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

TV celebrity and retail specialist Mary ‘Queen of Shops’ Portas directed her attentions at retailer GAME this weekend, and highlighted her lack of respect for the ratings system in the process. Speaking on Twitter, Portas was seemingly outraged that the Oxford Street brand of the retailer was unwilling to sell …

It’s one of the worst kept secrets in games – and thankfully, it’s not a secret any more, and it hits shelves in just a matter of days. Sony Ericsson this evening finally took the wrappers off its new PlayStation-oriented games smartphone, the Xperia Play. It is a slide-open device …

With an air of mystery still surrounding Activision’s new Call of Duty studio ‘Project Beachhead’ and its long-term roadmap for the shooting franchise, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has played down the possibility of a subscription-based extension to the brand. "You know, honestly, we don’t really spend a lot of …

Following our report that the Performing Rights Society is charging stores for the use of in-game music, one retailer details his previous encounters with the organisation For years I’ve had the Performing Rights Society bug me. It claims to collect royalties for singers and songwriters. But it has never proven …

Publisher 2K Games has announced a collectible SKU for Duke Nukem Forever that will be released alongside the standard version of the game in the UK. The headline inclusion is a collectible bust of the Duke himself. Also in the box is: • Numbered, limited-edition certificate of authenticity• 100-page hardcover …

The shock alliance between Nokia and Microsoft nearly never happened, with the Finnish company admitting that it gave serious consideration to switching to Google Android mobile OS as opposed to Windows Phone 7. "We spent time with our colleagues at Google," CEO Stephen Elop confessed. "It’s an attractive ecosystem, but …

This week we look at a wider reach of renowned studios, from Zynga to Starbreeze

Travis Boatman, EA Mobile VP of Worldwide Studios, claims there is huge market potential for core-focused mobile games. Speaking at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas, the man who helped to bring Dead Space to the iPhone and iPad claimed the notion that mobile games are for casual consumers is …

As hinted at earlier this week, Activision has announced a major crossover between the toy and video games sectors with a brand new title featuring the iconic Spyro the Dragon. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, which is due out the autumn, will target the 6-12 year old market with a game that …

Activision’s decision to sell Guitar Hero as a product as opposed to a content platform was the ultimate cause of the IPs downfall, GamesBrief analyst Nicholas Lovell has told MCV. "I wasn’t surprised by the news," he stated. "Sales peaked at $1.7bn for music games in 2008, fell by 50% …