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

Activision has announced three exclusive retailer pre-order offers for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. UK GAME stores will offer an unlock code for the G1 Retro Pack, which lets fans play as the G1 Optimus Prime from the 1980s cartoon in both multiplayer and single player. The pack also unlocks a …

Last month’s Steam hardware survey shows that more and more people are using Valve’s digital retail platform on less powerful PCs. The report shows that the number of Steam users relying on Intel’s integrated graphics has risen from 4 per cent to 11 per cent, while the use of dual …

Studio stops development on Microsoft Flight and children's Kinect-based interactive TV project

The time may have come for developer Stardock to say goodbye to boxed retail releases, the company has stated. Recent digital-only release Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion has crushed” the studio’s previous sales records, selling over 100,000 units. It’s the first game from the developer to skip retail upon …

2K Games has teamed-up with Official Xbox Magazine for a special Borderlands 2 promotion. The publisher is printing split-run collector editions covers of OXM, with Borderlands 2 characters appearing on the covers. Ten special copies will feature ‘Claptrap Gold Vault Hunter’ cover, and will be distributed across the UK. We …

Studio claims number of illegal copies rose to 99 per cent in some countries

Worms returns to High Street shelves next month with Mastertronic’s Worms Collection. The compilation features three entries in the series that have previously only been available via download on XBLA and PSN: Worms, Worms 2: Armageddon and Worms: Ultimate Mayhem. The disc will also include six bonus DLC packs, adding …

Console giant joins wave of games development studios expanding in UK capital

Microsoft will open a new games studio in London, MCV can reveal. The company is hiring for senior staff to run the studio, which will sit alongside established UK teams Rare, Lionhead and the newer Soho Studios. EMEA is a key market for us and we continue to cultivate the …

With its latest financial results being labelled as a disaster” by analysts, Zynga has unveiled plans to enter the real-money gambling market. CEO Mark Pincus says the company will launch a real-money poker gamer in the first half of next year. "We have our first [real-money gambling] products in development, …