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

Non-food retailers have experienced their worst month since July 1992, after sales fell by three per cent on 2008. Official figures released by the Office of National Statistics show that overall retail sales fell by 1.6 per cent compared to the previous year. To read the full story, click here …

US Army moves future development to a studio 2,000 miles away

The boss of the world’s biggest games publisher has issued a remarkable warning to Sony – cut the price of PS3 or Activision could the plug on its PlayStation development. Speaking in an interview with The Times, Bobby Kotick stated: I’m getting concerned about Sony – the PS3 is losing …

Empire’s former sales boss Vip Patel is to launch the UK office of Zoo Games – the company which purchased the defunct Britsoft publisher’s IP in May for a bargain fee. Patel confirmed to MCV that the subsidiary, which will be based in Bushey, Hertfordshire, will be called Zoo Entertainment …

Own-brand hardware giant Lygo has unveiled its third party division, Hubb. The new peripherals label, which has sales offices in Southampton, will produce and distribute Hubb-branded products, including accessories for PSP, DSi and Wii Fit. Kits for other platforms will follow later this year. Trilogy has been signed as distributor. …

Worldâ??s biggest publisher threatens to halt supporting Sonyâ??s home console

Disney will beat Ubisoft to the punch with its release of the first major game supporting 3D this summer. But games boss Graham Hopper says the jury’s still out on how quickly consumers will embrace such releases. At E3, Ubisoft unveiled its 3D game Avatar, made with Hollywood legend James …

The once-secretive British dev jumps deep into the community with an unrestrained Twitter feed

If youâ??re considering a career move, Develop is the place to start

Toby Gard, the creator of the Tomb Raider series, has once again shifted his role at Crystal Dynamics. When North Californian developer Crystal Dynamics developed Tomb Raider Legend, Gard was sworn in as a consultant. As the studio moved on to develop Tomb Raider Anniversary – a retrospective on Gard’s …