A month after recording the worst single-month drop on record in April, retail sales in the U.S. rose by a record 17.7 percent in May. (iStock)A month after recording the worst single-month drop on record in April, retail sales in the U.S. rose by a record 17.7 percent in May, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Department of Commerce.The total value of retail sales last month, $486 billion, is still 8 percent below January’s peak of nearly $530 billion, according to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve.The retail sub-sector to see the largest gains by far was clothing and clothing accessories, which rose by 188 percent month-over-month, but was still down 63.4 percent compared to last May.(Click to enlarge)Furniture (89.7 percent) and the “Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, & book stores” sub-sector (88.2 percent) also saw substantial increases. Meanwhile, grocery stores (1.3 percent) and health & personal care (0.4 percent) saw little change in sales.Nonstore retailers, which have powered through the coronavirus crisis to a 30.8-percent increase year-over-year, continued their steady growth with a 9-percent increase in sales in May.Prior to the coronavirus crisis, the largest single-month increase in retail sales occurred the month after the September 11th terrorist attacks, when sales rose by a seasonally-adjusted 6.7 percent. And the largest drop, of 3.9 percent, occurred in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis.Tuesday’s retail sales figures are the latest in a mix of good and bad economic statistics to come out in recent weeks, as businesses across the country have moved to reopen while concerns remain about the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus infections.In early June, stock markets rallied in response to a far better-than-expected jobs report which showed that the economy added 2.5 million jobs in May. But a week later, they saw their largest single-day drop since March amid concerns over rising infections, Federal Reserve policy, and a possible stock market bubble.In the housing market, mortgage applications for new home purchases have continuously risen to reach levels not seen since January, all while the percentage of home loans in forbearance has risen as well.Read moreApril’s 16.4% drop in retail sales is worst on recordMortgage applications to buy homes reach highest level since JanuaryTRD Insights: Forbearance requests edge up in JuneReal estate stocks outperform broader market but still sinkReal estate stocks rally on strong May jobs report Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare via Email Share via Shortlink Share via Shortlink
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Taubman claims Simon scuttled $3.6B merger due to buyer’s remorse
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare via Email Share via Shortlink Robert Taubman and David Simon (Getty)Simon Property Group called off its $3.6 billion merger with Taubman Centers due to a classic case of buyer’s remorse, the spurned seller claims.Taubman submitted a new legal filing in the mall landlords’ court battle that claims the larger rival Simon tried to renegotiate the terms of their deal once the coronavirus pandemic hit, Bloomberg reported.Simon had agreed to buy 80 percent of Taubman in December at $60 per share, a figure that came down to $52.50 once the two entered into contract in February partly over concerns of the pandemic, Taubman claims.Taubman is arguing in court to force Simon to close their deal, saying it will suffer “irreparable harm” if Simon is allowed to walk away.The legal battle between the two giant mall REITs is sure to be drawn out, according to experts.“It still seems that the litigation move by Simon is really a stepping stone to renegotiation so it’ll really come down to whether the two can come up with an agreement on a lower price,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Lindsay Dutch said.Simon announced last week it had terminated the deal, arguing the coronavirus disproportionately affected Taubman’s business. Some analysts believe Simon wants to finish the deal and is angling for a lower price. [Bloomberg] — Rich BockmannContact Rich Bockmann at [email protected] or 908-415-5229 Share via Shortlink
Tagssimon property groupTaubman Centers
This Bud’s for you: House lined with beer cans triggers bidding war
(Realtor)A modest condominium in Lake Worth, Florida, ended up in a bidding war after hitting the market in August. While the neighborhood and the property itself may have attracted some bidders, more people were likely lured in by its one-of-a-kind décor — and the promise of a lifetime supply of Budweiser.Its owner, Michael Amelotte, spent 16 years covering the 815-square-foot condo with thousands of Budweiser cans before his death earlier this year. Potential buyers clearly appreciated his handiwork: The two-bedroom unit went into contract above its $100,000 asking price earlier this month, according to the New York Post.Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, caught wind of the listing and offered to perpetually stock the fridge with cold Bud, as long as the new owner doesn’t do away with the beery interior. (And if you’re wondering — the property’s real estate agent said it doesn’t smell like a barroom floor.)Amelotte, who hailed from Buffalo, New York, bought the Lake Worth condo in 1986 and started affixing cans to the walls a few years later. No element in the home went unnoticed: He also covered crown molding, electrical outlets, and air-conditioner vents. He finished the entire interior by 2006.“Every can of beer on that wall was drunk in that house,” said Kris Johnson, a friend of Amelotte’s. “He did not go through any Dumpster, because whenever somebody came over, they brought a case of beer. He was a super guy.” [NYP] — Dennis Lynch Share via Shortlink Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare via Email Share via Shortlink
Knotel may slash its global portfolio by 60%
TagsCo-workingCommercial Real Estateoffice market Knotel CEO Amol Sarva (iStock)Knotel once hoped to be the next WeWork. And as the pandemic rages on, it’s facing similar headwinds as its co-working rival.The flex office provider is looking to trim 60 percent of its 4.8 million-square-foot global portfolio, and slash its leases in the U.S. and Canada from 3.4 million square feet to just 500,000 square feet, Business Insider reported.Knotel’s goal is to lower its rent obligations from $15 million per month to $2 million and bring its North American revenue up to $10 million annually.The company is also reassessing its business model, according to BI. Instead of paying rent to its landlords, it may shift to management agreements wherein it operates the space on the landlord’s behalf, thus sharing in the profits.Read moreKnotel wants out at 10 Manhattan locationsKnotel slashes its workforce again Share via Shortlink Knotel was valued at $1.6 billion in August 2019, but is thought to be worth substantially less now. Its problems — including late payments to contractors and high vacancy rates — predate the pandemic. In January, Knotel axed 20 percent of its staff, the first of three rounds of layoffs in 2020. Most recently, about 20 workers were let go, leaving its headcount at 250.As Covid persisted, Knotel was hit with lawsuits and threats of eviction due to unpaid rent.Other flex-office providers have had similar struggles. Breather, a company specializing in renting out small spaces on a short-term basis, has contracted investment bank Moelis and is considering its options for a possible sale or outside investment. And WeWork has recently moved to threatening non-paying members with collections letters.[BI] — Raji Pandya Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare via Email Share via Shortlink
NYC carpenters union changes how it roots out mob ties
Share via Shortlink New York City District Council of Carpenters’s Monitor Glen McGorty (iStock; LinkedIn)The city’s largest construction union is taking steps to root out possible ties to organized crime among its members.The New York City District Council of Carpenters, which has been under court supervision since 1994, is expanding the authority of its federal monitor to bring charges against union members suspected of “knowingly associating with any member or associate of any La Cosa Nostra crime family or any other criminal group,” according to an order filed in federal court on Tuesday.The charges will be heard by a newly-hired independent hearing officer, Sharon L. McCarthy, a partner at the law firm Kostelanetz & Fink.“The leadership team of the New York City District Council of Carpenters continues to work with the Independent Monitor to push for the highest standards of transparency and ethics,” Joseph Geiger, the District Council’s executive secretary-treasurer, said in a statement. “This latest action will make it so that beyond just actions taken by this organization, appropriate action may be taken by a body independent of this organization against any member who fails to uphold those standards.”Read moreCarpenter Sues Union and Javits Center Over DiscriminationNYC District Council of Carpenters Chapter Faces TakeoverTNYC District Council of Carpenters Inspector General Resigns Email Address* Full Name* Message*
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare via Email Share via Shortlink TagsCommercial Real EstateConstructionlabor unionsPolitics Last year, the union’s monitor, Glen McGorty, said he was considering ways to change how the organization removed members affiliated with organized crime. Prior to Tuesday’s order, the monitor could only remove union leaders and employees on grounds that they have connections to organized crime. A trial committee of elected members, however, would decide cases involving rank-and-file members accused of having such affiliations.Tuesday’s order grants McGorty additional oversight of the union’s acceptance of new members, as well as the transfer of members between the District Council’s local affiliates. Those running for leadership roles in these locals must file an affidavit with the executive secretary-treasurer and inspector general’s office indicating whether they have any ties to criminal organizations.The changes are inspired, in part, by the 2019 indictments against leaders of two locals. Salvatore “Sal” Tagliaferro of Local 926 and John “Cigars” DeFalco of Local 157 allegedly solicited bribes from individuals who weren’t eligible for union membership and secured them admission anyway. The District Council’s parent organization, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, subsequently took control of Local 926.According to a separate letter submitted to the court on Monday, McGorty has agreed to stay on as monitor through December 2021. The extension of his term follows the resignation of the union’s inspector general, David Pié, in June. The union’s inspector general’s office is key to the organization’s eventual independence from court oversight. At the time, McGorty called the inspector general’s departure a “setback.”Pié’s departure followed other recent leadership changes at the union. In February, the District Council elected a new president, Paul Capurso, following the resignation of two presidents amid allegations of misconduct.Contact Kathryn Brenzel
Wizards of the Coast settles Hex lawsuit
Wizards of the Coast settles Hex lawsuitReaches agreement with Cryptozoic and Hex over similarities with Magic: The GatheringMatthew HandrahanEditor-in-ChiefMonday 28th September 2015Share this article Recommend Tweet ShareCompanies in this articleWizards of the CoastWizards of the Coast has settled its lawsuit with Cryptozoic Entertainment and Hex Entertainment over the crowdfunded card game, Hex: Shards of Fate.The suit, which accused Cryptozoic and Hex of infringing WOTC’s IP rights, was filed in May. The two sides have now reached an out-of-court settlement agreement and license, though the terms were not disclosed.At the root of WOTC’s complaint were the similarities between Hex: Shards of Fate and Magic: The Gathering. In a statement released over the weekend, CEO Greg Leeds stated that the company encourages fans of trading card games to play competing products.”However, we will not hesitate to take action to protect our intellectual property and the amazing work of hundreds of dedicated Magic team members around the world,” Leeds said. “That is why we brought this lawsuit and why we are happy to announce its resolution through a settlement and license that both protects the valuable intellectual property of Magic: The Gathering and allows Cryptozoic and Hex to move forward with Hex: Shards of Fate.”Related JobsSenior Game Designer – UE4 – AAA United Kingdom Amiqus GamesProgrammer – REMOTE – work with industry veterans! North West Amiqus GamesJunior Video Editor – GLOBAL publisher United Kingdom Amiqus GamesDiscover more jobs in games Whether the agreement is favourable to Cryptozoic and Hex isn’t clear, but the companies took a firm stance against the lawsuit when it was first filed. Indeed, Cryptozoic accused WOTC of trying to, “snuff out fair competition.”Inevitably, the companies are now more sanguine about the matter. “We recognise that Wizards owns valuable intellectual property in Magic: The Gathering, are happy to have this matter settled and excited to move forward with Hex: Shards of Fate,” said Hex Entertainment CEO Cory Jones.”We believe that the gaming community will benefit from knowing that Hex: Shards of Fate is no longer subject to litigation.”Celebrating employer excellence in the video games industry8th July 2021Submit your company Sign up for The Daily Update and get the best of GamesIndustry.biz in your inbox. Enter your email addressMore storiesWizards of the Coast reveals new studio headed up by BioWare veteransUpdate: Mass Effect writer Drew Karpyshyn joins Archetype, says he lost enthusiasm at BioWare as it became more corporate By Haydn Taylor A year agoExpect “seven or eight” Dungeons & Dragons games in the near futureWizards of the Coast president Chris Cocks reveals that D&D is returning to video games in a big way By Haydn Taylor A year agoLatest comments Sign in to contributeEmail addressPasswordSign in Need an account? Register now.
Don Daglow: “I’m calling bullshit on core, mid-core and casual”
5 years ago ‘Here’s the problem we have: the magazine reviewers, who had so much influence on gamers, are very expert players, and they want very challenging games…”Well, I actually stink at certain games (faster paced MP-geared FPS stuff, any MOBA, and I have an intense dislike for MMO’s that don’t consider a future as offline games, meaning they’re DEAD once the servers go down), so I slightly disagree with Don’s otherwise excellent words. I prefer games where I can stop and look around at what’s made and marvel in what works as I find the bits that don’t. I’m the guy playing Fallout or an Elder Scrolls game killing every monster on a map just so I can hike around and see what’s in that corner of the map.But yeah, this over-lumping of games into categories is silly and has been for years. 5Sign inorRegisterto rate and replyEyal Teler Programmer 5 years ago For those interested, a great talk by Nick Yee providing more information in a similar vein:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZwiQd-0xqQ1Sign inorRegisterto rate and replyGreg Wilcox Creator, Destroy All Fanboys! 5 years ago I’m calling bullshit on this kind of talk.It’s very easy to argue that certain semantics are wrong, which is why people do it all the time, but if you don’t have a better simplification in mind, then your point is worthless. We all know that certain terms are a simplification, but if that simplification still works for a large enough percentage of the audience, then it’s much better than no simplification, since that works for zero percentage of the audience. 1Sign inorRegisterto rate and replySign in to contributeEmail addressPasswordSign in Need an account? Register now.
9Sign inorRegisterto rate and replyShow all comments (5)Hugo Trepanier Senior Game Designer, Ludia5 years ago It’s true these categories have been misused over the years but they can still be useful to some degree. For instance, in my job we typically refer to core experiences as games with more depth and especially complexity, not necessarily more difficult per se, whereas casual ones will generally be more accessible and appeal to a wider (or less specific) audience.In a way, this can translate to the number of options we’ll present to the player, or the number of variables to work with (for instance having a single linear upgrade path versus a more detailed tech tree).Casual games can still be very demanding in terms of player involvement and we know some of our players become very addicted. Just because it is deemed casual does not make it necessarily light or superficial in content. They can be very engaging. Casual gamers can also be very demanding, so making good casual experiences is likewise not any easier. 0Sign inorRegisterto rate and replyAlfonso Sexto Lead Tester, Ubisoft Germany5 years ago Players, or “P(l)ayers”; the final customers, are often the ones using this term. It may be logical or no, but I would not dare call it “bullshit” when they are the ones using said term to define products (and their purchases). The moment your game is labeled as “casual” or “hardcore” by the audience you already have a clue of which portion of the market your product will be placed into.I can’t call that bullshit, at least on a practical context. Don Daglow: “I’m calling bullshit on core, mid-core and casual”Veteran developer believes restrictive marketing language stems from industry’s outdated veneration of difficultyMatthew HandrahanEditor-in-ChiefTuesday 19th April 2016Share this article Recommend Tweet ShareVeteran game designer Don Daglow used the stage at Berlin’s Quo Vadis conference to mark an end to the use of three familiar but insidiously restrictive terms: core, mid-core, and casual.Daglow illustrated his point with a slide depicting three animals: an elephant, a horse, and a mouse. Which of these animals, Daglow asked the somewhat bemused audience, most resembles a cat? The crowd’s silence was deafening, but it was also expected.”Lots of games are not like core, lots of games are not like mid-core, and lots of games are not like casual,” Daglow said. “But we keep on trying to force them into these terms, and then we can’t discuss our own craft. That’s why I’m calling bullshit on, ‘core, mid-core and casual.’ We need to find other ways to talk about our games. We need to open up the discussion beyond our three animals.””We keep on trying to force the games into these terms, and then we can’t discuss our own craft” Daglow’s career as a game designer stretches back to the early Seventies, and he worked in prominent roles at some of the industry’s pioneering companies. He was director of game development for the Intellivision at Mattel in 1980, for example, and joined EA a year after its foundation. However, at a time when the industry’s products have never been so diverse, the language used to describe its audience is as restrictive and reductive as at any point in his career.Specifically, the hard line between “core” and “casual” players was drawn around a decade ago, when the emergence of the Wii, the iPhone and social games presented a challenge to the fundamental assumptions on which the entire world of game development was based. By the era of PlayStation 2 and Xbox, publishers could, “predict what games would sell. You could sell large numbers of games for the first time. You could have series and franchises that would sell year after year. People who were trained in the business [at that time] were being trained in this stable world order.”We went from peace and security, where we felt we knew what was going to happen, and we transitioned to this period where suddenly we didn’t feel that way… We weren’t used to seeing games with those characteristics be hits.”The most fundamental of the assumptions undermined by those new platforms – an assumption that, Daglow said, goes back to, “the very roots of game design” – is that all games should be difficult. For those accustomed to making games under that way of thinking, “what makes a game a game – the fact that it is a challenge – was under attack.” In fact, Daglow said, the need to satiate a “core” audience with challenging games had been problematic for the industry for more than a decade.”We would sit at lunch – and this went on for years – and say, ‘Here’s the problem we have: the magazine reviewers, who had so much influence on gamers, are very expert players, and they want very challenging games. Our own teams are expert players who want to make challenging games. The people in retail want very challenging games. And the first 100,000 people who will buy a game on a console want very challenging games.’ So when the people who control your economic success, and your first customers, all want very challenging games, you’d better give them those games.”But there was a problem. You’d sell your first 100,000 copies to those faithful players, yes, but as the Nineties went on, 100,000 copies was not enough to keep your job… If you made the game challenging enough to please the first 100,000 people, it meant you couldn’t get to 1 million.” But if you made a game too accessible, it wouldn’t get enough support from the (at that time) all-powerful games media to sway the die-hard fans. “It felt like a trap,” Daglow said, one that motivated publishers to start experimenting more than ever with partitioning games into difficulty levels. “We get to the point where we are so preoccupied with the issue of difficulty that we stop talking about everything else” It also prompted publishers to alter the language they used to describe the audience, switching from “hardcore” to just “core” when the “hard” part was no longer considered a desirable message. “Because core sounds very friendly… Core sounds very reassuring. Core sounds like you’re going for the centre.” By the time the Wii, Facebook and the iPhone emerged less than a decade later, Daglow said, the ensuing debate around casual games altered the perception of what “core” meant. “The term ‘core’ began to mean, ‘Dammit, you’re not going to take away our games.’ “The way we talk about core and casual [now] refers to only one thing: difficulty. We get to the point where we are so preoccupied with the issue of difficulty that we stop talking about everything else. We end up classifying our audience by the difficulty of the games they want to play.”This division, Daglow said, has always been a simplification, regardless of which words are used to describe the opposing sides. The games industry has grown far beyond the size and scope of the Nineties, and yet its products are still frequently grouped under terms that originate from that era – and only applied to a relatively small number of very skilled players even then.Related JobsSenior Game Designer – UE4 – AAA United Kingdom Amiqus GamesProgrammer – REMOTE – work with industry veterans! North West Amiqus GamesJunior Video Editor – GLOBAL publisher United Kingdom Amiqus GamesDiscover more jobs in games Rather than propose new terms to replace core, mid-core and casual, though, Daglow simply asked the audience to consider new ways of thinking about their audience, and the often personal nature of their experiences. When he meets people that love games he worked on in the past, he said, “Never do they tell you about the graduation of play mechanics between the first and the second hour. I’ve never had that comment, or anything like it. But they will say where they were in their lives, both geographically and the age they were; who they were playing it with; and why it was so important that they still remember, that they still care. That ‘Why?’ always matters… We’re trying to create not just a thought, but a feeling.”We have to give that room [to the player]. We have to create that environment, instead of us telling our players why they play. That’s the part we have to leave for them… It is not only our objective, but our obligation as artists. Sometimes the words get in the way of doing that very important work.”GamesIndustry.biz is a media partner for the Quo Vadis conference. Our travel and accommodation costs were provided by the organiser.Celebrating employer excellence in the video games industry8th July 2021Submit your company Sign up for The Daily Update and get the best of GamesIndustry.biz in your inbox. Enter your email addressMore storiesSolving the marketing mystery of Loop HeroFaced with promoting an intentionally enigmatic game, Devolver Digital’s Robbie Paterson drew inspiration from a Nine Inch Nails ARG and old PC gaming magazinesBy Jeffrey Rousseau 9 days agoMr Men books are for children. Assassin’s Creed is not and never should be | OpinionUbisoft is trying to expand the audience for its flagship brand, but more than oversteps when it targets kids who are too young to even readBy James Batchelor 19 days agoLatest comments (5)James Berg Games User Researcher
PUBG Corp files copyright lawsuit against Epic Games
3Sign inorRegisterto rate and replySign in to contributeEmail addressPasswordSign in Need an account? Register now. 2 years ago Where? Because the two games looks (and to some extent – plays) nothing alike. And as far as I know, you can’t copyright a genre, otherwise Nintendo would be the only company allowed to make platformers. PUBG Corp files copyright lawsuit against Epic GamesKorean developer began proceedings in January, alleging Fortnite plagiarises PUBGHaydn TaylorSenior Staff WriterTuesday 29th May 2018Share this article Recommend Tweet SharePUBG Corp. has filed a lawsuit against Epic Games, alleging that Fortnite plagiarises PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. According to The Korea Times, a PUBG Corp spokesperson said the company filed an injunction with the Seoul Central District Court against Epic Games Korea in January of this year. Epic Games first attracted criticism from PUBG Corp. in September 2017 after deciding to launch a battle royale mode for Fortnite, seemingly to capitalise on the rampant success of PUBG over the months prior. Related JobsSenior Game Designer – UE4 – AAA United Kingdom Amiqus GamesProgrammer – REMOTE – work with industry veterans! North West Amiqus GamesJunior Video Editor – GLOBAL publisher United Kingdom Amiqus GamesDiscover more jobs in games Officially filing the lawsuit is a bold move however, given that PUBG is built on the Unreal Engine, licensed from Epic Games. Just last month, PUBG Corp. also filed a similar lawsuit against NetEase for alleged copyright infringement found in its two mobile battle royale titles, Knives Out and Rules of Survival.Neither Epic Games nor PUBG Corp. were able to pass comment on the issue.Celebrating employer excellence in the video games industry8th July 2021Submit your company Sign up for The Daily Update and get the best of GamesIndustry.biz in your inbox. Enter your email addressMore storiesEpic vs Apple – Week One Review: Epic still faces an “uphill battle”Legal experts share their thoughts on the proceedings so far, and what to expect from the coming weekBy James Batchelor 12 hours agoEpic Games claims Fortnite is at “full penetration” on consoleAsserts that mobile with the biggest growth potential as it fights for restoration to iOS App StoreBy James Batchelor 15 hours agoLatest comments (2)Dariusz G. Jagielski Game Developer 5Sign inorRegisterto rate and replyJordan Lund Columnist 2 years ago @Dariusz – To say nothing of the fact that the genre title “Battle Royale” is from a Japanese book and film…
Super Seducer 2 creator faults #MeToo movement, “a few bad apples” for first game’s controversy
Super Seducer 2 creator faults #MeToo movement, “a few bad apples” for first game’s controversyRichard and Kate La Ruina discuss production struggles, criticism, and changes they did and did not make in the sequelRebekah ValentineSenior Staff WriterFriday 17th August 2018Share this article Recommend Tweet ShareRichard La Ruina is, by very definition, a game developer. He’s the creator of “the world’s most realistic seduction simulator,” Super Seducer, and is about to release its sequel, Super Seducer 2. But when I spoke to him, he laughingly remarked that he’s not that great at the nuts and bolts of making games.”We’re not technical at all,” Richard said. “We really like the FromSoftware games like Bloodborne and Dark Souls. We’d love to make something like that.””But we can’t,” added Kate La Ruina, who is the producer for Super Seducer 2, and Richard’s wife.”When we finished the first game, it was difficult sometimes for us to play it, because it was a bit awkward and we knew we could have done better” In fact, Richard La Ruina has made a name for himself as a dating coach and founder of the company PUA Training, with PUA standing for “pick-up artist.” Both Super Seducer and its sequel follow that line of training, and purport to teach men how to approach, flirt with, and ultimately date or sleep with women in various real-life scenarios. Players make choices as to how they think they should act in a given scenario. Then, Richard offers critique and advice on why that choice was a good or poor one to make.In Super Seducer 2, he’s joined by dating coach Charlotte Jones in an effort to add a “woman’s touch” after the first game was criticized for, among other things, teaching creepy or stalker-like behavior, misogyny, and was referred to at one point as “the world’s sleaziest game.”Both games are largely interactive films, with all of the game’s scenes and dialogue performed in filmed, live-action sequences. These are knit together into various seduction and dating scenarios, with the player making choices to determine what should be done next.”We found our niche in video, and there aren’t many games that do that,” Richard continued. “We were thinking after this production, because we actually got a much more professional crew that actually works on TV shows and films, that we could easily make a feature film or TV series or an interactive game that was like an action-adventure, horror, spy, whatever it might be, but a different kind of interactive game. So if people like the production values and the acting of Super Seducer 2, then we could probably take the same kind of ability to make that quality of video and try to make something in a different genre.””But also with this kind of game it’s especially important that players can see real people, real expressions, real body language,” Kate said. “That’s what a relationship is all about. Human interactions, right? Especially when you’re trying to teach people to have better interactions.”With ten times the budget of the first game, Richard La Ruina said his team was able to put much more time and consideration into planning and actually filming Super Seducer 2Richard says that some of those key human interactions, however, weren’t as polished as they could have been in the first game. He aims to fix that in the sequel.”Obviously, Super Seducer was our first game,” Richard said. “We learned a lot about every stage of the process. Half of it is like shooting a movie, to get all of the scenes. The second half is the coding and promotion. When we finished the first game, it was difficult sometimes for us to play it, because it was a bit awkward and we knew we could have done better. It was difficult to watch some of the Let’s Plays. We made a list of all the things we wanted to improve, so just about everything [is different]: the acting, the way it looks, the scripting, the amount of interactivity, the variety; many, many things.””When we scripted [the first game], we didn’t really rehearse or visualize it” Richard was candid about what he saw as the flaws of his first video game, which he felt suffered from the team’s inexperience and obliviousness to the scrutiny that would be placed upon it. The first game only had a handful of actors, and many of its scenes were shot in only a few hours with little preparation.”When we scripted [the first game], we didn’t really rehearse or visualize it,” Richard said. “So the actor would show up on the day and we’d be like ‘Okay, here’s the script. Someone hold that. Okay, what’s the next line? Hang on, that doesn’t make sense based on what we just did.’ It was not well-planned or rehearsed. The amount of footage we got, I think it was nine hours, but to do it properly would have required many, many months of pre-production. We were kind of winging it. It was like, ‘Where are we shooting tomorrow? We don’t know.’ And we would shoot two levels in one day.”We even found when it came time to put them into the game, we saw some things wouldn’t make sense. You’d ask for a number, get it, then later on ask for the number again. We had all of these stupid continuity problems. It was also just a bit awkward because we didn’t have professional actors, and millions of other reasons I could give you.”Super Seducer 2 will feature a much larger and more diverse cast and crew than its predecessorWith Super Seducer 2, Richard is working with ten times the budget of the first game. Not only does that mean he can spend more time planning, scripting, filming, and smoothing the first game’s rough production edges, but it also allowed him to try some new things. The game includes an interactive standup comedy set, for one. And two of the sequel’s ten levels are played through the perspective of a single woman, rather than a man.Despite this, Richard said the game is still primarily targeted toward men.”We didn’t want to make [the game] fifty-fifty with the women’s perspective levels, because we didn’t know how people would take to them. We’re trying a lot of new things in Super Seducer 2, and if they’re popular we would include them, I don’t know, we could do a spin-off just for women, or we could do more female perspective levels.”We do keep in mind that the majority of the players would be male, but I think the female perspective levels do a good job of showing the right way for a woman to go out and meet men. Part of my background is in coaching women as well. We did sit down with a lot of different women and my wife helped with it and a single friend who’s gone out and met lots of men. We did a lot of brainstorming to make sure they were right and hitting both angles to be useful and interesting for women, and also give men a little bit of insight into what a woman would think when she’s single and looking for men, and how she might show that she’s single and interested.”Nonetheless, Richard hopes women will play Super Seducer 2, just as some did the first game.”I think a lot of women played Super Seducer,” he said. “We saw quite a lot on Twitch. I know it was entertaining on Twitch, and I actually preferred to see the woman’s perspective on what she’d think would work or not. That’s usually a lot more interesting than the male perspective. We watched a lot of that. I’m sure a lot of women will play it. I think it will be quite popular with the big Twitch players, and there are a few I’d like to see play the game.”But speaking of women’s thoughts on the game, Richard was very aware that the first Super Seducer was not well-received by many who saw the premise of the game, as well as many of its internal elements, to be sexist, misogynist, or objectifying. To some degree, Richard wants to change that with the sequel. The game’s press releases have referred to Super Seducer 2 as having “cleaned up its act,” calling it “more inclusive.” One email release said, “as the current political and societal climate shows only too readily, it is evermore important to educate what’s acceptable and unacceptable when interacting with potential love interests.””We were thinking, ‘It’s a game about seduction, so we need some sexy chicks'” But Richard was careful to distinguish between what critics felt was problematic and what he saw as awkward missteps on a level with the the first game’s clumsy production problems. For example, making correct or “green” choices in the first game rewarded the player with praise from Richard, while he sat on a bed surrounded by scantily clad women fawning over him.”When we made the first game, we just made some casual decisions,” he said. “It was not an established franchise, and we were thinking, ‘It’s a game about seduction, so we need some sexy chicks.’ That was our idea. We played games ourselves, and you can pick many, many well-respected, well-reviewed games that use sexuality. Our view was that this was a game about seduction and meeting women, so having attractive women in the game is relevant here, versus like an action game. That was how that came to be.”We really didn’t think that seriously about it, and then obviously we had a lot of time to reflect and see all the comments and criticism. So we were a lot more serious about every decision in the sequel. There was a lot of stuff in the first game where I was kind of flippant. Like, ‘Oh, don’t do that. It’s okay in the game, but don’t do that in real life.’ Or ‘Don’t do that in real life because you might get arrested,’ instead of ‘Don’t do that because it’s wrong.’ Or whatever it was. People picked on certain things, and although I could defend them, I’d rather give less for people to point to. So we were much more careful in the second game to say why you shouldn’t do something, why something was morally wrong, being careful that our green choices really are as green as possible, and giving all the disclaimers. “With the first Super Seducer, Richard felt that the game’s “red options,” which were the worst choices that could be made, were so bad as to be obviously not correct. Orange choices, he says, were intended to be common, harmless mistakes men might make when speaking to women, such as being boring or talking about themselves too much. “It was a little surprising to be taken so seriously,” he said.Super Seducer 2 aims to teach men how to approach women with the intention of romance, dating, or sex, but presumes that all or most women encountered in-game are ‘single and available’Honing in on criticism of the red options’ inclusion, Richard noted that Super Seducer 2 will be much more clear about green options being absolutely correct, and the criticism of red options focusing on the wrongness of the act involved. But that seems to be the limit to which he took the criticism along those lines.”People said, ‘You shouldn’t bother a woman when she’s in the street.’ ‘You shouldn’t talk to a woman reading a book in a coffee shop.’ ‘You shouldn’t talk to two women in a bar having a conversation.’ We do definitely have the premise that it’s okay to talk to strangers.”I asked him if it was all right, then, to approach women who were obviously busy doing something else.”I think everyone’s busy doing something,” Richard said. “I think everyone’s on their phone these days, everyone’s with someone at some point, or shopping, or whatever. We have a lot of real world experience of people having met in these situations, our female friends, our male friends, and our customers when I used to teach live events. Companies of people who teach women have stories of people meeting in coffee shops, and all places we use in the game. The key thing is you should be able to approach, not in any environment, but public places should be okay. You just need to be respectful and leave the person better off than you found them.””Just for it being more like a game, we made it so that you can ‘win’ in every situation” Though Richard and Kate acknowledged in real life not everyone is interested in being approached, they defended the idea that almost everyone in their game should be.”If you’re in a fighting game, there’s no option to make friends with the guy and finish the level,” he said.”Or in Assassin’s Creed, not to kill anyone,” Kate added.”We did struggle with that a bit,” Richard continued. “The idea is that in these situations the women are generally single and available, and the men too in the women’s perspective levels. We might have been able to have a situation where there were three different women in a bar and two of them were not at all interested and you can’t get anywhere, and that would be something we could consider, it’s just that any time we include more characters and more choices involving different casts, it takes up a lot of time. Just for it being more like a game, we made it so that you can ‘win’ in every situation, and I think it goes without saying that obviously there are lots of occasions where it wouldn’t work regardless of who you are and what you do. I think we tried harder to make that clear in the feedback.”It’s worth noting that while some of the scenarios listed for Super Seducer 2 sound like plausible situations where single people might approach one another (such as the “Dating App” scenario), others are a far cry from the coffee shop vision Richard describes.According to the game’s website, one scenario is between a boss attempting to seduce his secretary, promising to teach men how to “successfully navigate and avoid getting fired (or sent to jail).” Another focuses on a strip club customer desiring to see an employee of the club outside work “without paying for tons of dances.” Two other titles “Interracial Dating” and “Older Mahmoud, Younger Woman” may be a red flag for anyone who doesn’t trust the game to handle its “inclusion” promises respectfully. Another description pokes fun at the idea of the perceived difficulty of dating a feminist.This screenshot from Super Seducer 2, presumably from the ‘Boss and Secretary’ scenario, appears to be one of the game’s ‘Wrong Moves’ based on the image’s file nameAnd beyond the content itself, there are plenty of criticisms of the very premise of the game–the idea that sleeping with a woman is a certain reward for playing correctly, and a premise that can have troubling implications if translated into real life.Richard says that’s not the point at all.”People might say the subject itself is a problem, and obviously I have big problems with that because there’s a double standard,” Richard said. “It’s dating advice for men at the end of the day. There are a lot of terrible things in the world at the moment, and giving dating advice to men shouldn’t be one.””There are a lot of men who want to meet women, and there are a lot of women who want to meet men,” Kate said. “And a lot of men know very well what not to do, because they’re being told all the time, but they have no idea what TO do, because no one tells them. Then they can’t be happy, and they stay single and lonely and depressed. People have never been this lonely–I just came across some statistic the other day about how lonely the average person in the UK is, and it’s a real concern.””If we were making the game exclusively for women, and it was women’s dating tips, we’d get no heat whatsoever” Super Seducer 2 will launch on Steam exclusively for now, and Richard said the team didn’t even try to launch it on other platforms. The first Super Seducer was reportedly blocked on PS4 by Sony, though a specific reason for the block was not given. Richard said he couldn’t comment on what had happened, but did say if the second game gets a good response, “we might go back to some other outlets.”Nevertheless, the game’s controversy has been a source of frustration for La Ruina, who believes the problems lie in a cultural shift rather than a fundamental problem with the game he’s making.Related JobsSenior Game Designer – UE4 – AAA United Kingdom Amiqus GamesProgrammer – REMOTE – work with industry veterans! North West Amiqus GamesJunior Video Editor – GLOBAL publisher United Kingdom Amiqus GamesDiscover more jobs in games “If we were making the game exclusively for women, and it was women’s dating tips, we’d get no heat whatsoever,” Richard said. “This is the business I was in. It used to be totally mainstream and accepted. I was on all of the UK TV channels, my book was published by Harper-Collins and Random House, and it’s only been a thing in the past few years where it went from being cool to teach dating tips to men to something that’s just pure evil where you might easily get compared to the worst people on the planet.”I asked him what he thought had brought about this shift.”It’s definitely the #MeToo movement, and it’s definitely the mistakes of some seduction gurus or pick-up artists that have done bad things,” he said. “Like anything, there’s a spectrum. There’s reason for it. But to throw everyone under the bus because of a few bad apples, or to say that because there were some famous guys or powerful guys who took advantage and did some terrible things, that this can translate into a really nice guy approaching someone he likes in a coffee shop in a respectable way, it’s a bit of a jump.”Celebrating employer excellence in the video games industry8th July 2021Submit your company Sign up for The Daily Update and get the best of GamesIndustry.biz in your inbox. Enter your email addressMore storiesAdopt Me developers unveil new studio, Uplift GamesTeam behind hit Roblox game has grown to over 40 employeesBy Danielle Partis 11 hours agoDeveloper wins against Grand Theft Auto DMCA takedownTake-Two loses claim to reversed-engineered source made by fansBy Danielle Partis 15 hours agoLatest comments (2)Dariusz G. Jagielski Game Developer 3Sign inorRegisterto rate and replySign in to contributeEmail addressPasswordSign in Need an account? Register now. 2 years ago That guy has a wife and she hasn’t left him yet? Wow.
1Sign inorRegisterto rate and replyPaul Acevedo Games Editor, Windows Central2 years ago For me, he says all the right things in this piece… Right up until the end. Blaming the #Metoo movement, whose goal is to stop sexual harassment and rape in the workplace, etc. for perceptions against this game is counter-productive at the very least.
“Games that have succeeded in Turkey are all localised — that’s hands down”
“Games that have succeeded in Turkey are all localised — that’s hands down”Vardiya co-founder Meriç Eryürek on the untapped opportunity in Turkey’s population of 30 million gamersMatthew HandrahanEditor-in-ChiefMonday 8th April 2019Share this article Recommend Tweet ShareBuilding a national industry and market for video games takes decades of persistent effort — even when starting from a position of stability. For a country like Turkey, though, the difficulty of that process is magnified; the fortunes of its developers and players at the mercy of global events.”We all know the world is in an invisible turmoil, and Turkey is in turmoil,” says Meriç Eryürek, when we meet in the quietest corner of the crowded Gaming Istanbul expo. “There are a lot of jumps, high and low, in the exchange [rate] versus Euros and US Dollars. It affects the games market a lot.”As the co-founder of regional marketing specialist Vardiya, Eryürek is attuned to the concerns of both local and international companies regarding Turkey. The company’s client list includes Tencent and Ubisoft, but despite the national industry’s continued growth, Eryürek believes the country’s larger issues — including its trade relations with the United States — have created “a total disaster” for those working in games. Fluctuations in the value of the Turkish Lira make measuring the market difficult, he says, but it creates even bigger problems for local developers attempting to do business internationally.”For every country there is a perception, and there is a perception for Turkey as well. We are trying to overcome it” “If a company runs a campaign localised in Turkish Lira, it will be lower than, let’s say, Russia,” Eryürek says. “And that means thousands of people will VPN and buy from here.”Adjust the Turkish price to bring it into line with Russia, however, and many Turkish gamers will be priced out of the market. According to Eryürek, this situation means that, “global companies marketing in a lot of regions are now sceptical about Turkey.””It is not always easy to get people from other countries to Turkey and the MENA region,” he says, referring to both doing business with international publishers, and attracting high-profile guests to attend GIST. “For every country there is a perception, and there is a perception for Turkey as well. We are trying to overcome it.”Ten years ago I would have said the future is bright, but right now the competition is fierce.”Without the instability caused by forces far beyond its control, the Turkish games industry might already be a greater force worldwide. The country itself has a population of 82 million, making it larger than any single European country in terms of population. And according to a 2018 market report created for GIST, that population includes 59 million active users of the internet, 51 million users active on social media, and 50 smartphone owners.Most importantly, though, 30 million people in Turkey identify as gamers.”Our strength is the population,” Eryürek says. “It’s a big country… You have a lot of consumers here. This is maybe not a lot in terms of Asian numbers, but for Europe? Having 30 million gamers — it’s like a country.”According to Turkish trade minister Ruhsar Pekcan, the national games industry hit $1 billion in exports in 2018, up from just $500 million in 2016 — as reported by the Daily Sabah. According to the GIST market report, revenue generated by Turkish players reached $853 million in 2018, up from $810 million the previous year. That figure makes it the 18th most lucrative games market in the world, and it is growing year after year.”Most cultural barriers are not as strong here as they are in the MENA. It is a middle-ground environment” Crucially, it also puts Turkey ahead of Saudi Arabia, the second most lucrative market in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region with $800 million in revenue in 2018. According to Eryürek: “Right now every big player is turning their eyes to the MIddle East, because 20% of the world’s population resides here, and some of the countries have high income rates.”Turkey is the de facto leader of the MENA in terms of the value of its industry, and also in the profile of its most successful companies: TaleWorlds, the creator of hit PC franchise Mount & Blade; Peak Games, which sold its card game studio to Zynga for $100 million in November 2017; and Gram Games, which capped a period of rapid expansion by being acquired outright by Zynga for $250 million in May 2018. “If you’re entering the MENA market commercially, Turkey is your business’ entry,” Eryürek says. “And it is the same the other way around; if you’re in MENA and you have a product to sell to the world, it makes sense to use Turkey.”And culturally, most cultural barriers are not as strong here as they are in the MENA. It is a middle-ground environment.”PUBG is one of the games to take advantage of a market hungry for competitive, online, free-to-play PC gamesThis “middle-ground” position has manifested in several ways. NetMarble is now managing its entire MENA strategy from a Turkish office, Eryürek says, while companies like Epic Games and Riot Games have a larger presence in Turkey than elsewhere in the region. As a linking point — both geographically and culturally — with Europe, Turkey has also become a natural starting market for international companies wishing to test products for both regions.”Tencent Games, for example, has seen it,” Eryürek says. “It launched [Arena of Valour] for the first time outside China in Turkey. They wanted to see what it will do in Europe, in the Middle East. Turkey is the middle-ground.”Arena of Valor is also an ideal product-type for the market. There isn’t a significant audience for consoles, Eryürek says, though what does exist is dominated by PlayStation. The most popular games in the country are on PC and mobile, online, competitive, and free-to-play.”The problem is that global companies don’t do any marketing here” “It is a PC and mobile competitive market, and mostly free-to-play,” he says. “But free-to-play doesn’t mean that Turksih people do not spend money on games.”In fact, Eryürek puts the annual spend of the average Turkish gamer at $120 a year, and he believes that figure could be much higher. The biggest obstacle for many Turkish gamers, he says, isn’t so much money or access to the internet — cybercafes are abundant and hugely popular in Turkey — but one that international publishers already have the power to address”Language,” Eryürek says. “The products should be in Turkish. The games that have succeeded are all localised — that’s hands down. People will still play [if not], but localisation creates a huge leap.”Indeed, out of 88 countries included in the EF English Proficiency Index, Turkey is currently at 73 — one place below Nicaragua, and one above Jordan. Despite this, and despite the country’s huge population of gamers, major publishers have been slow to increase their efforts in this crucial area.”For 20 years, companies have just used their global marketing materials, sometimes in the original language,” Eryürek says. “It simply doesn’t work. Riot got 13 million active accounts in Turkey — because they did League of Legends in Turkish. Fortnite is doing it in Turkish. PUBG is doing it in Turkish. And they are getting the gamers.”The problem is that global companies don’t do any marketing here. And since they don’t do any marketing… people just go for the online titles. But once they do a localised marketing effort and a localised price tag, it can be a success.”Related JobsSenior Game Designer – UE4 – AAA United Kingdom Amiqus GamesProgrammer – REMOTE – work with industry veterans! North West Amiqus GamesJunior Video Editor – GLOBAL publisher United Kingdom Amiqus GamesDiscover more jobs in games Fortunately, the number of companies investing in proper localisation and building a Turkish audience as a result is growing. Eryürek lists popular online titles like Black Desert Online, Rainbow Six Siege, and particularly PUBG Mobile as evidence, but he offers one example that suggests Turkey could be a prosperous market even for offline, single-player titles.”For The Witcher 3, CD Projekt just took the hit — they localised the price,” he says. “It got a lot of attention, and sales. It sold a lot of copies, just because they localised the price. “There is an opportunity here, but it has to be done in the ways of Turkey, and the ways of the MENA.”Celebrating employer excellence in the video games industry8th July 2021Submit your company Sign up for The Publishing & Retail newsletter and get the best of GamesIndustry.biz in your inbox. Enter your email addressMore storiesEA leans on Apex Legends and live services in fourth quarterQ4 and full year revenues close to flat and profits take a tumble, but publisher’s bookings still up double-digitsBy Brendan Sinclair 2 hours agoUbisoft posts record sales yet again, delays Skull & Bones yet againPublisher moves away from target of 3-4 premium AAA titles a year, wants to build free-to-play “to be trending toward AAA ambitions over the long term”By Brendan Sinclair 6 hours agoLatest comments Sign in to contributeEmail addressPasswordSign in Need an account? Register now.