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

Sony has revealed that Vita owners in North America will not be able to download PSP games they already own on UMD. In Japan, the platform holder set up a UMD Passport program that allows PSP owners to register their games to their PSN accounts and re-download them on Vita …

Sony’s launch titles are now available on the US PS Store, one week ahead of the handheld’s launch. TheSixthAxis reports that five games are now listed and, as reported earlier this month, most are slightly cheaper than their boxed equivalents. Prices range from $9.99 for Super Stardust Delta to $35.99 …

Cryptic Studios' Bill Roper to step in; Publisher reports £18m quarterly loss

Premium Call of Duty Elite users will be able to download the fresh multiplayer map Overwatch on February 21st. This piece of downloadable content will be available to Xbox 360 owners first, and will arrive on PS3 shortly afterwards. It will be available as a paid-for extra to non-Call of …

Bethesda has released a content editor for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, along with a bonus texture pack that gives the Nord homeland even more detail. The high-res texture pack revamps the look of characters, buildings and the environment, making everything sharper. It requires Windows 7 or Vista, 4GB of …

D3Publisher has acquired the rights to publish games based on DreamWorks movie IPs, following THQ’s retreat from the sector. As part of the deal, D3P will develop and publish games based on upcoming DreamWorks films Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (due June), Rise of the Guardians (holiday 2012) and The …

Disney’s senior vice president and general manager of core games Alex Seropian has left the company after a year in charge of its Interactive division. Gamasutra reports that Seropian, who was a co-founder of Bungie, is a victim of Disney’s increasing distancing from the core games market. Former Blizzard executive …

We think that’s the message Microsoft is trying to send in releasing an extensive statement that effectively reiterates what it has said many times before – Xbox Live has not, in fact, been hacked. Why is it having to repeat its stance? Because voices remain which insist that out there, …

Canadian games retailer Future Shop has let slip the announcement of a new karting games based on Sony’s LittleBigPlanet IP. The reveal supposedly came at a North American retail event called PlayStation Destination yesterday. Nothing else is known of the game as of yet, though Future Shop also said that …

Japanese mobile social gaming company revenues up 16%