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

Skylanders is Activision’s biggest ever ‘new IP’ and ‘potentially a $1bn franchise.’ The new kids property – which is technically part of the Spyro franchise, but we’ll gloss over that – was 2011’s No.1 kids property, according to the publisher. It says that the toys alone has sold more than …

NDP data shows that UK consumers buy more video games – both boxed and downloadable – than those in France, Germany in the US. The research group reported that the split between physical and digital sales in Germany is nearly equal, although France is dominated by boxed sales. The UK …

There’s a healthy spate of new releases on shelves this week, including supernatural shooters, surreal puzzle games and sprawling RPGs. 2K Games’ The Darkness II follows up the success of the 2007 FPS, once again putting players in the shoes of Jackie Estacado, who takes on demons with both ordinary …

Activision Blizzard has posted record breaking revenue of $4.76bn for the financial year. $1.6bn of this was generated from digital markets. That’s 34 per cent of the company’s total revenues. The $4.76bn is well ahead of Activision’s projections (almost $800m more) and is up over the previous year’s $4.45bn. Net …

Double Fine on the front line of a game financing revolution

Likelihood of recovery low, says credit agency

Investing group says changes will enable support to a wider array of projects

Studio shrinks as EA moves to digital formats

Michael Pachter predicts strong growth for social gaming company

Increase in meeting numbers credited to ease of scheduling application