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

It’s pretty safe to say that this Friday signifies the end of what we’ve all come to call the traditional summer drought – with a number of big hitting triple-A releases heralding the beginning of the Q3/Q4 rush. What the most significant release is this week really comes down to …

Vivendi posted its second quarter results with its EBITA (Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation) totalling €92 million. Blizzard Entertainment’s EBITA amounted to €197 million (excluding allocation of company overheads), while Sierra entertainment reported a negative EBITA of €80 million. The firm blamed Sierra’s negative results on increased development costs, …

The North American release of GSC’s anticipated PC FPS prequel STAKLER: Clear Sky has been delayed for what is claimed to be ‘a few days’ following an error with the game’s CD keys. Publisher Deep Silver confirmed to Shacknews that the initial batch of North American editions of the game …

After the disappointing news that the recently unveiled Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Blu-Ray movie PS3 bundles will not be crossing the Channel to hit UK retail , French retailer FNAC has listed a LittleBigPlanet PS3 bundle on its web site. The pack contains a new 80GB PS3, one rumble-enabled …

With Gears of War 2 looking set to be one of the biggest software releases in the world this Christmas, PC gamers have been dealt a blow with claims that there will be no version of Epic’s sequel for the format. Speaking to IGN, Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski stated: Gears of …

At a Microsoft press conference at Japan this morning the platform holder confirmed a drastic price cut for its hardware range – with the hard drive-less Arcade machine now cheaper than Nintendo’s Wii. CVG reports that the Arcade pack now costs just YEN 19,800 (100), a significant cut from the …

Universal Pictures UK has taken on former Woolworths man Jim Batchelor as its new sales director, according to a report on Music Week. The new hire follows Universal Music’s swoop for HMV e-commerce director Gideon Lask – the second instance of Universal flexing its muscles and swiping key execs from …

Newspaper hopes Blow's platformer 'ignites a market for DIY games'

Art training and outsourcing centre expands to the USA

It may feel like a modern-day phenomenon, but the relationship between the video games industry and the celeb world has been around for years. David Platt appeared on the cover of FIFA long before Wayne Rooney had even seen the inside of a changing room, whilst Bruce Lee starred in …