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

GAME Group may be centralising its key management and cutting back on overhead, but the good news for the market is that it remains committed to opening more stores this year. Around 20 sites have been earmarked for launch either as GAME or Gamestation. Some stores may close this year, …

The August Leipzig Games Convention has been cancelled. The organisers of the event confirmed the news as it announced a brand new event, Games Convention Online, due to take place from July 31st to August 2nd. Until this morning, the organisers were in a standoff with rival event Gamescom from …

SALES TEAM Who is eligible for this award?Any UK-based sales team or specialist sales force, including in-house staff and outsourced service companies. How is this award won?MCV will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists …

Just Cause developer partners with hunting authority as online game nears end of beta

NEW GAME BRAND Who is eligible for this award?Any company that has introduced a new game brand over the past 12 months that has made a significant impact at consumer level within the UK marketplace. How is this award won?MCV will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct …

Nolan Bushnell, the man behind Pong who is often credited as the original pioneer of arcade and home video gaming, will receive the Fellowship at this year’s Game British Academy Video Games Awards. The original Atari founder said: I am humbled to be selected for this honour from the British …

British developer Kuju has confirmed to MCV’s sister magazine Develop that it has made redundancies across a number of of its offices – but says that it remains optimistic about company growth in 2009. 10 positions at Zoe Mode are ‘at risk’ the firm said, with some other jobs lost …

Some of the biggest names in the casual games sector have told MCV’s sister site CasualGaming.biz that the casual games sector can not just survive the global recession, but actually benefit from it – though some aspects of the business may struggle to cope amidst the downturn. CasualGaming.biz spoke to …

IBM has become the latest in a line of technology companies being forced to lay off its employees by the credit crunch – but it is refusing to reveal how many have been made redundant. The company has reportedly laid off over 4,000 workers during the past week across its …

Expanding game worlds can keep players engaged, says FluffyLogicâ??s Kronschnabl