Game industry business news

The market leapt 62 per cent this week, spurred on by the release of Square Enix’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution which went straight to No.1. 14.6m was generated from game sales. Unit sales rose 32 per cent to 652,155 games sold. It was a much-needed boost after the retail market …

In MCV’s latest rundown of the industry’s hottest vacancies and biggest personnel news, THQ is looking for a new UK and Ireland sales director, Jagex brings in two new executives and EA’s James Robinson is promoted as Rob Davey heads to Oz. THQ SEARCHES FOR SALES BOSS The WWE publisher’s …

Square Enix will double headcount if £1.2m grant is approved, article claims

Yet another big-hitting MMO is to drop its current subscription model in favour of free-to-play. Cryptic Studios owner Perfect World has stated that the transition will happen before the end of the year, Gamasutra reports. "When Perfect World acquired Cryptic, one of our contributions was to share our free-to-play experience …

Publisher execs claim that the public like them. Gamers have often seemed less enthused. But the founder of Driver developer Ubisoft Reflections has defended the new Uplay Passport model. Like EA’s Online Pass, games that partake in the Uplay Passport include a code in the box that can be redeemed …

Sony has announced that 18 previously unannounced titles for the PlayStation Vita will be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show later this month. In total, 31 games will be showcased for the system, according to Siliconera. Named and confirmed games for the convention include Disgaea 3 Return, Virtua Tennis 4, …

Ahead of the fast approaching release of Gears of War 3 on September 20th, Microsoft has released a brand new short for the game. Echoing the success seen with previous trailers of this nature, the short – Called ‘Dust to Dust’ – juxtaposes images of war and destruction with a …

2K Czech, one of Europe’s leading triple-A studios, has lost more than 40 staff from a studio-wide redundancy operation. The job terminations have taken place across two studios operating under the 2K Czech brand. One group, based in Brno, has lost up to 40 developers, inside sources have told Develop. …

The UK games market must stop slashing prices, or its worth will be eclipsed by other European territories, Konami has warned. The publisher’s Euro chief Kunio Neo told MCV that the UK market is suffering, while other territories like Germany are thriving. His words come as a fresh price war …

It is fronted by none other than Portuguese forward and former Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo. I am flattered that Konami has chosen me to be the face of PES 2012, and by their reasoning behind the cover image,” Ronaldo stated. PES 2012 to me is the perfect recreation of …