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Period: to
2000s Game Industry
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Square + Enix= ….
On April 1, 2003 Square Co., Ltd and Enix Corporation merged together to form Square Enix Co., Ltd. Enix Corporation was defined as being the surviving company. Even though Enix was the surviving company, 80% of the staff were from Square.Overall, this event helped the industry by allowing two powerful developers to work together to continue making great games. Also increased their power to acquire many other companies down the road:Taito Co.
Tecmo
UIEvolution, Inc.
Eidos Interactive -
GTA Lawsuit
On October 20, 2003, A US $246 million lawsuit was filled against publishers Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive Software, retailer Wal-Mart, and PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment America.The belief behind this lawsuit was that the game, Grand Theft Auto should be held accountable. Jack Thompson was the lawyer who filed the original and multiple other cases against the developers behind GTA. -
Acclaim Files Bankruptcy
On September 1, 2004, Chapter 7 bankruptcy was filed by Acclaim in New York courts.The bankruptcy led to the annihilation of the company and liquidated their assets to pay of their crippling debt. This event saw the end of a developer that created many games from 1988-2004. While they were successful, controversial business and marketing decisions led to their sudden decline. Acclaim became an example of how poor leadership can cause failure. -
Mandatory Update…
On January 30, 2006, a mandatory update for Xbox Live (Xbox 360) was released. Company behind Xbox Live, Microsoft, said that the update was for improvements and to correct any bugs. The modding community claim that "the true purpose of this update was to halt the progress of the modding community". Update that was released significantly damaged ability to operate modified consoles on Xbox Live -
Record for the Highest Grossing Opening Day
The release of Halo 3 on September 27, 2007, was significant not because of the release of the game, but by the fact that it broke the record for highest grossing opening day in game history ($170 Million/24 hours). This event helped the industry by showing the true possibility of the market. Being able to gross high numbers in a single day pushed the industry to a whole new level.
