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

As part of the recently-announced Games Up? campaign lobbying for tax breaks for games studios and better higher education, the organisers have published stats and facts proving their case about the commercial strength of the UK. The details, in full, are provided below:

Tiga and ELSPA-supported campaign for tax breaks gets backing from studio heavyweights

15 studios, plus Tiga and ELSPA, start 'Games Up' campaign to put pressure on Government

The boss of EA’s Casual Entertainment division Kathy Vrabeck has said that she expects the total global casual games market to be worth around $13.5 billion in the next couple of years”. In a candid Q&A session – published on MCV sister site CasualGaming.biz – Vrabeck added that her department …

As the ESC held its successful Golf and Spa Day (raising over 20,000 in the process), a new charity, GamesAid, was announced. GamesAid is setting out to offer a new level of choice for participants at all levels and is happy to live alongside any ‘official’ industry charity. Its arrival …

Future Publishing has reported a like-for-like 17 per cent rise in trading profit for the six months to March 31. The publisher recorded a total pre-tax profit of 4.1m – with video games magazines a star performer. The firm reported a 6.2m pre-tax profit for the same period a year …

Nintendo has pulled out of this year’s Leipzig Games Convention. The platform holder said it wished the show all the best, but had chosen this year to concentrate on smaller, local events and national promotional tours. During the past months, the company has gained many positive experiences with smaller, local …

Industry watchers have told MCV that with iPhone and Apple TV in its arsenal, technology giant Apple could be the next big thing” in the games market. While mobile gaming has struggled to fulfil its potential thanks to handset fragmentation and compatibility issues, Apple’s iPhone looks set to change all …

HMV has spoken of its respect for specialist GAME in a new interview with MCV. The firm’s commercial manager for games Jonathan Hayes said that both HMV and GAME were united in offering something that kept consumers away from online retailers – such as Play and Amazon – and supermarkets. …

We asked Jonathan Hayes what he thought was the winning aspect behind HMV’s triumph in the MCV awards this year. He explains: I’d say it was a combination of factors, but ultimately they all added up to the same thing – working closely with our key strategic partners to make …