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

Hype for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has reached an all-time high, with EA reporting huge pre-orders for the shooter. The game is the sequel to the 2008 multiplayer hit and will arrive on March 5th on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It’s also the first Battlefield title since last year’s …

Thorsten Heinze and Andreas Pongs set to further Psai development

Some may claim that they’ve heard it all before, but developer Konami has again pledged that the next version of its Pro Evolution Soccer series will feature a radical gameplay overhaul. Speaking to Famitsu (as reported by Andriasang), the series’ lead developer Shingo ‘Seabass’ Takatsuka noted that the last release, …

Audio â??crossoverâ?? discussed with Richard Jacques and Ubisoftâ??s Jon Vincent

Having omitted any mention of the PS3 from its formal announcement of new shooter Ghost Recon Future Soldier this morning, Ubisoft has now confirmed a multiformat release for the game. Ubisoft community developer Aymeric Evennou said on Twitter: "To those who wondered, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will also release on …

An Australian man who uploaded an illegal copy of New Super Mario Bros Wii to the internet before the game went on sale has agreed to pay Nintendo $1.3m in compensation. Having acquired the game early and made it available online before it could be legally purchased in shops, Nintendo …

EA has announced that seven years on from its last appearance in a Need for Speed title, Ferrari is to make a return to the series in the form of an Xbox 360 only DLC pack for NFS: Shift. Ten cars in total will be included as part of the …

Group says that free web versions of its games have dramatically heightened exposure

John Riccitiello has accused the major console platform holders of taking too long to cut the pieces of their consoles last year as the industry fought to cope worldwide economic challenges. In 2009 there was a lack of aggressive first party pricing – [they were] a little bit too late …

Conspicuous by its absence in EA’s forward planning for the financial year ahead was any mention of the once golden franchise that is Rock Band, leading to speculation that the publisher could be looking to drop its distribution agreement for the game. Furthermore, with the end of its current deal …