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

Angry Birds studio Rovio saw little growth in revenue and a significant dip in profits last year, the company’s annual financial report reveals. The company saw a year-on-year rise of just 2.5 per cent in total revenue for 2013, while profits before interest and taxes dropped to €36.5m – compared …

The latest installment of EA’s Madden NFL franchise will launch this August in North America and Europe, the publisher has announced. Madden NFL 15 arrives on August 26th in North America and August 29th in Europe, according to a. It’ll be available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. …

Any and all events ever depicted in every Star Wars game ever made is no longer to be considered canon. That’s the new directive coming from IP owner Disney, which has said that the films and TV series are now the only official entries in Star Wars fiction. This means …

Valve’s Early Access store eliminates the need for a publisher, at least according to DayZ developer Dean Hall. The platform allows studios to sell unfinished games with the aim of funding their full development. Hall feels that consumers are serving the role of a publisher, paying for a title’s development …

The UK High Street is optimistic about the success of virtual reality headsets. The new hardware from Oculus Rift/Facebook and Sony is expected to arrive at the back end of the year or early 2015. And leading buyers and store managers have told MCV that if the price is right, …

Angry Birds developer claims 'foundation-building year' and diversification of business as reasons for stalled growth

Nintendo has signed another Happy Meal licensing deal, this time in the US. Having announced last month that Mario was to feature in UK Happy Meal boxes, Pokemon has now been pencilled in for a fast-food tie-up across the Atlantic. As revealed on the chain’s website, each meal includes a …

Tequila Works discusses bringing its Unreal Engine 4-powered open world to next-gen

GAME is currently going big on promoting an exclusive Destiny item available only to those who pre-order the Bungie title from the retailer. Speed through the world of Destiny with your Guardian’s very own upgraded and powerful Sparrow, available only at GAME,” the blurb says. Perfect for fast-travel across long …

It’s played Pokemon, Super Mario and Tetris. Now the internet hivemind is trying its hand at Blizzard’s card battle Hearthstone. Hearthmind isn’t actually a Twitch Plays venture as it doesn’t use the streaming service. But it’s very much in the vein of, tasking a group of gamers with collectively playing …