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

Sales for video game software, hardware and accessories in the UK saw a decline of 16 per cent during the first half of 2010, it has been revealed today. Data from Chart-Track shows that sales made from the first 26 weeks of this year stand at 963m – a drop …

New â??Steering Committeeâ?? to review tax relief campaign so far, and prepare next steps

A brand new games distributor specialising in casual titles has emerged – White Room Games. The firm has been set up by former PlayV general manager Luiz Ferreira, who takes on the role of director. White Room will focus on the casual games market and entice smaller publishers and developers …

Between 10 and 12 per cent of the UK population will miss out on the 3D revolution due to visual impairment, says eye expert

Microsoft’s ambitious new motion device – Kinect – will be out this autumn, but don’t expect to see the best games for it until 2012. That’s according to Gamesbrief founder and analyst Nicholas Lovell and Yoostar CEO Greg Fischbach, who say that developers need time to get to grips with …

Games will receive more floor space at Sainsbury’s over the next year after significantly driving both sales and footfall in 2009. The supermarket enjoyed its fifth consecutive year of like-for-like growth in the entertainment sector, as well as a 17.5 per cent rise in profit. Non-food MD Luke Jensen announced …

Rumours suggest the firm has far outplayed analyst expectations

It’s official: specialist games retail is in decline. According to MCV research, the number of leading game specialists has reduced by around 116 stores year-on-year. Findings come from MCV’s 2010 guide to games retail (find more on page 16) which covers all the latest movements from the top 12 High …

Microsoft has scored its first Gfk Chart-Track No.1 of the year with Crackdown 2. The open-world action title is the fifteenth No.1 of the year, and knocks LEGO Harry Potter from the top spot. Warner’s family title now sits in No.2, with Red Dead Redemption following close behind. Ubisoft has …

Anonymous sources claim the search engine giant will soon launch an ambitious new games division