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

Labour MP Keith Vaz has raised his second anti-games Early Day Motion of the year, this time linking video games to a spate of shootings in Sweden last month. Earlier this month Swedish police arrested a 38-year-old man, whose motivation was thought to be racial. That is, unless you’re Keith …

Games are usually the first big vertical market on new platforms, says Facebook boss

It’s a well-known fact that marketing budgets are signficantly higher in the months leading up to Christmas than at any other time of the year. Only a few weeks ago, MCV reported that UK games firms are spending a combined total of over 181 milion on promoting their wares this …

Mastertronic has promised to provide more stock for Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga after the first batch sold out. The launch allocation for Focus Home Interactive’s Xbox 360 RPG had run out ahead of its release last Friday. But the game’s distributor has assured retailers that there will be …

British firm â??pleased to offer a glimmer of hope during difficult timesâ??

O-Games believes advanced motion controllers will make PDC World Championship Darts Pro Tour its greatest darts game to date. This year’s entry in the series will be the first to be released for PS3 and is fully compatible with Sony’s PlayStation Move. Pro Tour will also be the first PDC …

There’s nothing wrong with independent retailers buying games from supermarkets and selling them at a premium, say UK distributors. Indies told MCV last month that stocking new games will be extremely difficult when the VAT rise comes into effect next year. And with some grocers lowering prices to below cost, …

From today GAME’s Moonbase in PlayStation Home will begin offering users the chance to order physical game from the retailer directly through the game world. Using any one of the Moonbase terminals customers will be able to browse a selection of PS3 and PSP games for home delivery. In addition, …

Ambitious games streaming service subtly goes into open beta with Mass Effect 2

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood has received rave reviews, making it one of the most critically claimed games available this Christmas. At the time of writing, the game boasts a Metacritic average of 91 per cent for the PS3 edition and 90 for the Xbox 360 version – currently outranking all …