Game industry business news

As had been previously suggested, a long-awaited new trailer for Final Fantasy XIII has confirmed that the next-gen Square Enix RPG will be released on PS3 in Japan this year. However, as MCV revealed earlier this month, there’s still no word on when the game will be released in either …

With the Japanese market suffering a significant decline in value in 2008 and the UK enjoying record sales, MCV is predicting that the UK games market will by the end of the year grow to become the second most valuable in the world. Whilst the Japanese market was worth 520,000 …

VALUE/TRENDS 2008 Market Value (2007 in brackets)UK – 4.03bn (3.40bn) year-on-year +18.5% USA – 14.89bn (12.51bn) year-on-year +19%Japan – 4.55bn (5.37bn) year-on-year -15% These numbers show that the USA remains by far the single largest video games market in the world, bettering the value of the UK and Japanese markets …

Distributor Gem is celebrating its 25th year at the heart of the UK PC and video games trade, a timeline which spans numerous key milestones and is almost as long as the industry itself. The company was formed in 1984 and landed the all important Microsoft contract in 1988. After …

It has emerged that Warner Bros is planning a brand new movie in the Tomb Raider franchise – leading some to wonder if this is the first move in the long rumoured takeover of Eidos . Despite Eidos’ recent admission that sales of its most recent Lara Croft title, Tomb …

Tesco has announced the appointment of Laurie McIlwee as group finance director, replacing Andrew Higginson. McIlwee originally joined Tesco in December 2000 as UK finance director, and recently served as distribution director. He takes over his new role as Higginson moves to become chief executive of retailer services. Tesco CEO …

Asda has announced it will create 7,000 new jobs in the UK over the course of 2009, through a combination of opening new stores and extending existing ones. The supermarket has become the latest in a line of retailers creating new positions despite the ongoing economic recession, with Tesco planning …

Windows and Xbox 360 platform holder Microsoft has announced that former Entertainment and Devices Division general manager Ron Pessner is to become the new boss of Games for Windows. The appointment, reported by Gamasutra, follows the news last week that former boss Chris Early has left the firm. Also heading …

According to the latest issue of Famitsu , Capcom is well underway on multi-platform sequels to Lost Planet and Dead Rising. In an interview translated by Kotaku, Capcom veteran Keiji Inafune said: We’re finally putting out new Dead Rising and Lost Planet games! As a main principle we’re thinking about …

Japanese publisher Capcom has blamed Sony for the ongoing failure to release acclaimed title Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix on the European arm of the PlayStation Network. Joystiq claims that a PR rep from Capcom’s UK office has stated that despite two submissions, SCEE has twice denied the title …