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

Publishing kingpin makes swift reductions in music game investment

Such is the momentum driving Sony’s PS3 onwards and upwards right now that SCEA has warned consumers that retail may face shortages of the in-demand console over the coming weeks. We’re working very hard with our retail partners to meet consumer interest, but the demand is tremendously high for the …

Highly anticipated FPS sequel BioShock has shot straight to the top of the ELSPA GfK-ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 on its first week of release. Furthermore, it becomes the biggest new release of the year to date in the process, surpassing EA’s Mass Effect 2 in the process, which slips …

With falling sales of Rock Band blamed for a three per cent year-on-year decline in sales for Harmonix owner Viacom, the company has said that it wants a partial refund of bonuses paid to the developer in 2008. Viacom enjoyed strong profits of $694m for the quarter ending December 31st, …

Activision revealed the brutality of its latest redundancy operation over the weekend by confirming that Red Octane’s offices had closed down with substantial jobs cut. The closure of RedOctane – a studio which only a year ago appeared in excellent health – adds to a worryingly growing list of Activision …

Workforce cut to a skeleton crew, reports claim, as the Guitar Hero studio closes doors

Crysis firm rolls out agile and lean software dev tool

Dates have been confirmed for this year’s Edinburgh Interactive – and with them a new focus on the how the television and video games industries can work together has been revealed. Edinburgh Interactive takes place on Wednesday, August 25th and Thursday August 26th. Thanks to a partnership with Media Guardian …

Event set for end of August, backed by deal with Media Guardian TV Festival

A new interactive magazine-cum-TV show has been unveiled by Future this morning – and it’s exclusive to PS3. FirstPlay is an extension of Future’s established relationship with format-holder Sony and includes content produced by the Official PlayStation Magazine team. The weekly show will be available for UK gamers starting in …