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

Viacom’s luke-warm analysis of its Rock band franchise earlier this week added fuel to the fire of those questioning the long-term viability of the music game franchise – making the news that sales of Guitar Hero are radically up year-on-year all the more impressive. Year to date through September 30, …

IGN-owned digital games firm Direct2Drive is refusing to sell Modern Warfare 2 on PC because of its integration with Valve’s Steamworks. All PC copies of Modern Warfare 2 will come with Steamworks, not just the ones sold on Steam, and will benefit from Steamwork’s variety of features, including community integration, …

Gearbox president Randy Pitchford has dubbed Valve as foolish” for neglecting the PS3. He also questioned the development studio’s insistence on handling its own products through Steam, despite the fact it requires third-part publishers to reach retail. Speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine, he said: I noticed something on the net …

Atari has announced Star Trek Online will released for PC on February 5th in Europe. The new Cryptic-developer MMORPG is set in the famous sci-fi universe and will debut three days after it lands in the US. The game puts every players into the role of a Federation or Klingon …

Valveâ??s public distancing from Sony hardware is branded foolish

In news that has exceeded expectations, publisher Activision Blizzard has revealed that it made a profit of $15m in the last financial quarter – a huge improvement on the $108m loss seen in the same period the year before. Net revenues for the quarter ending September 30th hit $703m – …

Play.com anticipates Modern Warfare 2 to be the best selling entertainment product ever, eclipsing sales of GTA IV, Mama Mia and The Dark Knight. The firm has also revealed that it has taken 150 pre-orders a minute during peak times, and will guarantee launch day delivery as long as consumers …

Click here to access the RETAIL BIZ Previews section for a definitive look at some of the most promising titles due to hit shelves in the next few weeks. This week, we take a look at Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros Wii, which takes gaming’s foremost man of plumbing back …

Having appointed its first digital media manager in August, GameStop has added a second name to its digitally-focussed workforce – new senior vice president and general manager of digital business Shawn D. Freeman. Tasked with overseeing and cultivating” the retailer’s digital business strategy, Freeman will work with GameStop’s Digital Ventures …

Electronic Arts has lifted the lid on the Collector’s Edition of highly-anticipated BioWare RPG, Mass Effect 2. Featuring a copy of the game and a variety of extras in a premium tin case, the Collector’s Edition will be released alongside the standard version on January 29th. Purchasers will be given …