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

Warner Brothers has reduced its game development workforce across its Washington state studios, the company has confirmed. It is estimated that around sixty staff have been let go, though Warner would not confirm the number, nor which studio were affected. The firm’s Seattle-based development cluster includes three high-profile studios; Monolith …

The British Board of Film Classification has awarded Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 an 18 certificate and given it the green light without censoring its content. The certificate was granted for strong bloody battle violence”. WARNING: Potential very minor plot spoilers ahead Design features unearthed by the report include …

It may be one of Britain’s oldest and most reputable department stores, but John Lewis has been a poor games retailer. Our Mystery Shopper has reviewed John Lewis three times in the past 12 months, awarding scores of 1/10, 2/10 and N/A. The latter happened just last month in Stratford, …

Gamex 'not a place for political conflict'

Despite claims to the contrary, the developers of Call of Duty say that they do not see the use of shocking content as a marketing tool for their games. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is released worldwide tomorrow, and while the mainstream media has yet to go big” on …

Periscope-like add-on could transform legacy Wii controllers

It’s official – Best Buy as a brand is effectively retreating from Europe, closing all eleven of its UK stores. Simultaneously, Best Buy is buying out Carphone Warehouse in its joint US mobile business for 838 million. A statement today read: A consultation on the closure of its Best Buy …

Computing giant labelled 'saviour' after studio laid off 50 staff and scaled back projects

PlayStation Move’s second Christmas is backed by a 2m marketing blitz. Sony is promoting seven new PlayStation 3 releases out this month that are compatible with the first-party motion accessory. We’re using a two-tiered marketing approach for the PlayStation Move activity this year to engage the consumer and make Move …

We’ve got an exciting last-minute addition to the LGC schedule: Xbox Live. Microsoft’s Robin Burrowes has signed up to host a special address at the event looking at how the 360’s online games service has in fact benefitted other mediums. While LGC looks at how online business models have transformed …