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

Flight simulators have been around since the early days of computer games, with the first one landing around 30 years ago. Technology and business models have advanced dramatically, but flying sims have always remained a more traditional part of the market. Lucrative, too: Microsoft releases new version, third-parties sell extra …

Assassin’s Creed icon Ezio will attract fans of other games to Soul Calibur V – and future fighters – says Namco Bandai. The Ubisoft character is playable in the fighting title as part of a collaboration between the two publishers. With the Creed franchise generating over 31m unit sales worldwide, …

Nintendo TV is now available to view in 3D. The show (which is handled by Future Publishing’s Official Nintendo Magazine team) was first made available on Wii 18 months ago, and has been viewed over 1m times. The 3DS version first appeared before Christmas and its second episode goes live …

Users can now browse store and interact with friends through iOS and Android

Free-to-play customers are spending up to 38 a month on virtual goods in games from publisher Spil Games, according to the social games company. It also claimed that since breaking into the casual games market in July 2011, it now has more than 170 million unique users playing its games …

Calling all industry cricket fans – the third annual Sega GamesAid Challenge Cup will be held this summer. The event will pit four teams against each other in 10/10 matches. It will be held at London’s Kew Green in May. Last year, industry cricketers raised 1,920 for the charity – …

Online chatter pointing to an impending announcement of significant layoffs at THQ is quickly gathering pace. Talk intensified last night after analyst Kevin Dent claimed that the publisher would soon be announcing 170+ layoffs spread across its various operations. Note, though, that Dent was also the source of claims that …

Rumours that this week’s big releases will not be available in GAME are untrue, MCV can confirm. Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Soul Calibur V are currently being processed by the retailer, despite claims circulating in the consumer press. However, MCV can also confirm that GAME …

Konami has announced that former US president Shinji Hirano has replaced Kunio Neo as its European president. There’s no word yet on Neo’s new role. Hirano will work from Konami’s Frankfurt HQ and liaise closely with the London, Paris and Madrid offices. He will oversee business strategy for core games …

The most bankable games studios in the world today, measured by retail sales data