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

The recent success of titles such as Eidos’ Age of Conan and Codemasters’ Lord of the Rings Online had lead some to speculate that long-term market leader World of Warcraft is on the wane – not so, according to its developer. Speaking to VG247 at Games Convention, Blizzard’s lead designer …

Ubisoft is generously giving away copies of its upcoming Q4 blockbusters – Prince Of Persia, Far Cry 2, Tom Clancy’s EndWar and Shaun White’s Snowboarding. To be in with a chance of winning this very generous prize, simply send an answer to the following question to ubisoft@intentmedia.co.uk. In which continent …

The delay to EA Casual Entertainment’s Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince game will costs the publisher $120m in this financial year. Visit MCV sister site CasualGaming.biz for the full story.

New opinion piece delves into the nasty truth about studio acquisitions

So. Farewell then, Pivotal Games, / There was always Conflict, / But we didnâ??t expect / A fatality.

Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to the F.E.A.R franchise, which was previously owned by Vivendi. The deal is the first evidence of publishers ‘picking off’ unwanted franchises from Activision Blizzard – which is likely to sell more ex-Vivendi properties in the coming months. Development control of F.E.A.R now returns …

Video games are set to become more lucrative category than music for HMV. Britain’s leading CD retailer has predicted that music will soon account for a quarter of its sales – down from the 30 per cent it enjoys at present. HMV CEO Simon Fox told The Sun: Within the …

Casual developer praises AppStore following release of Diner Dash for iPhone

And it gets better: they're planning to release it for free, too

Namco Bandai has acquired a 34 per cent stake in Infogrames’ European and Asian distribution operations, in turn creating a new ‘standalone entity’ that will handle the distribution of both businesses’ boxed product as well as other publishers’ titles. The newly-formed group will boast Infogrames’ existing global distribution network, and …