Game industry business news

Following the questions asked of the franchise just this morning , publisher EA has announced that its successful Need for Speed franchise is to get a radical three-SKU revamp in 2009, with the casual market being at the heart of the reinvention. MCV’s sister site CasualGaming.biz has the full story …

Job losses reported at Canada's Burnaby studio and publisherâ??s Australian arm

The EA rumour mill has continued to grind this morning with talk of further lay offs in both Canada and Australia. Overnight speculation on Kotaku claims that EA Canada’s Burnaby studio will be the next to suffer lay offs, with the site claiming that up to 55 people have lost …

A Killzone 2 web game is to be launched as a part of Sony’s 2 million marketing campaign . The game will be available to download for Firefox and Internet Explorer users, and invites players to fight in teams against the ‘Helghast threat’ MCV’s sister site CasualGaming.biz has all the …

SCE UK has gone on the offensive following y esterday’s report of falling hardware sales , with a mammoth 4 million Q1 marketing assault. The firm has set aside 2 million for next month’s triple-A FPS, Killzone 2, while the rest will be split between Sony’s Q1 PSP range, SingStar …

Have YOU lobbied for an MCV Award yet? You have just over two weeks left to tell the MCV team why you should be a finalist in this year’s MCV Industry Excellence Awards. The MCV Awards return to The Brewery on Thursday April 23rd – and by lobbying the MCV …

RETAIL INNOVATION Who is eligible for this award?This new award is open to any retailer of computer and video games products, inclusive of independents and chains. How is this award won?MCV will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing …

Leading casual games vendor PopCap has struck a deal with Sony Online Entertainment that will see five of its leading titles released on the firm’s PlayStation Network for use on PS3. MCV’s sister site CasualGaming.biz has all the details – click here and you’ll be there.

GAME Group may be centralising its key management and cutting back on overhead, but the good news for the market is that it remains committed to opening more stores this year. Around 20 sites have been earmarked for launch either as GAME or Gamestation. Some stores may close this year, …

The August Leipzig Games Convention has been cancelled. The organisers of the event confirmed the news as it announced a brand new event, Games Convention Online, due to take place from July 31st to August 2nd. Until this morning, the organisers were in a standoff with rival event Gamescom from …