Spicy Horse founder American McGee has written an interesting list on Facebook explaining why he thinks the Xbox One will not be successful in China when it is released in the region this September. Earlier this week Microsoft announced that its latest console would finally be available to the lucrative Chinese gaming market, but McGee has lots of doubts that the console can be successful in a market dominated by free-to-play mobile and PC games and a thriving gray market.

Lionsgate is apparently jumping into the games business with both feet. The film studio behind hits like The Hunger Games, The Hurt Locker, and more announced today that it is launching a new gaming division with Peter Levin at the helm. Levin is the former CEO of the Nerdist. Levin will be responsible for driving the studio's expansion into interactive entertainment. The gaming division will also have the opportunity to make games using Lionsgate's stable of franchises or other brands.

Microsoft and BesTV (its partner in China) announced that the Xbox One will officially launch in China in September of this year. China lifted a 14-year ban on the sale of foreign game consoles in January, opening up the market to the likes of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. But it seems that only Microsoft has taken the initiative to get its latest console in the hands of Chinese consumers.

The systems will be manufactured within the country - one of the many stipulations that Chinese government put in place for console makers who want to do business in the region.

The PC games market has surpassed the console gaming market in revenues, according to DFC Intelligence owner David Cole. Speaking to PCR, Cole says that PC game software sales have generated more than consoles on a global basis.

"Among core gamers there is a heavy overlap with most console gamers also playing on a PC. The big difference is that consoles are now the luxury item and PCs are the necessity. Just a few years ago the reverse was true. This means PCs have the broader audience."

More than 50 percent of American households believe that video games help families spend more quality time together, according to the new Entertainment Software Association report, "Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Games Industry" (PDF). Around 68 percent of parents surveyed who had children under the age of 18 in their household also said that gaming provides mental stimulation and education to children.

Social and mobile game maker Zynga reported a first-quarter loss of $61 million, compared to a $25 million loss from its previous quarter and a profit of $4 million the same period a year ago. Zynga also announced that its founder Mark Pincus, who had already stepped down as its chief executive officer, would leave his role as chief product officer, basically ending his executive duties at the firm. Pincus remains the chairman of the board.

Digital games spending in the United States grew significantly in the last year, according to research firm Superdata. According to Superdata's March 2014 report, the US digital games market raked in right around $936 million in sales during the one year period, up nine percent from March 2013.

TIGA, the trade group that represents the video games industry in the UK, announced that it will facilitate a series of events around the country to help developers understand the importance of the new Games Tax Relief recently approved by the government. The tour will start in Oxford, England sometime in May, and all of the events will be free for developers to attend. These events will feature input from UK industry veterans as well.

China will soon be lifting its ban on video game consoles and while that's certainly a good thing, the Shanghai government just released a comprehensive list of content restrictions for game makers looking to release their products in the Asian state.

On the no-fly list are:

Late last year the Chinese government said that it would lift the ban on home consoles in the country and created Shanghai Free Trade Zone so that foreign firms could set up operations to manufacture systems within the country. This was one of the conditions that the Chinese government put on companies that wanted to sell home consoles within the region. Foreign companies that make consoles in Shanghai's free trade zone and sell them in China will first have to get inspected by various cultural departments.

Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft’s most successful franchise, according to newly updated data on Ubisoft's Facts & Figures page on its website. The data was uncovered by Kotaku columnist Superannuation. The Assassin’s Creed series of games has sold 73 million to-date worldwide, but Ubisoft's second biggest game series is Just Dance, which has sold 48 million to-date, beating out big franchises such as Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Rayman, Petz, and Prince of Persia.

The Xbox One and PC versions of Titanfall led US retail software sales in March, according to new figures released by NPD. The popular online-focused action game from developer Respawn and publisher Electronic Arts had "a solid attach rate to the Xbox One," NPD analyst Liam Callahan said.

Monthly US retail sales of PlayStation 4 once again outpaced sales of Xbox One in March, according to NPD figures. March marks the third month in a row that Sony's PS4 beat Microsoft's Xbox One at retail in the United States, with hardware sales up overall by 78 percent compared to the same period last year.

Sony Online entertainment claims that one player has already made over $100,000 creating in-game items for Sony Online Entertainment titles. The revelation came from SOE boss John Smedley during an interview with Game Talk Live. SOE's John Smedley revealed the news during a preview of the upcoming survival horror MMO H1Z1.

In a recent interview with GamesBeat, The Tetris Company's Henk Rogers reveals that the mobile version of the classic puzzle game has been downloaded more than 425 million times. That figure does not include free-to-play versions of the game, which Rogers apparently is not a big fan of.

Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft has now sold 12 million copies to-date at retail and online through Xbox Live Marketplace. Along with the announcement of the milestone, Microsoft also revealed that a new mod pack for the game called the Candy Texture Pack will be released on April 18.

Activision Blizzard announced today that its first expansion for Diablo 3 is selling like hotcakes. Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls topped 2.7 million units in the expansion's first week of availability, according to Activision Blizzard.

The data is based on internal company sales tracking and reports from key distribution partners. We assume that these numbers also include digital direct-to-consumer sales by Blizzard.

Diablo 3's first expansion pack launched on PC and Mac on March 25.

Sony Online Entertainment announced that Player Studio support will begin for Landmark "on or before May 1." As part of the rollout, Player Studio creators in select regions outside of the United States will be able to submit in-game items across all Player Studio-supported games.

GameStop reported sales of $3.68 billion for the forth-quarter of 2013, a 3.4 percent increase over the $3.56 billion the company reported in the same period a year ago. It comes as no surprise that the retailer attributed the increase in sales to the launches of Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One in November of last year.

Oddworld Inhabitants co-founder Lorne Lanning isn't interested in working with big publishers like Electronic Arts now or ever again, and in an interview with VG247 to discuss his latest game (Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty), he uses some colorful language to express his feelings on the matter.

Free-to-play MMO company Nexon says that the mobile games industry has let consumers down. Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney said that consumers are not being given content they deserve and has accused cloning of popular games on various App stores as a big part of the problem.

Financial analyst Edward S. Williams of BMO Capital Markets issued a report previewing GameStop's fourth quarter results, which will be released on Thursday, March 27, followed by a conference call with investors at 11:00 a.m. EDT. Williams predicts that the video games retailer will report strong hardware sales from the launches of the PS4 and Xbox One for Q4, but weaker software sales during this transitional console period. He also said that severe winter weather, which hit most of the United States in January, may have affected January sales—as well as April quarter sales.

Luftrausers developer Vlambeer claims the game has already generated profits for the studio just two days after being released. Published by Devolver Digital, Luftrausers was released on March 18 for PC, PS3, and Vita. In the game, players take control of a single fighter plane to take out an onslaught of enemy aircraft. In a post on the official Vlambeer Twitter page, the studio said the game is already profitable.

"It had a two and a half year development cycle. We are super overwhelmed and thankful."

The PlayStation 4 will continue to be "supply constrained" until this summer, according to what PlayStation boss Andrew House tells The Wall Street Journal.

We're struggling to keep up with demand," House said, noting highest demand is in the US and Europe. "Conservatively, as we get into the early summer months, we'll be closer to a full supply situation."

The 2014 budget has been passed in the United Kingdom, but once again this year tax relief for the video games industry in the region were not included. UKIE CEO Jo Twist described the ongoing struggle to get tax relief included in the budget "frustrating." The campaign for tax relief similar to what is enjoyed by the film and TV industries has been going on for years, but there were high hopes from the sector and the trade groups representing it in the UK that it would happen this year.

PayPal says that it will update its policies related to crowdfunding, according to this Ars Technica report. The policy change would involve identifying crowdfunding campaigns early on and expediting payment to those that have made their obligations to campaign donors transparent. This decision comes on the heels of PayPal freezing the funds of several high profile crowd-funded projects.

Naughty Dog's popular PS3 exclusive action game The Last of Us, has sold six million copies to date, according to a Sony Computer Entertainment America announcement today. SCEA did not say whether those numbers represent units sold to retailers or units sold to consumers... The Last of Us sales topped 3.4 million units between the game's global release on June 14 and July 3.

Hitting that milestone officially made the game the fastest selling new franchise in the console's history and the quickest selling PS3 game of 2013, according to Sony.

The NPD Group released US retail game sales data for February, showing that the sector grew nine percent to $887 million. This growth was mostly spurred on by a 42 percent rise in console hardware sales ($347 million). Software sales - with PC games factored in - declined 11 percent to $328 million, while accessories grew around three percent to $221 million.

PS4 held the lead over Xbox One in sales for the month, but the numbers were so close that one might consider the distance almost negligible.

Majesco continues to have financial challenges, as evident by its fiscal quarter 2014 results. For the quarter ended January 31, 2014, Majesco reported earnings of $21.9 million in revenue, down slightly from the $23.5 million earned in the same quarter last year. The company also posted a net loss of $4.5 million, compared to a loss of $2.1 million in the same period a year ago. On a non-GAAP basis, Majesco realized a Q1 loss of $4.1 million, versus $1.1 million in the same quarter last year.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Candy Crush Saga maker King today said that it plans to price its shares between $21 and $24 for its initial public offering and that it plans to sell 22.2 million shares.