Game industry business news

While it welcomed Byron’s desire to introduce one clear age ratings system, ELSPA also highlighted concerns over the BBFC’s ability to deliver its new remit, and added that the proposals could struggle to keep up with the public’s increasing desire to buy and play on-line.” The games industry would need …

Newspapers across the country have responded this morning to Dr Tanya Byron’s report ‘Safer Children in a Digital World’. The Times was the most in depth, offering up two pages and a front cover to the story that included a picture of a six-year-old boy playing Grand Theft Auto. The …

Dr Tanya Byron and Prime Minister Gordon Brown were live on the GMTV sofa this morning to outline the new proposals for video games age ratings – with the interview by presenter Fiona Phillips explaining the situation to what has traditionally been a largely female audience. Bryon began by pointing …

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Andy Burnham have backed the suggestions in the Byron review – and have pledged to ‘act immediately on taking forward her proposals.’ I am grateful to Dr Byron for carrying out …

US institutions report significant drop in applicants

Following the announcement yesterday that Ubisoft’s PS3 FPS Haze is scheduled for a UK release on May 22nd, the publisher has this morning released a revised release schedule that seemingly back tracks on yesterday’s news. The release date has reverted back to simply ‘May’, and whist that means a 22nd …

HMV.com is prompting pre-orders of Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360 by offering 1000 free Xbox Live points and a voucher book that contains over 130 worth of savings, for free. The vouchers will be redeemable in HMV stores in UK and Ireland and features savings on video games …

Dr. Tanya Bryon’s Review into young people’s access to inappropriate digital entertainment has recommended ‘movie-style’ ratings for video games, according to early newspaper reports – as first predicted by MCV earlier this year. The national media has thus far spun the findings as a ‘crackdown’ on the sale of violent …

Ubisoft has revealed to MCV the release date for PS3 exclusive Haze, the latest game from Timesplitters creators Free Radical Design. The game was delayed from last Christmas, where it was billed as a major release for PlayStation 3. It will now hit retail on May 22nd, with rumours circulating …

The latest release schedule from Sony Europe has confirmed the release dates of three big hitting titles in the UK – namely Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet and Resistance 2. Videogamer.com reports that September will see the release of Guerrilla FPS Killzone 2 and Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet. Insomniac’s Resistance 2 will follow …