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

Sports Direct owner and accomplished drinker Mike Ashley has purchased the lease for HMV Oxford Street. The Independent reports that Newcastle FC owner intends to open a new 60,000 sq ft sports outlet there having agreed to acquire the lease from Deloitte. Sports Direct already has one Oxford Street store …

There are many hidden delights in The Last of Us, but one of them won’t be there for much longer. At one point in the game co-star Joel encounters a notice board with two phone numbers for a ‘pest control’ service. A Kotaku reader thought he’d give them a ring… …

Developers to gain access to pre-release hardware and SDK before public launch next year

This week’s issue of MCV features our big interview with the head of EA Sports, Andrew Wilson. Who tells MCV why the firm must not mess up the next generation. There’s plenty more. Xbox 360 overtakes Wii. HMV has a new-look games team. We chat to Xbox and GAME on …

137 gamers are to be given the chance to see their likeness appear in a painting based on Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. The publisher is looking for faces to populate an 18th century style oil-painting of a naval battle. It will be created in real-life on a 2.3 …

Creators will no longer be charged in excess of $10,000 to patch their games

Developers no longer have to pay to patch their games on Xbox 360. Eurogamer reports that the policy change was made earlier this year. Until this point developers had to pay a fee upon the submission of patches. The exception to this was a game’s first patch, which could be …

Catherine, Persona and Shin Megami Tensei publisher Atlus could be in trouble. Its parent company Index Holdings, which purchased Atlus in 2006, has filed for bankruptcy with the Tokyo District Court. Its debts are said to total 160m. It now seems likely that Atlus will be sold at part of …

Latest update includes support for virtual reality headset Oculus Rift

A look at the tool maker's past reveals why the future of physics is bright