Game industry business news

EA plays down annual release for Battlefield IP

Battlefield looks unlikely to become an annual release in direct competition to Call of Duty. The reason, according to CFO and executive VP Blake Jorgensen, is principally that such a commitment requires at least two studios to be actively working on the brand. Plus, EA has worked hard to ensure …

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EA lays claim to 33% of PS4’s game sales

One in three PS4 games sold so far in the US has been made by EA. That’s the claim of COO Peter Moore whose company had four boxed titles ready for PS4’s day one – FIFA 14, Need for Speed Rivals, Battlefield 4 and Madden 25. There were a total …

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eBay sees huge next-gen console sales

Over 10,000 PS4 consoles were sold on eBay last weekend. A rep from the auction site told GameSpot that between November 15th and 17th over two PS4s were sold every minute and that over 15,000 of Sony’s next-gen machine have been sold since November 1st. A quick look on the …

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Sony revises PS4 failure rate estimate to ‘less than 1%’

The number of launch PS4’s believed to have suffered technical failures is higher than initially estimated. Sony last week estimated that the number of affected systems represents less than 0.4 per cent of shipped units to date” which was at the time within [Sony’s] expectations for a new product introduction". …

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UPDATE: Xbox One SmartGlass app arrives ahead of console launch

Microsoft has released Xbox One’s SmartGlass companion app, ahead of the console’s launch this Friday. Xbox One owners can use the SmartGlass device as a remote control and keyboard via the touch screen. The new version of the app also boasts "increased performance with faster connections and reliability," versus the …

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Sony: PS4 "by far the largest" launch in Canada’s history

The Canadian launch of PlayStation 4 is turning out to be the most successful console release in the country’s history. SCE Canada head Steve Turvey told Games Industry that PS4 blew away results from previous game-related retail releases in the country, at least tripling average numbers. The launch was a …

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32m watch League of Legends final

Over 32m people tuned into to watch the League of Legends World Championship final, Riot has revealed. At Peak, over 8.5m people watched the event at the same time. It makes it the biggest eSports event in history, and bigger than most ‘real’ sporting events. The tournament was held at …

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No Twitch streaming on Xbox One until 2014

Microsoft has confirmed that gameplay streaming via Twitch will not be available on Xbox One at launch. We know the ability to instantly broadcast gameplay is something the gaming community is excited about, and we are too,” the company said in a statement. We are working to ensure the initial …

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Free Super Mario 3D Land download for new 3DS owners

New (or old) 3DS owners who register their system after November 27th will get a free copy of Super Mario 3D Land. To be eligible a user must register both a console and one game from the list below between then and January 13th. The simply head over here and …

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Sony looking to cut $100m from Entertainment Division budget

Sony has enlisted management consultancy firm Bain and Co to find $100 million – about 62 million – in cuts, a person close to the firm has revealed. As part of the firms plan to make further cost savings and return itself to profit, the planned cuts will involve job …

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