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

UK studio Rebellion has confirmed job cuts at its Oxford base, adding that its Derby studio has now closed. Back in January the company’s Derby studio entered a consultation process whereby staff were interviewed and formally warned they may face redundancy. The full story can be read on Develop.

Game Based Learning organiser says action must be taken to avert a skills crisis

Square Enix has announced that the demo for Just Cause 2 has been downloaded more than two million times. The demo was released on PC, XBLA and PSN earlier this month and gives players a 35 square mile taste of the upcoming open-world action game, due for release next Friday. …

Electronic Arts has revealed that Command & Conquer 4 owners will require an internet connection to play the game. The publisher has foregone the traditional protective measures of DRM in favour of a system similar to that of Ubisoft’s ‘always connected’ anti-piracy system. On the official C&C4 forums, moderator EA_Apoc …

Nick Gibson predicts a future where games dominate the entertainment media landscape

If publishers commit to long-term marketing of their titles they can most definitely succeed on the Wii, Nintendo’s American boss Reggie Fils-Aime has stated. The record-breaking sales of many Wii titles have always challenged the notion that success is hard to come by for third party publishers on the platform. …

End of the line for Derby office as Oxford HQ is hit by layoffs

US publisher Majesco has reported net revenues of $29.2m for its first quarter ending January 31st – down from the $32.8m seen in the same period in 2009. Operating income hit $2.5m in the period compared to the $3.7m reported last year. Net income fell from $4.2m to $3.8m. The …

Experienced industry professional Steven Chiang has put an end to his 12 years at Electronic Arts by joining the rising social game group Zynga. Chiang joined EA back in 1998 when the publisher acquired then-indie studio Tiburon. He quickly climbed the ranks to executive producer, then studio general manager, before …

The organisers of Game Based Learning have called on the UK games industry to get involved in an effort to fix the skills crisis affecting the sector. The games industry has suffered from a shortage of students taking subjects in science, technology, engineering or maths, with many developers unable to …