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

Electronics giant Sony has completed its full takeover of Sony Ericsson by buying out its Swedish partner for €1.05bn. The deal has been rumoured for months and signals the renewed vigour with which Sony is approaching the connectivity business these days. After years in the doldrums, the giant Japanese firm …

It’s always the risk when a game ships with internet-required DRM. The launch of EA’s Battlefield 3 suffered a setback yesterday when the game’s use of DRM prevented many early adopters playing the title. Before gamers are able to access the title, it must first authenticate itself via EA’s Origin …

Revenues up but shares fall after 'conservative' projections

Electronic Arts flanks UK High Streets today as Battlefield 3 rumbles onto shelves. The blockbuster FPS is the newest outing in the long-running DICE-developed series and the publisher’s major bid against market leader Call of Duty. More than 10m units have been shipped worldwide in one week. Meanwhile, Microsoft follows …

Sony Online Entertainment’s PS3 and PC MMO DC Universe Online will become a free-to-play title on November 1st. The studio announced that it was going to switch its title to the F2P model last month, but has only now finalised a date. New players joining under the F2P model will …

Over 10m units of DICE-developed military shooter Battlefield 3 have now been shipped worldwide, EA has announced. To get a sense of scale, worldwide mega-hit FIFA 12 has shipped just 8m units since its release at the end of September. The game’s predecessor Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has shipped 11m …

Publisher EA has published higher than anticipated sales numbers for its financial Q2 ending September 30th 2012. In total sales hit $1.03bn for the period – a 17 per cent year-on-year increase. Losses for the period also increased, however, hitting $340m. That’s a $139m year-on-year increase. The big successes of …

Last year, Argos, Asda and Tesco made headlines by accepting trade-ins. For years, second-hand was the domain of the specialists – GAME’s way of coping with the aggressive pricing of online retailers and those pesky grocers.Suddenly this was under attack. Tesco would accept used games in its Extra stores, Asda …

Today’s most iconic games franchise is about to gate crash the London 2012 Olympics, MCV understands. Rovio’s Angry Birds crowd game is being pitched for next year’s Games. The title debuted at V Fest and at the Singapore GP. It features an Angry Birds level on a big screen, with …

Premier PR, Exposure and Kazoo will handle PR for Namco’s early 2012 releases. Premier will handle the consumer PR campaign for Soul Calibur V on Xbox 360 and PS3. Kazoo will support Namco’s lifestyle and national campaign for Inversion, which launches on PS3, 360 and PC on February 10th. Exposure …