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

Over 1.014m has been spent on downloading songs in the UK since 2004. Almost one third of this figure – 316.5m – was spent last year alone, according to data published by music trade body BPI and the Official Charts Company. Retail spending on digital albums increased 23 per cent …

Playdom has payed a $3m settlement after it was charged with breaking the U.S. Child Online Privacy Protection Act. The social games studio – acquired by Disney last year – has published several titles such as the now closed Pony Stars. The Federal Trade Commission accused a number of these …

Kalypso Media has announced that Charlie Barrett, current MD of Kalypso Media Digital, has been promoted to the role of business development director for the overall Kalypso Media Group. In addition, Jonathan Hales has returned to the company as becomes group MD of Kalypso Digital Media. We are constantly looking …

CVs and up to 25,000 email addresses stolen in latest cyber attack

Fortified servers power up after extensive downtime

UPDATE 1: HMV has been in contact with MCV to say that it has "no such deal available". MCV is expecting to receive confirmation of other offers from a key UK retailer shortly. UPDATE 2: Since publishing the first update we have had three readers contact us to confirm that …

Bethesda’s online-centric shooter Brink saw over two thirds of its week one sales claimed by Xbox 360. Brink was this morning confirmed as the UK’s new No.1. Eurogamer reports that Microsoft’s platform accounted for 69 per cent of total boxed sales. PS3 claimed 23 per cent. Though you’d expect a …

Cult Japanese shooter develop Cave has announced that 2D shooter Deathsmiles is to be released digitally on Xbox 360 in the US. This is notable because it will be the unaltered original Japanese game – the first time a foreign territories title has been released on the Games on Demand …

Nokia announced the firm is dump the Ovi brand of services, instead simply using ‘Nokia’ to "centralise identity under one brand," they said. "We will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture while continuing to deliver compelling opportunities and experiences for partners and consumers alike," …

Developer Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed that its networks are back online. Players of titles such as DC Universe Online, Free Realms and EverQuest can now access their games for the first time in nearly a month. "We are pleased to be back online and deeply apologise for the inconvenience …