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

Rumours that Ubisoft’s contentious copy-protection method has already been cracked is false, says the publisher. The piracy prevention method, which requires all Ubisoft PC titles to be constantly connected to the web, has only been available for a day with the US release of submarine sim, Silent Hunter 5. A …

No More Heroes director continues to embrace the high-end consoles

So who are the world’s most bankable games studios? You’ll get to find out in May when Develop’s globally-recognised list of the 100 most commercially successful developers returns in May. The Develop 100 ranks the best and most commercially successful studios based on the sales of their games at UK …

The already turbulent story of Activision and Infinity Ward has taken another bitter twist with confirmation that ousted IW bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella are to sue the publisher. The pair claim that Activision terminated their employment just weeks before they were due to be paid ‘substantial royalty payments’ …

Developer dispatches senior staff to trade event; awaits OnLive announcements

EA UK has announced that Sophie Orlando has been promoted to PR manager for the EA Games label. More specifically, she will handle PR duties on all titles from BioWare, Visceral and DICE. Orlando fills the gap left by Jon Goddard, who departed for EA’s European PR team last month. …

Namco Bandai expects that Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks will be the most successful game in the multi-million selling franchise when it hits shelves next month. Ben 10 has become a major video game property over recent years, with the previous two games – Protector of Earth and Alien …

Take-Two has announced Q1 revenues up $14 million on last year, from $149m to $163m. The firm took a loss of $34m, down from $54m for the same period in 09. Staff cuts, inevitably, are being touted, with a 15% headcount cut resulting in savings of $8 million in the …

Activision’s upcoming racer Blur will be the first game to allow PS3 and Xbox 360 players to compete against each other AND the first to offer online multiplayer for Silver members of Xbox Live Arcade. That’s the headline claim being made by Bizarre Creations, though the mechanics of the functionality …

Buzz begins for Canadaâ??s key trade event