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

Microsoft has defended its decision to increase the cost of its online gaming service Xbox Live Gold. The firm justified the price hike with mention of exclusive games such as Gears of War and Halo, and the fact that certain DLC packs arrive on Xbox 360 before rival consoles. It …

Gaming has become a major part of Alworths’ plans, as the firm eyes 150 new stores over the next three years. Alworths was founded last year and at the time the retailer had no intentions of going big on entertainment. But that changed during the 2010, with music, DVD and …

Mind Candy, the maker behind popular online game, Moshi Monsters, has forecast over $100 million in retail sales of products based on the brand in 2011. Moshi Monsters has attracted over 30 million players globally. The free-to-play game, aimed at children, allows players to adopt a pet monster and explore …

Wii owners will be able to download demos of key WiiWare titles through a new service that launches this week. Nintendo announced that the first demos would be made available this Friday, and new ones will be added on a regular basis. However, the demos will only be available for …

Development work to be sent back to Japan, firm says

Square Enix has lowered sales forecasts for its six-month fiscal period ending September 30th, 2010. The Final Fantasy and Lara Croft publisher now expects to receive net sales of YEN 68bn (527m), down from YEN 76bn (589m). It predicts a decrease in profit from YEN 2.4bn (18.5m) to YEN 1.7bn …

Anger as Microsoft moves its indie game store to the back

Namco Bandai’s US arm is planning to lay off up to 90 of its staff. These job losses have been attributed to the company’s recent restructuring in which it combined its online game and mobile businesses to form single division, according to VentureBeat. The layoffs were confirmed by Namco’s vice …

Yves Guillemot – Ubisoft, CEO The new [motion sensing] machines are very good because they provide a chance for more people to play. Nintendo showed that it could make lots of money and also serve lots of customers, so now everybody wants that part of the cake.So that’s what we …

The first DLC pack for Microsoft shooter Crackdown 2 will be available to download on Xbox Live later this month. ‘Deluge’ features a new four player co-op mode where users are pitted against increasingly challenging waves of enemies in Pacific City. There is also a ‘Capture the Orb’ mode which …