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

Today’s surprise announcement of a ten-year publishing agreement between Activision and Bungie has rocked the games industry, but what exactly does it mean for both companies? The first thing to note is that the lucrative Halo franchise will not be going multiplatform. Microsoft owns that IP and has self-owned Seattle-based …

Publisher Activision has signed a ten year deal with Halo developer Bungie that grants it worldwide publishing rights to a future multiformat release. The move brings one of the most acclaimed developers into the Activision stable and is all the more notable considering the recent fall-out with super high-profile developer …

The famed Halo group will now work on new IP

James Cameron’s Avatar has broken UK records to become the fastest selling Blu-ray release every in this country. The HD disc sold a considerable 222,824 copies on its first day of release – which is more than last year’s The Dark Knight sold in its first week. Previously Avatar had …

Halo studio to become Activisionâ??s exclusive partner for the next decade

Xbox 360 owners who snap up Activision’s Singularity will be entitled to receive a free copy of 2009’s open-world action title Prototype. It’s out in North America on June 29th, though it doesn’t yet have a firm UK release date. A late June or early July release is expected. The …

A Californian man is to sue Sony over its recent 3.21 firmware update for the PS3 that removed the ability to install alternative operating systems such as Linux. The suit, filed by Anthony Ventura, claims Sony’s decision to force users to disable the OtherOS function was based on its own …

Yesterday you saw the cut-down TV version of Microsoft’s brand new live-action teaser trailer for Halo Reach. Now, courtesy of Kotaku, you can watch the full-length version:

Ubisoft’s Red Steel 3 – which has still not been officially confirmed – is said to be building a game using Nintendo’s Wii Vitality Sensor. The publisher will apparently use Nintendo’s peculiar fingertip pulse oximeter for, according to reports of an interview with Red Steel art director Jason Vandenberghe. The …

Simon Nelson discusses the crossover with games and TV