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

MMOG publisher to expand services on the back of profitable venture

New department to make use of existing brands and third party properties in games

The UK arm of Big Brother and Deal or No Deal creator Endemol has announced the formation of Endemol Games, a new division tasked with taking the company’s many properties into the games space. The unit will be headed by former head of products and brand exploitation Jurian Van der …

Following its signing of football legend and global celebrity icon David Beckham to front its promotional campaign for EA Sports Active 2 in the UK and Europe, EA has announced that tennis star Venus Williams is to act as brand ambassador for the US campaign. The game, which is in …

As publishers continue to dabble with new ways of offering ‘added value’ to gamers through digital content, THQ has revealed a new model to accompany the release of WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011. Those who buy the game will be offered the chance to buy a ‘Fan Axxess’ pass. Doing …

Targeted monthly uniques now over 100,000, as print circ grows too

Time is running out if you want to nominate your colleagues for this year’s 30 Under 30. In fact, you have a little over 24 hours. All nominations for our annual round-up of the UK games market’s rising stars must be emailed to Michael.French@intentmedia.co.uk by end of play tomorrow, Wednesday …

UK broadcaster calms fears following closure of 4iP â?? interactive commissioning still a priority

Having officially lifted the lid on its ambitious Windows Phone 7 plans to the global tech media yesterday, Microsoft has quietly re-branded its indie dev operations to incorporate its new portable gaming aspirations. Anyone now visiting the home page of the XNA Creators Club, the home of Microsoft’s indie games …

Redbox is rolling out its video games rental service to its retail kiosks around the US. Having tested this offer for a few years on select kiosks, the company is now expanding the service to thousands” of its 24,000 machines, according to Joystiq. Similar to its DVD program, Redbox’s video …