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

This year’s Gamescom is on course to be the biggest iteration yet as publishers and platform holders alike pledge their support for the show. Event organisers Koelnmesse report that there are 20 per cent more exhibitors signed up for Gamescom than there were this time last year. We are clearly …

According to estimates from Enterbrain CEO Hirokazu Hamamura, the earthquake that hit Japan in March has cost the country’s games sector in the region of 55m. As reported by Andriasang, the drop in sales experienced in the territory following the earthquake has been attributed to the numerous game delays that …

Nintendo, Activision and Microsoft Games Studios among industry attendees

Retail powerhouse Tesco has reported a surge in profits for its financial year ending February 28th 2011. Group sales climbed 8.1 per cent to 67.6bn, with profit jumping 12.3 per cent to 3.8bn. Asian profit was up 30 per cent year-on-year which helped offset the disappointing UK performance, which accounts …

Koch Media has announced it will continue its distribution agreement with Codemasters. The firm will be exclusively responsible for bringing the UK publisher’s 2011 titles to Germany, Switzerland, Austria. Koch will also handle back catalogue titles in key European territories, including the aforementioned three nations, as well as France, Italy …

User-reviews limited to Gold subscribers; Games and devs await permanent ban

The first reviews of Valve’s Portal 2 have gone live online this morning and there’s every chance the space-bending sequel could become one of the highest rated games of all time. The game is now available worldwide through Steam though won’t arrive at European retail until this Thursday. It’s currently …

New 'developer only' event to open in August

It’s been a difficult life for Sony’s UMD-free, digital only PSPgo. But reports are now suggesting that time has finally been called on the model. Andriasang has translated a report that, in its words, "appears to be run by a Sony Shop employee or at the very least a super …

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