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

Sale of old IP such as Red Faction and De Blob to take place in the coming weeks

As if things weren’t bad enough for in-administration Blockbuster UK, a newspaper investigation has landed the company in even hotter water. The Guardian reports that over a 15-year period the company has paid less than 250k in corporation tax despite sales of over 3.5bn and profits of 37m in the …

Trion Worlds’ open-world shooter Defiance will be distributed by Namco Bandai in key territories. Specifically, the agreement covers Europe, Middle-East, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. We’re delighted to be working with Namco Bandai, a great company with a proven track record in bringing big games successfully to the market …

Xbox 360 still rules the roost in the US, but sales for the December quarter were sharply down year-on-year. Revenue for Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division – home of Xbox and Windows Phone – was down 11 per cent to $3.8bn with operating income up 15 per cent to $596m. …

Microsoft’s policy regarding the exchange of MS Points for currency is leaving Japanese developers on the short end compared to their peers, according to G.Rev boss Hiroyuki Maruyama. XBLAFans translated Maruyama’s statements on Twitter regarding the compensation discrepancy, citing it as one of the main reasons Japanese devs largely avoid …

The first episode of previously revealed Assassin’s Creed III DLC ‘Tyranny of George Washington’ has been dated for February. The content will arrive on February 19th, the day after America’s President’s Day holiday, and offers an alternate reality take on the game’s colonial setting. The initial episode will cost $10 …

Sega has announced the Total War: Shogun 2 Gold Edition, a bundling of the base game and its two expansions set to land in North America and Europe this March. The upcoming definitive offering of Creative Assembly’s critically acclaimed 2011 PC strategy title will launch at select retailers Stateside on …

Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s are reportedly eyeing HMV outlets as a potential way to expand their own store counts. Earlier this week, restructuring firm Hilco acquired 120m of HMV’s debt, giving it control of the company. However, reports suggest Hilco only wants half of HMV’s 230 stores, meaning up to …

The collapse of HMV and Blockbuster is unlikely to have a massive impact upon the video games market. The two entertainment giants fell into administration over the last two weeks, following news that Play.com is ending its own direct-to-retail business. All three retailers are big supporters of the games industry, …

The WWE franchise will continue, despite the liquidation of publisher THQ. The WWE licence was not up for sale as part of THQ’s auction last night and was returned to WWE. A tweet from the official WWE Games Twitter feed said: "We don’t have any details to share yet, but …