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

Downsized California studio Obsidian lost out on bonus pay for the RPG Fallout New Vegas because its Metacritic score was one point below the threshold, a developer at the studio has claimed. Publisher Bethesda was not permitted to pay additional royalties for the RPG because it scored 84 on Metacritic, …

Xbox 360 owners may be able to access digital TV service BBC iPlayer via Xbox Live as early as next week. Eurogamer reports that iPlayer – which is already available on PSN and Wii – will arrive on Live after Microsoft and the BBC reached an agreement. It allows users …

Fallout New Vegas 'was only entitled bonuses with 85 score'

World financial giant Goldman Sachs has become the latest company to swoop for stock in The GAME Group. The purchase was made on March 12th and was publically announced this morning. Goldman Sachs has acquired 13,120,220 shares in the company, entitling it to 3.78 per cent of its voting rights. …

Future entries in the Battlefield series could feature a subscription model, according to an EA exec. Speaking in an interview with VentureBeat, head of the EA Games label Patrick Soderlund said the publisher was considering using regular fees to increase the revenue generated by its blockbuster shooters. "I think it’s …

It was in February last year that GAME announced its bold plans to transform its business. The new strategy featured in-store mobile technology, a focus on reward cards, click and collect, a revamped website and plans to triple its digital revenues by 2013. But most importantly, it saw GAME secure …

Sony’s security boss and former US military man Brett Wahlin says protecting PSN is similar to the Cold War. The platform holder’s chief security officer was appointed last year following the PSN hack that brought down the PS3 online service and saw millions of users’ personal data unlawfully accessed. Wahlin …

Behind closed doors, a new Xbox is being developed – but Microsoft is determined to maintain secrecy. This week, the platform holder removed two job ads from Microsoft.com that mentioned the "next generation" of Xbox, according to CVG. One ad called for a software development engineer. The chosen applicant would …

Small UK games retailers are thriving after customers flocked to them to buy Mass Effect 3. Indie retailers have seen sales spike as GAME fails to stock top new releases such as Street Fighter X Tekken, Mario Party 9 and the aforementioned Mass Effect. We’ve just had our best weekend …

'Us and the Game Industry' makes $7k with three days left to reach $20k goal