MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Publisher Ubisoft has once again been forced to defend the DRM it chose to implement in one of its PC titles. MCV reported earlier this weekthat strategy title Anno 2070 uses a limited activation system. This in itself is not uncommon but it transpires that if a user changes any …
Read More »Ubisoft takes UK Xmas crown
The pressure is on EA and Activision, as Ubisoft became the No.1 publisher over Christmas. The firm sold more games than any other during the festive period (November 27th to December 31st). Just Dance 3 (no.3) and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (no.6) were the firm’s top sellers for the month. For …
Read More »Games TV ads: The top ten publishers of 2011
We reveal the top ten games publishers which had the most watched TV advertising campaigns last year. Nintendo faced little opposition as it graced our screens every week of 2011. It advertised almost three times as many campaigns as second-placed Ubisoft, with each campaign on average achieving 235 TVRs. One …
Read More »PopCap axes 730,000-user Facebook game
EA PopCap has dropped ZipZapPlay’s Facebook game Baking Life, despite the title having almost three quarters of a million players. The free-to-play game will close at the end of the month. Users who have bought in-game currency using real money will not be able to use this in other PopCap-owned …
Read More »Christmas sales up for Xbox but profits fall
Microsoft revenues pass $4 billion for the holiday quarter
Read More »Trion Worlds wins $85m investment
Up-and-coming MMO specialist Trion Worlds has received a massive financial boost towards the company’s ongoing expansion. The publisher secured $85 million from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and current investor Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. "We are thrilled about entering this exciting period of growth and scale with our investors," said Trion …
Read More »Dance Central 2 spin-off app hits iOS
Microsoft has launched the Dance Central 2 Dance Cam app which lets users appear in customisable music videos. The free download for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7 smartphones lets users record themselves or their friends dancing. Videos can be edited and shared, with smartphone owners able to challenge each …
Read More »Ubisoft digital triple pack due in March
Three of Ubisoft’s biggest downloadable releases of 2011 are coming to retail. A Play.com listing reveals the Ubisoft Triple Pack will contain Beyond Good & Evil HD, From Dust and Outland, according to Gamerzines. It will be available for Xbox 360 and PS3 from March 23rd and will retail at …
Read More »INTERVIEW: Ian Shepherd
Last week GAME revealed its poor Christmas financials, with UK and Ireland retail sales down 17.6 per cent over the festive period. We speak to CEO Ian Shepherd about the state of the market and how the Group can turn its fortunes around. So what went wrong? The video games …
Read More »Software Sales Monitor: Market shrinks by a third
It wasn’t a great week for UK games retail, with the market shrinking by a third. 14m was generated from game sales overall which is almost 7m less than last week’s 20.9m With no new big releases hitting shelves for the week ending January 14th, the number of units sold …
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