Game industry business news

Rumours abound that Grand Theft Auto V is to make an appearance at Gamescom 2012 in August. The game disappointed fans by failing to make an appearance at E3 back in June. This new speculation arose from the title’s inclusion in the promo reel for the upcoming trade event, although …

The PC doesn’t matter at E3… if you’re looking for razzmatazz, that is. For an audience of online fans the show business begins on Monday when Microsoft takes to the stage, and ends on Tuesday when Nintendo finishes at the Nokia Theater. But when the press conferences close, and you …

The Ghost Recon: Future Soldier first DLC pack Arctic Strike has been pushed back to later in July. The map pack, which was originally set for a July 3rd release, has been delayed for some additional polish. Ubisoft has yet to set a new release date but still plans to …

Paid-for service brings in $40 million

If a publisher’s confidence in an upcoming title is any measure of how good it is, then PES 2013 could turn out to be a very solid title indeed. So much so, in fact, that Konami’s UK PES team leader Jon Murphy has pointed the finger at rival licence FIFA, …

One word. Four letters. With a very powerful meaning. Crystal Dynamics executive producer Ron Rosenberg used the word ‘rape’ to describe an attack of heroine Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raider game. It was accurate, reflecting what we’d seen in the trailer. But in the light of the Hitman …

Gem has been signed as the exclusive UK distribution partner for THQ. The publisher’s titles were previously handled by Advantage but will switch to Gem starting with the release of Darksiders II on August 21st. "We are delighted to have appointed Gem Distribution to work as an extension of our …

LEGO Batman 2 remains the UKIE GfK Chart-Track All Formats No.1 this week despite stiff competition from a trio of newcomers. Activision’s The Amazing Spider-Man debuts in second place (with 56 per cent of sales for the Xbox 360 version) ahead of Take-Two’s Spec Ops: The Line at No.3. Sega’s …

EA has confirmed that its paid-for multiplayer Battlefield 3 expansion Battlefield Premium has sold 800,000 subscriptions in its first two weeks. That equates to something in the region of $40m in revenue. Battlefield Premium offers members a numbers of perks including early access to multiplayer map expansions as well as …

Confirming MCV’s exclusive report last month, Sony has acquired cloud gaming firm Gaikai for $380m. At the end of May, MCV revealed that Sony’s rumoured interested in cloud gaming tech went beyond what many had suspected and would lead to an acquisition. Gaikai soon emerged as the front-runner, only for …