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

A total of 100,000 World of Warcraft subscribers left the PC MMO during the three months ending December 31st, according to financial documents filed by Activision Blizzard. An aggressive marketing campaign for the game featuring martial arts icon and actor Chuck Norris may have pulled in enough new subscribers to …

Publisher Ubisoft hopes to grab a hefty chunk of PS Vita’s software sales with five launch games. The firm has dominated the third-party line-up for several hardware launches including 3DS and Kinect. Its five Vita launch titles – the most from any third-party – are Dungeon Hunter Alliance, Rayman Origins, …

Options for other member states even if French 'cultural' policy is blocked; Tiga remains hopeful

The first prices for Vita games downloadable from the PlayStation Network have been confirmed by Sony. VG247 reports that launch title MotorStorm RC will cost just 4.79 – the cheapest of the first party titles. Furthermore, the game will be playable on both PS3 and Vita. Super Stardust, Top Darts …

Lucas Licensing has renewed its Star Wars deal with The LEGO Group, extending it by another 10 years. The deal was originally secured in 1999, and was the first time the toy firm had released products based on third-party licences. It has since produced toys based on Harry Potter, Indiana …

Physical goods business 'has great momentum' Rovio tells Develop

The Hut Group, which includes the e-tail specialist Zavvi, has reported sales growth of 70 per cent for 2011. Total sales for the year stood at 142 million – 92 per cent of which came through the groups own websites, while the remainder was generated by services rendered to retail …

Industry leading MMO lost 100,000 active users in most recent quarter - 700,000 less than previous period

Shuhei Yoshida has admitted that the development team working on delayed PS3 exclusive The Last Guardian is facing some very difficult challenges”. The game is the creation of Fumito Ueda, who infamously stepped down from Sony last year, though he remains employed s a developer on a contracted basis. The …

Bethesda pays respects as developer loses battle with cancer