Game industry business news

PlayStation platform holder Sony has said that it may have to close some of its company premises in Japan later this year. The BBC reports that the move is being considered both as a response to the ongoing power shortages dogging the country following last month’s earthquake. The Japanese government …

Interstellar Marines project funded by pre-orders instead of publisher money

NFL man Ian Cummings and EA Sports exec Richard Wifall both leave publisher

In one swoop, the tech giant has hired expert PR heads from two of the world’s most influential games companies. One of which has made gaming a lifestyle choice for the family, the other has released the biggest entertainment product of all time, and nurtured an entire culture around it. …

I was sitting in a conference last month listening to a big retail exec discuss the future of video games. He spoke about no longer selling discs, but rather the rights to access content. He discussed streaming services and DLC. He even suggested bundling Xbox games with PS3 titles. But …

A reshuffle at Ubisoft has seen the marketing team transformed as it shifts focus to bigger, broader campaigns. Former group brand manager for core games James O’Reilly has transferred to Ubisoft Montreal, where he takes up the role of international brand manager. Meanwhile, Phil Brannelly has left his position as …

Electronic Arts gathered key retail and media partners in West London last week for its annual Showcase event, where it put the spotlight on its biggest releases for the year and discussed some headline strategy points. During a brief introductory speech, UK marketing director Stuart Lang outlined the company’s four …

A newer version of the PlayStation Move Starter Pack has been introduced at UK retail, MCV can confirm. Called the PlayStation Move Starter Pack 2, the new SKU is identical to its predecessor aside from the fact that it does not include a demo disc. "As the content is changing …

Desperate to be a part of the royal wedding? Of course you are. And thanks to Miniclip.com, you can be. The casual game developer has released Royal Wedding: William & Kate as a browser-based game that you can find here. So what genre is it? Perhaps you’re thinking first-person adventure, …

As of today US ratings body the ESRB will begin using a computer program to assign ratings to digital video games. The New York Times says that E (Everyone), T (Teen) and M (Mature) ratings will be automatically assigned according to a number of parameters "designed to replicate the ingrained …