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

Publisher EA has confirmed that it has dropped its controversial SecuRom copy protection system for its upcoming release of The Sims 3, opting instead for a more standard serial code system. EA ran into trouble for its use of SecuRom with last year’s PC hit Spore, with users complaining that …

GDC 09: Deal gives Trinigy Vision Engine users access to PhysX technology

Valve, the developer of co-operative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead, has revealed that its title has sold over 2.5m units worldwide at retail since launch, Edge reports. The number includes boxed sales of the game on both Xbox 360 and PC. The figure doesn’t include sales of the game through …

Usually, it’s never a good sign when a business calls on an external exec to head up a new strategy or merger. But GAME isn’t your usual retailer. At the start of the year, when the economic pinch put the squeeze on the High Street – and even snuffed a …

Sales of the Rock Band series have exceeded the $1 billion mark in North America, after only 15 months of being on sale. The figures come from MTV Games, citing figures from NPD Group. In addition, over 40 million tracks have been downloaded and purchased for the title. Viacom, which …

Publisher Activision Blizzard has confirmed that ‘Call of Duty’ has been dropped from the title of Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2, suggesting that the series has now definitively been split in two. Since its move onto next-gen consoles, the Call of Duty brand has effectively been operating as two separate …

Sony has announced Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time for PlayStation 3. The game is set for release in the UK before the end of the year, and will conclude the story that began with 2007’s Tools of Destruction and continued last year with Quest for Booty, which was …

Want to see all of Thursday's GDC headlines in one place? Look no furtherâ?¦

Metal Gear creator shares his thoughts on the East/West divide

Legendary designer talks origins of the series in his keynote