April was a month of many challenges for Fanatic Games. We managed to launch three new testing collaborations and we are already in a long-term collaboration with two of them, the third one will be finalized any day now. Over the coming months, we would like to strengthen the existing collaborations and add one or two more to keep us fully busy. But enough about our month, let us take a look at the gaming industry!
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Outsourcing game graphics is more and more popular these days, but choosing a right game art outsourcing company might not be an easy task. We at Fanatic Games believe that the key factors to consider are for example experience of the company, time outsourcing saves, or communication. Read more here.
Mafia 4 is in development and it will run on Unreal Engine 5, Insider Gaming reports. The leak claims that the game will be set in 1920’s Sicily and should be released around 2026. The game will feature “engagement stealth and combat gameplay loop” as well as some kind of multiplayer mode, which has never featured yet in the Hangar 13’s franchise.
Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubikon will be released on August 25, 2023. At least it is suggested in the age rating in Korea, which very often (un)intentionally leaks the release date of games. The newest game of From Software has reportedly been in development for at least seven years, which means it will come out on old-gen consoles as well. As it is a franchise that has not seen a new release in ten years, the fans are already looking forward to getting their hands on it.
Nine years after its first announcement, Dead Island 2 was released in April. It features an “advanced gore system” which allows the players to melt down zombies, layer by layer, to the bone. Because the game went through several developer teams, fans were rightfully afraid that the game will come out in a bad technical state. However, Dambuster Studio did an excellent job, as the game runs pretty well even on old-gen consoles.
UK regulator CMA blocked the Microsoft-Activision deal. The CMA claims that the sale would negatively affect the future of nascent cloud gaming market, of which Microsoft is the key player. It feared the deal would lead to “reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.” Microsoft and Activision Blizzard immediately said they would appeal the CMA’s decision.
Sony announced record sales of PlayStation 5 console in its Q4 financial report. It sold over 6,3 million units from January to March, second-best was PlayStation 2 with 6,02 million in 2005. Overall sales of the PlayStation division in Q4 were $8.11 billion. On the other hand, the Xbox division did not do so well, as Microsoft reported $3.59 billion sales. The sales from Xbox consoles were lackluster as well, with a steep drop of 30 % in comparison with last year.
If we take into consideration Nintendo Switch, the current-gen consoles are understood to begin in 2017. By the end of 2022, Switch, alongside with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S managed to sell over 172.1 million units worldwide. A prediction made by Newzoo moreover says that by the end of this year, the number will dramatically increase to 212.9 million units.
The same year is evaluated in the chart below, showing the number of global players. As you can see, 55 % of players are located in the Asia-Pacific region while only 13 % in Europe. Second place goes to Middle East and Africa region with 15 %. The least number of players is attributed to North America with only 7 %.
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There are not many games that were released exclusively for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series consoles. And Tom Henderson knows that as well. “Current generation consoles should have probably released this year,” is what Henderson thinks, as this year looks like the one that will most likely cut the last gen consoles.
Released on May 12th, 2023, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to its 2017’s predecessor. The newest entry to the franchise brings all new story as well as many new abilites Link can use throughout his dozens-of-hours long journey.
The remake of Resident Evil 4 was released on March 23 and after just two weeks it managed to sell over 4 million units. That makes it one of the fastest-selling games of the entire franchise, which, as of now, sold over 135 million units!
Released on August 30, 2012, Mercia: Fractured Realms was the very first PlayStation Home free-to-play RPG game. It featured a vast open-world full of dungeons, monsters, collectible items, and side quests enjoyable in with friends in a cooperative game mode.
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We are the pioneers of outsourced graphics for the gaming industry. We offer only high-quality work for a reasonable and fair price. Fanatic Games believes that every client has their very own specific needs and that there is no substitute for quality art, which then has a major effect on the player. We have illustrious worldwide references. We honour quality, speed, reliability, and efficiency. We manage all projects in a flexible and transparent way and we use multilevel quality control. Our clients get an outstanding value for their money. We are not just outsourcers, we are your partners. We save your capacity and time.
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