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

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

The launch of Kinect has more than doubled UK sales of the Xbox 360. Chart-Track figures circulating around the web, corroborated by MCV, show that Microsoft’s console saw a massive boost in sales this week, thanks to the arrival of its new motion controller. Kinect was released in the UK …

Publisher Square Enix has announced that it to extend the free trial period for MMO Final Fantasy XIV for a second time. It’s the second 30-day extension the firm has offered gamers following the decision to do the same thing this time last month. We are adamant that you should …

Publisher Ubisoft will spend big to turn its Raving Rabbids series into one of the industry’s biggest kids brands. The firm is shelling out 1m to promote upcoming game Raving Rabbids Travel In Time, as well as the range of Rabbids toys, figurines and even an upcoming TV show. The …