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

Halo co-creator called in; Newspaper says layoffs could persist

Two senior development execs have left their post at Rockstar’s UK studios. Mark Washbrook has left his role as head of Rockstar London. Meanwhile Mark Lloyd, head of QA studio Rockstar Lincoln, has also left. "Rockstar says that neither of these departures will affect any current projects," says IGN‘s report. …

Sega Europe will up the ante of its licensing program this year, securing new merchandising deals for its hottest properties, such as Sonic The Hedgehog. To drive this renewed effort, the publisher has hired Sissel Henno as head of licensing. She will head up the department, working with current partners …

With the games industry currently soaking up every bit of information that it can about Sony’s new Next Generation portable this morning, it’s easy to forget about the PlayStation Phone – which last night was fully exposed by tech blog Engadget. The device, which leads with the Xperia Play branding …

Sony’s Next Generation Portable will use location-based services to bring players together both geographically and virtually. A system called ‘Near’, which will be pre-loaded onto all NGP handhelds, will allow owners to see what friends are in their area. They will then be able to see what they’ve been playing …

Nintendo has reported a 46 per cent drop in profits since its previous financial quarter. Total profits from October to December 2010 stand at 104.6bn (794m), down from 192.3bn (1.46bn) made during the same period last year. This represents a change of 87.7bn (667m). Profits for the entire nine months …

Rising Star Games is a publisher with a very clear mission. It is, as its slogan proudly declares, the home of Japanese games: a haven for properties that might have otherwise struggled to secure a publisher. The latest immigrant to take up lodgings with Rising Star is Pucca, a Korean …

London studio head Washbrook and Lincoln leader Lloyd leave

Likes of Epic Games, Capcom and Sega line up to support Sony's new handheld

It’s a premium device, and that fact immediately asks two questions of the NGP – how much will it cost and how long will the battery last? Analysts are already throwing around figures of between $299 and $349. As a direct translation this would mean between 188 and 220 in …