BizSpots: Sony, Gameloft, Demiurge

Sony sponsors X Games 13
Sony today announced that it would once again be sponsoring ESPN's X Games. The console maker will be rolling up to X Games 13 in style with its PlayStation Experience truck, where players can recline in plush leather chairs and play games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable. The megapublisher will also be supplying the event with playable game kiosks that feature titles such as Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Folklore, MotorStorm, PaRappa the Rapper, and SingStar Pop. X Games 13 takes place August 2-5 at the Home Depot Center and Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Gameloft posts half-year growth
In spite of Ubisoft's abrupt devesting of shares earlier this month, mobile game developer Gameloft today reported strong revenues for its first two fiscal quarters, performing ahead of its anticipated full-year revenue growth. The French developer announced its year-over-year sales were up 50 percent to 30.5 million euros (approximately $40 million), and that income from its mobile game downloads rose 100 percent during the first six months of 2006. Gameloft attributed its better-than-expected results to investment in its production and sales capabilities, as well as an overall growth in the mobile gaming market.

Demiurge brought to the Frontlines
Demiurge Studios announced earlier this week that it would be providing ground support for THQ's Frontlines: Fuel of War. THQ has tapped the studio to provide fine-tuning to the game's Unreal Engine 3-powered frame rates and memory capabilities. Demiurge has provided similar support to Gearbox's Brothers in Arms series and Iron Lore's Titan Quest. Frontlines: Fuel of War is the first project to be developed by THQ's Kaos Studio, which was formed in 2006 by Battlefield 2 veterans from now-defunct Trauma Studios.