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

French publisher Ubisoft has announced that its upcoming Tom Clancy themed flight-sim HAWX will now not be released this year, and has instead pencilled it in for a Q1 2009 release, CVG reports. Also slipping, albeit ever so slightly, is Geatbox’s WWII FPS Brothers in Arms: Hells’ Highway – which …

THQ has reported a first quarter loss of $27.2 million, almost three times that of the $9.3 million loss reported during the same period last year. Despite this, revenue for the firm has risen 32 per cent from $104.5 million to $137.6 million. The firm said during a conference call …

Nintendo has a history of refining its hardware offerings, and leading games analyst Michael Pachter has, on the back of the firm’s strong financials , predicted that the platform holder’s world-conquering DS could see its third incarnation hit retail before the year is out. "We think that the timing of …

In a frank interview with American news agency Forbes , Sega of America president Simon Jeffery has labelled EA a petulant child” in reference to the way it has conducted its attempted acquisition or Grand Theft Auto publisher Take Two. It feels like EA kind of needs Take-Two, but it …

But that doesn’t make it any less real for staff at Vivendi UK and across its worldwide empire, who are now facing major upheaval. Our interview with Activision Blizzard CFO Thomas Tippl a couple of weeks ago confirmed that jobs will be cut – and while the phrase ‘exterminate’ was …

Don Mattrick’s assertion that his rivals had been on an extended vacation judging by their showing at E3 grabbed headlines globally, but there’s more where that came from. Xbox boss Mattrick and Live figurehead John Schappert delve further into what they thought of their rivals at E3 and the future …

It has become a tradition at E3 to be confronted with whooping during the platform holder press conferences – but perhaps the same level of excitement is a little unexpected in the follow-up interviews with the trade’s most powerful men. Nevertheless, the sight of Don Mattrick and John Shappert literally …

Following the news that Activision Blizzard is to reassess its IP catalogue and existing studio structure, it has been confirmed that Ludlam Entertainment has reacquired the gaming rights to its Bourne brand, GameDaily reports. The move follows Activision Blizzard’s release of its first Ludlam-branded title, The Bourne Conspiracy, in June …

Some 600 games development professionals packed into the Metropole Hotel in Brighton last night to see the best of UK games development talent honoured at the sixth annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Rockstar was the big winner, with the Rockstar North team taking home the Visual Arts and Audio Accomplishment …

ELSPA has spoken out today following the DCMS Select Committee report and the launch of the DCSF’s formal government consultation into age rating systems in the UK. Managing director of ELSPA Michael Rawlinson said of the DCMS Select Committee report: We agree entirely that there should be a single ratings …