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

Publisher Activision has confirmed that total sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have just passed $1bn worldwide, according to the firm’s own internal estimates. The milestone arrives almost two months to the day since Modern Warfare 2 was released on November 14th 2009. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare …

Five months after Swedish courts ordered the closure of BitTorrent tracking site The Pirate Bay, four of the world’s largest music labels have requested the District Court fines the site’s owners. TorrentFreak reports that Universal Music, EMI, Sony BMG and Warner have requested that courts enforce a ruling passed late …

With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 being crowned as the best selling game of 2009 in the UK, here’s a closer look at which titles won out on each platform in the last 12 months. The numbers come courtesy of ELSPA GfK-ChartTrack. UPDATED: Lists expanded from Top Five to …

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been named as the best selling game of 2009 in the UK – despite not hitting the market until mid-November. The news comes from ELSPA and GfK-ChartTrack’s official 2009 Charts. Other successes included EA’s FIFA series, with FIFA 10 claiming second place in …

Company CEO promises tighter controls and open discussion with the industry

Grainger Games has told MCV that it will kick off a heavy-duty expansion plan in the coming months.The retailer hopes to build on the successes of last year, which included the rebranding of its existing stores and the extension of its distribution and head office facility. Grainger also established seven …

Premier PR has named Ali Wood as its new accounts manager – as the London-based agency expands its newly-opened games division. Wood boasts over 10 years of experience as a journalist in the games industry. She leaves her most recent position as editor of Future’s PC Zone. Premier’s head of …

1C’s international publishing director Darryl Still has accused retail of failing to support boxed PC games. The industry veteran says that by refusing to stock certain games and moving PC titles to the back of the store, retail is forcing publishers to head towards digital distribution. And that PC games …

The Quantic Dream co-CEO discusses the immersive properties of motion control

Xbox 360 platform holder Microsoft has cut the price of a number of titles on its Xbox Live Games-On-Demand service in several territories – but not, it seems, in the UK. Four games have seen their prices cut from $29.99 to $19.99 in the North American Marketplace – BioShock, Civilization …