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

Minecraft is the No.1 UK Xbox Live Arcade game for the ninth week on the trot. It’s been No.1 since we started printing our exclusive XBLA charts back in February. The game has withheld stiff competition from free-to-play game Happy Wars, plus a string of price discounts in recent weeks. …

Advocate of mobile development is doubtful of next-gen consoles

As part of its continuing push to bring in more indie titles, Sony has revealed plans for player access to alpha and beta versions of games being developed for Playstation’s various platforms. Joystiq reports that the flexibility in when a game is ready for public release isn’t just limited to …

Consumers are buying Xbox 360 consoles purely to play Minecraft says Graeme Taylor, store manager at indie retailer Game On. Game On told MCV that the Xbox Live Arcade title, which has sat at the top of the XBLA charts now for almost a year, has helped the firm shift …

Mobile’s increasing dominance of the game industry is over and will be usurped by new technology, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell has said. Speaking to AllThingsD, Bushnell said that the industry reinvents itself every five years, and that while mobile had dominated, the next big opportunities for developers to flock to …

BioShock Infinite?and Borderlands publisher 2K Games is the latest firm to sign up for this year’s sell-out MCV Awards. The firm is sponsoring the award for best UK games studio. Potential winners include 4J Studios, Boss Aliens, Codemasters, Criterion, Playground Games, SCE London, Sports Interactive and Traveller’s Tales. The MCV …

Sony is pulling out all the stops with the PS4, says Zombie Studios boss Jared Gerritzen. Speaking to Destructoid, Gerritzen said the console giant had been very, very proactive” in pushing its relationships with developers, with Sony trying to bring as many devs on board for PS4 development as possible. …

Indie developer Northway Games has revealed its IGF-nominated title Incredipede sold more copies in its first 24 hours on Steam, than the previous four months of independent sales combined. Speaking with Joystiq, Colin and Sarah Northway spoke on the sobering moments after the game’s launch on their website. "There were …

EA has teamed up with top names from the world of sport to drive this year’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Man City and England midfielder James Milner dressed in 1930s golf gear to promote the game’s Legends mode on Soccer AM and ESPN. Meanwhile Welsh golfer Jamie Donaldson will assist …

Ubisoft exec Jade Raymond says that the games industry doesn’t necessarily need new consoles to create new ideas. Raymond, one of the minds behind the Assassin’s Creed series, hails the indie development scene for creating some of the market’s most exciting new concepts on less powerful platforms. Speaking about the …