NEW RELEASES: This week's major video game release is Nintendo's (NTDOY) "Super Mario Maker 2," a platformer and level editor game based on the "Super Mario" franchise. The game, which is a follow-up to 2015's "Super Mario Maker," launches exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on June 28 worldwide.
MAY GAME SALES: Last week, Business Insider reported that video game sales slowed in May as game publishers prepare for the latest iterations of video game consoles that will roll out in 2020. May video game sales were down 13% compared to the same month last year, according to Kevin Webb of Business Insider, who noted that this was the lowest monthly revenue total since May 2013, a few months prior to the launch of the PlayStation 4 (SNE) and Xbox One (MSFT). Webb added that only two new May releases ended up in the top ten best-selling titles of the month, namely Bethesda's "Rage 2" and Sega's (SGAMY) "Total War: Three Kingdoms."
GAMESTOP E3 PRE-ORDERS: On Wednesday, video game retailer GameStop (GME) revealed its top 10 most sought-after games coming out of E3 based on the number of customer pre-orders at the retailer. The following top 10 videogames were revealed or confirmed during E3 and are listed in pre-order ranking from GameStop's database: Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare," Nintendo's 'Pokemon Sword/Shield," Square Enix's "Final Fantasy VII Remake," CD Projekt Red's "Cyberpunk 2077," Take-Two's (TTWO) "Borderlands 3," Nintendo's "Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening," EA's (EA) "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," Microsoft's "Gears 5," Nintendo's "Super Mario Maker 2," and Activision's "Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled."
STEPHENS BEST IDEA: Yesterday, Stephens analyst Jeff Cohen told investors in a research note that he is switching his best idea in video games to Electronic Arts from Take-Two as he sees more near-term catalysts for the former, noting that season 2 of "Apex Legends" begins on July 2. While the analyst is not predicting that "Apex" is going to eclipse Epic's "Fortnite" again as it did in February, he thinks the popularity of "Fortnite" has "hit a lull" with season 2 launching at the right time to capture momentum for the EA title. Cohen added that he anticipates EA announcing a deal to bring "Apex" to China and mobile. The analyst maintained an Overweight rating on EA with a $120 price target.
OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:
"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.
Nintendo
+ (+0.00%)
Symbol now SONY
-0.16 (-0.30%)
Microsoft
-3.2 (-2.32%)
Sega Sammy Holdings
+ (+0.00%)
GameStop
+0.14 (+2.61%)
acquired by MSFT
-0.71 (-1.51%)
Take-Two
-0.39 (-0.34%)
Electronic Arts
-1.75 (-1.77%)