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

Enslavd: Odyssey to the West should never have been released during the busy pre-Christmas season. That’s according to Namco Bandai’s marketing VP Charlson Choi, who told Siliconera that poor timing was to blame for the game’s disappointing sales of less than 500,000 units. It launched in the midst of a …

Rumours fly that the likes of Rockstar and Irrational could join Call of Duty publisher

Despite the fact that most gamers play MMOs on a PC, almost half of all DC Universe Online owners play it on a PS3. The Sony MMO – which hit shelves last month – is available on both PC and PS3. And 45 per cent of users play it on …

Engine outfit to present series of sessions at San Francisco event

The nominations process for the 2011 Industry Excellene Awards is drawing to a close. All nominations must be sent to AwardsLobbying@intentmedia.co.uk by 12pm today. Be sure to include a brief summary of why your chosen candidate should be considered. A full guide to the awards can be found by clicking …

An eventful week for Activision rolls on: rumours are circulating at the highest level that the company is eyeing a shock acquisition of rival Take-Two. If true, and if successful, the bid would bring blockbuster brands and hit studios under one roof – Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, …

3DS may be mere weeks away, but Nintendo certainly hasn’t forgotten its established formats. The platform holder’s latest release schedule lists some of the key new titles for Wii and DS, encompassing a mix of first-party and third party games, according to CVG. Wii highlights include Kirby’s Epic Yarn and …

Black Swan composer Clint Mansell has joined BioWare to write the musical score for Mass Effect 3. The musician revealed the news in an interview with The Quietus. With something like Mass Effect you’re more like a DJ with all these musical elements,” he said. You’ve got the holding pattern, …

Struggling Finnish smartphone specialist 'now in a three-horse race'

Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia and Windows platform holder Microsoft have announced the formation of a strategic partnership that will see the Windows Phone 7 operating system embedded in future Nokia smartphones. Rumours of the agreement first started circulating earlier this week. Nokia will use Microsoft’s Bing search service across …