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

SOE has passed along statistics to illustrate the impact of moving their popular and long-standing MMO EverQuest over to the free-to-play model. The developer/publisher shared (via Blue’s News) concurrent usage is up 40 per cent, with unique log-ins having increased by 150 percent since going F2P. Overall EverQuest registrations have …

EA expects their company to grow substantially in employee count by the end of the year, despite reports earlier this week that the publisher was set to let go as many as 1,000 workers. EA is growing and looking to hire hundreds of people for our digital, console, mobile and …

Players can become citizens of Quahog in new browser-based freemium game

Game creator Jordan Mechner recovers long lost game files

'If we ever see breakout opportunities that massively accelerate social gaming weâ??ll aggressively pursue them', says Pincus

Halo 4 will, as reported earlier today, be released worldwide on November 6th. The game is set four years after the events of Halo 3 and sees the iconic Master Chief return to confront his destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe”. It …

Beamdog exec claims Nintendo platforms are not helpful to external developers

Publishers are honing their digital strategy as downloads become more popular.MCV speaks to Ubisoft’s digital VP Chris Early about what the worldsof retail and downloads can learn from each other… Does digital need traditional retail brands like Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty and FIFA to grow? Digital’s biggest challenge is …

Distributor Sony DADC will increase its business-to-consumer services when it opens its new warehouse. The firm already supplies retailers with games, and plans to offer ‘enhanced B2C services’ when its Enfield facility is built this summer. Sony DADC is extending its product and services capability portfolio to support the evolution …

Consultancy firm Digital Goals is raising awareness of its services with a shiny new website. DigitalGoals.co.uk gives lifestyle brands more information on how the company can help them enter the games and accessories market. The company has already united Gem with the Ministry of Sound and Hedkandi. It was set …