GSC Game World, creators of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, is rumoured to have been closed down, with the in-progress S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 reported as being cancelled by the same sources.
Initially, PC gaming blog Rock Paper Shotgun reported on a Ukranian news story claiming that owner and founder Sergei Grigorovich had closed down the studio, dissatisfied with progress on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
The company’s official Twitter feed soon responded with a Tweet saying: “No we have not closed GSC or cancelled #stalker2″. However, that tweet has now disappeared from the feed, leaving considerable confusion over the fate of the outfit.
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Source: GamesIndustry.biz – News
Disney’s Club Penguin will soon be hosting its fifth annual ‘Coins for Change’ program, in which players are asked to donate the virtual coins won playing games in the online world.
If players manage to fill a virtual island lighthouse with the coins then Disney has pledged to donate two million dollars to a selected charities. Each coin donated counts as a vote for one of the available good causes, spread across categories of medical care, safe place provision and earth protection.
“I am continuously amazed by the commitment and passion our players have for helping improve the lives of others,” said executive VP of Disney Online studios Lane Merrifield.
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Source: GamesIndustry.biz – News
Neonga, the German online games company set-up by former Frogster and Gamigo execs, has secured a further round of funding from Tengelmann Ventures.
The cash will be used for the international roll-out of titles A Mystical Land, World of Ants and DragonSoul.
“Ever since Tengelmann Ventures was founded, we have been looking at various candidates from the booming online games industry,” said Christian Winter, general manager of Tengelmann Ventures. “In Neonga, we see great potential due to the combination of a very experienced management team with a coherent product strategy.”
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Source: GamesIndustry.biz – News
In this exclusive interview conducted at Game Connection this week, Epic president Mike Capps talks openly about the need for the games business to mature by sharing content and information, why the company is support the PlayStation Vita with its Unreal engine but not making its own game, and the worry of revealing new IP.
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Source: GamesIndustry.biz – News
Yoshifua Hayama, previously vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment, has quit the company to join social games firm Bossa Studios as creative director.
Hayama was most recently working on Team Ico’s The Last Guardian, and had been with Sony for over four years.
“The appointment of Yoshifusa marks a great day in our journey and of social gaming as a whole,” commented Henrique Olifiers of Bossa Studio
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Source: GamesIndustry.biz – News
Secretary of state for education Michael Gove has said that he backs the call for computer science to be part of the National Curriculum.
Replacing ICT with computer science in schools is central to the Next Gen Skills campaign launched last month by UKIE with help from Google, NESTA, and Skillset, who see it as crucial to putting the UK at the forefront of future high tech business.
Talking to students at Catmose College about ICT in schools, Gove said: “What we should have is computer science in the future, and how it fits into the curriculum is something that we need to talk to scientists, to experts in coding, and to young people about, to make sure that that part of what happens in schools which deals with technology and computing is relevant.”
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Source: GamesIndustry.biz – News
Nintendo has appointed Jo Bartlett as the new head of its UK communications, filling the gap left by Rob Saunders when he moved on to Apple.
Bartlett joins Lewis Digby and Emily Wooliscroft on the UK team, overseeing press and PR for the terrritory, bringing experience from previous roles providing PR assistance for Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Play.
“I am thrilled to be joining Nintendo; it is a unique opportunity to work for a market leading company with such heritage, amazing games and one of the most exceptional innovators in the entertainment industry,” said Bartlett.
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Source: GamesIndustry.biz – News
The Elder Scrolls publisher Bethesda has admitted it needs to better care when releasing patches for its games, as its latest update to fix issues on console created more problems for players.
On release, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim suffered from serious lag issues on PlayStation 3, with a recent patch only partially solving the problem. To make matters worse, the patch also unbalanced gameplay and created embarrassing visual bugs such as backwards flying dragons.
“We’ll continue to do everything we can to make the game better and better for as many people as possible every day,” said the company on its blog.
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Source: GamesIndustry.biz – News
