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

Sega’s popular Yakuza series has shipped more than five million units worldwide to date. The series began in 2005 with the PS2 original, which combined with a re-release years later has since sold one million units, according to Andriasang. Yakuza of the End, a zombie apocalypse-themed spin-off for the PlayStation-exclusive …

Next Apple phone may feature A5 processor, large touch-screen and unique tapered shell

This is the latest of a series of articles from MoMinis to coincide with the launch of its $15,000 Mobile Game Development Contest – GameCast 2011. Find out more about the contest here. How does GetJar work? We allow developers to upload and promote apps for platforms including Android, Blackberry, …

Sony’s war on PS3 hacking looks close to be claiming its first scalp following the admission from Alexander Egorenkov that he expects to face a jail term. Eurogamer reports that the German hacker, known as ‘Graf Chokolo’ online, is being sued by Sony for €1m fooolwing his involvement in efforts …

Apple’s App Store pricing has single handedly rocked the foundations of the traditional games market, but Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says full-price $40 software could yet prevail on the platform. "I don’t see why not," he told Forbes when asked if it’s possible to charge $40 for a tablet game. …

Final Fantasy firm sold the lucrative IP for cash, Stainless Games man says

In news that could well agitate devoted Xbox followers as much as it excites commercial partners, Microsoft has unveiled a brand new interactive advertising platform for Kinect. Called NUads (Natural User-Interface Ads), it will allow brands to get gamers engaging with their ads either on the Xbox 360 dashboard or …

Publisher NCsoft has revealed that City of Heroes, its successful PC superhero MMO, is to become a free-to-play title. It’s also getting a new name – City of Heroes: Freedom. The move mirrors that made by both rival title Champions Online and also by other MMOs such as The Lord …

We profile Rovio Mobile, Codemasters Birmingham, Playfish, Eurocom, Naturalmotion Games, Ubisoft Paris, Digital Goldfish and Criterion

Avalanche believes The Big Appleâ??s best developers cost less to hire