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

Gem wants to move into new areas of games, and claim more business from its rivals in 2011. And it’s hired former GAME man Alex Croft to help make that happen. Croft, who left the retailer in the summer, strengthens the distributor’s exec team as group strategic development director. He …

'P4Ant' gives Java developers more options for managing source code

A lawsuit has been filed against Rockstar and parent Take-Two for allegedly using a musician’s likeness without his consent. Michael ‘Shagg’ Washingston, previous backup singer of rap group Cypress Hill has filed a legal complaint against the firms over Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ central character. Washington claims Carl ‘CJ’ …

Electronic Arts has revealed its Ultimate Team DLC packs for FIFA have generated $45 million in the last two years. Ultimate Team enables consumers to assemble fantasy teams by purchasing footballer trading cards. It was introduced in FIFA 09, for which the trading card DLC packs brought in 15 million, …

Activision has spoken of its love for Rock Band developer Harmonix but refused to speak about a possible acquisition. Last month Viacom announced plans to sell off Harmonix, the studio which created the Guitar Hero franchise, following a third-quarter dip in earnings. When asked by Industry Gamers whether Activision would …

Intel software engineer Orion Granatir explores two approaches for both high- and low-end PCs

Graeme Devine nevertheless hails his former employer

The biggest night on the trade calendar returns on April 7th, but will be cheaper to attend. Table prices have been cut by up to 200, whilst individual seats have also been cut by 20. The MCV Industry Excellence Awards moves into its ninth year in 2011 and will take …

HMV UK and Ireland sales have fallen 15.3 per cent for the 26 weeks ending October 23rd, 2010. The overall group sales – which includes book retailer Waterstones – are down 6 per cent to 749m, compared to the 797m posted in 2009. The loss after tax is at 30.5m, …

PSP sales rose by more than 400 per cent in Japan this week after Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 3rd hit shelves. Sony sold 325,528 PSPs from November 29th to December 5th, up from 75,689 the week before, VG247 reports. The spike in sales is due in part to the Monster …