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

Four start-up indies compete for top honours at Make Something Unreal contest

Other staff could depart from Journey developer, report claims

Eidos life president praised for prolific campaigning

Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter does not believe PlayStation 4 will prevent users from playing pre-owned games. Rumours spread this morning that the next Sony console– reportedly named Orbis – will include anti pre-owned technology to block second hand titles. Reports earlier this year claimed the next Xbox will feature similar …

Big businesses will consider investing heavily in Britain, culture minister claims

Buyers of EA’s upcoming SimCity PC game will need a constant internet connection to play it. Developer Maxis also said that players would be able to purchase the SimCity reboot from digital retail stores other than EA Origin. However, those users will still need an Origin account and internet connection …

Fans of the Aliens franchise may want to hold out for the Nintendo SKU of Colonial Marines. Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford told Vox Games the Wii U edition of his studio’s long, long awaited shooter will come have unique features that makes use of the console’s innovative tablet controller. …

Tax breaks for games made in the UK are back onthe agenda. So MCV spoke to Ed Vaizey, minister for the department of culture, media and sport, to find out why Westminster u-turned on subsidies for developers – and what happens next… The industry was getting tax in 2010. Then …

The first GAME and Gamestation stores to be shut after the chain’s entry into administration have closed their doors. It is estimated that around 300 of the UK’s 609 GAME and Gamestation outlets will cease trading immediately, with the possibility of more to follow if a buyer is not found …

Sales of the Nintendo 3DS leapt to almost 100,000 units in Japan last week, spurred by the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising. Unit sales rose 40 per cent from 64,017 to 94,011 during the week ending March 25th, according to data published on Neogaf, as reported by Gamasutra. 3DS console …