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

Upcoming racer F1 2013 will not require users to input online passes, MCV can reveal. Codemasters first introduced online passes into its games in 2011. It’s not yet known whether this is the end to online passes in all Codemasters titles, although with all and sundry now distancing themselves from …

Forget ‘always on’ meaning always connected to the internet – the Xbox One is designed to be, literally, always turned on. In fact, a new report suggests that Microsoft’s No.1 priority when designing the machine was to create something with complete reliability that could be left switched on for the …

A major moment in the life of 3DS happened on May 11th this year. The Sun wrote an article that called Nintendo’s portable the best games console ever. That’s not what they were saying 48 months ago. In fact, they slammed the console for causing ‘headaches, dizziness and even nausea’. …

It’s out now, but Nintendo expects Pikmin 3 to be a Wii U system-seller right up until Christmas. The company told MCV that it is already planning a post-launch campaign that will run during Q4, accompanying other blockbuster titles such as Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical …

InnoGames is using UK TV to grow the userbase of its free-to-play strategy game Forge of Empires. The ads have been running for several weeks, with the online games firm planning a long-term TV campaign for the title. The campaign has helped Forge of Empires push its userbase past 10m, …

Publisher Ubisoft is spending big on what it sees as the most ambitious Splinter Cell yet. The game is the first title by Ubisoft’s Toronto studio. And the firm is backing it with sampling events, a countdown partnership with IGN, posters in Underground stations and a major TV campaign, which …

Warner has revealed that Batman: Arkham Origins will introduce multiplayer to the series for the first time. Furthermore, that segment of the game is going to be developed by London-based Brink developer Splash Damage. The main game is being developed by Warner Bros Montreal – both Arkham Asylum and Arkham …

It’s always hard to judge what sort of graphical step change a new generation of consoles will deliver. A video may look impressive, but our memories do funny things – sometimes it’s only when you go back to current machines that you realise just how big an upgrade the new …

Pokemon fans are being offered the chance to grab some rare digital versions of three in-game creatures from GAME stores. From August 30th participating GAME stores will be offering fans the chance to obtain ‘Shiny’ versions of Legendary Pokemon – Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Being ‘Shiny’ means they’ll be a …

Intel Developer Blog: Softtalkblog offers advice on how to be successful on Microsoft's OS