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

A Russian investment firm that previously invested $200m in social network leader Facebook has backed Mafia Wars and FarmVille developer Zynga to the power of $180m. The move means that Zynga now has an approximate valuation of between $1.5bn-$3bn. The fulls tory is on CasualGaming.biz.

Square Enix president says that the firmâ??s westward moves are due to the necessity of globalisation

Publisher EA and Swedish developer DICE have announced that over 3m players have no signed up to the online free-to-play Battlefield Heroes. Battlefield Heroes continues to grow fast with well over 50,000 new players joining us every week,” Battelfield Heroes’ general manager Ben Cousins stated. The full story is over …

Square Enix president outlines move to outplay Blizzardâ??s dominant MMO

CHIPS joint MD Don McCabe sent MCV a comprehensive statement addressing Chipsworld Ltd’s application for a Company Voluntary Arrangement earlier today: "In order to nullify the ravages of the ‘credit crunch’ and the recession which has hit the industry over the last 18 months, and to protect Chipsworld Ltd, the …

Avid fans of SingStar on PS3 will know the pain that is trying to access the SingStore – particularly on a Friday or Saturday night – so news of a new dedicated standalone app will be welcomed. As reported on the SingStar blog, the SingStar Viewer allows users to view …

Industry body calls on developers to help fuel the next generation

Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada on the plans for the new Final Fantasy MMO

Ubisoft Montreal used Autodeskâ??s HumanIK tech as well as 3DS Max and MotionBuilder

Sega will focus its marketing efforts for Vancouver 2010: The Official Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games around the real-world event for maximum impact. The publisher is working hard to ensure the title lives up to the performance of its predecessor, which was met with impressive sales when released …