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

There has been further positive noises regarding the possibility of the introduction of a new R18+ rating for video games in Australia. Currently the highest certificate available for video games released in the country is M15. Any games including content deemed unsuitable for those aged 15 or under cannot be …

Forum posts appear to suggest APB will still be supported

Uncooked Media’s 360 Gamer magazine has seen a drop in circulation of 13.5 per cent year-on-year for the six months ending June 30th. Average readership for the three-weekly magazine fell to 14,288 from last year’s 16,527 according to latest ABC figures. However between July and December 2009 circulation rose briefly …

Mounting debts have pushed Discstribution to the brink of liquidation. A meeting of the firm’s creditors will be held on Monday, August 16th to analyse the trading history of the company and the reason why it cannot continue its business. The main purpose of this assembly will be to appoint …

UK distributor NJOYit Entertainment is reaching out to publisher and retailers – by offering them a free holiday. The company has set up a competition to generate interest in its services, offering entrants the chance to win a vacation in Spain next year. NJOYit was founded as an IT company …

Sister site Develop has heard that Realtime Worlds is beginning a process of staff redundancies, with many of its workforce set for consultation talks. No one at the studio was available to comment at the time of going to press – though clarification on the matter is being pursued. Develop …

Digital video games retailer Direct2Drive has announced a relaunch of its UK and EU web portals. Both sites now boast a new visual design, an intelligent search and navigation system, improved integration with IGN and a host of new community features. There are also a number of price promotions on …

It looks as if Treyarch is to resurrect one of the most popular features from its last Call of Duty game in the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops. In a listing on Best Buy’s website, as spotted by CVG, the retailer claims that the Hardened Edition of the game …

The ZeniMax studio empire has expanded once more with the firm acquiring French outfit Arkane Studios. Pete Hines, the vice president of Zenimax publisher Bethesda Softworks, announced the move last night at the annual Quakecon event in Dallas, Texas. Terms of the deal were not announced but it was said …

Source claims consultation talks are to take place at the popular APB studio - statement expected soon