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

The total console installed base for the UK has leapt to 22 million year-on-year, up from 13.5 million reported in January 2008. The results were revealed in GAME’s Christmas trading statement, citing Gfk-ChartTrack data, which shows that sales of Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 consoles have jumped from 4.7 million …

GAME says its trading performance over the Christmas period has defied ‘challenging trading conditions’ showing a rise in group sales of 16 per cent. The games specialist this morning provided an update to investors on its trading over the six weeks around the holiday and 50 weeks up to January …

The rights owner of globally popular kid’s TV show LazyTown is actively seeking development and publishing partners to bring the franchise to the world of gaming. A statement reads: Today’s computer games enable children and their parents to be a lot more active than ever before and they can now …

2008 was a year filled with top new games, record breaking sales and high drama. MCV provides 50 reasons why 2009 is set to be even better. In this part, we look at numbers 50 to 26… Click here to read the full feature.

London developer goes into administration and is immediately bought by new outfit

50. Defying the economyAndrew Brown, Activision UK MD says: I hope that in-home entertainment – and of course video games – proves to be resistant to the economic down turn. As long as demand continues to grow, the market will eventually adjust to the bad news of retail closures.” 49: EA’s …

BAFTA has announced that High Street specialist GAME will be the title sponsor of the British Academy Video Games Awards 2009. The ceremony will be held on March 10th at the London Hilton on Park Lane, and GAME will be responsible for the only publicly voted award of the night …

A resurgent Wii Fit is one of the few key differences at the top of the ELSPA Gfk-ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 this week as EA’s FIFA 09 holds firm at the top. Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: World at War and EA’s Need for Speed: Undercover remain in second …

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Burgeoning UK games publisher 505 Games is to enter the increasingly competitive girl-gamers market on DS with the announcement of its new The Academy range, which is due to arrive on Nintendo’s portable DS in mid 2009. CasualGaming.biz has the full story – you’re just a single mouse click away.