“We’re honored to be recognized by the NCTA as an industry leader in technology,” said Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games. “The other nominees are trailblazers in their respective fields — for a game company like Epic to be singled out as the award winner is very flattering.” Indeed.

Epic Games Wins 2008 NCTA Award [GamersHell]

Over in the U.S. Sony San Diego Studios senior director Scott Rohde has been promoted to vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios America. Rohde was a co-founder of Page 44 studios, and has also worked in sports roles for Radical Entertainment and Sega of America.

Both new VPs will be responsible for the overall operations of Sony in their respective areas, reporting to Sony's replacement Harrison, Shuhei Yoshida. Welcome to the party gentlemen!

Sony Appoints New Europe, America Studio Heads [Gamasutra]

“MvG has been created with the goal of bringing fun and easily accessible music games to an audience that has largely remained unnoticed to this point,” said Vincent Bitetti, CEO of MvG. “The music video game market and the online casual games market both continue to grow exponentially. MvG will provide games that will appeal to both demographics.”

Five years ago this would have been perfect. Now I'm not so sure we need more music games, casual or otherwise. Still, maybe MvG will find their niche. They've certainly got a dynamic name going for them, and a kick-ass logo. Go get 'em, plucky little upstart!

Veteran Video Game Talents Announce Launch of New Company, Music Video Games (MvG)
Seasoned Executives From the Music and Entertainment Space Join Forces to Launch Video Game Portal Focused on Casual Gamers and Music Fans

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Today the formation of Music Video Games™ (MvG) was announced, a music-based game company focused on delivering interactive entertainment experiences for both casual gamers and music fans. MvG was founded by David Warhol, president of video game studio Realtime Associates, Inc., and Vincent Bitetti, a video game publishing executive and former CEO of TDK Mediactive, which was sold to Take Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) in 2004.

“MvG has been created with the goal of bringing fun and easily accessible music games to an audience that has largely remained unnoticed to this point,” said Vincent Bitetti, CEO of MvG. “The music video game market and the online casual games market both continue to grow exponentially. MvG will provide games that will appeal to both demographics.”

Mr. Bitetti will act as the company’s CEO while Mr. Warhol will be the Chief Creative Officer. Acting as strategic advisors to the new company are music industry veteran Mark Goldstein, former Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Warner Bros Records Inc. (NYSE:WMG), and interactive entertainment guru Tim Walsh, formerly the Senior Vice President of International Publishing, President of THQ Wireless, and a Corporate Officer at THQ (NASDAQ:THQI).

According to Pacific Crest Securities the U.S. online casual games business will grow to $725 million in 2008 from $375 million in 2006, with casual games becoming a primary industry growth driver for 2008 and beyond.

To find out more about MvG, please visit www.musicvideogames.net.

Jonathan Newth, Corporate Development Officer of Kuju Entertainment, commented "The US, and San Francisco in particular, is a natural choice for our first non-UK studio. It's a hotbed of development talent, home to many leading publishers and some of the leading US games press.

Kuju America [Official Website]

"We have an excellent working relationship with 2K Games and the utmost respect for them," said Petr Vochozka, CEO of 2K Czech. "We are pleased to become a 2K studio and are confident that this new partnership will strengthen our current and future projects."

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Acquires Illusion Softworks

New York, NY - January 7, 2008 - Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced the acquisition of Illusion Softworks, a premier Central European-based game development studio with operations in Brno and Prague, the Czech Republic. Illusion Softworks has approximately 200 employees and will join Take-Two's 2K Games publishing label as its newest studio, 2K Czech.

Established in 1997, Illusion Softworks is the creator and owner of several hit video game franchises, including Mafia, Hidden & Dangerous and Vietcong. The studio is currently working with 2K Games on Mafia II, the sequel to the original Mafia, which helped establish the gangster genre and sold more than two million units.

"The acquisition of Illusion Softworks reflects our strategic focus on owning high-value intellectual property as we continue to expand our portfolio of triple-A titles," said Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two.

Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K, said, "Adding 2K Czech to our network of development studios demonstrates our strong commitment to creating great franchises and building world-class creative teams. The 2K Czech team is responsible for several very innovative and highly-regarded franchises and we look forward to continuing to develop new and existing IP together."

"We have an excellent working relationship with 2K Games and the utmost respect for them," said Petr Vochozka, CEO of 2K Czech. "We are pleased to become a 2K studio and are confident that this new partnership will strengthen our current and future projects."

"We're focused on continuing to bring new brands and cutting-edge gameplay to market with the creation of the 2K Marin studio," said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. "2K Marin will build upon our success in creating and leveraging AAA franchises."

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Announces Formation of 2K Marin

New Northern California Based Development Studio to Focus on Creating Original, Industry-Leading Intellectual Property

NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) today announced the formation of 2K Marin, a new development studio under its 2K publishing label. Located in Novato, California, 2K Marin will develop original intellectual property, as well as co-develop products with other 2K studios around the world.

"We're focused on continuing to bring new brands and cutting-edge gameplay to market with the creation of the 2K Marin studio," said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. "2K Marin will build upon our success in creating and leveraging AAA franchises."

2K Marin is the newest studio to join 2K's outstanding group of development studios located in Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.

For more information, visit the 2K Games website at www.2kgames.com.

Matt Miller, Lead Designer on the City of Heroes project and formerly with Cryptic Studios said, "We're thrilled to be bringing the CoH franchise to the next level. And we couldn't be more pleased to be working completely under the NCsoft banner. We feel that City of Heroes' best days are in front of it."

NCsoft Announces New Studio in North California; Takes Full Ownership of Successful City of Heroes Property

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 6, 2007—NCsoft® Corp, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today announced the formation of a new development studio in Mountain View, California. The announcement comes as the company begins a renewed push to further develop the City of Heroes® property, which is now 100 percent owned by NCsoft. Previous to today, ownership of the intellectual property (IP) was split between NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, the original developer of the project.

The new studio will be built around key members of the City of Heroes team from NCsoft and Cryptic Studios including the art, programming and design team leads.

"We're happy to announce that NCsoft has acquired full ownership of the City of Heroes IP," said Brian Clayton, NCsoft executive producer and manager of the new studio. "Our plans are clear. We are now in a position to make a major reinvestment in the City of Heroes product line. With our existing Cryptic and NCsoft team as the core, we will be able to run our current service without any interruption to our players, expand our studio to deliver triple-A content, and take City of Heroes to new heights."

NCsoft will soon be announcing formal plans for the City of Heroes IP, which will include expansions and sequels to the popular comic-book inspired massively multiplayer online (MMO) game.

Matt Miller, Lead Designer on the City of Heroes project and formerly with Cryptic Studios said, "We're thrilled to be bringing the CoH franchise to the next level. And we couldn't be more pleased to be working completely under the NCsoft banner. We feel that City of Heroes' best days are in front of it."

For more information about City of Heroes, go to http://www.cityofheroes.com.

Majesco operations VP Gui Karyo said the new studio would focus on building a product line and IP assets that "emphasize fun, addictive game experiences." Karyo also praised the experience of Petro, who will report to him, as he welcomed him aboard in the studio's leading role.

Majesco Announces New Casual Game Studio, Appoints Former Sega Exec In Lead Role [Gamasutra]

"The success of our studio in Shanghai, which has been further confirmed with the launch of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PLAYSTATION 3 system, has encouraged us to extend our growth in China," said Christine Burgess-Quémard, executive director, Worldwide Studios at Ubisoft. "We are convinced that Chengdu offers the perfect environment for our expansion..."

UBISOFT EXPANDS INVESTMENT IN CHINA Opens New Video Game Development Studio in Chengdu, China

Paris, France - September 17, 2007 - Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announces the opening of a new video game development studio in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Richard Tsao, senior producer at Ubisoft's Shanghai studio, has been appointed managing director of the new studio. Ubisoft Chengdu will initially focus on internal outsourcing and in time will be responsible for developing online titles for PC, consoles and handhelds.

The opening of the new studio was celebrated today at a signing ceremony with Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer of Ubisoft, as well as the Party Secretary of Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone, Mr. Jing Gang and Mr. Han Chun Lin, Director of Chengdu's Hi-Tech Zone.

Following on its history of success in China, with Ubisoft's Shanghai studio already the second-largest Ubisoft development team in the world, the new studio in Chengdu will open its doors in Tianfu Software Park with 10 team members and the goal of expanding to 200 developers over the next year. Chengdu, with over 35,000 software programming graduates per year, is one of the most technologically developed cities in Western China, offering long-term growth opportunities based on a talented and highly educated local population. With its cutting-edge infrastructure and a local Hi-Tech Zone, Chengdu attracts international companies from all over the world and will provide a perfect environment for Ubisoft to establish an outstanding development studio.

"The success of our studio in Shanghai, which has been further confirmed with the launch of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PLAYSTATION 3 system, has encouraged us to extend our growth in China," said Christine Burgess-Quémard, executive director, Worldwide Studios at Ubisoft. "We are convinced that Chengdu offers the perfect environment for our expansion, offering a great number of highly educated and talented people."

Richard Tsao's career in games development began at Microsoft, where he helped to ship games such as Dungeon Siege and Mech Warrior 4. He then moved to Crytek, shipping Far Cry® and managing pre-production for Crysis before coming to Ubisoft Shanghai where he was most recently responsible for projects including Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter® 2 for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Before video games, Rich gathered a decade of development experience as a technical project manager and programmer for various client/server software projects, including deploying the first online billing system for MSN Internet access service.

Ubisoft was the first major developer to establish itself in China, opening a development studio in Shanghai in 1996. Ubisoft's Shanghai studio, managed by Corinne Leroy, has developed internationally renowned games including Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow® for the Xbox® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, which reached No. 1 shortly after its release in 2004. The studio celebrated its 10th anniversary last year and the team is currently developing an entirely new franchise, Tom Clancy's EndWar(TM), which will release in 2008.

Capcom has announced the promotion of Mark Beaumont, formerly the Vice President and Officer of the Americas, to Executive Vice President, Officer and Head of North America, South America and Europe consumer software publishing. He is going to need the biggest wooden desk name tag thingy ever created.

"Mark has significantly and steadily grown revenue in the Americas by revamping the sales organization, driving market awareness, consolidating distribution, improving forecasting, increasing inventory control and taking two of our largest retail accounts direct," said Hiroshi Tobisawa, President and CEO, Capcom Entertainment.

It's the sign of an excellent game journalist to not only be able to tell you the story, but to expound on the significance and ramifications the story holds for the game industry as a whole, and offer up insight into the motivation behind the story. So....how about those Eagles? Michael Fahey

Capcom Promotes Mark Beaumont to Head of Americas and Europe

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ — Capcom Entertainment Inc., a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced the promotion of Mark Beaumont to Executive Vice President, Officer and head of the North America, South America and Europe consumer software publishing.

Beaumont has served as Capcom's Senior Vice President and Officer of the Americas since 2005. In his new position, he will assume additional responsibilities for Capcom's entire consumer software business in the West, including Europe and Australia in addition to the Americas. He will report to both Capcom Co, Ltd. Managing Corporate Officer and head of videogame business Katsuhiko Ichii as well as Capcom Entertainment Inc. President and acting Chief Executive Officer Hiroshi Tobisawa.

"Mark has significantly and steadily grown revenue in the Americas by revamping the sales organization, driving market awareness, consolidating distribution, improving forecasting, increasing inventory control and taking two of our largest retail accounts direct," said Hiroshi Tobisawa, President and CEO, Capcom Entertainment.

Together, Europe and North America account for more than eighty percent of the global game software market, representing a compelling opportunity for growth.

"We are positioning Capcom for the future by strengthening our presence, and development, in the West," Tobisawa said. "Mark will now apply his strategies, which already have resulted in strong North American growth, to the European markets."

Beaumont has been in the video game industry for more than 25 years, dating back to the original Atari. His responsibilities have extended from marketing to product development, general management and ultimately lead publishing roles. He has had consistent success in revenue growth with a proven track record in building profitable organizations. For more than a decade, Beaumont has been involved in setting strategic vision and long-term product plans for numerous interactive publishers. He has held direct oversight responsibility for both European and American marketplaces for more than 5 years.

In his new role at Capcom, Beaumont will continue to foster an atmosphere of innovation throughout one of the leading independent 3rd party software developers and publishers, to lead both the company and the industry into the next generation.

ABOUT CAPCOM

Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, PC and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created world-renowned franchises including Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, Onimusha and Dead Rising. Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, the company maintains operations in the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany, Tokyo and Hong Kong. More information about Capcom and its products can be found on the company's web site at www.capcom.com.

NOTE: Capcom, Mega Man, Resident Evil, Onimusha, Devil May Cry and Dead Rising are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd., in the U.S. or other countries. Street Fighter is a registered trademark of Capcom U.S.A., Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

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Traveller's Tales have announced the purchase of fellow UK developers Embryonic Studios. Traveller's Tales is responsible for what could arguably be called the most successful use of a movie license ever, the Lego Star Wars series, the second of which is included on countless best of 2006 polls. Incidentally they also developed my favorite Amiga game ever, Leander.

Embryonic was founded in 2005 by Nick Elms, formerly of Warthog and Digital Anvil, and went on to create original IP such as Privateer, Brute Force and Starlancer.

Either way, both studios have done extensive work on licensed games, so expect even more innovative licensed work to come out of the newly extended Traveller's Tales family, hopefully involving Legos. Michael Fahey

Traveller's Tales buys Embryonic

Days after announcing an agreement to purchase a 10% stake in SCi and distribute Eidos titles in the states, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces another agreement, this time with the UK-based Codemasters. The agreement gives Warner the rights to manage the distribution, sales, and trade marketing of titles such as DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road, the darkly comic Overlord, Clive Barker's Jericho, and many more over the next two years.

So that makes two UK game publishers using Warner Bros. as a distribution channel now, and I would hazard a guess that this isn't the last agreement like this that we will see from the entertainment giant. Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens says it best:

"Codemasters continues to strengthen its content and distribution, and as the reach of our product portfolio broadens to a global audience, there can be no more effective alliance than to have the world's largest entertainment corporation handling the line in the single largest market.

WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT TO OVERSEE CODEMASTERS' NORTH AMERICAN VIDEOGAME DISTRIBUTION

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Warner Home Video Will Implement Distribution for Upcoming Slate of Games in 2007 and 2008

Burbank, Calif., December 19, 2006 - Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has entered into a videogame distribution agreement with Codemasters, Inc. for distribution and sales of its product slate in North America beginning in April 2007.

Within Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will work together with Warner Home Video in managing the distribution, sales and trade marketing of Codemasters' portfolio of videogames.

"This partnership allows the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group divisions to combine strengths to distribute Codemasters' games, which have global appeal, throughout North America," said Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. "Employing the expertise of our gaming division and our powerful home video distribution services, we will bring Codemasters' products to consumers within the ever-growing gaming marketplace."

"We greet this arrangement to work with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group with great enthusiasm," commented Rod Cousens, Chief Executive Officer, Codemasters Ltd. "Codemasters continues to strengthen its content and distribution, and as the reach of our product portfolio broadens to a global audience, there can be no more effective alliance than to have the world's largest entertainment corporation handling the line in the single largest market. The commitment of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group can only benefit the progress and scale of our future releases targeted at the North American consumer."

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group is scheduled to distribute Codemasters' videogame titles in North America from April 2007 through May 2008 Titles include: DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road, Overlord, Clive Barker's Jericho, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and more.

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