Game industry business news

If you want further proof of how mainstream video games have become, you need look no further than the advertising that appears outside of people’s homes. No London commuter can escape the bus side ads, phone box posters and massive Underground banners, all selling the latest major games releases – …

2K Games has announced that The Darkness II will be released in the UK and Europe on October 7th. It will arrive in North America on October 4th. The game is a sequel to 2K’s 2007 release which looked to mix up the traditional FPS formula with the addition of …

Call of Duty currently holds what appears to be an unassailable position atop of the console FPS genre, but EA seriously believes its upcoming Battlefield 3 can threaten its dominance. "Pre-orders tell a compelling story," EA Games Label president Frank Gibeau told investors. "Pre-orders for Battlefield 3 are up more …

Almost 100 games development firms are battling it out for one of 21 accolades at the 2011 Develop Awards. The finalists have now been confirmed (see full list below), with 95 firms in total in the running. They hail from nine different countries, with 28 different games represented. The overall …

Redundancies have been issued to a number of developers at Brighton studio Black Rock, Disney has told Develop. In a statement the firm said "Disney Interactive Studios confirms a reduction of its workforce from the Brighton-based internal game development studio, Black Rock Studios." The company did not state how many …

Despite another year of losses, the CEO of EA John Riccitiello has reacted enthusiastically to its latest financial report and outlined what he describes as an upcoming "transformation" for the company. "In Q4, we beat the street and hit the very high end of our expectations for total revenue, digital …

Europe’s biggest game industry event has formed its widest ever partnership with trade publication MCV. MCV will take a booth in the Business Hall of Gamescom for the first time, a special print edition will have showfloor distribution and a Gamescom Daily News service will run via MCV Online. Gamescom …

Leading execs from two of the world’s biggest publishers have downplayed the economic impact that the collapse of PSN has had on their companies. "Obviously, we’re hopeful that, that comes back online as quickly as possible," EA CFO Eric Brown told investors. "We are aware that heading into the construction …

It looks as if the once much discussed 3DS debut for gangsta series Saints Row has been cancelled. THQ confirmed the news to Joystiq, saying: "We are not developing Saints Row: Drive By." No reasons were given for the decision. Drive By was officially the title of the XBLA and …

Despite falling sales and the announcement of its successor, Nintendo reckons that Wii may have only hit 50 per cent of its potential lifetime sales. We all know that the PS2 continued to sell in big numbers despite the arrival of newer hardware, mainly due to its significantly decreased ticket …