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

It won’t be a shock to hear that Microsoft has admitted that it has ceased production of Zune hardware. The Zune brand will live on, however, as the face of much of Microsoft’s content sales service. It can still be found, for instance, on the Xbox dashboard as the branding …

UK games retailers are missing a trick by not stocking DVD and Blu-rays, Koch has told MCV. The firm’s words come as GAME and Gamestation announced that it will be selling Blu-ray movies alongside PS3 hardware in around 300 of its stores. DVDs are much more mass market than games, …

Bulgaria's Eyeball Damage Studios takes $10,000 first prize

Rising Star Games is targeting supermarkets with its next handheld puzzle title, Cradle of Rome 2. The firm says the title is ‘ideal’ for grocers as it appeals to the more casual shopper. Quite simply, Cradle of Rome 2 is your ultimate impulse purchase product,” Rising Star product manager Yen …

Onus to be placed on programmers, who will need to widen their skills, survey claims

Electronic Arts is now within touching distance of becoming the first games company to topple Cityville, the Zynga sensation that holds the record as the most popular Facebook game of all time. According to Appdata, The Sims Social now drawn in 65 million monthly active users (MAUs) – the closest …

Its spiritual predecessor, Demon’s Souls, was renowned for being tough. And that Dark Souls is harder still has seemingly enchanted critics even more. The review embargo for Namco Bandai’s latest lifted last night to reveal near universal praise for the RPG from game critics. Dark Souls requires intense focus. This …

It’s been four years in development and finally this Friday (October 7th) id Software’s free-roaming post-apocalyptic shooter Rage will be in the hands of UK gamers. The first reviews for the game were published overnight and paint a reasonably solid picture of the violent adventure. While story and structure may …

Industry unsure on health of living-room devices; mobile and social expected to soar

Having missed its previously expected summer announcement, tonight’s the night when Apple will unveil the latest iteration of its world-conquering iPhone device. Quite what the new handset will be of course remains a matter of speculation. The biggest question is whether it will actually be the iPhone 4S – an …