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

Mind Candy’s casual gaming phenomenon Moshi Monsters made its UK toy debut last week thanks to a new range of products from Vivid. The free-to-play Moshi Monsters currently boasts over 30m users worldwide, with one in three UK kids said to have used the site. The spring/summer range includes Talking …

Lobby group looks to expand; eyes web designers, graphic designers, writers

GLS Games Distribution has gone into liquidation. The firm has blamed a delayed insurance claim over stolen stock for the closure as funds dry up. The company’s warehouse was broken into last summer. Creditors have been contacted and a meeting was held on Monday, January 24th to distribute GLS’ assets …

Sony has launched a mammoth marketing campaign for its acclaimed release, LittleBigPlanet 2. Ads are appearing in film breaks on Five, Fiver and Five USA and will run for two weeks, while sponsorship will continue for two months. Sony is also launching its own LittleBigPlanet online hub where every level …

Imagine Publishing has announced that its Play magazine has sold more than 10 million copies. This sales milestone for the UK’s longest-running independent PlayStation magazine coincides with its 200th issue, available now. Play was first published in 1995 around the launch of the original PlayStation and is the first independent …

Web giant The Hut Group is fast becoming one of the UK’s biggest games retailers, after reporting a huge leap in sales last year. For 2010 The Hut Group saw its sales rise 70 per cent to 87m, up from 51m in 2009. The biggest growth area for the Group …

An ongoing UK court case against 27 individuals accused of illegal file-sharing has been withdrawn by prosecuting lawyer Andrew Crossley after he claimed to have received threats. Working on behalf of client MediaCAT, Crossley sent out thousands of letters to the accused ordering them to pay a 500 fine or …

UKIE has reported that pirated video games may have cost the industry around 1.5bn in sales last year. The trade body has reported that several publishers have claimed illegally downloaded games could outnumber those sold legitimately by as much as 4:1 – and UKIE director general Michael Rawlinson claims that …

Those using hacks to exploit the online component of Modern Warfare 2 are on borrowed time, according to the game’s developer Infinity Ward. Last week Activision warned that it might be forced to withdraw online support for its Call of Duty games on the PlayStation Network unless Sony moves to …

Studio boss responds to concerns that staff will migrate to Montreal