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

Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment has licensed Umbra Software’s rendering optimisation toolset to give a speed boost to the long-running project. Umbra gave a significant boost in rendering performance on the Xbox360, and at the same time made our content creation faster,” said Remedy Entertainment’s Development Director Markus Mki. For …

Bethesda Softworks and Take-Two have joined forces to bring a new bundle to retailers, combining two of their most successful games. The new compilation contains Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Take-Two’s BioShock, and will be available from July 10th for 19.99 on PC and 29.99 on Xbox 360. …

Two industry veterans have formed a new games distribution company, Solid Gold Games. Andrew Blumson and Russell Clark have set up the new company after more than a year away from the games industry. The two previously founded Just Distribution. Solid Gold Games will specialise in newly-released software and ‘closeout’ …

Whilst games such as Final Fantasy XIII, Agent and New Super Mario Bros may have been getting the lion’s share of the column inches post-E3, research claims that Microsoft’s Halo 3: ODST is the E3 title that most gamers are interested in buying. Research body Nielsen has published what it …

Gamestation will lose its product director, head of pre-owned and buying boss in August, as its York office is integrated into GAME’s Basingstoke HQ. MCV understands that around 60 central office staff have taken redundancy at the specialist – after almost all employees were offered the chance to re-locate to …

Future US president Jonathan Simpson-Bint is to step down on August 31st. According to Folio Simpson-Bint sent an email to staff that said he was leaving the company to start his own business. Simpson-Bint wrote: I’m leaving now simply because the time is right for me. I’ve never made any …

Quantic Dream offering a high-end collection of animations to other studios

Britsoft publisher Codemasters has confirmed that global cricket superstar Kevin Pietersen will be the face of its upcoming Ashes Cricket 2009, which is due for release on PS3, 360, Wii and PC. Pietersen will be joining up with the likes of Aussie legends Ricky Ponting and Shane Warner, as well …

Microsoft has lowered the price of an Xbox Live Gold subscription to $1 for the first month. Once the first month has expired, gamers will be automatically charged for the next 11 months at the regular price, Joystiq reports. They will be able to opt out of this if they …

Publisher EA has heaped praise on the emerging business models being pioneered by the online casual games market, fuelling the fire in the bellies of those who still believe the company is on the hunt for a big casual acquisition. We’re in investment mode,” COO John Pleasants stated. We have …