Game industry business news

Playlogic announced a year-on-year loss of $20.3m today for its fiscal year ending December 31st, 2009. However the publisher’s net revenues were up from the same period in its previous year increasing $9m to $11.1m – a 23 per cent rise year-on-year. It also reached an agreement with shareholders and …

Former HMV commercial director Gary Warren (picture, left) has become the new managing director of content and talent at the HMV-owned events-based MAMA Group. Taking his place will be former supply chain director Steve Napleton (picture, right), who assumes the role of commercial director immediately. As well as his new …

Sony’s video-on-demand offer for PS3 is to get a further expansion with news that SCEE has partnered with online film library service MUBI. The deal will this autumn bring a host of independent, international and classic movie content to the console, with 300 titles scheduled to be available from launch. …

Publisher Square Enix has posted its best annual financial results since the merger of Square Co and Enix Corporation in 2003. For the 12 months ending March 31st 2010 operating income was up 130 per cent at YEN 28,235m. Net income was up 50.1 per cent at YEN 9,5m and …

It’s a year that could yet see the PS3’s strongest ever market performance, and a GfK European Top 30 Chart for the first 15 weeks of 2010 paint a very good picture for Sony’s machine. The numbers come from a Nintendo Investor presentation and are based on GfK International data. …

SouthPeak has reported it made a small profit of $192,000 for the third quarter ended March 31, 2010. This is an improvement on the $692,000 recorded during the same period last year, and was attributed to successes in the Nintendo markets, including DS title My Baby which sold over one …

Ed Vaizey, the Conservative MP who has in recent months pledged to support the game industry, has been appointed as Culture Minister. Vaizey has said on numerous occasions that if ever appointed a government post he would shout about the game industry from the rooftops”. Trade association ELSPA says it …

In the early days of the PS3’s life the inclusion of the still expensive Blu-ray drive technology was often cited as the reason for the console’s struggles – now a few years down the line it’s being credited as the main reasons for PS3’s success. A survey from research firm …

While it didn’t manage to displace 2010 FIFA World Cup in the All Formats Chart, Microsoft’s Alan Wake has triumphed in the Xbox 360 Top 10. The Remedy-developed Thriller takes the No.1 spot, pushing EA’s latest footy game down to third place. Capcom’s Lost Planet 2 took second place in …

A British sports star has become possibly the highest profile name ever to be jailed for the piracy of video games. Gareth Raynor, a winger for rugby league team Crusaders, was sentenced to 15 months after being found guilty of selling counterfeit DS and Game Boy games, as well as …