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

Big money being pledged on Q4 drive; Bethesda is reaching the mainstream There’s just a 16m difference between 2011’s big games marketing pot and 2010’s.With at least 165m set aside to promote the big Q4 games this year, you’d be forgiven for thinking we haven’t just come out of some …

Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games says its big adversary is Modern Warfare 2, not Battlefield. Studio head Glen Schofield has played down Modern Warfare 3’s rivalry with EA’s Battlefield 3, insisting his main focus is to live up to the 2009 FPS predecessor. We have a lot of respect …

The Q4 marketing blitz revealed by MCV this morning follows a slow six months for new game releases – so maybe the industry will learn its lesson for 2012. Certainly, GAME thinks things would be better” if new releases were spread out across the year. It strikes me that there …

The UK games industry is digging deep in a bid to turn around a difficult year for boxed sales. Publishers, retailers, developers and platform holders are splashing 165m on advertising over the next three months, MCV research has found. That amount will fund a deluge of TV ads, mall tours, …

The free model has been robustly proven, and it still has masses of potential, writes Mobile Pie's Will Luton

Online entertainment specialist Zavvi.com is the retail sponsor for Future’s GamesMaster Golden Joystick Awards. The firm is contributing over 1,000 worth of prizes and vouchers to accompany the retail sponsorship. We’re thrilled to be part of this year’s Golden Joystics Awards,” said Dominic Starkey, head of marketing at The Hut …

Peter Vesterbacka says the bid will begin 'maybe a year from now'

Starfire Studios surfaces with XBLA project in tow

Will Freeman has been promoted to editor of MCV’s sister magazine Develop. He will drive the publication’s editorial direction and have day-to-day responsibility for the print magazine, reporting to editor-in-chief Michael French. London-based Freeman (pictured) joined Develop in December 2008 as staff writer and became deputy editor in March 2010.The …

Icon Games' Richard Hall-Whittall asks: If the Valve maestro is attacking closed platforms, why doesn't he lead by example?