Game industry business news

O2 is to offer free wi-fi access to 3DS and DS owners across the UK. Owners of the handhelds will now see their machines automatically connect to internet hotspots that use O2’s service. These include McDonalds, Debenhams, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee, House of Fraser, Toby Carvery, Bluewater and large parts …

Game4u has opened its latest store on Khar Linking Road, one of Mumbai’s busiest shopping areas. This is Game4u’s first store not to be located in a mall, and its prime, central location is sure to give the retailer far more visibility. With the opening of the new store, Game4u …

Milestone Interactive has set up its first overseas presensce, with new offices in Singapore and Dubai. Milestone is one of India’s leading game distributors, partnering with publishers such as Sony, EA and Capcom. Its Game4u retail brand has a physical presence in several Indian cities, as well as online through …

A failure to keep pace with changes to the international games market has hit the Japanese games industry hardest. That’s according to a new report on the Japanese industry in weekly trade magazine Famitsu, as translated by Polygon. "This quarter featured tough earnings reports for companies overall," SMBC Nikko Securities …

But developer is understanding Illegitimate port of XBLA-exclusive

Since we announced this Kickstarter campaign we have seen more support from our community than we had ever hoped for.” That’s the message from studio Precursor Games after raising just $128k of its $1.35m Kickstarter target for Eternal Darkness successor Shadow of the Eternals. The studio has now pulled the …

Our Indie Retail Month in association with Gem continues to look at the UK’s top longest-running indies with Console Connections. Co-owner Mark Conacher tells MCV what goes into maintaining 20 years of high level customer service Truro-based Console Connections began life as small unit 20 years ago and now stocks …

Intel Developer Blog: Softtalkblog looks inside recently announced Beacon Mountain development environment

Skylanders is the best selling video game this year, so perhaps it was inevitable that a kids giant like Disney would try to take a cut of the market. MCV asks Skylanders business unit VP Joshua Taub and VP of marketing John Coyne what they are doing in response. And …

Activision’s former UK boss Peter Hepworth has accepted a job with the Government. He will head up a new joint venture from the Cabinet Office and Capita to promote best management practice and accredit training organisations. I am really looking forward to leading this exciting business,” Hepworth stated. One of …