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

The US Army has announced that it is to invest $50 million over the next five years on creating games designed to prepare soldiers for life in the battlefield. Stars and Stripes reports that the new program is set to begin in 2010 and quotes the product manager for air …

Is the industry’s hunch that Government is on its side jumping the gun? We’ll have to wait and see (and according to the DCMS we won’t have to wait long). But it’s not like ELSPA’s positive attitude is without merit. Unless it was just a spectacular coincidence that, when speaking …

Gearbox Software has laid off up to 25 of its staff as part of a strategy shift at the studio, according to reports on the web published over the weekend. Originally, sources reported that the redundancies came as production on Sega’s Aliens: Colonial Marines was halted, but studio head Randy …

California based research company Electronic Entertainment Design and Research has claimed that only four per cent of titles that make it to market go on to make a profit. Speaking to Forbes Geoffrey Zatkin, president of the 20-man sales data firm, divulged a number of interesting facts relating to a …

Nintendo has broken more records in Australia – as the DS reaches 1.5 million sales, with the Wii following on 750,000 units. According to GameSpot, the DS reached its milestone in 194 weeks, while the Wii took 102 weeks. Both devices broke the record for fastest-selling console to reach 1.5 …

Midway is in danger of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after failing to meet the standard share price for continued listing. The firm has admitted its failure over maintaining a minimum average closing price of $1 per share over 30 consecutive trading days. Company stock was 25 …

With Soul Calibur IV and Smash Bros. both topping the charts this year, Midway is confident Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe can make it a hat trick of comebacks for the beat ‘em up genre. The latest Mortal Kombat hits retail today (November 21st), and brand manager Mark Cook says …

Last month we looked at the potential of advertising as a core or ancillary revenue stream for games companies. This month I want to turn our attention to the venerable subscription, a business model that Games Investor estimates will generate over $2bn in the West this year.

Trade association GDAA hands out yearly honours - majority go to THQ's Wii title

US independent makes up to 25 staff redundant, but Aliens project still in production