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

The issue of Chinese human rights has been thrust into the limelight again this morning with news that Chinese workers on an Xbox 360 manufacturing line have threatened their employer with mass suicide. Kotaku reports that workers at the infamous Foxconn plant were denied a raise and told that they …

An interesting anomaly on the Australian Classification Board web site had The Darkness II classified in JulyandDecember. When the July classification occured, the game was still set for an October release, but a version listed as ‘modified’ was classified again in December. Both classifications carry an MA15+ rating. The July …

Sony is sticking to its guns and insists there will be no talk of what it plans to do beyond PS3 at June’s E3. Speaking in response to our story last week that senior publishing execs are expecting new console announcements at E3, one of the format-holder’s most senior execs …

Ubisoft has pushed back Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier on consoles by two months to May 25th. The Xbox 360, PS3 and PC third-person shooter was previously set to hit UK shelves in March. Additionally, the PC version will arrive sometime after the console SKUs are released on May …

Sony has proposed the closure of Leamington Spa outfit Bigbig, which recently finished work on Little Deviants for Vita. Sony’s Cambridge division is also to be restructured. The studio is to partner with Netherlands outfit Guerilla Games, likely in a downsized capacity, to build Killzone games for PlayStation Vita. Sonysaid …

Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft has raised its sales projections for its fiscal Q3 by €50m after achieving record Christmas sales. It expects to generate €650m in revenues in its third financial quarter of 2011-2012. This is around eight per cent more than its initial estimate of between €580m and €620m, …

Streaming games service Gaikai will become and out-of-the-box feature in some of LG’s future 3D TV releases. The company’s Smart TV range will include Gaikai as a menu option, meaning that users will be able to play high-level PC games directly through their sets. Thanks to the internet, you can …

Leamington Spa unit Bigbig to be axed; Cambridge outfit reorganised

Word, Exec and other work programs set for Apple tablet

Nominees given free passes and exhibitor discount