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

Tax relief for UK games developers have been ‘all but confirmed’, and could even be announced during Wedenesday’s Budget speech. That’s according to an MCV source close to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, who said that preliminary meetings have already been held with senior games industry executives. If …

New gamepad features standard button inputs

Electronics giant DixonsRetail is partnering with The Gadget Show Live. The firm is sponsoring the show’s 4,500 seater Super Theatre, which hosts daily hour-long live Gadget Show performances. Hosted by the Channel 5 show’s presenters Jason Bradbury, Rachel Riley, Jon Bentley and Ortis Deley, the Super Theatre is also home …

The Pokemon Company has secured am amazing branding coup by placing Pikachu as Japan’s official World Cup 2014 mascot. The deal was announced in conjunction with Japan’s national kit sponsor Adidas. While Pikachu is the official sponsor he’ll also be joined by ten other Pokemon including G1 favourites Squirtle, Charmander …

GDC 2014: Graphics specialist says its optimisation can halve the processing time for VR rendering

Titanfall is comfortably this week’s UK No.1, and boost Xbox One hardware sales by almost 100 per cent. 70 per cent of all Xbox One consoles sold last week came bundled with Titanfall, Chart-Track says. Titanfall is EA’s first No.1 that isn’t a FIFA game for over a year. The …

Media group Future has seen its share price tumble following its recent profits warning. On Friday it warned shareholders that profits will be significantly below” expectations once again in its next report, leading to 30 per cent of its value being slashed on the markets. At the end of the …

Gamers in Australia and New Zealand will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on Metal Gear’s next-gen debut. NZGamer has received confirmation from Konami that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes has been held up by a week, meaning it won’t arrive in the region until …

South Park: The Stick of Truth maintained its position this week on Steam’s best sellers chart, once again finishing ahead of DayZ for the top spot. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive jumped to the third spot, thanks to a discount promotion; while Dark Souls II finished in fourth. Early access title Planet …

Naughty Dog’s PS3-exclusive The Last of Us has surpassed 6m copies sold, Sony has announced. The game sold 3.4m units in just its first three weeks of availability, and has added another 2.6m sales in the seven months since. The announcement came as part of a post on Naughty Dog’s …