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

Joystiq is reporting that US retail chain Game Crazy will close 200 stores by the end of October. The outlet has approximately 680 locations throughout the US with some of the stores attached to rental chain Hollywood Video. However, the rental stores are set to remain unaffected by the closures. …

THQ has prepared a huge long-term marketing push to support the launch of its newest IP, World of Zoo – including a sponsorship deal of popular documentary TV channel Animal Planet. The Wii, PC and DS game is due on November 6th, and allows players to create and manage their …

Casual and advergaming specialist makes its second acquisition of the summer

EA's casual portal thriving at milestone

Windows 7 will be the PC gaming platform of choice, Microsoft has told MCV. The firm is confident that a host of new technological upgrades – which includes DirectX 11 and multi-touch screens – will finally give consumers a reason to upgrade to a new operating system. We believe Windows …

Publishers and developers need to be more open to flexible workforces and better management according to a new production studio. Outsourcing and support firm Supermassive Games Europe said that contract work will become more prevalent as the industry tries to make the best of rising budgets. The firm, spun out …

The UK games market’s rising stars are set to battle it out for industry recognition, as MCV lines up its annual presentation of the top 30 hot shots aged under 30. And you can have you say in the list by nominating your staff, a colleague or yourself by emailing …

Chinese developer praises both tech and Emergent's publisher networking

Love them or hate them, the Resident Evil movie series has been a very profitable venture for both distributor Screen Gems and IP holder Capcom – so news of a fourth film in the series will clearly be good news for some. Resident Evil: Afterlife will see the return of …

It might not have the headline generating potential of the likes of Modern Warfare 2 or FIFA 10, but there are few titles retailers will be as keen to get onto shelves as Wii Fit Plus – and they won’t have to wait long, either. Eurogamer reports that the game …