Game industry business news

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has admitted that the number of Xbox titles making their way to PC may reduce the need for some corners of the market to buy into Xbox One. When pressed by Polygon on why a gamer with a decent gaming PC would need to buy Microsoft, …

The number of physical stores selling video games jumped up in 2015. 6,609 stores sold games in the UK last year, a rise of 1,337 over 2014. The data comes via GfK and retail trade body ERA. Every store type increased last year, including electrical chains (up by three stores), …

It’s the debate that will seemingly never die: is esports real esports? Should professional gamers be considered athletes, or even semi-athletes considering the amount of hours they have to train, research and prepare? Should video games even be associating the most proficient of its kind with the word sports at …

Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U title Star Fox Zero will work hard to ensure that it is accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Development boss Shigeru Miyamoto told Time that the game will allow players to be invincible, the idea being that this will increase its appeal to kids. …

EverQuest Next is never going to see the light of day. Developer Daybreak has said that it has ceased development of the title, which was announced back in 2013 when Daybreak was still called Sony Online Entertainment. Development was previously scrapped and started over in 2011, with the studio saying …

Funding challenge survey reveals only a third of mobile devs apply for government grants

The developer behind MMO Wildstar is confirmed significant job losses at its studio. NCSoft’s Carbine Studios, which was established to develop and run Wildstar, has according to Polygon chopped over 70 jobs, amounting to around 40 per cent of its workforce. Those who remain have also been told that further …

Ubisoft said it was going to do it, and The Division has delivered. Last month the publisher told MCV that it thought The Division could be the best selling Q1 release ever. And that’s precisely what it’s achieved. The Tom Clancy shooter has broken the 11-year record set by Sony’s …

We already know that Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon are on the way in this, the 20th anniversary year of Pokemon. But another title has now also been confirmed. It’s called Pokemon Co-Master, Wired reports, and is a free-to-play digital boardgame in development for smartphones and tablets. The project is …

Deciding what marketing stunts to cover or not to cover can be somewhat difficult. Ultimately, as a trade site, MCV’s in the business of drawing attention to the marketing activities of our community, the UK games business But we also have to serve our readers. So bloke from some boy …