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

Remember the claims that South Korean giant Nexon had made a bid to acquire EA? Forget them. That’s according to Bloomberg, which has back-tracked on its earlier to claim to say that while Nexon and EA are indeed in discussions, it is in fact over a distribution deal to take …

505 Games kicks off May with its WWII shooter Sniper Elite V2. The Xbox 360, PS3 and PC title puts players behind the scope of a sniper rifle and tasks them with taking down key Nazi targets – including, if you buy the DLC, Hitler himself. Meanwhile Black Bean Games …

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US analyst PiperJaffray has boldly claimed that "gamers are exiting the [console] market for alternative forms of entertainment and leisure activities". The prediction comes ahead of NPD’s April numbers for the US video games market which the analyst belives will once again be down year-on-year. "Consumers are increasingly demanding interactive …

Playcaso, aMumbai-based developer and publisher focussing on casual and social games,has introduced the Playcaso Publishing Program designed to aide indie developers in reaching a global audience. The company, which was recently incubated by Nazara Technologies, aims to employ a variety of publishing models to help fill the gaps in the …

Sales at entertainment retailer HMV fell 19.4 per cent year-on-year for the 52 week ending April 28th. Like-for-like sales fell 11.7 per cent during the period. For the 17 weeks ending April 28th total sales fell 19.2 per cent and like-for-like sales fell 12.9 per cent. Profits are expected to …

At times of trouble, all publishers turn to their most reliable IP – and this is exactly what THQ is doing with the announcement of a brand new expansion Saints Row: The Third. Called Enter the Dominatrix, the retail release adds what THQ describes as the most requested gameplay features …

Microsoft will be streaming its press event at this year’s E3 across Xbox Live. Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb, (aka Major Nelson) has announced that the Microsoft E3 2012 press event will be streamed over Xbox Live and broadcasted on Spike TV. Xbox: Entertainment Evolved is the title …

Retailer listings reveal a new Family Guy title is on the way to consoles later this year. Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse has a release target and will be published by Activision, but beyond that not much is currently known. Amazon (via Joystiq) lists both a PS3 and Xbox …

A handful of job listings for Rock Band dev Harmonix reveal the company is working on a motion-controlled title for next-gen consoles. According to the listings, the brand new IP aims to be a motion-based music game with combat and ‘emotionally compelling storylines.’ Currently the developer is seeking a Software …