Publishing

PC owners will be able to download Microsoft Flight for free in a matter of weeks, with paid-for content available at launch. The flight simulator game is the first from Microsoft to adopt a free-to-play model, unlike previous boxed Flight Sim instalments. Consumers can fly around the ‘Big Islands of …

Brutal PS3 racer Twisted Metal will be released in Europe on March 7th, co-creator David Jaffe has confirmed. The game had originally been scheduled for February 14th but was held up after publisher Sony asked for developer Eat Sleep Play to make a few content cuts in order to appease …

News has come down that SEGA Studios Australia, the team behind London 2012, is undergoing staff redundancies. Based in Brisbane, the team, formerly known as The Creative Assembly, has been responsible for a significant portion of the highly successful RTS Total War series from SEGA. Now, as they transition from …

Deus Ex publisher expects net income to remain steady for full year

Revenues reach £1.6 billion

Japanese publisher Konami has reported a 77.3 per cent increase in net income to 17,046m for the nine months ending December 31st 2011. Net revenues for the period grew 3.3 per cent to 194,522m while operating income climbed 86 per cent to 30,921m. Digital entertainment revenues in isolation grew 1.6 …

Digital platforms allow devs to circumvent publisher contracts entirely, says O'Luanaigh

Square Enix is celebrating some early 2012 success with new RPG release Final Fantasy XIII-2 debuting at No.1. It’s the first new chart topper of the year following the dominance of EA’s FIFA 12, which this week slips to fourth place. There are two other Top Five debutants this week …

Microsoft’s Xbox Live policy and enforcement director Stephen Toulouse is to quit the firm after 18 years. He resigns on February 15th to explore other opportunities”. Known as StepTo to many Xbox gamers, Toulouse has for many years been the face of Xbox to much of its social networking community …

The PlayStation Network brand will be abandoned on February 8th. In its place, all PSN account holders will have their details transferred over to the all new Sony Entertainment Network. This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering,” the company stated. As a series …