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

Despite the growing popularity of digital games retail – and the clear desire of platform holders to sell their games direct to consumers – US analyst Michael Pachter thinks traditional bricks and mortar retail will be safe for some time yet. In fact, ahead of GameStop’s financial report tomorrow Pachter …

It was by all accounts a Black Tuesday for games development yesterday as job cuts were confirmed at two studios and one of the industry’s most respected developers faced up to a very uncertain future. Though the numbers are yet to be reported, LucasArts has confirmed a minor adjustment in …

Nearly ninety staff go

Xbox 360’s American dream continues with news that Microsoft’s console saw year-on-year sales gains in October 2010. It was the only console in the market to enjoy annual growth, with total unit sales of 325k according to Larry Hryb. That’s a 34 per cent year-on-year increase for a machine now …

American sales tracker NPD has announced that the US video games market was worth $1.07bn in October 2010 – that’s four per cent down on the same month in 2009. Year-to-date US gaming has made $11.07bn, eight per cent less than it had at this stage last year. Hardware saw …

Three industry opinion formers declare their affection

Staff on consultation period as publisher considers options; Blur 'did not find commercial audience'

In news that continues to emerge tonight, it appears as if Activision is to close the doors of UK developer Bizarre Creations. Around 200 jobs could be lost in the process. Bizarre is best known for creating Microsoft’s successful Project Gotham Racing series, though its gaming heritage began far earlier; …

Supermarket Sainsbury’s has cut 25 per cent off all Nintendo consoles. This means Wii machines will be sold for 119.99, while DSi handhelds will now set consumers back just 93.74. DSi XL has also been reduced to 108.74. However, the grocer’s offer will only run for the next 14 days. …

Emotional outpouring across Twitter suggests the Blur studio will shut down