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

Consumers will be able to download FIFA 12 days before the game hits store shelves, EA Sports has confirmed. It’s a part of EA Sports’ new ‘Season Ticket’ service which charges users an annual fee of 2,000 Microsoft Points or $24.99 in exchange for a range of digital benefits. As …

A sequel to 2009 role-playing shooter Borderlands is currently in development at Gearbox Software. A source told Eurogamer that an official announcement will be made soon, and that the shooter will be released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC next year. The original Borderlands was released in 2009 and was …

Develop gets up close and personal with GDC Europe 2011 event director Frank Sliwka

Quantic Dream, Insomniac and even CCP Games could join the fleet

We profile the Euro, American and Japanese groups shaping PlayStation

Dare to be Digital 2011 team Digital Knights talks exclusively to Develop about working on their entry title Joust!.

Four more games companies have backed this year’s Games Media Awards in association with Grainger Games. These include Sega, cloud gaming service OnLive, digital distributor Green Man Gaming and media company The Games Tribe. They join a range of sponsors for the Games Media Awards 2011 in association with Grainger …

Casual games Zynga has announced it is currently working on a Facebook version of Words With Friends. The hugely popular Scrabble-esque is Zynga’s biggest mobile title. The firm bought the game’s original developer Newtoy back in December. Consumers can currently signing up for updates on the launch by "Liking" the …

By introducing real money auctions for virtual items in Diablo III Blizzard has upped its game in the fight against illegal ‘gold farmers’. For online games such as World of Warcraft where it can take months or even years to forge a strong character, time is money. Forget monthly subscriptions …

Canadian studio United Front Games has returned from the brink with the backing of new partner Square Enix, with the Tokyo publisher revealing it will revive the True Crime project. United Front spent some three years building True Crime: Hong Kong, but in February Activision rocked the studio by unexpectedly …