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

Group blames weak international sales on 'sluggish personal consumption'

YouTube is to launch a new video games channel powered by the IGN Network. Called START, the project is being run in conjunction with Shine Group. It will include both pre-recorded and live broadcasts as well as content not found on the IGN website. The service is due to launch …

Planned release of next-gen console 'in next fiscal year'

Microsoft has celebrated Kinect’s first birthday this week by announcing lifetime sales of 10m units for the device. There’s a flip-side to the news, however. Kinect sold a record-breaking 8m units in its first 60 days on sale. In the 10 months that have followed it has managed to shift …

Adventurous publisher Rising Star Games has announced a third Cave shooter for the European market – Akai Katana. The game was originally released on Xbox 360 in Japan in May of this year, though the game was region locked meaning all but the most ardent importers were prevented from playing …

EA’s marketing drive has been a success with news that DICE developed shooter Battlefield 3 is the new UK No.1. It sold enough copies to become the 10th biggest week one seller in UK history. In revenue terms it’s the ninth biggest. Compared to EA’s 2010 shooting release Medal of …

World-builder receives prize ahead of Portal 2 and Ilomilo

NPD has signed up to contribute to next week's London Games Conference, offering a free report to attendees.

Siri, the ‘digital assistant’, that Apple bundles with the iPhone 4S,has been hackedto work on earlier Apple devices including the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch. iPhone hacker Steven Troughton-Smith demonstrated theported Siri in a video, adding that Siri was completely functional on the iPhone 4 despite the single core processor. …

Japanese gaming giant Sega Sammy Holdings has reported a fall in both revenue and profit for the six months ending September 30th. Revenue fell to 1.2bn, a decline of 29.9 per cent. Net profit fell 83.7 per cent to 30m. Unsurprisingly the Japanese earthquake was the chief culprit in the …