Game industry business news

HMV swung to a loss of 121.7m from a profit of 49.2m the year before. Total Group sales fell by 7.4 per cent, while like-for-like sales fell 11 per cent. Pre-tax profits sit at 18.8m. HMV’s total debt now sits at 170.7m, a significant increase from the 67.6m the year …

From Nintendo to Bethesda and BioWare to Epic, LulzSec hit some of the biggest names in our industry. Not only were websites and forums brought to their knees, but the games themselves and the players within them, too. Popular online titles such as Minecraft and EVE Online were taken down …

New online retailer Hitari has been shortlisted in the Nectar Business Small Business Awards 2011. The games specialist is in the running for Start-Up of the Year. Founder Kamal Hitari set up the business so he could work from home and look after his son who was born with a rare …

UK entertainment retailer HMV will not be accepting trade-in copies of 3DS title Resident Evil: Mercenaries, which is released in the UK this Friday. PR boss Gennaro Castaldo told VG247 that the decision was made avoid any potential customer disappointment for those purchasing a pre-owned version”. However, a spokesperson for …

Spanish developer Novarama has penned a new deal with Sony that will see the studio’s future content released exclusively on Sony devices. Novarama was the team behind PSP release Invizimals and is currently working on PS Vita launch title Reality Fighters – a game that will now be tied to …

Invizimals studio enters strategic partnership with Sony

Sony president and CEO Sir Howard Stringer has claimed that the company was targeted by hackers because it was trying to protect its IP. Speaking to shareholders in Tokyo, the exec was questioned about the PSN security breach that resulted in the theft of millions of users’ personal and payment …

Format holder still uncertain as to the the need for 3D display on 360

Microsoft has questioned whether stereoscopic 3D gaming is something that players really want. While Sony has offered PS3 players a variety of 720p stereoscopic 3D-compatible games for use on 3D TVs, Microsoft hasn’t pushed the technology as much for Xbox 360. Gamers can currently play 360 titles such as Black …

Android mobile handsets are entering a new era of growth with confirmation that half a million are being activated by the search giant every day. Google’s mobile chief Andy Rubin tweeted the milestone earlier today, which represents a 100,000 increase on the 400,000 total revealed at the start of May. …