Event News

The UK’s biggest celebration of video games is back. London Games Festival will return in 2012 after a 2011 hiatus. It will be a month-long affair, running between September 27th and October 28th – not timed to coincide with the Olympics, as had originally been planned. The festival will encompass …

The owners of The Pirate Bay have accused British authorities of hypocrisy following its decision to force ISPs to block access to the site. The Western countries of the world all complaints about the censorship in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and so on,” a statement reads. But they are really …

There are only two places left for teams at the first Xbox 360MCV Quizof 2012. The popular event returns on May 17th at Holborn’strendySway Bar. Once again, retailers, suppliers and the games media are given the chance to show off their general knowledge skills. There will be thousands of pounds’ …

Namco Bandai’s once PC-only RPG The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition is the new UK No.1. It’s the only new release to enter the UKIE GfK Chart-Track Top 40 this week. The Xbox 360 version accounted for 98 per cent of physical sales, with PC claiming the remainder. …

SCE’s Rosemary Buahin last night won this year’s Special Recognition prize at the MCV Awards 2012. The popular trade marketing exec has held roles at Sony, WBIE, Eidos, Novalogic and Acclaim, and is hugely respected for her work with retail. The MCV Industry Excellence Awards celebrate the commercial and creative …

Sony’s PlayStation Vita continues to struggle to establish itself in Japan, with weekly sales of the console hitting an all-time low. The latest Media Create figures say Vita sold just 8,931 units last week in the territory – it’s the first time sales have fallen below 10,000. In comparison, the …

Germany is a crucial European market for publishers. Sales in the region generated a cool €2bn in 2011, according to research from German games trade body BIU. 72m games were sold last year, accounting for €1.5bn. Price comparison site Idealo recently reported that games are over 20 per cent more …

Sales of the Nintendo 3DS leapt to almost 100,000 units in Japan last week, spurred by the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising. Unit sales rose 40 per cent from 64,017 to 94,011 during the week ending March 25th, according to data published on Neogaf, as reported by Gamasutra. 3DS console …

Oour specialist retail chain is in dire straits, and Britsoft publishers are extinct. But the Coalition Government’s games tax break will re-establish British talent on the global stage, Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has told MCV. He said the Government chose a wider subsidy to attract big firms to make more …

The UK government has declared its intention to establish a nationwide game tax break policy, in a dramatic manoeuvre that leaves the British sector in shock and jubilation. Standing in the Commons for his 2012 Budget speech, Chancellor George Osborne said the UK games development industry would benefit from similar …