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

Sniper: Ghost Warrior will have sold 2m units by the time its sequel arrives, says City Interactive. The first-person shooter – released by Mastertronic in the UK – has been a global smash hit across several platforms. It is about to reach 1.5m unit sales, with the PS3 version of …

The organisers behind the 2011 Gamescom trade fair are encouraging visitors to arrange air travel quickly as event plans take flight. Gamescom will be held in Cologne from Wednesday, August 17th to Sunday, August 21st. Koelnmesse has arranged partnerships with airlines Germanwings and Lufthansa to make it easier and cheaper …

Rising Star Games will fight to maintain its strong position in the DS casual market with Jewel Legends. The match-three puzzler follows on from the Jewel Master titles previously released on DS, such as Cradle of Rome. Rising Star has sold 200,000 units of the Jewel Master series. The incredible …

Indie Xbite has upped its warehouse space and headcount in a bid to become a major player in online games retail. The firm – which sells via eBay as well as its own websites – has increased its warehouse and office space to take its total size to 10,000 sq …

Expect to hear more about niche games like Street Cleaning Simulator very soon. PC games distributor Contact Sales has strengthened its publishing labels with two new execs for PR and sales. Ian Morris joins as sales executive while Charlotte Gunn becomes PR and marketing executive. The pair will work on both …

Global literary superstar J.K. Rowling has today announced a new digital expansion to the Harry Potter universe, Pottermore. Interestingly the project is being designed in collaboration with Sony, though there’s no indication of any video games tie-ins – presumably as Warner currently owns the video game rights. Pottermore will first …

German developer Crytek has admitted that its decision to target the wider games market with Crysis 2 has "backfired a little bit". The studio has been open about its intentions to bring the franchise to a wider audience. It has also said on record that it had reservations about Crysis’ …

Gabe Newell pleased with new consoleâ??s graphics performance

Respected UK games industry figure will take key prize at July 20th Develop Awards ceremony

Research has shown that 3D is on course to become a mass market product, but has yet to engage the majority of its audience. A study by Informa Media & Telecoms predicts that 3DTVs will find their way into 11m homes over the next five years, but less than half …