A nation of children break up for school holidays next week. And they are breaking away from games, too. Disney and THQ warn that retailers and publishers won’t attract the next generation of gamers. Kids are switching off from consoles in favour of mobile, online and social games. For younger …

THQ has revealed a zany pre-order offer for Saints Row: The Third with Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax. The pack will contain three pieces of downloadable content themed around the crazed stunt-cat: a ballistic man-a-pult (vehicle which sucks pedestrians into a roof-mounted cannon and shoots them back out), an …

Microsoft and Epic Games’ upcoming Xbox 360 shooter Gears of War 3 has remarkably survived its brush with the German content regulators and will release in full and unedited in the country. Germany his a reputation for ruthlessly cracking down on violent content in video games and has forced many …

Ahead of his Develop Conference keynote, EA Sports boss Andrew Wilson explains EA's psychological examination of online entertainment

Budget specialist Focus Multimedia has a clear vision for growing its business, with new international markets, accessories and clever retail initiatives all part of the plan. Christopher Dring finds out more from MD Craig Johnson What is Focus’ current position in the budget games market? What’s your market share? We’re …

Astart-up publisher has targeted the PCgames market as it expands its presence in the UK. Cheshire-based Merge Games entered the UKretail market in March 2011 after setting up last year. It’s predominantly a PC game publisher but also focuses on the mobile and tablet formats. It has plans to enter …

MCV has launched a Reports section within its new website, from which readers can buy and download some of the best games market research available. It will offer reports from respected third party companies and from the in-house specialist journalists. Prices range from under 50 to around 500. The development …

The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (iGEA) has announced its support for MCV Pacific’s launch in Australia and New Zealand welcoming the focus on local trade news and information. Ron Curry, CEO of the iGEA said: We couldn’t be happier to see MCV begin to report on local, trade focused …

Sniper: Ghost Warrior has been a quiet achiever in Australia / New Zealand, selling almost 70’000 units in the territory so far becoming AFA Interactive’s biggest title for 2011 so far. Robert Allford, managing director of AFA, says: Sniper: Ghost Warrior has been an outstanding success for us. We feel …

EA has moved to acquire social and casual games specialist PopCap for a deal that could eventually be worth $1.3bn. The publisher has bought the firm – best known for hit casual titles Plants vs Zombies, Peggle,Bejeweled and Zuma – for $650m in cash plus $100m in stock. PopCap’s owners …