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

The fifth Virtual Worlds conference is set to kick off in just over two weeks, and the organiser has told MCV that attending the event is more vital than ever for the video games industry. Starting Monday October 20th and finishing October 21st, Virtual Worlds London 2008 aims to help …

Retail came in for strong criticism after a series of dramatic price cuts, as we reported last week (MCV 26/09). With Morrisons slashing 50 per cent off the price of EA’s Mercenaries 2 and Asda trimming The Force Unleashed to 30 a week after release, the industry has already voiced concerns …

The response from indies to last week’s price wars story online was phenomenal – both in its quantity and its choler. Yet despite a no less gloom-sodden cover story this week, it might be time for indies to celebrate. After all, the real spice in the battle between EUK’s ‘everything’s …

Sales of both the PS3 and PSP are almost a third higher than Sony had estimated in its year-to-date predictions, SCEA boss Jack Tretton has stated. Reuters reports that the US arm of Sony is now very confident that it will meet, or even exceed, its estimations despite the global …

Tomorrow marks the launch of one of this year’s biggest releases, and retailers have already slashed the price of FIFA ‘09. Tesco has made the most significant cut, releasing the game at just 29.71 on PS3 and Xbox 360, whilst Asda is to sell the game for 32. These offers …

Nintendo has told MCV that it won’t be dropping the price of the DS or Wii for Christmas, despite the fact that competitor Microsoft has already heavily slashed the price of all three Xbox 360 SKUs in time for Christmas. Following the 360 price cuts, Nintendo’s Wii is no longer …

It has been confirmed that the UK’s first official National Videogame Archive is to be launched at a cost of 22bn, with the aim of preserving the history of the now global games industry. The scheme has been formed by academics at Nottingham Trent University, and will be housed at …

MCV understands that UK publishers are increasingly wary of pushing stock through EUK ahead of the Christmas rush – and are considering cutting out the distributor entirely. The mayhem began on September 17th, when the Woolworths Group PLC reported a 100m loss for the first half of the year. Two …

Take-Two’s Board of directors have decided that the publisher will continue to operate as an independent company following a strategic review of the business. In a note issued to the press moments ago, Take Two confirmed that it had entered into detailed discussions” with several interested parties – not least …

Former Atari UK managing director Jeremy Wigmore is on his way to Codemasters as the publisher’s new UK general manager. The trade veteran is to join Rod Cousens and Chris Deering as the Britsoft firm continues to grow its UK and international presence. The appointment is a real coup for …