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

The game may not be out until the end of the year, but marketing has already started for Assassin’s Creed 2. Ubisoft is looking to engage both fans of the best-selling original plus a wider audience in a promotional push that includes TV ads, a retail deal – and even …

Sony is celebrating SingStar’s fifth anniversary by giving fans the opportunity to sing at Glastonbury this summer. The format-holder has teamed up with clubland brand Guilty Pleasures to run a series of Road to Glastonbury events across the UK. Events have already taken place in London and Manchester, with a …

HMV believes its new customer loyalty scheme can tempt games consumers away from other retailers – and become an ‘integral’ part of the firm’s category offering. The retailer announced Pure HMV last week, a new loyalty card that offers members the chance to snap up a range of limited edition …

Centresoft has signed an exclusive deal to become Majesco’s distribution partner in the UK. The firm will handle the release of Majesco’s major new movie tie-in, Night At The Museum 2, as well as future titles that include Major Minor’s Majestic March and Cake Mania 2. Centresoft commercial director Margeret …

Codemasters is targeting older Wii owners with its upcoming roster of games – in an attempt to grow its market share on the format. The publisher is set to release Overlord Dark Legend, Cricket 09, Dirt 2 and Formula One for the Wii this year.Nintendo benefits from broad support as …

The developer behind the world’s most popular free MMO is in discussion with the main platform holders in a bid to bring the free-to-play model to consoles. RuneScape developer Jagex is aiming to turn console digital distribution services such as WiiWare, XBLA and PSN into platforms that can host free …

Despite having been on the market for just a little over two weeks, Plants vs Zombies is already on track to become PopCap’s best ever selling game – an impressive feat considering that it’s up against the likes of casual legends Bejeweled and Peggle. It may well be, though, that …

But RuneScape developer Jagex warns that these â??freeâ?? games may come to consoles with a price-tag attached

The soap-opera like narrative of the ongoing Pirate Bay prosecution in Sweden has taken another unexpected turn with the news that a second judge has been thrown off the case after it emerged she had links to pro-copyright lobbyists. This is the second time that the Swedish legal system has …

Game Education Summit will hear from one of EAâ??s first employees and designer of the seminal Madden series