China’s NetEase (NTES) has a strong games pipeline, said an analyst in a bullish report that didn’t help the stock amid China’s economic woes. Those games continue to include Chinese rights to U.S.-based Activision Blizzard’s (ATVI) popular “World of Warcraft” and “StarCraft II.” Even so, the China-based video game firm’s stock price took a hit on Tuesday as a wide swath of U.S.-listed China stocks collapsed amid that nation’s economic woes.
Video game publishers are starting to benefit from the console upgrade cycle hitting the sweet spot and the shift to digital distribution, investment bank Jefferies said Wednesday. Jefferies analyst Brian Pitz said he is broadly positive on the video game sector following the annual E3 trade show last week in Los Angeles. Pitz on Wednesday upgraded his ratings on game publishers Electronic Arts (EA) and Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) to buy from hold. He also has a buy rating on Activision Blizzard (ATVI). Pitz sees “two powerful, multiyear tailwinds” for the sector: faster-than-expected sales of next-generation consoles and the transition to digital distribution and other digital revenue streams. He expects the installed base of the latest consoles, specifically Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox One, to reach 48 million to 49 million by the end of 2015, two years after they launched. By comparison, it took the previous…
LOS ANGELES –Sony (SNE) hopes to gain an edge over rival Microsoft (MSFT) in the current-generation console battle by securing major games and content from third-party publishers on an exclusive basis. Sony executives outlined their strategy at a media briefing in Los Angeles on Monday on the eve of the E3 video game show, which runs Tuesday through Thursday. Like Microsoft, Sony is launching first-party exclusive games from its own studios such as “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.” It also has forged deals with publishers like Square Enix, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) and Walt Disney (DIS) to get some of their content exclusively or at least on Sony’s PlayStation 4 first. For instance, PS4 will be the first console to get Square Enix’s “Hitman” as well as “Star Wars” play sets and content for “Disney Infinity 3.0.” Sony also has partnered with Activision to get additional content for…