Game industry business news

Ubisoft has predicted that it will achieve a whopping €975 million in sales during fiscal year 2008-2009. The forecast is driven by the release of four new brands in the period, including Tom Clancy’s EndWar, seven franchise releases including Brothers in Arms, Far Cry 2 and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell …

After debuting in second place in last week’s Japanese software charts, Nintendo’s Wii fit has finally claimed the top spot in Media Create’s listings, with the former number one Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box dropping to fifth place. Microsoft will also be pleased to see Mistwalker’s Xbox 360 exclusive RPG …

With the 360, PS3, PS2 and PC versions of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 already enjoying incredible success on the UK High Street, Konami has announced that both the DS and PSP versions of the game will be released some time between January and March next year. The DS versions looks …

DSG International is facing the prospect of being de-listed from the FTSE 100, after a string of profit warnings, sluggish sales and over anticipation of demand by the owner of some of the UK’s biggest retail brands in the UK, including Currys, PC World and Dixons. For the full story …

Release version now available; Dream Build Play 2008 warm-up round also opens

After a storming year of success, Microsoft took the lion’s share of the praise in the 2007 MCV Retail Survey, with Nintendo also attracting a great deal of commendation from video game stores all across the country. The star-studded release of Halo 3 – which saw high calibre celebrity endorsement …

Forget the BAFTA’s, forget the Golden Joysticks – this is where the wheat gets well and truly separated from the chaff as retail casts its vote on the best performing companies in the video games trade this year. Microsoft took a big chunk of the praise, winning ‘highlight of the …

Since then, it could be argued, the market has been on a downward spiral. According to NPD research, retail sales have slumped from $1.5 billion in 2001 to a measly $970 million last year. On paper it doesn’t look too clever. Retailers drop PC shelf space and publishers want more …

Publisher MTV Games and developer Harmonix have hit out at the publisher Activision after the Guitar Hero owner blocked moves to release a patch that would enable its guitar peripheral to work with rival product Rock Band. In a statement issued to Next-Gen, an MTV rep stated: Two weeks ago, …

Following the publication of its Guide to Greener Electronics report last month , which blasted Nintendo for being the worst performing company it has ever rated on environmental issues, Greenpeace has launched a new website to highlight the environmental impact of games consoles. Fronted by a video featuring Mario, Master …