Publishing

UK CHARTS: Final Fantasy XIII-2 debuts at No.1

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 …

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Stephen Toulouse quits Microsoft

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 …

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UPDATED: PSN becomes SEN

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 …

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Games becomes second-fastest growing TV ad sector

Video games has become the second fastest growing TV advertising market in the UK, behind office equipment. We saw last week that games and consoles TV advertising had kicked off 2012 brightly. Growth in the market has accelerated to 62 per cent year-on-year. It also puts it well ahead of …

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THQ’s 17-game rescue plan

Embattled publisher THQ has plotted a multi-year game release schedule in a bid to calm investor nerves. Last night the publisher announced a net loss of $56 million for the last three months of 2011. In a move to dispel fears, THQ’s executive team last night listed its next seventeen …

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Digital revenues double ahead of THQ restructure

Change is afoot at THQ. The company has withdrawn from the children’s market and plans to focus instead on "core games and digital initiatives". And despite losses of $56m, it has plenty to work with – the publisher revealed that digital revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 have …

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Why THQ has rubbed out uDraw

The uDraw GameTablet and all related games have been discontinued after the franchise’s sales fell short by $100m. "THQ has no future commitments or plans to manufacture uDraw hardware," the company said in its latest financial report. Revenues for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of uDraw – which were …

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Take-Two profits drop to $14.2m

Take-Two has reported a 65 per cent drop in profit to $14.2m for its fiscal Q3 ending December 31st 2011. The Rockstar and 2K parent generated $236.3m in sales during October, November and December. This represents a 25 per cent year-on-year dip compared to the $334.3m made in the same …

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