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

An invite-only beta for Microsoft’s new flight sim series, Microsoft Flight, will commence in January. TheMicrosoft Flightlaunch sequence has begun,” the game’s registration page wrote. We’re thrilled to announce that theMicrosoft FlightBeta is scheduled to kick-off in January 2012 and we arenow accepting applications to participate in the beta program. …

It’s such a bizarre combination that it might just work – RPG specialist Obsidian is working on a new console RPG based on the cult Canadian South Park IP. The game is being developed in collaboration with THQ and South Park Digital Studios and is due for release in late …

Microsoft announced that the Xbox update which will enable voice commands as well as TV App functionality is available today. The new spread of customisable TV applications coming for Xbox in the coming months will be ABC iView, SBS ON DEMAND, YouTube, Daily Motion, Crackle, and various news and sports …

Indie and mobile games publisher Zoo Entertainmenthas been delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange after not honouring a 45-day warning. In September, the stock exchange notified Zoo that it no longer met qualifications for listing, as Nasdaq-listed firms require a minimum of $2.5 million in stockholder equity. The warning came …

As many as 100 staff at independent studio Day 1 have been made redundant, an alleged source close to the matter has said. The Chicago studio is claimed to have axed a significant portion of its workforce after a project funded by Japanese publisher Konami fell through. But a purported …

Mark Pincus, the chief executive of social games giant Zynga, has begun pitching his company to key investors in preparation for its upcoming IPO. VentureBeat reports that Zynga’s IPO will value the company for between $8bn and $9bn – slightly less than the already down-sized $10bn valuation touted last week. …

Danish toy giant LEGO has announced possible plans to release an official toy line based on Minecraft. The possibility cam about when users were given the opportunity to vote for the tie-up on LEGO’s Cuusoo website, where the public are invited to vote on pitches for new ideas submitted by …

Jo Bartlett has been named as the new head of UK communications at Nintendo. She fills the role left by Rob Saunders who left Nintendo for Apple earlier this year, as exclusively revealed by MCV. Bartlett will work alongside existing team members Lewis Digby and EmilyWoolliscroftand will oversee all press …

Smartphone app allows players to browse, control and purchase Xbox media

The government has admitted the way schools teach computing is flawed – now the UKIE-backed Next Gen Skills campaign wants games firms to help change the National Curriculum. Earlier this week, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)?published a response to the Livingstone-Hope Next Gen report, which criticised how …