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

As part of ISFE-Nielsen’s Video Gamers in Europe 2008 report, it has emerged that the European video games market is bigger now than it ever has been. In 2007, software sales across the 15 largest European markets reached €7.3 billion, a 25 per cent increase on the figures from 2006. …

A new report from ISFE-Nielsen claims that 37 per cent of UK residents aged between 16 and 49 describe themselves as active gamers. The news comes from the Video Gamers in Europe 2008 report from ISFE-Nielsen, which also throws up some interesting stats regarding the playing habits of gamers across …

FT story says government should "at the very least" follow France's lead on tax breaks

Despite costing a whopping $185 million to make, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ latest cinema outing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made an estimated $311 million worldwide in its opening weekend, the Associated Press reports . Coming 19 years after the release of Indiana Jones and …

It might not be a huge surprise, but Capcom’s confirmation that its upcoming arcade title Street Fighter IV will also be coming to consoles and PC is certainly welcome news. A release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC is anticipated later this year, though no firm street date has yet …

Rockstar has made it a fourth week at number one in the ELSPA/ChartTrack All Formats chart – beating major new releases from Ubisoft, Eidos and EA. EA’s Rock Band hits sixth position in the chart, but it’s not likely the publisher will be disappointed; according to ChartTrack, three quarters of …

Nintendo’s phenomenal-selling Wii Fit has had the worst week of its existence in the UK – dropping all the way out of the ChartTrack/ELSPA All Formats top 40. The spectacular drop – likely due to stock issues at retail – has seen the game slide from second position last week, …

EA has applauded the services of company founder Timothy Mott, who MCV last week revealed is to retire from the publisher in July. Mott will officially leave EA after the Company’s 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on July 31st. "Tim is an industry pioneer – one of the founding members …

Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that over a million consumers have signed up for PlayStation Network accounts in Japan. PSN went online in the region in November, 2006 – and Sony revealed that since then 400,000 players have accessed the store each month. According to Japanese games site Game Watch …

Play.com have given UK Rock Band fans something to smile about – by cutting the total cost for Rock Band and all the game’s instruments by 40. According to MTV and EA, the suggested UK retail price of the ‘Band In a Box’ SKU of Rock Band – which includes …