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

Around 60 per cent of UK Xbox 360 owners have lost their console to technical problems, such as the infamous Red Ring Of Death. That’s according to a CNET UK online user-initiated survey of 1,128 UK-based console owners. 562 of participants owned a Xbox 360, 473 had a PS3 and …

Ubisoft has announced the beta version of its Uplay service will launch alongside the debut of Assassin’s Creed II later this week. The service was announced at E3 and provides the publisher’s customers with a variety of online incentives that span across various Ubisoft titles. Only Uplay Win will be …

What would you say is the single biggest issue surrounding digital distribution that the games industry has to address? Digital distribution has a number of hills to climb, ranging from technical to behavioural and legal. All are significant so I’m not sure whether one is bigger than another. Forecasting the …

As our Canadian focus turns to tech, we look over one of the most prolific tool firms in the business

UK distributors have called upon the games industry to embrace open distribution in order to improve the sector. Several companies have claimed that an increase in competition and a greater focus on business skills would offer both distributors and retailers better protection against the effects the recession. Publishers need to …

Nordic Games has unveiled details of its comprehensive marketing activity ahead of the release of We Sing – as it forecasts that the game could sell out on the day of its November 20th release. The game will be promoted in the national press over its release weekend and is …

Upcoming DS adventure The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks will get a huge boost from Nintendo’s extensive TV advertising for the game. The firm told MCV this week that it would use a variety of trailers to engage the widest possible audience. The marketing for Spirit Tracks will focus around …

Windstorm was founded earlier this year by Dusty Monk, best known for work on Age of Empires III and Halo Wars. He said, "We worked with 226 throughout the development of our prototype, and they have consistently proven themselves to be outstanding providers of quality content, meeting and exceeding our …

At Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores) Schofield (pictured) was the executive producer and Michael Condrey was the senior development director of Dead Space, before they quit earlier in the summer. The new company, based in Foster City near San Francisco, is working on an unannounced new project. Dave Stohl, …

Tweets from inside the company late on Tuesday illustrated the miserable aftermath of the shock decision. Drew Marlowe, a game desiger at Pandemic, tweeted, "It’s official, Pandemic is shut down as of today. Thankfully it looks like we are getting decent severance." He also posted the whiteboard picture accompanying this …