Game industry business news

Whilst calling it ‘the end of capitalism’ is perhaps a little strong, the current economic climate is still probably the most uncertain in living memory – which makes it all the more surprising to see a rise in UK High Street spending in August. The BBC reports that numbers from …

Much-hyped DICE title Mirror’s Edge has been confirmed for release on November 11th in the US, and November 14th in the UK. The first-person action title will hit PS3 and Xbox 360 simultaneously, with a PC SKU scheduled for ‘later in the winter’. A demo of the EA-published release will …

The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency has outlawed two ‘brutal’ and ‘realistic’ Sega TV adverts for Condemned 2. The watchdog received just nine complaints over the duo of ads, with three people recommending that the ads were ‘inappropriate for broadcast at any time’. The ads appeared in post-9pm and post-11pm slots …

As the Game Convention Asia Conference gets underway in Singapore this week, the event’s head has told us that the Asia-Pacific region is primed for expansion that could see it become a key market for the industry – comparable to Europe, Japan or North America. Specifically Joerg Zeissig, MD of …

Atari has revealed that 90 per cent of its output will be online-only in a few years as it increasingly favours online titles over traditional retail. The publisher’s recent deal with Namco Bandai includes a clause which gives the Japanese developer and publisher the option to buy Infogrames’ distribution business …

After a brief hiccup yesterday that saw the service pulled after launching a little prematurely, Sony has now officially released its free Life With PlayStation service for PS3 owners. The software, which can now be downloaded via the Folding@Home icon in the PS3’s network folder, allows users to access up …

Could you explain what your intentions are with the Namco Bandai deal? David Gardner: We’ve being saying all along that we want to make the business online and so what we’ve decided to do is separate the distribution company. The distribution side will handle Infogrames, Namco Bandai and other publishers’ …

The High Street battle currently raging between long-time gaming favourite Guitar Hero and plucky newcomer Rock Band is one of the more ferocious in today’s industry – and now Activision boss Bobby Kotick has detailed the many reasons why he believes his firm’s title has the upper hand. Speaking at …

As the countdown to Christmas continues, Nintendo has unveiled a series of new DS bundles designed to appeal to the whole family. Each pack is set to hit retail across Europe in time for the Christmas period, with the following five bundles set for the UK next month: – White …

SPECIAL REPORT: Harrison and Gardner on restaffing the resurgent publisher's creative teams