Game industry business news

The ASA will not take formal action against Sega regarding its video advertisements for February release Aliens: Colonial Marines. The publisher has, however, admitted that its ads did not accurately reflect the game. Sega and developer Gearbox attracted heavy criticism following the release of the game. This was partly because …

Dan Porter, the general manager of Zynga’s New York studio, has quit the company. Porter was the former CEO of Draw Something developer OMGPOP and joined Zynga as part of its $180m acquisition of the company in 2012. OMGPOP went on to become Zynga New York, and is currently developing …

With less than two weeks to go, tickets are running low for Stand Up for GamesAid. It all takes place at The Comedy Store in London’s Piccadilly Circus from 8pm on Monday April 15th. The event gathers together a number of recognisable faces from the UK comedy scene including MC …

ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino launch as social games firm takes gamble on new market

Players of troubled simulation title SimCity now have access to a free piece of Nissan-sponsored DLC. The Nissan Leaf Charging Station would in real-life allow owners of Nissan’s electric car the chance to plug in and recharge. In-game it gives its users a happiness boost and also offers a one-time …

The controller used with Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox is nearly identical to the model that ships with Xbox 360. That’s according to Kotaku, which has word from sources that both the new console and its controllers are currently in the hands of developers. The only noticeable difference is said to be …

EA All Play senior VP and general manager Nick Earl believes that most consumers have totally embraced freemium business models, saying detractors are just a loud minority. GI.biz reports that Earl spoke at GDC, calling free-to-play titles supported by microtransactions a market leader. The market has spoken very loudly that …

Activision has reported redundancies at Deadpool developer High Moon Studios. The publisher states that 40 full-time employees have been affected worldwide, and that the moves were made following Deadpool’s completion. "Activision Publishing consistently works to align its costs with its revenues – this is an ongoing process," Activision told Joystiq. …

Call of Duty: Black Ops II will receive its second DLC pack later this month, according to a leaked promotional image. The image (via Joystiq) was supposedly snapped at a Best Buy, and displays ‘Uprising’ as the content’s title, as well as an April 16th release date. The info matches …

Square Enix’s Los Angeles office has been hit with another wave of layoffs as part of company-wide restructuring. "We can confirm that Square Enix’s Los Angeles office has eliminated a number of positions as part of the corporate restructuring announced last week," Square Enix senior director of public relations Reilly …