Game industry business news

Something in the region of 6,000 job cuts could to be announced at Microsoft later this week, a report has claimed. Bloomberg says that the losses will target areas in which Microsoft and Nokia overlap, as well as marketing and engineering. The site cites the company’s 5,800 job cuts in …

A Steam-style Early Access programme is a common request amongst ID@Xbox developers, the platform holder’s Chris Charla has told Develop. Reports have been bubbling for some time about a similar program for PS4 and Charla told Develop in an interview last week that it’s a talking point at Xbox as …

Elite Dangerous is coming to PS4 and Xbox One, it seems. Speaking to Eurogamer Frontier boss David Braben said in no uncertain terms that he was not announcing a console port of the game. But then pretty much did. "I’ve just got to watch out," he said. "I don’t want …

Nic Murfett, interactive entertainment and sports groups associate at London law firm Harbottle & Lewis, explains what the new digital content laws are – and what they mean for online retailers.. In November 2011 the European Commission published its Directive on Consumer Rights which clarifies the protections afforded to consumers …

Sony is confident about the Vita’s future prospects in Japan, but is less certain about its place in the Western market. The handheld routinely vies it out with 3DS for supremacy in the weekly Japanese hardware charts. The story is completely different in the UK, however, where weekly sales are …

Team17's Debbie Bestwick explains why indies must never let go of their rights

Corrupting journalists. Misrepresenting women. Misleading gamers… even a bizarre accusation of racism. Ubisoft has been criticised quite a bit lately. Some of the complaints have been fair, others have been absolute nonsense but regardless, the organisation behind Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance has found itself under intense scrutiny over the …

21 per cent of popular video game YouTubers have admitted to being paid by developers to cover their titles. Gamasutra surveyed 141 YouTube Let’s Play stars and found that of those with 5,000 or more subscribers 21 per cent admitted to receiving payments with a further five per cent saying …

And Xbox is listening really closely to those developers

Publishing label Sold Out has told indies they shouldn’t ignore the opportunities that remain available in the traditional boxed market. Further to a recent deal struck with Worms developer Team 17, Sold Out is now on the hunt for new indie development partners that it argues are missing on substantial …