Q: Talk about GTA's move from Spring to September and how is relates to coming next-gen consoles.
A: GTA stands alone. It's a unique IP. We're all excited about it. We think it's gonna blow people away at a level people don't anticipate. The delay is required to deliver what people expect. September's an open field and a great window. For next gen, nothing's been announced yet, but assuming new consoles are coming, it'll be a light install base initially. I'm sure we'll have an extraordinary array of next-gen offerings.
Q: MLB 2K. Profitable release?
A: Range of losses were announced based on a inherited legacy deal ($30mil). Expectations of a new release reflect a new deal. We're optimistic and enthusiastic both creatively and financially.
Q: GTA V. How should we think about post-sale revenue compared to previous GTA? Full game downloads: primarily from Steam? How does this differ from retail?
A: Couldn't be more enthusiastic about GTA. Full game downloads come from many places: Steam, etc...
Q: Next-gen. Allegedly more focused on media than games. How does this impact you?
A: If that happens. I'd be happy to debate if they will become set top boxes or not. Our job is to make high quality entertainment and meet consumers on their devices, whilst being flexible with business models. Broad based models on next-gen is probably a good thing. Also, they'll be more likely to penetrate than they are now.
Q: Basketball franchises/Borderlands 2. Help us understand the attach rate you're getting.
A: We don't talk about attach rates. Every year, Visual Concepts try to make NBA 2K even better, this year 90+ Metacritic, multi-plat experience, in game purchases. This all means happy consumers, spending more money, making more money. Same with Borderlands. We want to give consumers more value than what they paid for.
Q: Great property coming up in March (BioShock). How do you view retail in 3-6 months and how is pre-order activity?
A: Retail landscape interesting, go back 9 months, things were looking bleak, people were saying it's in decline. We denied this. Like all entertainment business, our industry relies on hits, and it's affected by changing console cycles (we're heading into the end of one). We have the highest expectations for BioShock.
Q: Digital: Your success in digital, how is the margin profile looking against retail? What opportunities are there in creating ongoing relationships with customers, e.g. Season Pass?
A: The margins are pretty much in line with retail, but time to time this changes based on the title, usually a better digital margin. Our properties have been standard bearers for this, e.g. Borderlands, GTA. We see the lifecycle extending greatly and we'll continue to experiment. With tablets becoming bigger, episodic approaches may increase too. We're flexible. We'll try anything that delights consumers so long as it aligns with our high quality.
Q: What are you thinking about next-gen development budgets with key titles, e.g. sports.
A: We don't believe budgets will change significantly, if anything, group wide, our spending will become tighter. Can't go into specifics though.
Q: Install base today is large, 360/PS3 will continue to be major influencers, similar to prior transition, I'm sure there will be cross-generational software post-launch. How do you go about developing for both current and next-gen when clearly development teams want to be innovating but clearly there's a tradeoff to accommodate for current install base?
A: We can't talk about next-gen. We're not the ones to talk about if first. We're all excited about the possibilities and working diligently on them. 4 elements of transition success: 1) strong IP, 2) strong teams, 3) strong tech, 4) strong balance sheet. We have all four.
Q: Facebook is developing for core gamers, does this reset your opinion?
A: Facebook is incredible serving hundreds of millions of people, could be a great platform.
Q: I'm hearing current-gen portability is easier. Philosophically, you see Bungie doing a dual-gen approach, not going specific, if you had the opportunity to do a dual-gen launch?
A: There is not one gamer who will sit out GTA V hoping that there will be something better down the line. GTA V will blow everyone away. We have to wait for announcements. We're always looking over a shoulder. We're planning as well as we can and we think we are well positioned.
Q: Ouya, Valve - lots of people trying to create new solutions. Where do you see the best opportunity?
A: All of the above. We go with the audience. We don't spend resources unless there's a demonstrated audience. We've always been willing to support meaningful initiatives without a large install base. We will be wherever the consumers are.
Q: Timing on NBA expansion into Taiwan/Philippines, different demographics across tablets.
A: We haven't seen meaningful differences across tablet purchases, not sure we can read into it that well. Still in early experimentation mode. We haven't spoken about expanding into other territories, always balancing opportunity with risk. Encouraged by what we're seeing in Asia.
Q: How is NBA 2K online doing in Asia?
A: We're pleased with the tracking in China. We don't have anything at this point to say on further rollout.
Q: On digital delivery, you mention it represents 23% of net revenue. Where is most of this coming from?
A: Borderlands 2/NBA 2K13 for this quarter, and the rest of the catalogue.
Event over! Most of the above is paraphrased/written very briefly, so don't read much into the phrasing!
A: GTA stands alone. It's a unique IP. We're all excited about it. We think it's gonna blow people away at a level people don't anticipate. The delay is required to deliver what people expect. September's an open field and a great window. For next gen, nothing's been announced yet, but assuming new consoles are coming, it'll be a light install base initially. I'm sure we'll have an extraordinary array of next-gen offerings.
Q: MLB 2K. Profitable release?
A: Range of losses were announced based on a inherited legacy deal ($30mil). Expectations of a new release reflect a new deal. We're optimistic and enthusiastic both creatively and financially.
Q: GTA V. How should we think about post-sale revenue compared to previous GTA? Full game downloads: primarily from Steam? How does this differ from retail?
A: Couldn't be more enthusiastic about GTA. Full game downloads come from many places: Steam, etc...
Q: Next-gen. Allegedly more focused on media than games. How does this impact you?
A: If that happens. I'd be happy to debate if they will become set top boxes or not. Our job is to make high quality entertainment and meet consumers on their devices, whilst being flexible with business models. Broad based models on next-gen is probably a good thing. Also, they'll be more likely to penetrate than they are now.
Q: Basketball franchises/Borderlands 2. Help us understand the attach rate you're getting.
A: We don't talk about attach rates. Every year, Visual Concepts try to make NBA 2K even better, this year 90+ Metacritic, multi-plat experience, in game purchases. This all means happy consumers, spending more money, making more money. Same with Borderlands. We want to give consumers more value than what they paid for.
Q: Great property coming up in March (BioShock). How do you view retail in 3-6 months and how is pre-order activity?
A: Retail landscape interesting, go back 9 months, things were looking bleak, people were saying it's in decline. We denied this. Like all entertainment business, our industry relies on hits, and it's affected by changing console cycles (we're heading into the end of one). We have the highest expectations for BioShock.
Q: Digital: Your success in digital, how is the margin profile looking against retail? What opportunities are there in creating ongoing relationships with customers, e.g. Season Pass?
A: The margins are pretty much in line with retail, but time to time this changes based on the title, usually a better digital margin. Our properties have been standard bearers for this, e.g. Borderlands, GTA. We see the lifecycle extending greatly and we'll continue to experiment. With tablets becoming bigger, episodic approaches may increase too. We're flexible. We'll try anything that delights consumers so long as it aligns with our high quality.
Q: What are you thinking about next-gen development budgets with key titles, e.g. sports.
A: We don't believe budgets will change significantly, if anything, group wide, our spending will become tighter. Can't go into specifics though.
Q: Install base today is large, 360/PS3 will continue to be major influencers, similar to prior transition, I'm sure there will be cross-generational software post-launch. How do you go about developing for both current and next-gen when clearly development teams want to be innovating but clearly there's a tradeoff to accommodate for current install base?
A: We can't talk about next-gen. We're not the ones to talk about if first. We're all excited about the possibilities and working diligently on them. 4 elements of transition success: 1) strong IP, 2) strong teams, 3) strong tech, 4) strong balance sheet. We have all four.
Q: Facebook is developing for core gamers, does this reset your opinion?
A: Facebook is incredible serving hundreds of millions of people, could be a great platform.
Q: I'm hearing current-gen portability is easier. Philosophically, you see Bungie doing a dual-gen approach, not going specific, if you had the opportunity to do a dual-gen launch?
A: There is not one gamer who will sit out GTA V hoping that there will be something better down the line. GTA V will blow everyone away. We have to wait for announcements. We're always looking over a shoulder. We're planning as well as we can and we think we are well positioned.
Q: Ouya, Valve - lots of people trying to create new solutions. Where do you see the best opportunity?
A: All of the above. We go with the audience. We don't spend resources unless there's a demonstrated audience. We've always been willing to support meaningful initiatives without a large install base. We will be wherever the consumers are.
Q: Timing on NBA expansion into Taiwan/Philippines, different demographics across tablets.
A: We haven't seen meaningful differences across tablet purchases, not sure we can read into it that well. Still in early experimentation mode. We haven't spoken about expanding into other territories, always balancing opportunity with risk. Encouraged by what we're seeing in Asia.
Q: How is NBA 2K online doing in Asia?
A: We're pleased with the tracking in China. We don't have anything at this point to say on further rollout.
Q: On digital delivery, you mention it represents 23% of net revenue. Where is most of this coming from?
A: Borderlands 2/NBA 2K13 for this quarter, and the rest of the catalogue.
Event over! Most of the above is paraphrased/written very briefly, so don't read much into the phrasing!
