Publishing

Square Enix has posted a full fiscal year profit of 9.2 billion Japanese Yen ($88.5 million) for the 12 months to March 31st, 2008 – down 20.9 per cent year-on-year. Sales also fell in the period, down 9.8 per cent to 147.5 billion Yen ($1.42 billion), with declining revenues most …

Developer-cum-publisher Data Design Interactive has opened a new US office in Sarasota, Florida. The studio will operate as a separate US registered company. The firm says the HQ can ‘provide the correct creative atmosphere required to work effectively on today’s demanding Next-Gen projects’ – including PS3 and Xbox 360 titles. …

The boss of EA’s Casual Entertainment division Kathy Vrabeck has said that she expects the total global casual games market to be worth around $13.5 billion in the next couple of years”. In a candid Q&A session – published on MCV sister site CasualGaming.biz – Vrabeck added that her department …

As the ESC held its successful Golf and Spa Day (raising over 20,000 in the process), a new charity, GamesAid, was announced. GamesAid is setting out to offer a new level of choice for participants at all levels and is happy to live alongside any ‘official’ industry charity. Its arrival …

We asked Jonathan Hayes what he thought was the winning aspect behind HMV’s triumph in the MCV awards this year. He explains: I’d say it was a combination of factors, but ultimately they all added up to the same thing – working closely with our key strategic partners to make …

President of Atari parent Infogrames Phil Harrison has suggested that Alone In The Dark will be the publisher’s last ever single-player game. Harrison and Infogrames CEO David Gardner have both previously made allusions to a future based on ‘social’ gaming – and of Atari becoming leaders in the online gaming …

Multiplayer games specialist Splash Damage has signed a long-term development partnership with Bethesda. The London-based studio will develop a brand-new game for the publisher, best known for the internally-developed Oblivion title for Xbox 360, and which recently expanded its operations into both Europe and Japan. Splash Damage is best known …

Japanese publisher Koei’s Warriors Orochi has shipped over 1.5 million units across the globe. The Xbox 360, PS2 and PSP title mixes two of the publisher’s two biggest franchises – Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. The success of the release has prompted Koei to announce a sequel for North America. …

London studio inks long-term development deal for new title with growing publisher

Activision is looking to outstrip EA’s Rock Band with its new Guitar Hero World Tour title. Featuring a newly redesigned guitar, an electronic drum kit and a microphone, the new iteration of the mega-selling franchise also introduces a music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own …