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

Publisher Sony has taken the interesting step of offering players the chance to purchase a small piece of extra functionality in online shooter MAG in return for paying a monthly fee. As of yesterday, players are now able to purchase additional character slots for the game that allow them to …

Social networking game Madden NFL Superstars has launched on Facebook today. It’s the American football equivalent of FIFA Superstars which launched earlier this year – with both titles developed by casual firm Playfish. Madden NFL Superstars features 1,500 players from 32 NFL teams and allows users to play against friends …

Publisher Electronic Arts alleges that Tim Langdell intended to deceive” the United States Patent and Trademark Office with his treatment of the Edge trademark. Tim Langdell, the owner of Edge Games so routinely embroiled in trademark disputes, had previously fired accusations at EA over its ambitious 2008 FPS Mirror’s Edge. …

Team 17’s co-founder and business development director Martyn Brown has told MCV that his company’s shunning of traditional publishing in favour of new digital distribution channels has done wonders for the Worms franchise. The series sold more units last year than any other time in its 15-year history. Given the …

Most games firms crossing the line from boxed product to digital distribution tend to keep one foot on the High Street. While publishers like EA and Square Enix experiment with releasing download-only outings for major franchises such as Battlefield and Lara Croft, others have wholeheartedly leapt into the digital realm …

Patent attorney Karl Barnfather says studios should act fast in protecting IP

Strong showings from all those present meant there really was something for everyone on hand, no matter which side of the industry fence you sit on. It was slick, well organised and very professional. Surprisingly, that’s not to everyone’s liking. I heard a few grumbles that without the intimacy, closed-in …

Blizzard has confirmed that its massively hyped PC strategy title StarCraft II has now sold in excess of 3m copies worldwide in its first month of availability. The game is already the best selling PC title of the year and the fastest selling RTS ever released. Amazingly, StarCraft II shifted …

UK broadsheet The Financial Times is claiming that Sony will use its presentation at consumer electronics trade show IFA to unveil a brand new iTunes-rivalling digital sales platform. The service will reportedly be fronted by both the PS3 and PSP though will at a later date roll out onto Vaio …

US developers encouraged to bring their games to the Japanese market