Game industry business news

Develop reports that Harmonix has released a new game for iPods. Called ‘Phase: Your Music is the Game’, the title uses the familiar UI seen in the likes of the studio’s Frequency, Amplitude, and Guitar Hero games, generating levels on the fly from the MP3s stored on each users’ iPod. …

Cory Barlog, the director behind SCEA Santa Monica Studio’s God of War II, has left the firm, it has been confirmed. "We can confirm that Cory Barlog, game director for God of War II, is leaving the SCEA Santa Monica Studio and we are grateful for his work and creative …

MCV sister site Develop reports that more City of Heroes games are due from NCsoft, but the MMO firm will no longer be just the publisher of the games – it has opened a new development studio in North California to work on the games. The move comes following the …

Lovefilm.com, one of the internet’s leading DVD rental firms, has made its first step into the games market by teaming up with French publisher Ubisoft to promote the highly anticipated next-gen title Assassin’s Creed. The game will featured in the website’s weekly Friday newsletter, which has half a million subscribers, …

The fall out from EA’s corporate restructuring continues, as the publisher confirms its Chicago studio is being closed, MCV sister site Develop reports. EA Chicago had worked on a number of key technology-driven titles for the publisher, including new Fight Night and Def Jam games. The studio was officially opened …

Revered PC franchise Homeworld has made the jump to THQ, following the US publisher’s move to secure the rights to the series. Next-Gen reports that the deal follows in the footsteps of THQ’s 2004 purchase of Homeworld and Homeworld 2 developer Relic, a studio that has since worked on Company …

Following last month’s news that leading global publisher Electronic Arts had swooped for development duo BioWare and Pandemic, it has been announced that US antitrust regulators have cleared the purchase. The Associated Press reports that the $860 million deal for parent company VG Holding Corp was included on a list …

MCV readers can look forward to reading about blockbuster release bottlenecks, possible price slashing at retail and broken street dates during the next two months as the build-up to the ‘gifting period’ (a phrase that has always struck me as having vaguely filthy connotations) truly begins. Veterans of the industry …

Spanish publisher and distributor Friendware is to further push its operation into Europe – focusing on the UK. The firm will spearhead the push with Euroleague Basketball Manager for the PC. The game, which will be release in Spain this Christmas, is intended for a January/February release across the rest …

German publisher Frogster Interactive Pictures is gearing up to bolster its presence in the UK market, leading the charge with its forthcoming MMO title Spellborn. The firm will be looking to duplicate the heavy marketing drive it has scheduled for Germany here in the UK, and will be looking to …