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

Most games publishers are dipping their toe in the tempting waters of free-to-play gaming, but Ubisoft is diving in with both feet. The publisher has invited press from across Europe to its Digital Days event in Paris today, where the firm is showing off its blockbuster free-to-play line-up – headlined …

It’s easy to assume community managers just sit on Facebook all day, but with social media increasingly becoming the new mainstay of the games media PR machine, they do much more. Community management is about creating a two-way conversation between a young, busy and cluttered fanbase and translating it to …

It was presented alongside the Wii u hardware itself by Nintendo at E3, but it looks like Ghost Recon Online may now never reach the console. Videogamer reports that the Nintendo SKU is on hold” for the machine, with the dev pouring all of its resources into the PC version. …

Konami has finally locked in a release date for PES 2013 on PS3, PC and 360 – the game is out in just two weeks, on September 21st. And yep, that’s just a week before the arrival of EA’s rival game, FIFA 13. PES 2013 has been reclaiming ground lost …

Microsoft will have to solve a major tech headache if it wishes to hit its planned September 2013 launch for the Xbox 720, if new reports are to be believed. Tech site SemiAccurate reports that a chip designed for use in the console, dubbed ‘Oban’, is providing lower-than-usual yields. (Manufacturing …

Publishers may be investing millions in rebooting franchises such as Tomb Raider and Devil May Cry, but UK developers have found a more cost-effective route to market. More and more studios are using crowd-funding platform Kickstarter to bring back classic gaming brands. Earlier this week, Silverball Studios called for funding …

Throughout this month, MCV will be talking to recruitment agencies and established industry players as part of our Jobs In Games special, in association with OPM. But James Dance, founder of Cornish retro games cafe Loading, says there’s alternative ways to get a career in games that don’t require these …

So Frank Gibeau does like single-player games after all. Yesterday the publisher exec seemed to dismiss non-multiplayer games by saying that he had not not green lit one game to be developed as a single player experience”. Of course, as is often the way with high-profile executives, that’s not what …

Sequel to 1994 adventure is top reward for fan backing

What defines a games journalist these days? If it is a person that reports on the industry, that reviews games, that gets press passes to consumer shows and carries business cards, the term can encompass thousands of teens and students that have their own website, podcast or YouTube channel. Joe …