Game industry business news

Sony has announced that Team Ico will be at hand at next week’s Tokyo Game Show to at last reveal some new details about its upcoming PS3 title The Last Guardian. The game was first aired way back at E3 2009, before which it had been previously referred to as …

Final Fantasy XIII was to be the recipient of some form of post-release DLC – that is, until publisher Square Enix abandoned the plans. According to 1UP, the game’s director Motomu Toriyama previously told gamers to hold on to their game save after completing the game. However, speaking to Famitsu …

Zavvi.com customers can now purchase goods more easily from the online retailer courtesy of its new iPhone app. The Hut Group-owned retailer has implemented ‘See It, Snap It, Snag It’ technology into the app, which allows users to take a photograph of an item then find it and buy it …

Distribution is the third pillar of self-publishing. In this week's column, Lovell looks at how the role of distribution has changed from the days of warehouse, vans and men with barrows.

Though a big part in the resurgence of PS3 has been the launch of the Slim and the drop in price, SCE president and CEO Kaz Hirai has told MCV that it’s also down to the company’s new international, and less Japan-centric, view on the global games market. Japanese-born Hirai …

The UK game industry is 96 per cent male dominated, new data suggests. A study undertaken by the University of Liverpool concludes that females take up just four per cent of the British industry workforce – eight per cent lower than the results of a similar survey taken in 2006. …

Katamari Damacy maestro Keita Takahashi has walked out on his publishing partner Namco Bandai, the company has confirmed to play.tm. Takahashi – a widely revered game designer routinely praised for not buying into the big business that drives the industry – may now be departing from game design for good. …

A new site hosted by iconic Sony marketer Kevin Butler has dished out a number of comical digs to rival motion systems Wii and, in particular Kinect. Called Move vs Stuff, the site’s front page carries a chart (pictured in full below) pointing out that PlayStation move includes a number …

The director general of The Confederation of British Industry has praised UKIE’s ambitions and said that the games industry is in prime position to take charge of the UK’s creative industries sector. We welcome the arrival of UKIE with its plans not only for boosting and expanding the interactive entertainment …

Microsoft has confirmed a new game from Dr Kawashima will be available when Kinect launches in Japan on November 20th. The game will be published by Namco Bandai, and is currently titled Lead: New Brain Training Where You Answer With Your Body. As you would expect, in-game exercises are overseen …