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

One of the highest-profile brands in video gaming is taking the bold move of bypassing retail altogether with the confirmation that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be a digital-only release. Interestingly, the game has also dropped the famous ‘Tomb Raider’ moniker, relying instead on the brand appeal …

Click here to access the RETAIL BIZ Previews section for an in-depth guide to some of the biggest titles heading to shelves. This week, we take a look at D3P’s Ben 10: Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks, the latest video game from one of the world’s hottest boys’ properties. Also previewed …

Valve is expected to announce it will be adding Mac support for games on its digital distribution service Steam. The developer has released a range of teaser images featuring Valve Properties such as Half-Life, Portal and Team Fortress mimicking familiar Apple advertising campaigns, according to MacNN. These were accompanied with …

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 …