Game industry business news

Nintendo has shelled out big money to ensure its Wii console is the exclusive sponsor of Sky’s flagship summer show Gladiators. According to Marketing Week, the agreement is one of Sky Media’s most valuable for a single series. Nintendo said it hopes to cash in on the show’s nostalgia and …

Electronic Arts’ Casual Entertainment label VP Russell Arons has said that she disagrees with the idea that casual gaming needs to be for ‘everyone’ – stating that the genre can succeed by targeting niche audiences. Speaking to new MCV sister site CasualGaming.biz, Ms. Arons admitted that EA has tried to …

Vivendi-owned Sierra has told MCV that the release of much-anticipated sandbox title Prototype has been delayed until next year. The publisher has decided to shift the Radical-developed title’s release because it ‘needs more time to deliver the game the team initially set out to create’. Sierra showed off the game …

Silverlight-powered drag 'n' drop web software allows creation and sharing of casual games

Football Manager 2008 has held off the competition to secure yet another number one in the Metaboli Top Ten Download to Own charts. The Sega-published simulator was pushed all the way by new entry Test Drive Unlimited: Mega Pack from Atari, which knocked Eidos’ Championship Manager 2008 down into third. …

Do you know where the casual games phenomenon has come from? Does it seem a little like it’s arrived out of nowhere? MCV’s sister site Casualgaming.biz has handily published a full history of the genre – all the way back to 2200 BC – when the ancient Chinese Emperor Tang …

A prominent opinion article in Sunday’s Observer newspaper attacked politicians who criticise violent video games – and suggested that UK PM Gordon Brown would benefit from playing GTA IV. Catherine Bennett’s article, entitled ‘I’m game for Grand Theft Auto. You should be too’, pointed the finger at the likes of …

THQ’s licensing partnership with Nickeolodeon has egenrated $1 billion in sales, the publisher has announced. Over 50 million Nickeoloedon games have been shifted under the THQ label, such as its Spongebob Squarepants games. "With the enormous popularity of Wii and DS coupled with our exceptionally diverse portfolio of Nickelodeon-based games, …

Electronic Arts has agreed a partnership with AOL Sports, to market and promote its free online trivia game EA Sports GameShow. Under the terms of the agreement, AOL Sports will now feature EA Sports GameShow as part of its content – which is available to the 10.9 million unique visitors …

Infogrames has appointed Fabrice Hamaide as its new chief financial officer. Hamaide’s responsibilies include company finance, investor relations, financial communications, and legal and information technology functions. He will report directly to CEO David Gardner. Hamaide started his career in 1988 as a consultant for Ernst and Young, before working as …