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

UK consumers spent half a billion pounds on PC games last year. It’s the biggest number in the platform’s history, but if you visited the UK High Street you wouldn’t know it. The boxed PC market has suffered its steepest decline yet, with 42.7m made from the sale of physical …

Double Helix, the developer of Microsoft’s free-to-play Xbox One battler Killer Instinct, has been acquired by Amazon. The news follows claims last week that Amazon is on the cusp of announcing a games-focused under-the-TV Kindle machine. Amazon told TechCrunch that Double Helix’s current lineup of games and other future developments …

Delay puts UK behind global competitors, warns Richard Wilson

Only those with an EA Origin account will be able to play Titanfall on PC, Respawn Entertainment has confirmed. Company co-founder Vince Zampella revealed the requirement on his Twitter account – unsurprisingly, to a chorus of negativity from fans. "I’ll also ask that you give origin a try for the …

The second episode of Bioshock Infinite’s Burial at Sea DLC will arrive on March 25th, publisher 2K Games has announced. The date for the game’s third DLC offering is confirmed to be a worldwide release of the downloadable add-on that will launch simultaneously on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The …

The Pokemon Bank 3DS app for Pokemon X & Y has arrived in several territories, including Europe and North America. The app is available now on the Nintendo 3DS eShop in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and North America. It had previously been exclusive to Japan and a few other countries …

Following a period of exclusivity on Xbox consoles, Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Onslaught DLC is set to arrive on PC and PlayStation hardware later this month. Activision announces the game’s inaugural map pack will release on February 27th for PC, PS3, and PS4. It adds four new maps (one which …

Ubisoft is releasing its Assassin’s Creed IV story DLC as a standalone release. Launching on PC, PS3 and PS4, Freedom Cry is a digital-only download and will not require players to own the original Black Flag in order to access the new single-player content. Currently, there’s no mention of potential …

GAME will re-develop two of its stores so that primarily focuses on pre-owned products, namely electronics. And more stores could follow, MCV can reveal. The new outlets will go under a new name: Gametronics, and are refitted versions of pre-existing GAME stores. The retailer says it will primarily target cities …

Elliott Advisors, a US hedge fund specialist, has amassed a 99 per cent stake in Game Retail. The Financial Times reports that the move comes ahead of GAME’s expected flotation and could land the company a significant windfall, although the paper adds that a final decision on whether or not …