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

Who better an interview subject for a piece looking at the rise and rise of Xbox than its new UK director of retail sales and marketing Jonathan Grimes? Like the venerable box itself, which rose in people’s estimations over the brand’s history, Grimes has climbed the ranks of Microsoft. Taking …

A five-month marketing plan could help the latest Ben 10 video game race up the charts. The hit kids’ TV animated show – which has drawn 3.4m viewers on Cartoon Network in the last three months – has also racked up over 1.3m sales interms of video game units to …

Ubisoft is hitting the road for hands-on events at seven UK towns to mark the return of Rayman. Over 2.3m shoppers will see Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii platformer Rayman Origins at shopping centres in the run up to Christmas. This is on top of a TV campaign targeting family …

We Sing publisher Nordic Games is branching out onto HD consoles, Wii U and digital platforms. And it has given itself the challenge of embracing these formats by the end of next year.Nordic says it willdabble in selling downloadable content over Xbox Live and PSN, both onits own franchises and …

Social giant 'managed by the very same people who ran EA into the ground five years ago'

The free-to-view PlayStation Access TV show is a success.The weekly programme from Future Publishing has amassed over 14,500 Facebook fans since it launched and has become the most popular free download on the PlayStation Network. Episode one of PlayStation Access TV went live in late September after Future’s paid-for show …

A surge of punters picking up a brand new iPhone 4S in October saw Apple sell more smartphones than all Android smartphone makers combined, according to new Kantar Worldpanel research. iPhone sales had been down in previous months with the Apple faithful holding off on picking up an iPhone 4 …

Robomodo hopes to raise $35,000 for XBLA project

Bobby Kotick has warned the markets to expect shortages of its innovative kids title Skylanders this Christmas. The game uses augmented reality technology to place real-life monster figurines into the game. This of course leads to a secondary trade in the figures for Activision. It is currently available on Xbox …

Well, if nothing else EA can at least take this as proof that Activision is nervous about Star Wars: The Old Republic. EA’s upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic is seen by some as the first real contender to World of Warcraft’s subscription MMO crown. Not that Bobby Kotick agrees. …