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

Hopes of a Western release for a 3DS version of Ni No Kuni have been resurrected. The game enjoyed tremendous critical success upon its European PS3 release in January, but it actually debuted as a DS title in Japan back in 2010. Now Pocket Gamer reports that an un-named Namco …

Game industry to continue trend towards triple-A games

Office of Fair Trading to investigate ethics and practices of IAP in youth-targeted games

The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate in app purchases used in smartphone and web games. The moves is a result of concerns that some customers – primarily children – are unwittingly spending sizable sums on content in games which, when they are initially downloaded, are presumed to be …

California's Dianne Feinstein says killers can practice on video games

Yui Tanimura promises greater focus for Dark Souls 2

1993 release Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame is being remade for tablets and smartphones, Ubisoft has announced. PoP creator Jordan Mechner revealed on his blog that the new game "will feature updated graphics, sound and touch controls in the spirit of Prince of Persia Classic," instead …

The video games industry saw record consolidation in 2012, with total spending on buyouts and mergers hitting $4.2bn. Games Industry reports on research from investment bank Digi-Capital that took a closer look at last year’s acquisitions. While there were 26 per cent fewer deals during the period versus 2011, a …

Money from Impulse sale turned into investment fund for software and game developers

Ubisoft has announced it has wholly acquired Related Designs, one of the studios developing the publisher’s Anno franchise. The firm previously owned nearly 30 per cent of the studio, and has recently purchased the remaining 70 per cent in cash. Terms beyond that information weren’t mentioned. The company states that …