MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Microsoft has kicked off its Spring Sale on Xbox Live, offering Gold and free users savings of up to 60% on several top games and DLC from now until 1st April. Included in the sale at half price are The Walking Dead, L.A. Noire and Dead Rising 2, as well …
Read More »GAME customers name 1996 as gaming’s ‘golden’ year; Names Wii as best ever console
1996 has been named as video gaming’s ‘golden year’ by a survey of 2,000 GAME customers. Big hits released that year included Resident Evil, Super Mario 64, Tekken 2, Crash Bandicoot, FIFA 96 (which was the first in the series to use real-life licenses) and the mighty Tomb Raider. 2002 …
Read More »Rude shop assistants named as shopper’s biggest High Street gripe
Arrogant and rude staff” have been named as the biggest shopping annoyances by a survey of 1,500 High Street consumers. A quarter of respondents named the attitude of shop assistants as their biggest concern, followed by queue jumpers (16 per cent). Rude staff are the most irritating aspect of shopping …
Read More »SWTOR’s Asia Pacific servers closing; Rise of the Hutt expansion dated
BioWare is to close down Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Asia Pacific servers and merge them with the North American servers. A specific timeframe for the closure has not yet been revealed, although it has been announced that Mastar Dar’Nala (PvP) will transfer to The Bastion (PvP), Gav Daragon (RP-PvE) …
Read More »Is 2013 the year of the indie?
This year will be a major year for the independent retail scene, say store owners. Indie retailers hope the mass closure of HMV and Blockbuster stores have provided them with opportunities to expand both their in-store offerings and the number of shops. Last week, major retailers pledged to fill the …
Read More »Former HMV commercial boss takes over at Blockbuster
Gary Warren has been appointed managing director of the new Blockbuster UK. The firm was acquired by ‘TS 1973 Investment Holdings’ (a subsidiary of investment firm Gordon Brothers Europe) earlier today. 264 stores have been saved with 2,000 members of staff. Warren (pictured right) is best known for his role …
Read More »Blockbuster sale agreed; 264 stores and 2,000 jobs saved
Deloitte has confirmed that it has completed the sale of Blockbuster for an undisclosed sum. Buyers Gordon Brothers Europe have acquired 264 stores, saving around 2,000 jobs in the process. The Blockbuster brand license has been retained as part of the deal. Having identified a profitable core portfolio of stores …
Read More »StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm launch show attracts 1.1m viewers on Twitch
The world of eSports is once again demanding attention after Blizzard’s StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm attracted some impressive numbers. The game’s 21 hour launch broadcast from the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Winter Championship on Twitch attracted over 1.1m viewers. Concurrent viewers hit a high of over 157k. …
Read More »Majority of publishers shunning boxed product
Six out of ten publishers have admitted that they either rarely release or never release their games in boxed physical form. The exception, of course, is console and PC releases where the majority of publishers either release game physically or via a ‘Buy&Download’ model. That’s just one of many findings …
Read More »Indie game Antichamber has sold 100k units
Steam title Antichamber has done pretty well for itself since its release in June. Creator Alexander Bruce told Polygon that the game has sold 100,000 units on Valve’s platform. And for those thinking 100k is not an impressive number – we can assure you it’s far in excess of some …
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