The Week in Review

This week we learn that Battlefield 3 is not the biggest fan of cheating, the Dutch Supreme Court gives a literal penalty for a virtual crime and Sony’s new leader needs some leading.

Battlefield 3 Developer Seeking An “Anti-Cheat Administrator”

Fast on the heels of a string of player hacking, Battlefield 3 creator DICE is now taking applications for an honest individual to help combat cheating in its games. A new opening on Monster.com shows the company is seeking an “Anti-Cheat Administrator” to analyze player data and help promote fair play. “In our continued effort to keep our games free from cheating, we are now looking for an internet savvy administrator,” The job posting states. “The administrator will compose an absolutely vital function to secure the online experience our games represent by actively [being] a part of the community.”(Link)

THQ Faces NASDAQ Delisting

It’s a clammy tale. One day you’re on top of the world, making truckloads of money cranking out licensed videogames based on lucrative Disney franchises, and the next you’ve got people banging on your door and threatening to kick you off the NASDAQ. That’s the situation at THQ, which was warned today that it has 180 days to get its share price to a minimum of $1 and then keep it there for ten consecutive days. (Link)

Dutch Supreme Court Upholds Virtual Theft Conviction

Back in 2008, a pair of Dutch teenagers were convicted of theft after they “coerced” a 13-year-old boy into transferring an amulet and mask from his RuneScape account to theirs. The Leeuwarden District Court declared in its ruling that “these virtual goods are goods [under Dutch law], so this is theft.” One of the duo took his lumps like a man but the other decided to appeal, based on the question of whether or not things that don’t actually exist in the physical realm can be considered property. (Link)

The Old Republic Becomes the Fastest-Growing MMO Ever

Star Wars: The Old Republic has sold more than two million copies since it launched six weeks ago and now boasts a subscriber base of 1.7 million users, which Electronic Arts says makes it the fastest growing subscription-based MMO ever. And while things are often ugly in the early days of a new MMO, The Old Republic has been a relative rock of stability, with servers “available for more than 99.5 percent of the time outside of scheduled maintenance.” (Link)

Kaz Hirai Becomes Sony CEO, Asks “Holy Sh*t, Now What?”

Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman Kazuo Hirai was recently tapped to take over as president and CEO of the whole Sony Corporation shooting match. He’s got a big job ahead of him; Sony’s a powerhouse corporation but Hirai says that for a number of reasons, the company is sputtering. (Link)