Morning DLC: Video Games News And Rumors 4/5/14
By Nick Tylwalk
"Newly appointed Xbox division boss Phil Spencer admits some decisions the company made regarding the Xbox One were “wrong decisions,” and emphasized games will be the focus for the company’s E3 showing later this year.While Spencer didn’t elaborate which decisions made were the wrong ones, a fair assumption would be the Xbox One’s controversial “always-online” DRM system that got trashed following poor reception from gamers. In the same interview, Spencer was asked about this year’s E3 and what he has in mind for Microsoft’s presser, to which the executive replied they will once again focus on games — just like last year’s showing."
"George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, the U.K. equivalent of other countries’ treasury secretary or finance minister, on Friday officially launched Britain’s new tax incentive for the games industry.Osborne attended an event hosted by games industry body Ukie and the TV Coalition, representing companies from across the U.K. TV sector, in central London to trumpet the new video games tax credit and celebrate a similar incentive for high-end television productions, which the British government says has already added an additional $233 million (£140 million) to the U.K. economy.During the event, figures were flung out extolling the economic and cultural impact of the high-end television relief. To date, there have been 38 applications for the TV tax relief with five productions given final certification, and $22 million (£13 million) spent in the U.K. A further 22 have interim certification with a projected total U.K. spend of $216 million (£130 million)."
"Sony’s dominance over Microsoft in the indie scene is a result of the firm “moving first, and moving faster” to attract indie studios.That’s according to Curve, one of the most prominent studios in the scene with acclaimed games like Stealth Inc, Thomas Was Alone, Lone Survivor, MouseCraft and Proteus under its belt.“There’s a sense that Sony ‘gets it’ on a level that we’ve never seen before in the games industry, and it’s something that goes beyond programs and departments like ID@Xbox or the Strategic Development team at Sony,” said Curve marketing manager Rob Clarke in a recentblog post titled ‘Why isn’t Curve working with Microsoft’."