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

Infinity Ward has for the fourth time in a month been the subject of news items regarding staff departures. Senior Animator Bruce Ferriz has confirmed to IGN that he left the All of Duty studio this month, and has now joined Santa Monica-based developer Big Red Button Entertainment. The announcement …

Retailer GAME has made its first moves following the staff consultation period it entered into last month, with some employees seeing their contracted hours reduced. MCV reported last month that employees had been called into meetings in stores across the country to be informed of the national review and to …

According to the latest numbers from weekly magazine Famitsu, total sales of Sony’s PS3 have now passed the 5m mark in Japan. Kotaku’s translation also claims that Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII is already the best selling game on the console, with total sales of 1.8m units. The next strongest …

Frontier Developments founder weighs in on todayâ??s events

The Conservatives will next week publish a ‘mini-manifesto’ for the game industry that will outline tax breaks and more, the party has told Develop. Tory spokesperson for the game industry, Ed Vaizey, confidently assured that his party still plans to support the game industry. We’ll be publishing details of our …

Bruce Ferriz leaves the Call of Duty studio, but wonâ??t be Respawning

The 2010 Festival of Games, which gets underway on June 3rd, is currently taking bookings for games industry workers and bosses – and MCV readers get a 40 per cent discount. The event in Utrecht, Netherlands will provide networking and deal-making opportunities for those in the business, strategy, marketing, finance, …

The South Korean authorities have announced a new ‘gaming curfew’ to try and counter what is seen as the growing problem of MMO addiction in the country. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s policy, as reported by The Korea Herald, intends to forcefully block or incrementally slow down the …

But the party suggests tax breaks wonâ??t be the be-all and end-all

UK communications industry regulator Ofcom has moved to assure the public that anyone accused of illegal filesharing under the recently passed Digital Economy Bill legislation will have access to a robust and effective appeals mechanism”. The most contentious inclusion in the DEB was the provision for authorities to demand ISPs …