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

With the cheapest PS3 SKU still costing between 230 and 240 on the UK High Street, the boss of SCEE UK has admitted that he hopes the upfront price of the machine could yet drop further. "PS3 has taken longer than PS2 to establish itself simply because of the cost …

Over half of Zynga players are women aged 25-44, company exec claims

Studio outlines its development ethos for Facebook titles

The video games industry of tomorrow is likely to be bossed by a very different leading pack as traditional publishers refuse to accept the changing face of the market. That’s the warning issued by former Sony Worldwide Studios boss and current general partner at London Venture Partners Phil Harrison. "It’s …

Studio opens online games division, Insomniac Click

Battlefield studio DICE has sent a stark warning to its competitors in the first person shooter space. The developer – which is working on EA’s Battlefield 3 – said its rivals had better watch out” for its upcoming game. Its biggest rivals include Call of Duty’s Infinity Ward and Treyarch. …

Zynga has begun a new charity initiative to help children affected by the devastating tsunami that has swept across Japan. The firm is introducing donation options within games such as CityVille, FarmVille, Zynga Poker, FrontierVille and Words with Friends. These games will have donation buttons appear as people purchase Facebook …

The Nintendo 3DS shifted 209,623 units in its first full week on sale in Japan, outperforming every other format combat. The handheld was released on February 26th, so it was only available for just two of the day’s covered by the previous week’s charts, reports GamesIndustry.biz. Nevertheless, it managed to …

So a real success for a new UK publishing team that didn’t exist until Christmas, when they moved into an office on Tottenham Court Road. Going from a standing start like that to a best-seller with its first game, in just two months deserves applause. Proof there’s still wiggle room …

Facebook games to include donation options