Publishing

Microsoft will throw its Surface tablet a midnight launch event to coincide with the release of the company’s latest OS Windows 8. The Verge reports Microsoft has begun sending out invites for a special ‘Surface Reception’ shindig on October 25th that will lead up to the tablet’s launch at midnight …

Mists of Pandaria – the latest expansion pack in the World of Warcraft series has sold 2.7m copies worldwide. The PC add-on has also boosted the game’s subscriber numbers, up over 10m users worldwide, the firm says. World of Warcraft has seen a steep drop in subscribers over the last …

FIFA 13 is not just the fastest-selling game in the EA Sports series to date – it is also the most profitable. In just two days, the game sold over 1.23m copies in the UK alone. That’s an increase of 27 per cent over last year’s record-breaking FIFA 12. FIFA …

Blockbuster’s UK operations are not in the process of being sold, the firm has told MCV. MCV was contacted yesterday with reports that Blockbuster’s global parent – US-based satellite broadcaster Dish Network – was finalising the sale of the company’s 550 UK stores to one of two interested parties. But …

This week’s million-selling UK superhit continues to impress on the global stage. EA last night announced that FIFA 13 has now sold 4.5 million copies worldwide. In just five days. By EA’s reasoning that makes it the ‘biggest video game of 2012’, and so far that’s not wrong. (We’re sure …

Bethesda has announced the establishing of Battlecry Studios, a new studio led by former Star Wars: The Old Republic executive producer and BioWare Austin VP Rich Vogel. The development house joins Arkane Studios as the second Austin-based studio for Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax. "I have always admired and respected Bethesda’s …

Star Wars: First Assault appears to be heading to XBLA despite the fact that it hasn’t been announced yet. IGN first spotted a leaked image of the game’s box art with an XBLA header and reached out to Lucasarts. "It is an exciting time at our company right now, however …

Gears of War creator quits after 20 years at the studio 'to take a much needed break'

Rich Vogel to head up new development outfit

Social network a 'key differentiator' to competition in the console space