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

EA PopCap has dropped ZipZapPlay’s Facebook game Baking Life, despite the title having almost three quarters of a million players. The free-to-play game will close at the end of the month. Users who have bought in-game currency using real money will not be able to use this in other PopCap-owned …

Microsoft revenues pass $4 billion for the holiday quarter

Up-and-coming MMO specialist Trion Worlds has received a massive financial boost towards the company’s ongoing expansion. The publisher secured $85 million from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and current investor Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. "We are thrilled about entering this exciting period of growth and scale with our investors," said Trion …

Microsoft has launched the Dance Central 2 Dance Cam app which lets users appear in customisable music videos. The free download for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7 smartphones lets users record themselves or their friends dancing. Videos can be edited and shared, with smartphone owners able to challenge each …

Flagship BioWare game selling below expectations, analyst claims

Develop asks Sean Murray six questions on a game he made. How do you think he scored?

Three of Ubisoft’s biggest downloadable releases of 2011 are coming to retail. A Play.com listing reveals the Ubisoft Triple Pack will contain Beyond Good & Evil HD, From Dust and Outland, according to Gamerzines. It will be available for Xbox 360 and PS3 from March 23rd and will retail at …

Last week GAME revealed its poor Christmas financials, with UK and Ireland retail sales down 17.6 per cent over the festive period. We speak to CEO Ian Shepherd about the state of the market and how the Group can turn its fortunes around. So what went wrong? The video games …

Develop looks into the new Twofour 54 gaming academy in Abu Dhabi

It wasn’t a great week for UK games retail, with the market shrinking by a third. 14m was generated from game sales overall which is almost 7m less than last week’s 20.9m With no new big releases hitting shelves for the week ending January 14th, the number of units sold …