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

The party that’s sure to follow EA’s release of The Sims 3 next week is likely to be a little subdued thanks to the news that the game is being pirated at a faster rate than ‘the most pirated game of 2008′ Spore. Bloomberg reports that an illegal version of …

Format-holder trying to break records with number of simultaneous players on 360

Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment has secured The Lord Of The Rings licence, announcing a long-term partnership with both The Saul Zaentz Company and New Line Productions. This agreement confirms Warner gained control of The Lord Of The Rings licence when EA’s licensing deal for the franchise expired. The rights fell …

Microsoft has revealed that Xbox 360 sales have topped 30 million worldwide. The firm today boasted that Xbox 360 has achieved the highest percentage growth in hardware sales of any console so far in 2009, up 28 percent over the same period in 2008. The community for Xbox Live has …

Trinigy game engine now contains multiplatform support for xaitEngine AI solution

Ubisoft thinks that the unveiling of its 3D technology will be the most memorable moment of E3 – and even influence the design of all future games. The publisher’s executive director of EMEA, Alain Corre, told MCV this week that Ubisoft is confident attendees would be left ‘dreaming’ of the …

UK based independent continuing the Stronghold series online, project to be self-funded

Development team at Red Fly Studio to use the engine for its upcoming Wii cooking game

No, this isn’t Sega’s Daisy Fuentes Pilates or NewU Fitness First Personal Trainer from Black Bean – today’s Wii Fit rivalling announcement comes from THQ, which has just announced a new Wii game based on TV show The Biggest Loser. A somewhat flabbergasted CasualGaming.biz has the full story – click …

THQ’s international EVP Ian Curran has told MCV that he wants this year’s E3 to provide the razzmatazz” that has been sorely lacking at the last two Expos. His sentiments echo those of EA Sports’ Peter Moore, who has called for a return to E3’s strut and swagger” at next …