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

UK video games charity GamesAid has named the six charities nominated for official support by the organisation’s membership. The lucky winners are Action for Kids, Jigsaw4u, Lifelites, Volunteer Centre Sutton: MAPS, SpecialEffect and The Willow Foundation. Each will receive a donation of 29k, which represents a 74 per cent year-on-year …

An early copy of Modern Warfare 3 for Xbox 360 was yesterday sold for an eye-watering $1,725 on auction site eBay. It is believed that the game is one of few that were accidentally sold early by US retailer Kmart. In total the game received a staggering 88 bids. And …

Standalone title to be released on XBLA, says Microsoft's Larry Hryb

EA may be off to an explosive start with Battlefield 3 but now Activision is rolling out the big guns in retaliation. Next Tuesday (November 8th) marks the arrival of this year’s biggest game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Activision is mobilising its full marketing force to ensure …

Department store giant John Lewis is the latest firm to join MCV’s Retail Advisory Board. Games buyer Robert Hennessy becomes the 19th member of the Board, which includes representatives from GAME, HMV, Asda, Tesco, Amazon, Play and GameStop. The RAB is an elite group of the trade’s top games buyers, …

What’s the best way to announce a new game? A consumer press event like GAMEfest? Tease it through social channels? Book a specialist print reveal?Or how about a good old fashioned PR stunt? 505 opted for none of those this week, announcing that Zumba 2 is coming to the UK …

Limited edition games sold only in GAME and HMV are a restrictive trade practice, say indie retailers. This includes products such as the 59.99 Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Edition exclusive to GAME and Gamestation, and the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Animus Edition – which is for sale in the UK only …

We look at recent TV advertising activity for games and the leading campaigns for the week ending October 16th year-on-year. This is provided by specialist communication firmGeneration Mediawhich focuses on the entertainment and leisure industries. Further week-on-week growth (62 per cent) saw games and consoles ads produce 732 individual TVRs. …

There are few gaming experiences as challenging as a Cave shooter in full flow, so publisher Rising Star Games has chosen to give its fanbase a helping hand. Today marks the release of DoDonPachi: Resurrection on Xbox 360 and those wishing to familiarise themselves with the intricate scoring mechanics of …

A leaked video from a cut-scene contained in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 could well reveal some of the content that will likely spark tabloid controversy upon the game’s release next week. Though MCV will neither post the video now reveal critical plot spoilers, a brief description of the …