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

Microsoft will throw its Surface tablet a midnight launch event to coincide with the release of the company’s latest OS Windows 8. The Verge reports Microsoft has begun sending out invites for a special ‘Surface Reception’ shindig on October 25th that will lead up to the tablet’s launch at midnight …

CEO Mark Pincus issues rallying cry to employees

Mists of Pandaria – the latest expansion pack in the World of Warcraft series has sold 2.7m copies worldwide. The PC add-on has also boosted the game’s subscriber numbers, up over 10m users worldwide, the firm says. World of Warcraft has seen a steep drop in subscribers over the last …

Kwalee CEO David Darling examines whether bigger development teams have decreased productivity and how to maximise creativity

Amiqus principal consultant Peter Leonard on crafting a tailored showcase of your work

The former director of international PR at PopCap Games has formed a new PR, marketing and media firm. Stu Taylor founded Dead Good Media after the Irish branch of PopCap suffered a number of redundancies. The firm will provide PR, marketing and media production solutions to its clients, as well …

Incumbent Peter Relan steps back to executive chairman of the board

Video site YouTube has backed the Golden Joystick Awards and is even putting its name to a new category. The YouTube gamer award recognises the best gaming creators on YouTube.Nominees include channels Yogscast, The Syndicate Project, Total Biscuit, AtheneWins, Matroix and InTheLittleWood. Voting for The YouTube Gamer Award is now …

In a trend that is becoming increasingly common across games with multiplayer components, Ubisoft today unveiled the season pass for its upcoming epic Assassin’s Creed 3. The season pass provides access to all forthcoming Assassin’s Creed 3 downloadable content at a discounted bulk price. The pass is now available on …

Facebook has amassed more than one billion monthly users. As well as reaching the hugely impressive milestone, 1/7th of the world’s entire population , more than 235 people are now also playing games on the website. The recently launched Facebook App Centre meanwhile has more than 220 million monthly active …