"1. Q operating losses deepen by 61% for Vivendi Universal Games"

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Kifpe

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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=3551

With this article I wonder if Vivendi/Universal will put seriouse pressure on Gabe and his team to get HL2 finnished soon so that Q2 can get the benefit of HL2 sales. If so I hope that HL2 actualy IS at the end of the fine tuning stage! It would be sad if they released HL2 unfinnished - on hte other hand, Gabe will probably not release it before it's done...
What do you'll think?

I'm still the "THIS-SUMMER!!"-guy but I start to see the "nope-2005"- guys reasons.....
 
Certainly Vivendi will put pressure on Valve (we can't avoid puns with the subject matter sorry). But pressure seems to have no effect on Valve as far as i can tell. They continue to run by their own schedules no matter what any external force does. I still wouldn't rule out another huge delay.

Vivendi also own Blizzard. The Starcraft and Diablo franchises are goldmines. A SC2 or D3 would certainly help them financially, but Blizzard seems to have lost their way since some of the founders left last year. There was also talk of Vivendi being sold off, the CEO's office being raided. But they're still kicking.
 
YEAH - Vivendi should put pressure on Valve to rush it out so it's unfinished!!! Seeing as they aren't paying for development, that would really be a clever move!!
 
Vivendi can put all the pressure on Valve they want, but Valve doesn't have to listen. They receive no additional funding by VU. And if Vivendi threatens to not publish HL2 if they don't rush, they're 20 more publishers dying to publish it, they already have a future deal with Activision. And they always have Steam. But it would be stupid to dump Valve in the first place.
 
vivendi might be sweating a bit now anticipating HL2 to raise their profits, but theyll be swimming in cash once this title is released.
 
Well, I was just wondering...
I know that Valve is paying with their own money but I didn't know that they wasn't dependent on Vivendi... But now I know :)
 
Well from what i hear doom 3 is looking at a june 14 release, so they had better release atleast 3-4 weeks after doom 3
 
all the people who arent as financially stable (me) will buy Doom3 just because its going to come out earlier... not to mention its a great game, hl2-d3 cant be compared and they are both great at what they do, so if one comes out before the other, you can bet the earlier release will get much more sales then the latter.
 
It would be a bad idea to release 2 of the most sought after games near the same time, because most ppl can't spend 100 bucks on games at one time.
 
The June 14th Doom 3 date is false. The August 27th date is more realistic.
 
If someone can afford a computer to play do, they could afford to buy 2 games...

I really doubt Valve will even listen to VU on this matter, but they're coming up on the aniversery, and even they have to be thinking it's about time they release it :)
 
So everyone suddenly turns into Keynes and spews theories on Vivendi's future in the marketplace? I guess that guy was right, we really are running out of things to discuss here lol :E
 
Well, HL2 will definitely be a big seller, but Vivendi is a *huge* company, and I doubt a single game will substantially put them in the black.
 
Wasn't vivdendi first called Sierra? or was there a merger or something?

BTW - VU can't force valve, publishers will only be dying to publish a biggie cash-cow like hl2, so it would be stupid if they mess with valve. No wonder Valve get's much favourable treatment by them.
 
release the game already... the summer is wasting.
 
Dagobert said:
YEAH - Vivendi should put pressure on Valve to rush it out so it's unfinished!!! Seeing as they aren't paying for development, that would really be a clever move!!
Click to expand...

My sarcasm-detector got broken after reading this :(
 
Doom 3 will not be released in 2 weeks! There was been little or no hype from id as yet and I doubt they'd sell a game with a marketing machine (however big it may be). Seeing as Valve has sorta got the hype going slowly, I'd guess they will publish first but it could be marginal.

I think it will be irrelevant though. I dont want to buy Doom 3 and I'm sure there's Doom fans who won't buy HL2. I reckon HL2 will have more sales eventually as I think its game dynamic (like HL1's) is more geared towards a long term life then a quick flourish before disappearing. I can see HL2 still up on the shelves a year after release where as I dont see that with Doom 3.

I'm not taking a pop at Doom 3 btw. I just think the HL universe has more long-term appeal.
 
Mr-Fusion said:
Vivendi also own Blizzard. The Starcraft and Diablo franchises are goldmines. A SC2 or D3 would certainly help them financially, but Blizzard seems to have lost their way since some of the founders left last year. There was also talk of Vivendi being sold off, the CEO's office being raided. But they're still kicking.
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except that vivendi does NOT own valve. Valve owns vavle :| so what valve wants to do valve will do. (note also that vivendi is NOT funding the game either, thats valve once again.
 
Well it could be good if they would go bankrupt and thereby cancel out the contract with Valve, that would be sweet.
 
Doom3 release vs halflife2

RoguePsi said:
Doom 3 will not be released in 2 weeks! There was been little or no hype from id as yet and I doubt they'd sell a game with a marketing machine (however big it may be). Seeing as Valve has sorta got the hype going slowly, I'd guess they will publish first but it could be marginal.

I think it will be irrelevant though. I dont want to buy Doom 3 and I'm sure there's Doom fans who won't buy HL2. I reckon HL2 will have more sales eventually as I think its game dynamic (like HL1's) is more geared towards a long term life then a quick flourish before disappearing. I can see HL2 still up on the shelves a year after release where as I dont see that with Doom 3.

I'm not taking a pop at Doom 3 btw. I just think the HL universe has more long-term appeal.
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I don't know when halflife 2 is planned to be shipped, but I DO know that you will be hearing some big news in the next 10 days about Doom3 and it will be released before the 28th of July
 
maximus0402 said:
I don't know when halflife 2 is planned to be shipped, but I DO know that you will be hearing some big news in the next 10 days about Doom3 and it will be released before the 28th of July
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Where do you get your information? It would be nice to see it even if I'm not getting the game myself. If Doom 3 is out in late July, Half-life 2 will be out soon after if not before then.
 
Bah...I wouldn't mind seeing vivendi universal crumble. :)
 
PvtRyan said:
Vivendi can put all the pressure on Valve they want, but Valve doesn't have to listen. They receive no additional funding by VU. And if Vivendi threatens to not publish HL2 if they don't rush, they're 20 more publishers dying to publish it, they already have a future deal with Activision. And they always have Steam. But it would be stupid to dump Valve in the first place.
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Quoted and one upped.
 
I don't think this affects the releasedate for HL2.
 
maximus0402 said:
I don't know when halflife 2 is planned to be shipped, but I DO know that you will be hearing some big news in the next 10 days about Doom3 and it will be released before the 28th of July
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lol, go you!
 
So many publishers put the pressure on the developers to get the game out of the door and look what happens... The game sucks. Valve take their time so that the game will be complete to the best of their ability.
 
shapeshifter said:
except that vivendi does NOT own valve. Valve owns vavle :| so what valve wants to do valve will do. (note also that vivendi is NOT funding the game either, thats valve once again.
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I didn't actually say Vivendi own Valve but i can see how it could have been intepreted like that. I said it in the context of Vivendi owning many companies, Blizzard being one of them.

Usually publishers have the power over the developers and can get the game out as soon as possible to cash in on some opportunity that has arisen. Eg, Christmas time!! In the Valve/Vivendi case i think Valve clearly have the power over Vivendi. Vivendi are the ones losing millions of dollars and are depending on Half-Life 2's success to turn their loss into profit.

"When i left you i was but the learner, now i am the master"
 
Mr-Fusion said:
I didn't actually say Vivendi own Valve but i can see how it could have been intepreted like that. I said it in the context of Vivendi owning many companies, Blizzard being one of them.

Usually publishers have the power over the developers and can get the game out as soon as possible to cash in on some opportunity that has arisen. Eg, Christmas time!! In the Valve/Vivendi case i think Valve clearly have the power over Vivendi. Vivendi are the ones losing millions of dollars and are depending on Half-Life 2's success to turn their loss into profit.

"When i left you i was but the learner, now i am the master"
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Do you have a clue what Vivendi do? you have no idea do you?
 
Alright, Vivendi is a large multinational group that's in broadcasting, production, the media, telecommunications, and entertainment. They practically own the biggest mobile phone in company in France (SFR/Cegetel), they are behind CanalPlus as well. They made UMG, probably the biggest music group, producing chart topping artists every week. And finally they have VUGames, which is a part of the whole group.

I'm saying all this because this company will not make or break with HL2. Jean-Rene Fourtou the current CEO has probably no idea what the hell HL2 is.
 
)[eVo]( Para said:
I'm saying all this because this company will not make or break with HL2. Jean-Rene Fourtou the current CEO has probably no idea what the hell HL2 is.
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Hahaha, you're probably right. Those business people don't care about the quality, they want quantity and $$$
 
CB | Para said:
Do you have a clue what Vivendi do? you have no idea do you?
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Maybe not, but he's right in their functions.

Usually a publisher also have another role than producing the disks and sending them.

They also invest/borrow money into developement, which means that they can put pressure on the developer to finish.

Valve does not have this problem cause it's been funded by Gabe and the sales since start. I don't think Blizzard have a problem either.

But if they had to get money from Vivendi, they would decide the schedule. And that can also lead into trademarks and etc. falling into their hands.

Vivendi own the rights to the Half-Life series, and if the deal is made good enough(for them) they can shift developers when they want, for whatever reason they want.
 
Chris_D said:
So many publishers put the pressure on the developers to get the game out of the door and look what happens... The game sucks. Valve take their time so that the game will be complete to the best of their ability.
Click to expand...
exactly. look what happened to command and conquer renegade.
 
Fisker I was merely correcting him on the fact that VU does not depend on Half-Life 2 to stay afloat.
 
CB | Para said:
Fisker I was merely correcting him on the fact that VU does not depend on Half-Life 2 to stay afloat.
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No but it's also VUG not VU that's at stake. So you're right.
 
Fisker_Q said:
Vivendi own the rights to the Half-Life series, and if the deal is made good enough(for them) they can shift developers when they want, for whatever reason they want.
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i don't think that's correct. so you're saying they can fire valve who created Half-life? no.
 
CB | Para said:
I'm saying all this because this company will not make or break with HL2. Jean-Rene Fourtou the current CEO has probably no idea what the hell HL2 is.
Click to expand...

Hahaha :LOL: This made me laugh :afro:
 
chronicles of riddick has just been released in the US and i'm pretty sure (cba to look) that it is being publised by VUgames so they should have something to prop them up until HL2 comes along.
 
Adidajs said:
i don't think that's correct. so you're saying they can fire valve who created Half-life? no.
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No i say they might be able to it.
 
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