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

Upcoming PS3 and PC MMO from SOE will most likely rely on microtransactions for funding

SCE America has boosted its Christmas line-up of high-def, downloadable films, with a slew of major blockbusters – headlined by huge summer blockbuster The Dark Knight. Another high profile movie joining the Cape Crusader is Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skill, which will join 1,000 movies and 2,500 TV …

North American publisher THQ has confirmed that the PS3 version of its upcoming Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon has been abandoned. The publisher confirmed to Shacknews that development issues” were the reason behind the decision, which incidentally means that the title has now become an Xbox 360 exclusive. …

Asda has confirmed to MCV that it has started buying stock directly from entertainment suppliers – to avoid a Christmas stock crisis in the wake of EUK’s demise. MCV understands that the firm still had six months left on a contract with EUK when the firm fell into administraion yesterday. …

As part of its recent financial results , Ubisoft revealed that it is unsurprisingly hard at work to a sequel to 2007 chart success Assassin’s Creed. The publisher would not commit to a release window for the title, nor that it would arrive in the company’s 2010 fiscal year, but …

Ubisoft has reported a rise in fiscal first-half sales and operating income for the six months to September 30th. However, net profit slipped in the period – down to €24 million from €30.6 million. The publisher posted sales of €344.5 million for H1, up from €261.4 million for the comparable …

According to the BBC , Woolworths and EUK have gone into administration, with an official announcement expected tomorrow morning. The Woolworths board met up this evening to make the decision, with Deloitte to be appointed administrators to both EUK and the High Street chain. Business secretary Peter Mandelson has been …

Just six months ago TV presenter and Daily Mail columnist Anne Diamond was at the forefront of the anti-games movement – but now the former TVAM star has agreed to work with casual games leader PopCap to test whether casual games can help you lose weight. CasualGaming.biz has the full …

Woolworths is ‘a few desperate hours of negotiation’ away from administration. That’s according to The Times, which quotes sources saying ‘administration is the most likely option as the retailer scrabbles to find sufficient funds to pay its monthly wage bill’. However MCV can confirm that the chain’s games buying team …

Specialist retail chain Gamestation has announced it will open its 250th store in Meadowhall, Sheffield on Friday November 28th. The fastest growing games retailer will kick off proceedings on Thursday with an exclusive preview party, before the store opens to the public at 9am on Friday. The first 50 customers …