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

The British Red Cross has published an open letter to the European PlayStation community to give thanks for the support it offered following March’s Japanese earthquake. In total SCEE member donations totalled a creditable 466,465.50. The disaster claimed over 13,000 lives and a further 14,000 people remain missing today. The …

PlayStation Home users can now receive 100 free items as part of Sony’s Welcome Back program. Today we will begin rolling out the first phase of this customer appreciation program, which will include 100 free items, two personal spaces, and an exclusive game available for all users to download for …

Rare is reportedly working on a new Kinect title where voice control is a big focus. In an interview with 123Kinect, Rare’s studio manager Scott Henson said the developer is working very hard on a big demo at E3 that will involve the voice aspect far more during gameplay.” Rare …

THQ has joined forces with Adidas to produce a fitness game based on the sports brand’s miCoach training plan. The game is in development for Xbox 360 and PS3 and will be compatible with PlayStation Move and Kinect, according to Eurogamer. It is due for release in spring 2012. miCoach …

E3 2011: ESA president predicts sustained attendance for trade show

Insomniac Games’ Xbox 360 and PS3 project, to be published by EA Partners, will be officially announced at the EA press event at E3 today. News of the impending announcement was delivered via the company’s official Twitter feed at the weekend. "In case you missed it – we are announcing …

Seats are going fast at this year’s Develop Awards, and there’s just one day left to make huge savings on early bird rates. Total attendance for the Brighton event, which takes place Wednesday July 20th, is now expected to top 500. Book before June 7th and make a 700 saving …

The number of customers pre-ordering copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is outpacing that of Black Ops. Retailer GameStop says it is seeing a higher early demand for the upcoming Call of Duty than it did for last year’s biggest-selling game, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Last year, …

Activision has announced full details of its line-up for this year’s E3 Expo. The publisher’s flagship franchise, Call of Duty, will headline its offering in Los Angeles with Modern Warfare 3 and another glimpse at its upcoming social networking service Call of Duty Elite. Focusing on a wider market, Activision …

The public beta for Call of Duty: Elite is expected to go live on July 14th. Activision has announced the beta will be by invitation only, and will not feature the full services of Elite. Instead, it will give selected COD fans a taste of the experience” and will be …