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

Tech to help developers model, animate and render trees

Koch Media expects retailers to harvest plenty of sales from the upcoming console version of Farming Simulator 2013. Heading to Xbox 360 and PS3 in September, the cult hit has sold more than 800,000 units globally since the PC SKU launched in November. It has been a regular in the …

We sincerely regret this choice.” Those were the words of a Deep Silver rep in January of this year following the backlash that greeted its unveiling of the Dead Island Riptide Zombie Bait Edition. For those who don’t remember, the SKU comes bundled with a bust of a dismembered female …

New Cloud Imperium Games studio to house up to 20 staff

If immersion is your currency, then it’s hard to imagine a richer setup than this. The video below depicts users playing Valve’s Team Fortress 2 using touted virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, a compatible gun controller and a prototype Virtuix Omni omnidirectional treadmill which, as the name suggests, allows users …

Sony’s Ratchet & Clank franchise is getting the big-screen treatment. The film, due out in 2015, is already in production at Blockade Entertainment and Rainmaker Entertainment. It’s being penned by T J Fixman, who was also the author behind the pair’s recent games outings. The truth is, we’ve wanted to …

The 3DS story has been one fraught with ups and downs. A high price, coupled with negative press reports, a poor launch line-up and confused advertising forced Nintendo to cut the console’s price just three months after launch. The 3DS’ unique selling point – a 3D screen – quickly lost …

Few will comment on the record, but an investigation into in-app purchases could impact publishers of kids games. The Office of Fair Trading last week expressed concerns that children are being misled into spending significant sums on games promoted as free, and said it will review this part of the …

Developer Lab Zero Games had to overcome payment firm PayPal to keep development of Skullgirls on track. The game was the subject of a successful crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo, raising just under $830k last month. However, PayPal froze the studio’s account and threatened to keep it locked unless it received …

Gower brothers, Jon Burton and Tihan Presbie named in list as Chris Stamper misses out