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

Xenoblade Chronicles achieves 92 Metacritic rating

Studio moving to larger office

PC and tablet OS to integrate game services

As consumers opt for bigger games of a higher quality, the need for these products to undergo vigorous testing is stronger than ever. This essential step of the production process, combined with huge growth in the digital, social and casual gaming sector, has resulted in a boom for some QA …

Kids TV giant Nickelodeon and Activision are going on tour to promote Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure. The pan-European tour will be advertised on Nick’s TV and digital channels, and will make use of the firm’s Slime Truck to take the game across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and Spain. …

The other kids TV giant, Cartoon Network, has partnered with Xbox to market the arrival of its new hit TV show, The Amazing World of Gumball. The cartoon – which is developed in the UK – is already a smash hit in the US and is notable for combining 2D, …

Jetpack Joyride downloaded more than 350,000 times in a week

UK retailer GAME has revealed exactly what it has planned for its special Gears of War 3 midnight opening event at its London Oxford Street store next Monday night. Carlos Ferro, war veteran and the voice of Dom Santiago, will be in attendance to meet fans of the game. Limited …

Quirky Japanese games developer Grasshopper Manufacture has revealed the true identity of its Kinect title formerly known as Codename D – Diabolical Pitch. Eurogamer reports that the game combines the undead and baseball. Players will pitch the ball and swing the bat in an effort to dispose of zombies. Two …

Codemasters has announced that it is proposing to retire” its Guildford based development studio. The most recent game to come from the outfit was console and PC FPS Bodycount, which has proved to be both a critical and commercial flop. 66 people are employed by the studio, all of whom …