Month: March 2010

Opinion: games and the Byron Progress Review

In 2007, Tania Byron was asked by the UK government to conduct an “independent review looking at the risks to children from exposure to potentially harmful or inappropriate material on the internet and in video games“.  This became the Byron Review in 2008, which made a number of proposals to better protect children online.  In… Continue reading Opinion: games and the Byron Progress Review

Activision Blizzard restructures management and organisation

Activision Blizzard has reorganised its senior management and restructured internally into four divisions to cover its portfolio of titles. More details are at the LA Times, which reports that one division will focus on Call of Duty, a second will handle other Activision-owned titles including Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, a third will handle licenced properties and the… Continue reading Activision Blizzard restructures management and organisation

Thoughts on ELSPA’s Games Question Time

ELSPA hosted a games Question Time event yesterday 29th March at BAFTA in London, which saw a panel comprising representatives from the UK’s three key political parties debate good-naturedly about some of the big issues surrounding the game industry.  The panel was: Tom Watson MP (Labour), Ed Vaizey MP (Conservative) and Don Foster MP (Liberal Democrat).  The discussion… Continue reading Thoughts on ELSPA’s Games Question Time

Mysterious developments at bankrupt Stargate developer Cheyenne

More news has been released about the slide of Stargate developer Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment into bankruptcy.  In February 2010, Cheyenne entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in rather abrupt circumstances (more background reading here). Now, it emerges that a US court has appointed a receiver over Cheyenne, who has written a letter to Cheyenne shareholders that helpfully… Continue reading Mysterious developments at bankrupt Stargate developer Cheyenne

Games censorship and classification in 2010, part 1

At the end of last year, I wrote a retrospective on games classification and censorship across in the world in 2009, which – perhaps unsuprisingly – showed a totally inconsistent worldwide approach with different countries adopting hostile or progressive approaches to the regulation of games, virtually all of which was justified by reference to the… Continue reading Games censorship and classification in 2010, part 1

Should Griefing Be Criminalised?

I just read a paper by Leslie Garfield, a Professor of Law at Pace University in the USA, about whether intentional infliction of emotional distress over the internet (e.g. cyber-bullying) should be criminalised.  This has got me thinking – should griefing be criminalised too? Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/gamerlaw or subscribe to our weekly email newsletter… Continue reading Should Griefing Be Criminalised?

UK games industry wins videogames tax break, faces challenges

The UK government has announced in today’s pre-election budget plans to introduce a tax break for the UK games industry, but there will be real challenges to be overcome before the games industry can take advantage of the new tax relief. The announcement As we said yesterday, even up until the announcement itself there was… Continue reading UK games industry wins videogames tax break, faces challenges

UK games industry waits for games tax break announcement

The UK games industry is waiting to see whether tomorrow the Government will announce a games tax break in its last budget before the forthcoming 2010 general election. In his December 2009 pre-budget report, the Chancellor Alastair Darling failed to make any formal announcement introducing a games tax break, despite significant industry support and lobbying for the… Continue reading UK games industry waits for games tax break announcement

Another developer executive sacked for "insubordination"

Gamesindustry.biz reports that US developer Quest Online has sacked its president and co-founder Dave Allen for “insubordination” and replaced him with 3000AD president Derek Smart. It seems that Quest Online was “struggling” following the release of its MMO Alganon in December 2009, leading to management changes in which Dave Allen was demoted to COO but… Continue reading Another developer executive sacked for "insubordination"