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

It feels like barely a day passes without another key MMO dropping subscriptions in favour of the free-to-play model, and now the biggest MMO of them all is getting in on the act. Yes, Blizzard’s earth-conquering World of Warcraft is now free-to-play. Sort of. An alteration to WoW’s trial account …

Lobbying for this year’s Games Media Awards in association with Grainger Gamesis well underway, with journalists, broadcasters, PRs, readers and viewers nominating their favourite mags, websites and more for one of the sector’s top accolades. But there is still time to ensure that your voice is heard – you have …

In an interview with MCV, the EMEA VP of Xbox Chris Lewis has said that Kinect implementation in core Xbox 360 games will not happen simply for the sake of it. Earlier this month Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer said that he envisages that all first-party Xbox games will …

Xbox president Don Mattrick said during your E3 press conference that 360 was going to be No.1 worldwide over the next year. How do you hope to achieve that?We are No.1 in North America. Don was quite rightly proud to talk about 55m units sold. The momentum we have at …

The MoMinis Studio is a free development engine pitched at developers in the Flash, PC and mobile sectors. Its GameCast competition, which has been launched in tandem with ME and GetJar, will offer $15,000 in total prizes plus a distribution deal for the winner. As the deadline draws closer, MoMinis …

Games products have made their way onto Argos’ brand new TV channel. The 24-hour retail service went live on June 15th on Sky channel 642 and at www.argos.co.uk/tv. A range of Argos’ 40,000 products will be presented on the show including games. Viewers can either buy online, over the phone …

It’s not all about Call of Duty for Activision this Christmas, as it believes a new Spyro game could become ‘the next big thing.’ The firm is planning to spend big on Skylanders: Spyro Adventure, a unique game that interacts with a range of toys. A series of bundles are …

Essex teenager and possible LulzSec member Ryan Cleary has been been released on bail on the condition that he stays off the internet. He has been forced to wear and electric tag and had his iPhone, PS3 and PC confiscated by officials. Furthermore, it has now been revealed that Cleary …

Kaos general manager declines move to Montreal

Call of Duty: Black Ops has become the biggest selling game in UK games market history, GfK ChartTrack has just confirmed. The game was released in November last year and has already leapfrogged sister title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to claim the top spot. It’s cumulative UK sales …