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

World of Warcraft studio goes straight to consumers for original Warcraft and Starcraft downloads - but not WoW itself

Vivendi-owned Sierra has told MCV that the release of much-anticipated sandbox title Prototype has been delayed until next year. The publisher has decided to shift the Radical-developed title’s release because it ‘needs more time to deliver the game the team initially set out to create’. Sierra showed off the game …

Silverlight-powered drag 'n' drop web software allows creation and sharing of casual games

Football Manager 2008 has held off the competition to secure yet another number one in the Metaboli Top Ten Download to Own charts. The Sega-published simulator was pushed all the way by new entry Test Drive Unlimited: Mega Pack from Atari, which knocked Eidos’ Championship Manager 2008 down into third. …

GarageGames' post-takeover decision to launch a online game portal featuring fully-fledged 3D games in-browser may have seemed a tangental venture for the previously tech-focused company. Not so, says CEO Josh Williams and GG Networks general manager Andy Yang: just as always, it's all about empowering small developers...

Do you know where the casual games phenomenon has come from? Does it seem a little like it’s arrived out of nowhere? MCV’s sister site Casualgaming.biz has handily published a full history of the genre – all the way back to 2200 BC – when the ancient Chinese Emperor Tang …

Game Republic chief expresses dissatisfaction with company's titles

A prominent opinion article in Sunday’s Observer newspaper attacked politicians who criticise violent video games – and suggested that UK PM Gordon Brown would benefit from playing GTA IV. Catherine Bennett’s article, entitled ‘I’m game for Grand Theft Auto. You should be too’, pointed the finger at the likes of …

THQ’s licensing partnership with Nickeolodeon has egenrated $1 billion in sales, the publisher has announced. Over 50 million Nickeoloedon games have been shifted under the THQ label, such as its Spongebob Squarepants games. "With the enormous popularity of Wii and DS coupled with our exceptionally diverse portfolio of Nickelodeon-based games, …

Then make sure you enter the Develop Awards - the lobbying deadline is next week