Game industry business news

Having peaked in the third quarter of 2010, Nintendo’s digital sales are once again on the rise. Total digital sales for Q3 2010 reached 12bn, with sales in the first half of the period reaching just under 6bn. First half digital sales in 2011 and 2012 fell to 3.5bn and …

Information released as part of Nintendo’s recent investors conference suggest that the 3DS is enjoying a comfortable on-going sales advantage over PlayStation Vita. Weekly sales of the 3DS in Europe are hovering around the 40,000-50,000 mark and are generally tracking ahead of both the console’s 2011 sales trends and those …

Phil Harrison will give his first public address as an Xbox exec at next month’s London Games Conference. He will give the opening keynote at the November 21st event. Harrison joins a roster that already includes Twitter, Google, Electronic Arts, Sega, Disney, Yogscast and other key experts on digital games …

New 'streamlined' digital classification system to be available on XBLA, PSN and Windows 8

Cross-platform games solution provider Antix Labs has been in operation for more than five years, but in some respects its ‘share and play’ gaming tech was ahead of its time. However, the UK firm has been busy recently by enabling itsGame Player for connected TV OEMs, while itrolled out into …

Some may have been surprised at the Wii U’s relatively high launch price, but Nintendo will still be selling the hardware at a loss. In addition to the yen’s continuous appreciation, the Wii U hardware will have a negative impact on Nintendo’s profits early after the launch because rather than …

A loss of nearly $53m for the last quarter means that Zynga has now posted total losses of nearly $161m over the last nine months. But it wasn’t all bad news, and with numbers coming in ahead of expectations investors may this morning be feeling that there’s some reason for …

EA has announced that the reboot to its SimCity franchise will arrive on 8th March, 2013. This is a slight delay from the February release window that had been announced earlier. Unlike the delays for Medal of Honor: Warfighter and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which are for India only, …

Chris Roberts’ crowdfunded space simulation project Star Citizen is on a roll. After initially deciding not to include Kickstarter as part of the $2m funding effort, a change of heart has paid off huge for the developer. The game has surpassed its $500,000 goal with 26 days still remaining – …

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has introduced its no-cost Digital Rating Service. Downloadable games can now receive a free assessment via a questionnaire and receive an official rating from the ESRB. The system (originally revealed back in early 2011) would appear to assist smaller studios by providing a rating parents/guardians …