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

The world’s biggest games retailer GameStop has closed in-store pre-orders for the Xbox One. Polygon reports that the company has hit its launch day allocation of units, although it is still currently accepting pre-orders for the machine online. PS4 pre-orders remain open as store managers say allocations for Sony’s machine …

EA Sports boss Andrew Wilson says that the firm ditched online pass because it damaged the games. Speaking to MCV at E3 last week, the label VP said that forcing gamers to put codes in to access content had become too big an impact for fans. And he denied that …

Digital retailer GameFly has welcomed Microsoft’s Xbox One U-turn. "I always felt good about the future of GameFly, but I feel better today," GameFly co-founder and SVP of business development Sean Spector told Joystiq. "Today is a win/win for consumers, as well as GameFly. I think choice is always important …

Controversial PC title The War Z is undergoing a rebranding. OP Productions has announced that the game will from now on be known as Infestation: Survivor Stories. The company alludes to possible trademark issues regarding a rival property – be that Dean Hall’s Day Z or possibly the upcoming Brad …

What a difference a day makes. Earlier this month Xbox One was tracking ahead of PS4 in Amazon’s video games bestselling charts. Then E3 happened and everything changed. Just hours after Sony’s victorious E3 press event Sony’s machine overtook Microsoft’s amid stories of cancelled pre-orders. Now, just hours after Microsoft …

Xbox backtrack sparks renewed push for indie support

Online retailer ShopTo has introduced a range of financing option which it hopes will entice gamers to take the next-gen plunge. Customers will now be given the option at checkout to choose from a range of finance options with the ability to tweak repayment timescales and deposits. We are the …

It was the UK’s biggest social world in the second half of 2012 and has 20 million registered users, with 30,000 joining every day. Bin Weevils has become an online phenomenon and is doing similar business at retail with toys, books, cards, bedding and magazines. MCV spoke to new CEO …

In the week before E3, Microsoft and Square Enix announced sequels to two of the biggest games of this generation – but they weren’t for Xbox One or PS4. They were for tablets. And they were met with apathy from consumers and journalists alike. Action RPG Deus Ex: The Fall …

It would take a brave pundit to argue that Microsoft’s now-scrapped DRM was healthy for the consumer. Diminished rights, corporate ownership and limiting online requirements are not what the next-generation are supposed to be about. But now that the world has been saved from Microsoft’s evil rights management policies the …