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

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% …

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, …