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

Marketplace accelerates to 1bn apps per month, Google claims

Buyers must commit to a 24-month Xbox Live Gold subscription

505 Games is back at the top this week with Sniper Elite V2 debuting at No.1 on the UKIE GfK Chart-Track All Formats Top 40 this week. The game, developed by UK super-studio Rebellion, is the publisher’s first No.1 since is hugely successful Zumba Fitness dominated the listings last year. …

Electronic Arts chief downplays loss; Publisher previously denied loss

But company will increase staff headcount by 500 by March 2013, claims publishing giant

Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency has announced an investigation into how social games firms sell their microtransactions in Japan, causing shares in the country’s two major players to nosedive. Nikkei.com reports that shares in both DeNA and Gree – the two major players in Japan’s social gaming scene – plunged to …

Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency questions IAP practices; wider national games sector hit by trading caution

Publisher made $1.36 billion across holiday quarter; Non-packaged sales double

A Crystal White version of the PlayStation Vita will be released in japan on June 28th, Sony has confirmed. The arrival of new colour SKUs is no surprise considering the handheld’s ongoing struggle to gain traction, both in Sony’s homeland and overseas. The new model will retail for the same …

US gamers have become the first to be offered a cut-price console on the condition that they sign up for a two-year contract. And it’s a model that an increasing number of industry members believe will become the dominant delivery method for the next generation of consoles. Microsoft has gone …