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

Codemasters has announced that Ashes Cricket 2009 will be released on Friday August 7th. The game is set to hit Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, and is the official tie-in to the nPower-sponsored cricket series that is being played right now. As well as a full Ashes mode, featuring …

As games markets on both the near and far sides of the Atlantic stutter in the face of barren release schedules and a thinning H2’09 lineup, proof of the positive overall effect of proper triple-A software has made itself evident on the far side of the globe. The increasingly difficult …

Sega is planning to take over Trafalgar Square this October to promote the long-awaited Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games in time for the Christmas gifting period, MCV understands. It is believed that the title, due out on October 16th, will benefit from a high-profile showcase during the …

Brighton-based developer to take its first step away from the Buzz series

The vacant chair at the had of EA’s mobile table has at last been filled with news that Buongiorno’s Luca Pagano will join EA Mobile as its European chief from September. The arrival of Pagano will fill the vacancy at the top of EA’s management structure: the giant US publisher …

An unsurprisingly upbeat Microsoft has heaped praise on the continuing success of Xbox Live in its response to the June NPD figures and the news that Xbox 360 was the only machine to increase its sales year-on-year. Our console sales for the first half of the year actually grew 20 …

Senior executives, including CEO, given two monthsâ?? notice

Xbox 360 platform holder Microsoft has outlined the improvements coming to Xbox Live as part of its next major update to the service due out at the end of the summer. Though it lacks the headline changes that accompanied last year’s ‘New Xbox Experience’ revamp there’s plenty for users to …

Resident Evil 5 will get a PC release on September 18th across European territories. The game makes use of NVIDIA’s new GeForce 3D vision technology, which means the title features stereoscopic 3D both in-game and during the cut scenes. The title also features extra costumes and a new and improved …

The notion that games are recession proof is now well and truly forgotten – but perhaps the rise of both digital downloads and free-to-play online gaming is as big a culprit as global banking greed. NPD figures show that the North American video game market declined by 31 per cent …