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

Casual games are becoming increasingly popular. As a result, many devs hoping to make a standout product have been gradually complicating their titles. And thus we stand here today, faced with Facebook’s first ever 3D first person shooter. For the full story, head over to CasualGaming.biz.

Sony has confirmed that ModNation Racers will be released on PSP as well as PS3 later this year. The game is best described as a blend of Mario Kart and LittleBigPlanet, with the light-hearted racing action coupled with a heavy dose of user-created content. PSP owners will be able to …

$189.5m profit for the nine months ending December 31st; Hardware price cuts predicted

Platinum Games’ much applauded hack ‘n’ slash title Bayonetta has sold a total of 1.1m units worldwide since it went on sale in October last year (in Japan). Despite this feat the game fails to become Sega’s best selling game in the nine months ending December 31st – that accolade …

British game industry association says Canada has provided a template for the UK to follow

Japanese publisher Sega Sammy has reported a net income of $189.5m for the nine months ending December 31st. The news is all the sweeter for the firm as in the same period a year before it suffered a $121.3m loss. There were also sharp increases in operating income, which hit …

An annual report from Forecasting and Analysing Digital Entertainment (FADE) claims that Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade download service generated revenues in excess of $100m in 2009 – a new record for the digital outlet. More precisely, FADE reckons XBLA made $103.4m worldwide in 2009, representing a 34 per cent year-on-year …

Digital Media Prototyping program helps aid local talent

Square Enix’s cherished RPG series Dragon Quest has once again lived up to the hefty expectations placed upon it in the publisher’s homeland with news that Dragon Quest VI sold nearly 1m copies on its first week of release. The title is actually a remake of the mid ‘90s SNES …

Studio uses free Unreal toolset to create Dungeon Defense in four weeks