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

Ahead of the implementation of the government’s new video games ratings regime outlined in The Digital Economy Bill later this year The Video Standards Council has outlined a number of high-level staff changes designed to position the regulator for the challenges ahead. The former chief constable of Lincolnshire Police Tony …

Publisher Sega has dated two of its key Q1 titles – Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing and Napoleon: Total War – both of which will be hitting retail on February 26th. The first title is another stab at capturing the Mario Kart Wii crowd, partnering accessible racing mechanics with an …

Mamba Games has announced a partnership with Lace Group to create a new global video games publisher. Publisher Mamba and UK distributor Lace will now trade as Lace Media Group, and will handle acquisition, product development, in-house development, UK and global sales and distribution, marketing and PR as one entity. …

Longstanding British studio Codemasters saw in the New Year in a most unfortunate manner as HM Revenue & Customs served an erroneous petition to wind-up the business. On face value that meant the studio would face going into administration, receivership or liquidation, with Codemasters’ banks under threat of being frozen. …

The BBC has revealed that one in eight people logging onto its popular IPTV service iPlayer are now doing so through either the PS3 or Wii, with console usage jumping 74 per cent between November and December. 2009 was a big year for iPlayer, with December brining the total number …

Football Superstars team smitten with satellite team

Questions are being asked about Microsoft’s claim that Xbox 360 console sold over 10m units in North America in 2009. That number comes from a Microsoft statement released in the wake of NPD’s December and 2009 report which reads: In 2009 US Xbox 360 console sales topped 10m units, with …

Threat to close the Dirt 2 studio was revealed to be an HMRC error

A Game Of The Year edition of Eidos’ Batman: Arkham Asylum is currently in production. The title’s existence was revealed by a BBFC listing, which classifies Batman: Arkham Asylum – Game Of The Year edition for release in the UK. According to the listing, the game was passed with no …

PS3’s 1.35m unit sales in North America in December – an 87 per cent year-on-year increase – saw the console finish 2009 by enjoying its best ever month in territory, leaving Sony celebrating what it is calling a turning point in the machine’s fortunes. 4.3m PS3s were sold throughout the …