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

EA’s Mass Effect 3 has made a strong debut at the top of the UKIE GfK Chart-Track All Formats Top 40 this week. It amassed more sales that 2012’s four previous No.1’s – SSX, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, UFC Undisputed 3 and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. It also smashed the combined …

It’s a sorry Monday morning for beleaguered retailer GAME today with stock in the company dropping to an all-time low. Having closed on Friday evening at an already rock-bottom 3.51p per share, GAME’s stock opened Monday morning on a bewilderingly low 1.75p. In the minutes that followed it fell as …

One of the two fraud charges levelled at Activision by former employees and Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella has been dismissed by a US court. The remarkable story of the corporate fallout between Activision and the development pair began in March 2010 when it was revealed that …

The return of Master Chief will have Halo competing with the big boys once again, says Microsoft. The iconic hero was last seen in a new game in 2007’s Halo 3. Developer 343 decided from the outset that Halo 4 would mark the character’s come-back, and Microsoft believes his return …

Mounting weekend speculation about GAME has forced the Group to issue a statement about its future. GAME says that "it has not been possible to source new products from a number of suppliers", despite ‘ongoing discussions’ with those firms. It also reconfirmed that it is reviewing its entire business and …

An agreement has been made between Mojang and Bethesda regarding the Scrolls trademark dispute, Mojang CEO and Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson has announced via twitter. Issues arose several months back when Mojang received the news that they were being summoned to court by Bethesda for choosing the Scrolls name …

CD Projekt Red, developer of the hit RPG series The Witcher, has revealed the company will no longer rely on DRM for any of their future titles. Speaking at GDC last week in San Francisco, CEOMarcin Iwinski stated that the studio wouldn’t go the route again because it both complicates …

He carefully avoided naming it, but EA’s CEO last week said it’s "all but a certainty" GAME has two terrible weeks ahead. But he thinks other retailers will pick up the slack. Speaking at a Wedbush Morgan technology investors event last week, John Riccitiello said the firm is "still praying …

GAME has hired Rothschild to find a buyer for the beleaguered retailer, The Sunday Times reports. The paper writes that GAME has to pay landlords in two weeks. Failure to pay rents could push the firm into administration jeopardising thousands of jobs. As widely reported, GameStop is interested in the …

Managers should cultivate programmers' ability to revamp ideas, says Vijay Thakkar