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

Milan event for studios to return in October

First game in iconic franchise to be revamped for Wii, PS2 and PSP by Britsoft firm

Rick Gibson of Games Investor Consulting takes a look at the rise and rise of consumer network gaming in his monthly Develop column.

French publisher Ubisoft has announced that Louise Marchant is to join its UK PR team as specialist PR manager. Marchant, who will report to Ubisoft’s PR manager Stefano Petrullo, comes from EA UK where she was involved with high-profile franchises such as Need for Speed, Rock Band and Burnout. We’re …

Nintendo’s DSi became the fourth fastest-selling console in UK history over its opening weekend, according to GfK-ChartTrack data. The handheld’s performance even eclipsed the debut sales numbers of the original DS – only being outdone by the opening weekends of PSP, PS3 and Wii. In unit terms, it outsold all …

Best Buy has insisted that its push into the UK market is well on track, that it is ready to ‘revolutionise’ the country’s retail landscape, and that global economic pressures will mean rivals will be unable to ‘respond aggressively.’ The rollout of its big box retail stores, all of which …

MotorStorm alloy wheels, Killzone Zippo lighters, SingStar nail varnish and LittleBigPlanet breeze blocks – all and more could be on the way with SCEE confirming the appointment of Target Entertainment as its consumer product licensing agent for PlayStation software IP. Target will look to take many of Sony Europe’s biggest …

New data from market research body OzToys has claimed that the Australian video games market grew by an impressive 47.8 per cent year-on-year in 2008, hitting a total value of AUS $1.96bn. In 2006, by comparison, the total Australian video game market was worth AUS $928m. Unit sales grew by …

Creative director of newly-formed studio contributing monthly column

SingStar publisher Sony has revealed a brand new expansion to SingStore, the digital downloads portal for its popular karaoke title SingStar, that will see a number of free and paid-for additions added to the title. Eurogamer reports that SingStar Extras will compliment the existing music track and game background selections …