Game industry business news

Following a recent article from renowned Xbox 360 insider Dean Takahashi concerning the saga of Xbox 360’s hardware troubles, a Microsoft employee who spoke about the saga openly and on the record has been let go by the company. Takahashi’s article, entitled ‘Xbox 360 defects: an inside history of Microsoft’s …

UK developer Criterion has announced on the US PlayStation blog that a massive update is to be made available to Xbox 360 and PS3 owners of Burnout Paradise free of charge this Thursday. The standout feature is the addition of bikes to the game, opening up a brand new licence …

Eidos parent SCi Entertainment suffered a 99.1 million overall EBITDA loss in FY 2008, an increase on the 13.3 million posted a year before – but slightly under the 100m loss the company previously forecast . In what CEO Phil Rogers said was a year to transform the business”, the …

A report showing that EA’s PC hit Spore is suffering from unusually high numbers of illegal downloads has been blamed on the fact that EA has implemented stern digital rights management restrictions on its game. Spore’s DRM prevents the game being installed more than three times – a problem for …

The will they/won’t they dance is over – Electronic Arts has decided to end its $2bn bid to acquire Take Two. EA CEO John Riccitiello’s decision to move away from the chance to combine businesses with the Rockstar Games parent comes after "careful consideration, including a management presentation and review …

Riccitiello's acquisition attempt aborted, but Take-Two is still considering "strategic alternatives" with other parties

German studio's Crysis titles on Valve's download service

How would you categorise the current relationship between the games industry’s PR community and the specialist press? Richard Eddy, Codemasters : At its best and most professional there’s an understanding and respect between both sides. We both strive to deliver the best story, the best assets and the best feature, …

Frustrated global sales analysts, rejoice; the leading charts authorities in the world are close to agreeing a new monthly report that will offer definitive sales data for ‘the whole planet’. The news comes after GFK-ChartTrack, NPD and Enterbrain launched the Top Global Markets Report last month – bringing together monthly …

Namco Bandai’s investment in Infogrames’ European and Asian distribution business will create an entirely new spin-off firm that could bring up to a quarter of the European trade’s games to market. That was the message from Infogrames CEO David Gardner as he revealed his company’s intentions to MCV. Namco Bandai …