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

England and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole is the latest celebrity to have his love for gaming outed, with tabloid The Sun claiming that the former husband of Cheryl Cole spends up to five hours a night playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. Ashley has really put in the hours since …

It’s not surprising that PC gamers turned to different methods of distribution, and that Steam has filled that need perfectly. Not just providing a well stocked distribution platform, but a whole social network for enthusiast gamers who were not getting supported elsewhere as their hobby went mainstream. What is more …

I have read with interest the article ‘Retailers blow off Steam’, as the topic is one I have been focussed on for some time now. Three years ago, I requested of that the 1C management team negotiate and retain the digital rights to all our titles, even when we sell …

The growing aspirations of Western games in key Japanese markets have received another shot in the arm with confirmation that Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops has claimed the top spot in this week’s Japanese software charts. The PS3 version of the game shifted 129k units this week, driving it …

For Ubisoft, the world is its oyster when it comes to Assassin’s Creed. The franchise’s latest game is flying off shelves in Europe, and the series is a global powerhouse selling 20m. Meanwhile the storyline profiles a team researching the genetic memory of an assassin – so the franchise can …

Twelve months after Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada predicted the demise of physical media, another games industry stalwart has declared that the days of packaged games are numbered. John Carmack, one of the most respected and longstanding game programmers in the world, believes digital distribution is the natural and inevitable …

Distimo report finds an Xbox whitewash in the WP7 top 10

The App Store model will reign, says id Softwareâ??s star programmer

Games occupy the Top 10 slots in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace’s paid applications chart, according to research from analytics firm Distimo. What’s more, with prices between $2.99 and $6.99, the chart has yet to be dominated by iOS-style 99-cent titles. Games account for 40% of the 100 most popular …

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood has sold over 1m copies across Europe in less than a week, publisher Ubisoft has told MCV. The swift success of the game makes it the publisher’s fastest-selling game ever in the European territories, and overall the publisher’s biggest franchise. To date, the Assassin’s Creed games have …