Game industry business news

14 UK games approved for tax relief so far

The BFI has said that 14 games have started down the road toward UK tax relief. An agreement on tax relief plans was confirmed last year and since August 13 titles have received interim certification and one has received final certification from the BFI Certification Unit. These include: Beyond Flesh …

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ASA warns YouTubers about product promotion

The Advertising Standards Authority has warned YouTubers that they need to make it clear when they are paid to promote products. A BBC report found that many of what it described as videos by some of UK’s best-known vloggers” broke the existing rules which require that viewers are explicitly made …

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Star Wars Minecraft skins hit Xbox platforms

Microsoft has announced the release of the Star Wars Classic Skin Pack for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One editions of Minecraft. The add-on is available now for $2.99, and includes a laundry list of playable skins for characters involved in the original Star Wars trilogy. Multiple variations of Luke, …

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Turtle Rock details Evolve’s inclusive approach to DLC

Evolve will offer all of its DLC maps for free and its premium DLC won’t directly exclude players who have only purchased the base game, developer Turtle Rock Studios has revealed. In an interview with IGN, creative director Phil Robb revealed all maps released for the game post-launch will be …

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Sony settles with FTC, to refund Vita customers over false advertising

Sony Computer Entertainment America has settled with the FTC over false and misleading advertisement charges involving PS Vita’s launch campaign. As part of the settlement, Sony will offer partial refunds to Vita customers who purchased the device prior to June 1st, 2012. Qualifying individuals will have their choice between a …

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Strauss Zelnick: There’s more to Take-Two than Grand Theft Auto

If you’ve read any of our Take-Two interviews in recent years, you’ll have read the same story: Take-Two is no-longer the Grand Theft Auto company. It’s something CEO Strauss Zelnick likes to remind us at every available moment. They have over 30 1m+ selling brands, he says. But that’s actually …

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The Secret Games Designer – the making of Xbox One

Carl Ledbetter is a games industry master of disguise. He leads a team of 35 that spent three years building the Xbox One into a machine that blends into the background and gets forgotten. The console’s 16:9 aspect ratio is meant to reflect that of a widescreen TV. The front …

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Sony turns to PlayStation, backs away from mobile and TV business

PlayStation is being engineered as the saviour of Sony’s struggling technology business. Reuters reports that the company intends to slash its existing smartphone and TV ranges and instead work to boost its PlayStation sales by up to a quarter in an effort to reverse recent declines. "We’re not aiming for …

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Kickstarter suspends blood collecting game accessory

Crowdfunding giant Kickstarter has suspended a project for an accessory that took blood from its users. Blood Sport proposed connecting a blood collection unit to a player’s controller. Whenever a rumble signal is received (something that the pitch seemed to believe signalled that a player had been hit) a small …

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