Game industry business news

The Japanese arm of Amazon has begun allowing international customers to buy video games. So what, you may ask? The move offers a brand new avenue for games importers, who until now have relied on import specialists, most of whom are typically more expensive. This will give potentially even more …

Undergraduate and postgraduate courses in High Performance Graphics and Games Engineering will include focus on use of Vulkan and DX12, as well as training in VFX, such as cloth, fur and hair modelling, and crowd simulation

The owner of the Coleco brand has said that it is no longer associated with the makers of a supposed retro console that was to carry its name. Retro VGS has decided that the work that they have created is not sufficient to demonstrate at this time,” the Coleco Facebook …

Oskar Burman has stepped down from his position as GM of Rovio Stockholm. Burman joined the newly-founded team in 2012, having previously served as GM and head of Easy Studios for publisher EA. I’ve resigned from Rovio – but can’t speak yet of the next step in my journey,” Burman …

The head of Battleborn developer Gearbox has interpreted Blizzard’s decision to pitch Overwatch against it as proof that both studios are on to something. Blizzard this morning confirmed a May 24th release date for Overwatch, with an open beta kicking off for pre-order customers on May 3rd – that’s the …

Valve have announced details of the next stop on their seasonal Majors tour, with Manila’s Mall of Asia playing host to a second Dota 2 tournament of the year. The Manila Major will take place over June 7-12, two months after ESL One Manila hosts another premier Dota tournament in …

Next month’s London Games Festival will offer a range of summits touching upon some of the most pressing subjects affecting the global games industry. Tickets are on sale for the talks, which will focus on virtual reality, eSports, games finance, games culture and audio. Each will feature a number of …

Fictional US president Frank Underwood’s latest gaming darling is another indie hit. In the early series of Netflix hit House of Cards, the then presidential hopeful was a big Call of Duty player and in one episode openly coveted a PlayStation Vita. In the third series, Ustwo’s mobile puzzle title …

Interface is returning to London on May 5th at St Mary’s Church – inviting publishers, developers and investors to make new connections and do business in a unique and informative event. The event will bring together over 350 firms in a series of one-to-one pitching meetings, informative masterclass sessions as …

The editor for franchises including Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Guild Wars and Gears of War is to leave games development completely. Cameron Harris has been at BioWare since late 2013, working on titles such as Dragon Age: Inquisition and upcoming sci-fi sequel Mass Effect: Andromeda. I’ve decided to exit the …