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

The importance of reviews aggregators such as Metacritic may be overstated, according to Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz, who claims that of the eight metrics measured review scores emerged as the least influential. Instead, the study found that word-of-mouth was by far the most effective driver of consumer purchases. We …

â??These games put designers in a position where they spend their time not thinking about what is fun,â? says MMO maestro

$100,000 prize fund for Application Store Developer Challenge 2009

As the Zelda series director hints at future evolutions of Nintendoâ??s treasured franchise

Giant publisher Ubisoft has left its exclusive UK distribution deal with Trilogy Logistics, MCV can reveal – and is already delivering stock to retail through an open arrangement. Numerous trade sources have informed us that Ubisoft has struck an eleventh hour deal with Essex firm Gem to handle Christmas stock …

Undead Labsâ?? console MMO will â??almost certainlyâ? be subscription-based

Square Enix president awaits wholesale shift to digital distribution and server-based games

New pricing structure for the likes of Wwise and SoundSeed offers up to 20 per cent cost reduction

Square Enix chief Yoichi Wada is preparing his firm for the demise of physical media – and potentially the death of home consoles. In an exclusive interview with MCV that will be published next week, the CEO of the publisher – which now owns Eidos and is famous for its …

Version 2009.3 of Audiokinetic's popular audio tool rolls out, hints for 2010 plans