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

Many headlines on the internet this morning will lead you to believe that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed overnight plans to release an external Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360. Whether this is actually the case or not remains to be seen. The furore comes courtesy of an interview with Gizmodo. …

High street retailers have been accused of locking new IPs out of the market this Christmas – and limiting consumer choice by only dedicating shelf space to ‘formulaic sequels’ and pre-owned games. In a letter to MCV, Rising Star Games’ MD and COO Martin Defries said that new content and …

Sony has confirmed that Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time will arrive on November 6th in the UK and November 4th in Europe. It is Insomniac’s third Ratchet and Clank game for PS3 – following 2007’s Tools of Destruction and 2008’s Quest for Booty. A special edition for the …

It may seem unfair to select in isolation a comment from your recent editorial column, doing so allows me to get on my soapbox and have a good old moan. While I share your congratulations to Codemasters on their recent performance, your column remarked variety at retail is to be …

Publisher signs up 4A Games' Nvidia-powered Metro 2033 for 360/PC release next year

Dev hopefuls can offer their ideas to a panel of experts in Toronto, registration still open

Anonymous source alleges that Sony has cut half the workforce at Idol Minds

Popular racing series Need for Speed has now sold over 100m copies worldwide, publisher EA has revealed, elevating it into an elite group of super-franchises. Less than a handful of franchises up until now have reached that milestone, and we’re honoured actually,” EA’s VP of global marketing Keith Munro told …

Melbourne-based Transmission Games has closed, according to new reports. The studio, which earlier this month shed some 30 staff from its coding and QA teams to cut costs, had reportedly experienced a number of problems with payments from publishers and cancelled projects. Head over to Develop for the full story.

Engine developer gets $5.5m investment, say reports