Game industry business news

All people who have a copper telephone landline will soon see an additional 50p added to their monthly bills following the government’s announcement of a 6 per year charge that will fund Britain’s future superfast broadband network. Parliament has stated that its intention is for every UK household to have …

Games-on-demand service Metaboli has announced that Ubisoft titles will be available via download-to-own for the first time. The deal will be available to customers in EMEA via www.gamesplanet.com and in the US through www.gametap.com. Metaboli currently has 47 Ubisoft titles in its catalogue, which have proven particularly popular with our …

Launch of new distance learning computer games courses

Regulating body Ofcom is to be given the power to demand that ISPs hand over account information concerning people who persist is sharing files over the internet. ISPs will also be required to inform users that their inappropriate activity must cease, and will be encouraged to cut the connections of …

The UK Government will review proposals to strengthen the nation’s game development community with an extended tax relief system. As outlined in Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report, the Government has pledged to commit to work with the industry to collect and review the evidence for a tax relief [system],” which …

A source close to the Video Standards Council, the body which will work alongside new games regulator PEGI, has told MCV that there’s not yet a timescale in place to roll-out the changes – and furthermore, there’s concerns that the upcoming general election could delay its implementation. Not only will …

The Government has heralded a new future for UK video games classification – with PEGI becoming the sole age ratings model in the region. Here’s a run down of all of the coverage on MCV to date: PEGI wins government backingGovernment’s new games classification model reduces BBFC’s powers as pan-European …

A number of the most senior figures in the UK video games industry have responded to the government’s move to grant PEGI the sole power of video games classification. We’ve got comments from Nintendo’s UK general manager David Yarnton, Ubisoft MD Rob Cooper, Sega president and CEO Mike Hayes, EA …

David Yarnton – UK General Manager, NintendoThe Government has made the right decision. The PEGI age rating system is right for the protection of children as it is designed specifically for games and interactive content. As a global company we welcome the decision as mature and intelligent as it works …

Baroness Shephard, president of the Video Standards Council, believes that today’s decision from the government to give PEGI the sole power to rate the UK’s video games has made the nation’s kids that bit safer. The Government has today taken a major step to improve child safety, online and offline, …