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

Video games publishers and developers could be able to use Popeye the Sailorman’s image for free from this week. The copyright expired on the spinach-munching character yesterday, becoming public domain in Britain under an EU law that restricts the rights of authors to 70 years after their death. Elzie Segar, …

But administrator says 'significant interest' has been shown from potential buyers

Limited offer knocks $100 from the price of conference passes

Video games have been blamed for helping create speech problems amongst toddlers – ahead of a possible nationwide screening programme of the problem. Two-year-olds will reportedly be screened to tackle the problem which experts say is now more prevalent than dyslexia or autism. According to the Telegraph: ‘Toddlers could be …

Gamebryo integration now available for Beast lighting tech

Global president of 2K Games Christoph Hartmann believes that UK retail is the best in the world at creating an ‘event’ for key new products – but its impatience is putting it in danger of losing out to digital distribution. Speaking exclusively to MCV, Hartmann, whose label has had great …

Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games is creeping towards two million sales in the UK – and is still flying out of stores over a year after it was released. Sega has even recently given the title an outside shot at Christmas No.1, after it appeared in TV ads …

AMERICAN PERIPHERALS distributor dreamGEAR is sizing up the UK and is set to bring a new line of products to European shores. DreamGEAR, recognised as one of the top 300 fastest growing US firms by Entrepreneur Magazine, provides video game and MP3 accessories. The firm already holds strong relationships with …

Super budget publisher GrabIt has launched its second wave of exclusive Tesco games based on hugely popular Cartoon Network properties. Released under the names Candy Capers, Power Pack, Toon Tastic and Fun Factory, each pack features 19 games plus six bonus cartoons, and includes leading franchises such as Ben 10, …

2008 has been a really mixed year for all of us. What have been your highlights – and what has not been so great?It started off with an amazing first half – with over 50 per cent increase in Group sales and 80 per cent growth online. We saw phenomenal …