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

Games retailers say the rescue plan laid out by TV retail expert Mary Portas to revive UK High Streets doesn’t go far enough”. Last month, the Queen of Shops published her Government-commissioned review into the decline of the High Street. The Portas Review explored the reasons behind falling sales and …

The marketing push for PS Vita will get the device into gamers’ hands next week – and it’s part of the firm’s biggest campaign yet. An experiential tour starts on January 12th in Manchester, with the Vita Rooms visiting Glasgow and London during January and February afterwards. It’s just one …

Mobile network O2 is to provide free wi-fi access across the London boroughs of Chelsea, Westminster and Kensington as part of a roll out that aims to become Europe’s largest free wi-fi zone. The wi-fi network will be provided through base stations attached to street equipment such as phone boxes …

There has been no breach to the security of our Xbox Live service.” That’s the simple message from Microsoft today in response to fresh claims last week about security problems with its online content network. And, as it did last year in response to a story in UK newspaper The …

Electronic Arts maintains its grip on the top of the charts with FIFA 12 at No.1 and Battlefield 3 at No.2. Both titles saw a 63 per cent drop in sales, but Battlefield 3 manages to climb one place. Last week’s No.2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, slips to …

A report from consumer site Gamespot claims to have word that the new Xbox, which will be revealed at this year’s E3, will include some sort of portable tablet component. Given Microsoft’s recent efforts at unification across its Windows, Mobile, and Xbox product lines, it seems clear that the 720 …

Suggestions that we do is poor journalism, company exec claims

US rental giant Netflix has at last arrived in the UK. It debuts in the form of a PS3 app which puts it squarely up against established UK rival LoveFilm, which is owned by Amazon. A Netflix subscription will cost 5.99 a month in the UK, with the first month …

Free-to-play title hits 10 million play sessions per day, dev claims

Kaz Hirai is not on the verge of replacing Sir Howard Stringer as Sony president, the company has claimed. It has been forced into making the statement after widespread reports over the weekend that Hirai, the current head of Sony consumer products, was to be promoted to president at the …