Game industry business news

Music game developer Harmonix wants to take a larger slice of the European market after selling 16.1m units of Rock Band worldwide. The MTV-owned studio says there will be a heavier proportion of UK and European artists in Rock Band 3’s track list than previous instalments. The music title, which …

Microsoft is in talks with several European independent studios to bring the Project Gotham Racing series back to the Xbox 360, sister site Develop can reveal. A trusted source told Develop that Microsoft remains undecided on which studio to hand the project to. Turn-10 has for a number of months …

Harmonix has laid out the long-term plan for its Kinect launch title Dance Central, with pre-production already underway on a sequel. CEO Alex Rigopulos told MCV: I think that Dance Central has an opportunity to spark a phenomenon, much like the original Guitar Hero did. "I sure as hell hope …

With its ability to track the movement of 20 limbs, Kinect is well-suited to Dance Central and its hundreds of dance moves. In an interview with MCV, Harmonix says embracing Microsoft’s motion accessory rather than PlayStation Move or Wii was an easy choice. Kinect was a no-brainer because you don’t …

What made you want to develop Dance Central?Kasson Crooker, project director: We’ve wanted to do it for a long time. Over five years ago a bunch of us into hip-hop and dance music said someday we need to make a dance game, because it’s perfectly aligned with music. We looked …

Innovate or die. Harmonix says it’s this belief that is key to competing in the increasingly fierce music games market. And this developer is certainly not lacking in innovation. Since producing the first two Guitar Hero titles, the firm was bought out by Viacom and MTV Games in 2006 and …

Not so fast. YouView’s plan to launch an app store for the TV is emblematic of significant changes ahead. Clearly there’s a battle the three format-holders have seen coming. Their integrated channels for iPlayer, Sky and movie content are built to maintain an edge not just over each other, but …

Format-holders are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Supply enough product for launch, just enough to satisfy day one with some overspill, then you’re branded a so-so hit. Or a borderline failure. Don’t supply enough product, and you aren’t working hard enough, over-inflating demand, or simply cocked …

Leading retailers are planning special Kinect charts and in-store demo areas to celebrate the peripheral’s arrival next week – despite a complete sell-out nationwide. GAME has already been running Kinect evenings in many of its stores, which the firm says have given it an edge over its rivals. What I …

A bug in the iPhone’s alarm settings meant that the smartphone forgot to wake users across the UK this morning, due to the software failing to update to the Daylight Savings Time switchover. The clocks went back an hour yesterday to resume standard GMT time, however what appears to be …