Game industry business news

2K Games’ Borderlands 2 finally has a firm release date on PlayStation Vita. The publisher has confirmed that the game will launch in the US on March 18th. There’s no word yet on a UK or European date. Friday March 21st seems like a logical guess, although that could mean …

David Cameron’s brave new world of socially responsible internetting could interfere with League of Legends. Kotaku reports that the game’s patching program attempts to access two URLs – specifically VarusExpirationTimer.luaobj and XerathMageChainsExtended.luaobj – that the filter is blocking by default due to the inclusion of the word ‘sex’. Whether a …

The reffff-er-reeee’s a… n official partner of EA Sports. EA has signed a long-term agreement with Professional Game Match Officials Limited that will run until the 2018/19 season and see match officials sporting EA Sports-branded kit wear. The new garb was seen for the first time in last night’s 1-1 …

Another console has seen its RRP significantly cut on the High Street. Argos is currently selling the Wii U Premium console along with a copy of Nintendo land for 179.99. That’s a 120 saving over the hardware’s RRP. The machine was available for as little as 200 from time to …

Harmonix is rumoured to have put an end to the development of an unannounced Xbox One Kinect effort. Game industry detective Superannuation’s latest post on Kotaku points to the LinkedIn profile of the studio’s senior level designer, Rob Stokes. Stokes states on his page that the project’s development has been …

Candy Crush developer King has received approval from the US Patent and Trademark Office over the trademarking of the term candy.” Gamezebo reports if the trademark is published without opposition, the free-to-play studio will receive exclusive use of the term in any video games and clothing products. Should that occur, …

Microsoft reportedly made deals with several Machinima video partners for extra pay, provided they promote Xbox One without mentioning any endorsement from the firm. A piece on Ars Technica alleges that the terms of the promotion included an extra $3 per thousand views bonus from Microsoft to video producers highlighting …

We normally wouldn’t put too much stock into analyst predictions, but when a console price drop is the topic of discussion, any sliver of hope is welcome. Games industry analyst Michael Pachter has said on Gametrailers’Bonus Round that publishers have been putting pressure on Sony and Microsoft to effect price …

Marcin Iwinski’s love for games and his passion for the work his company does are infectious. Having started out as a publisher and distributor in Poland, CD Projekt announced itself on the world stage with The Witcher series of role-playing games, and then with its ever-popular, DRM-free digital distribution service, …

Xbox One is the subject of a price cut for the first time by a UK online retailer. Zavvi currently has the standard version of the console available for just 409.99. That’s 20 off the SKU’s RRP and is – as far as MCV aware – the cheapest the machine …