Game industry business news

Disney to spend $600m on Playdom?

Disney is planning a big-money move into the social games space, according to TechCrunch. The investment and technology site reckons that Disney plans to spend big on the firm, with VentureBeat claiming that up to $600m could be used for acquiring Playdom, one of the major Facebook and social games …

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Xbox 360 sales down year-on-year

Microsoft has revealed that it sold 10.3m Xbox 360 consoles in the year ending June 30th – down from the 11.2m it sold in the same period the year before. Console unit sales were up in the quarter ending June, however. 1.5m were sold in the period compared to 1.2 …

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Halo Reach Xbox 360 S revealed

Microsoft has revealed a limited edition Halo Reach version of the Xbox 360 S that will be available exclusively through GAME and Gamestation. Costing 249.99, the SKU includes a special silver version of the 250GB console that carries a Halo insignia and front-of-machine branding. Also included in the box are …

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Medal of Honor team rebranded

The team developing Medal of Honor’s reboot has been likewise refreshed with a new studio brand. Although the team is not housed in a separate location, the EALA unit making the shooter’s October refresh will now be called ‘Danger Close’. Head to Develop for the full story

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Kerri West joins Sony

Former EA product manager Kerri West has joined SCE UK. She takes up the role of product manager and will look after the firm’s line-up of social games, such as SingStar, Buzz and forthcoming titles for PlayStation Move. West had previously worked at EA for three years, most recently as …

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Cutting prices ‘won’t provide sales boost

Sony, HMV and THQ have hit back at the retailers calling for lower-priced video games. Key execs claim publishers risk devaluing their products if they were to give in to demands from companies such as Sainsbury’s. The supermarket chain told suppliers to slash the price of video games at its …

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New Ignition to be Pixar of games

UTV Ignition will leave its sub-distribution days behind as it transforms into a triple-A digital games giant. The company has recently opened three studios in Tokyo, Florida and London, and has hired former IGN Europe chief Justin Keeling to head up its global digital strategy. This includes recruiting developers to …

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OPINION: HMV’s game ambitions

Writing about HMV is a welcome change to all the doom and gloom surrounding retail at the moment. Their profits? Up. Their store count? Increasing. Whereas the rest of retail talks of consolidation and decline, HMV is enjoying expansion and growth. And the reason for this success? Well, the loss …

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Games central to HMVs superbrand push

Video games will play a major part in HMV’s ambition to become an ‘entertainment superbrand.’ The firm wants to be seen as more than just a retailer, and already sells music tickets, owns music venues and cinemas. And during its entertainment conference last week, the retailer called upon the games …

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