'the good dinosaur'- 2015, 'Finding Dory'- 2016, 'Toy Story 4'- 2017, 'Coco'- 2017.
Ownership and structures:
Multinationals- This is a company that owns production of goods/services in one or more countries than its own. Rockstar games relates to this because it has places around the world- the different colour logos. Also Pixar is an example of a production that is owned by a multinational company- Disney.
Independents- This is a company that is owned by itself, has no bigger company owning it, this Relates to Rockstar games because it doesn't have another company owning it.
Conglomerates- This is a Company that owns many smaller companies, this relates to Pixar because it is owned by Disney.
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| These are examples of what Disney owns |
Vertical & horizontal integration- The Vertical integration is where an institution shares or owns each part of the production and distribution process- I don't think Pixar or Rockstar is related to this so an example of this is Warner Bros Entertainment calls itself a fully integrated broad, based entertainment company that owns film studios and the means to distribute the films as well as some of the cinemas in which they are shown. The Horizontal integration is when an organisation develops by buying up competitors in the same section of the market e.g. one music publisher buys out other smaller music publishers.
Share of ownership- This is where more than one person/company owns a company/subsidiary. Pixar is related to this because Disney has about 1,688 shares.
Licenses and franchises- The franchiser maintains a considerable degree of control over the operations and processes used by the franchisee, licenses are usually non-exclusive-which means they can be sold to multiple competing companies serving the same market. Pixar is related to licenses because of Disney (Disney Consumer Products). I think Pixar and Rockstar are related to franchises as they are one themselves, Pixar is a movie franchise and Rockstar is a games franchise.
Cross-media (synergy)- this is when two or more organisations or other agents work together to make a combined bigger effect other than their separate effects.
Types of synergy:
- Market power- horizontal mergers can help the company to get a degree of monopoly power this could increase its profitability.
- Surplus Human Resources- companies that have skilled managers and staff are best with these resources. Only if they have problems to solve. The use of inefficient companies is sometimes the only way of using skilled human resources
- Organic growth- growing that uses mergers and acquisition which is faster than the organic growth.
- Surplus cash flow- companies that have large amounts of surplus cash can see the acquisition of other companies as the only possible application for these funds.
Pixar is related to this because Disney does it all the time with the companies that it owns- Toy Story has gone through many media branches.
Diversification- Is when a company expands into areas of the industry that they are not currently in.
Pixar is related to this because they are now diversifying into games as well as films. Rockstar may also be related to this because they is talk about one of their games (GTA) might become a film, or they might do films in future.
Mergers & takeovers- Mergers are referred to as two companies which join together as one, usually creating a much more powerful single company. A takeover, or acquisition, on the other hand, is characterized by the purchase of a smaller company by a much larger one. Pixar is related to takeover due to Disney taking over pixar aswell as other companies like Marvel. Pixar is also related to merger because it merged with Disney before it was taken over (Disney-Pixar)
Sources of income- There are 3 types of income:
- Earned Income- any income that is generated by working.
- Portfolio Income- Portfolio income is any income generated by selling an investment at a higher price than you paid for it.
- Passive Income- Passive income is money you get from assets you have purchased or created.
Profitability of product range- In the media companies profitability of a products comes to effect based around what type of media and genre is popular, if horror films are popular over a particular decade then it is likely that large production companies will produce predominantly horror films in that time frame in order to maximize the profit from that product.
National and global competition and trends- This relate to the increasing competition from different companies that operate from more further away than local companies, this has started through advancements in internet speeds and digital television. These advancements have allowed smaller companies to compete with larger companies which are on different parts of the world. This conveys that it is harder for companies to establish them selves or keep their customer base as more popular companies can compete from far away.
Trends are predictions and patterns in the media industry, in order to make predictions concerning the future changes and competition differentiation's, patterns are learned to identify what trends have occurred repeatedly and therefore product future changes. Media company can use this to plan their plans towards the future and allow them to compete with different companies that may be bigger and allowed to change their organisational aims at short notice.
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