Archive (Page 4420)

Media empire Viacom is investigating the possibility of making money through advertising and product placement in videogames, according to a presentation given by CFO Richard Bressler at the Global Digital Summit.

Vivendi Universal Games has announced that 350 staff have been laid off as part of the firm's restructuring efforts, representing some 40 per cent of its US workforce - with the toughest cuts coming at the Sierra operation.

British tabletop gaming firm Games Workshop has cancelled work on Warhammer Online, the massively multiplayer game which was being developed by Climax based on its best-known role-playing property.

Sources close to Microsoft's senior Xbox executives have confirmed that the company does not intend to make its next-generation console, which is set to be launched by late 2005, backwards compatible with existing Xbox software.

French publisher Infogrames has announced details of a new financing deal which will see the firm receiving $28.2 million in return for 10.6 million shares in subsidiary Atari Inc, which will effectively serve as collateral for the funds.

Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will not feature any online play when it launches on PlayStation 2 later this year, according to Rockstar creative director Dan Houser, who claims that it would be "impossible" to implement GTA online.

Rental chain Blockbuster is to be separated from parent company Viacom in a split-off exchange financial deal which will see the media giant relinquishing its 81.5 per cent stake in the group of stores.

Microsoft Japan has demonstrated the Xbox Live Video Chat system, revealing that the system will support up to five simultaneous users and will launch in the Far East at the end of the year - with no US or European date mentioned as yet.

Sammy's Pachinko Slot! Fist of the North Star title topped the Japanese charts once again last week as the market continued to decline into the start of summer - but software sales remain higher than the same period last year.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair may host a reception for key games industry figures during the European Games Network trade show this September, according to reports which have emerged this morning.

The latest publishing deal to be signed by Electronic Arts' EA Partners division will see the company handling the release of Oddworld Inhabitants' next game, tentatively named Stranger, on Xbox and PS2 next year.

British publisher Eidos has warned that it now expects to post either a break even or a small loss for the full year to June 30th, after the company decided to move its final major title of the financial year back to September.

French publisher Ubisoft has announced its results for the 2003/04 financial year, showing that sales rose by some 22.5 per cent to top the half billion Euro mark, with strong growth also predicted for the coming year.

The Austin Game Conference has announced details of its 2004 event, which takes place this September, revealing that Sony and Microsoft are to share the stage to present a keynote address on massively multiplayer console gaming.