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

GAMESCOM: Shadows of the Damned developer Grasshopper Manufacture has unveiled its newest game – 2D platformer Black Knight Sword. The downloadable Xbox Live and PSN game was shown off to press at this year’s Gamescom. It features picture book-style visuals and 2D platforming combat akin to Konami’s popular Castlevania series. …

Ubisoft has altered the way digital rights management works in the PC version of Driver: San Francisco after receiving negative feedback. Players will no longer be required to have a constant internet connection in order to play the game, reports Rock, Paper, Shotgun, but they will need to sign in …

Nordic Games has released the full tracklist for its latest Wii music game, We Sing UK Hits. The karaoke title features songs from some of the biggest artists in Britain’s history and will be released on September 30th. There is a total of 40 tracks on offer, comprising a mixture …

GAMESCOM: Namco Bandai has revealed that its upcoming 3DS title Tekken 3D Prime Edition will include a significant free bonus. Joystiq reports that a copy of 3D movie Tekken Blood Vengeance will be included on the game cartridge. Not only is it an excellent bonus feature, but it will also …

GAMESCOM: World of Warcraft and StarCraft developer Blizzard has said that it is in the process of preparing to make a console port of upcoming PC dungeon crawler Diablo III. Eurogamer reports that lead designer Josh Mosqueira told a Gamescom audience that the studio is very, very serious about bringing …

As the saying goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn.And, metaphorically speaking, the High Street and online outlets selling boxed games have faced one long, sleepy night during these last few months. The 3DS price cut has started to rouse the market though – but the immediate PS3 price cut …

Respected industry veterans Roy Campbell and Jon Rissik have joined Codemasters. Campbell has taken the role of senior VP of publishing. His job will see him look after Codemasters’ worldwide publishing business, directing the sales and distribution activities with the firm’s partners in the US, EMEA and other distributor territories. …

The newly-announced PlayStation 3 price cut will provide a substantial sales boost” to the UK games market, says HMV. Sony revealed at its Gamescom press conference this week that the console will now retail at 199.99. The price cut has taken effect immediately. Speaking to MCV, HMV’s head of games …

Looters kicked the UK games retail market while it was down last week, as the sector posted its worst results in ten years. The boxed games market was worth 9.64m for the week ending August 13th. It is the lowest figure since September 2001.Furthermore, just 526,351 games were sold – …

We take a look at Cmune's ambitious 'MMO-FPS'