MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry

A SNES-themed backlit Game Boy Advance is being released later this month. The devices, made by Rose Coloured Gaming and spotted by Reddit, aren’t official but nevertheless will undoubtedly appeal to the many Nintendo enthusiasts in the market. The new model will be available in both European and Japan friendly …

A shift in the market in PlayStation’s favour means that a significant number of PS4 owners have yet to play The Last of Us. That’s according to Sony, who made the discovery after looking through PSN data, suggesting that a high number of PS4 owners have migrated from other platforms …

A rundown of the companies offering key services for game developers across the globe

Gamers angered by the recently opened NIS America online store in Europe have reacted badly to the company’s response to the complaints. MCV reported earlier in the week that consumers were unhappy with the pricing, selection and the need to pay immediately for pre-orders. In a response on its Facebook …

The latest MCV is now available and this week we look at how games retail has changed over the last few years and why we need specialist games stores. We also announce our new event, Games Retail 2020, which is going to look at the future of games retail. In …

Smartphone and PC strategy title Plague Inc has nabbed a big-time licensing tie-up with 20th Century Fox’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. An upcoming Simian Flu expansion offers a number of gameplay alterations, with players controlling communities of intelligent apes at the same time as guiding the human …

The top game engines powering a new generation of development

Digital Extremes could soon find itself in the hands of a surprising new owner. Gamasutra reports that free-to-play specialist Perfect World has teamed up with chicken meat supplier Sumpo Food Holdings to acquire the Warframe studio, with a bid having been filed this week. Due diligence pending, everything should be …

Words of encouragement from the oldest games trade body in the world

27 million mobile phones and 12 million tablets will be sold in the UK this year – some five million devices fewer than 2013, predicts CCS Insight. The analyst also estimates mobile phone sales will drop 11 per cent this year, while tablet sales will fall 14 per cent. Sales …