MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
With EA making plenty of noise about the April release of its FIFA World Cup South Africa tie-in, Konami has quietly announced a World Cup-themed Pro Evolution Soccer title scheduled to coincide with this summer’s tournament. More specifically, it has confirmed a spring release for Winning Eleven 2010 Aoki Samurai …
Read More »US: GameStop investigation
New York General Attorney Andrew Cuomo says he has issued a subpoena to 22 leading online retailers, including GameStop, as part of an investigation into ‘deceptive practices’ which lure buyers into making unwitting purchases. In a statement issued last week, reported yesterday by Kotaku, the Attorney General said that, "when …
Read More »Bigben returns to the UK
Bigben has announced it is returning to the UK following its split with former distribution partner Venom. The French peripherals manufacturer and software publisher will now launch its products in the UK itself. Only a selection of its games are currently available in the UK – including My Body Coach …
Read More »Tories make broadband pledge
Ahead of May’s general election the Conservative Party has pledged to deliver super-fast 100Mbps broadband to the majority” of UK homes by 2017 if it is elected to power. Private investors will pay for the infrastructure needs in urban areas with a proportion of the BBC licence fee will be …
Read More »FIFA 10 passes 2m mark in the UK
FIFA 10 has sold 2.2m units in the UK already – and with the boost of this summer’s World Cup, it could go on to become the biggest-selling game in the series so far. The publisher has confirmed it will again release an official World Cup tie-in title, potentially giving …
Read More »Half-Minute Hero lands in February
Rising Star Games has announced it will be releasing Half-Minute Hero in Europe on February 12th. The Marvelous-developed PSP-exclusive RPG will cater to fans of old-school gaming with its retro-inspired visuals and fast-paced gameplay. Half-Minute Hero challenges players with a series of quests that must be completed within a strict …
Read More »UK CHARTS: MW2 claims ninth no.1
For a full rundown of the charts on all formats, check out MCV’s vital weekly retail digest, RetailBiz – available to view online or download now. It’s nine weeks and counting at the top of the ELSPA GfK-ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 this week as Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern …
Read More »UK games market falls to £60.1m
UK software sales fell 30 per cent last week, as post-Christmas consumer spending slows down. Value for the week dropped to 60.1m, while unit sales fell 23 per cent. This week’s performance was driven by the New Year sales and the continued success of Modern Warfare 2, which continues to …
Read More »JAPAN: Further year-on-year decline
Famitsu publisher Enterbrain has claimed that 2009 was yet again a year of decline for the video games industry in Japan with both hardware and software sales suffering year-on-year decreases. Kotaku reports that hardware sales for the year were down 13.6 per cent, with the total market slumping by 6.9 …
Read More »Wada denies Japanese decline
The president of Square Enix – the increasingly Western-facing Japan-headquartered publishing empire – has refuted the widely held view that the Japanese game industry is in decline. Yoichi Wada is thought to be the first high-profile industry executive that’s publicly spoken in defence of the Japanese industry. If you look …
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