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

Xbox Live will spread to nine new countries when Kinect launches on November 10th. The online multiplayer service will be available in Russia, Poland, South Africa, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, Brazil, Colombia and Chile. Users who live in those countries and have signed up to Xbox Live from another region …

Hulk Hogan has entered the online gaming ring following a deal with production company Endemol. Hulk Hogan’s Hulkamania will be playable early next year and will be distributed internationally by Endemol Worldwide Brands. The game will integrated video content of Hogan, who appears throughout the game to inspire players. Hogan …

StarCraft II developer Blizzard has issued a lawsuit against three men over a series of hacks and cheats. The three men – known to the game’s community as ‘Permaphrost’, ‘Cranix’ and ‘Linuxawesome’ – have been accused of multiple counts of copyright infringement”, according to Kotaku. Blizzard is seeking damages and …

Funds spent on twenty-seven projects, as well as start-up assistance and marketing

The can it/can’t it debate surrounding Kinect’s ability to recognise seated players has finally been put to rest with Blitz Games co-founder Andrew Oliver revealing that a simple change to the camera’s software has eradicated any potential problems. Speaking to Eurogamer, Oliver explained that Kinect would use the bottom of …

After what can be described as a rough ride to retail, EA’s reinvention of its popular Medal of Honor franchise has debuted at the top of the UKIE GfK Chart-Track All Formats Top 40 in its first week. In doing so it ends the two-week reign of fellow EA release …

It’s not even out until Friday, and already retailers are moving to drastically undercut the RRP of Sega’s upcoming console shooter Vanquish. ShopTo.net is currently the lowest, offering both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 versions of the game for just 27.85. Zavvi has also gone low, offering the Lenticular …

Personal user ID covertly sent to third parties

Developer Krome Studios has closed its doors resulting in all staff losing their jobs, according to reports on IGN. The closure was finalised last Friday, though there’s a chance a small number of devs might stay on for a limited time to finish off existing work. The reason for the …

One US analyst has labelled the week one sales debut of new release Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock as dreadful”, pointing to stiff challenges for the music genre in the months ahead. Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz told CVG that the game sold just 86,000 units in its opening …