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

Only the other day I joked to one of the leaders of our two trade associations that we were due the yearly, previously silly, ‘Why don’t you guys merge?’ questioning from external pundits. Then it was just a joke. Today, it seems like a potential reality. It’s still a pretty …

EDUCATION WEEK: Redundancies afoot as computing division is stripped

Sega Sammy has posted its financial results for the nine months ending December 31st, with a 117 per cent rise in profit year-on-year. Total sales increased 8.7 per cent during the period to 310bn (2.4bn), up from 285bn (2.2m) the year prior. Profit rose from 17bn (129m) to 37bn (281m). …

Japanese publisher Namco Bandai has revered the Y11.7bn loss seen in the quarter ending December 31st 2009 by reporting a profit of Y3.7bn for the same quarter in 2010. For the nine months ending December 31st sales were up 1.8 per cent at Y288bn. Operating earnings were up 253 per …

Ahead of its release on February 25th in the UK, the review embargo on Sony’s Killzone has lifted to reveal mainly positive reviews of the new shooter. The game currently has an average of 87 per cent on Metacritic, with two scores of 100 per cent but also two 70 …

A Microsoft exec has claimed the only solution to piracy in the PC market is to embrace free-to-play downloadable games. Microsoft Games Studios’ general manager Dave Luehmann told MCV he is confident his current project – Age of Empires Online – will suffer from less piracy than it would have at …

FIFA and The Sims firm to bank more franchises on the social network

Australian studio uses Vicon tech for â??outdoorâ?? animations

MTV Games has closed its doors following the sale of Harmonix, MCV can reveal. The International office, which was headed up by UK industry veteran Roy Campbell, was closed on Wednesday. Only a handful of financial staff remain in the New York office to collect or reconcile any outstanding receivables. …

EDUCATION WEEK: Revisit David Yarnton and Ray Maguire talks at Learning Without Frontiers