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

The third of Kuju's studios to rebrand, Nik Nak was set a clear mission: to develop games for kids. But as the studio ramps up production of its first two titles, how are they finding the process of chasing after a famously fickle demographic?

The developer of Sierra’s upcoming movie adaptation The Bourne Conspiracy has revealed why actor Matt Damon refused to lend his voice and likeness to the title: because he dislikes violent video games. High Moon director of business relations Meelad Sadat told MTV that Damon was in negotiations to contribute but …

The PC Gamer Showdown will boast tournaments on titles including Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2 and will take place at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire over the weekend of September 27th and 28th. Future is hoping to attract more the 500 gamers to the event, offering cash prizes for victorious gamers – …

The highly anticipated Soul Calibur IV will arrive in the UK around the same as the US. The beat ‘em up, which features Star Wars characters for the first time, will appear on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in July. Earlier in the month Namco announced the game is to …

Ubisoft has announced plans to open its third studio in Eastern Europe, this time picking Kiev, Ukraine to host its next development office. Its the fifth new studio Ubisoft has opened in recent months, following new offices in China and India. Ubisoft said that it had now expanded to Kiev …

Koch-owned multi-format publisher Deep Silver has today announced the opening of a new US office in Los Angeles. The office will serve as headquarters for sales and marketing activities, as well as North American developer relations. "The opening of our United States office represents an important milestone in the development …

Take Two CEO Ben Feder believes that analyst projections for sales of GTA IV don’t do the title’s retail potential justice. A ‘bullish’ Feder told Reuters: "Our expectations are very high, higher than analysts give the game credit for. All the analysts had a [sales] number, give or take, and …

DSGi-owned electrical retailer Currys is planning to place its own age ratings on video games sold through its stores, according to Sky News . The chain wants to ‘establish a customer panel who will rate the games on how fun, suitable and challenging they are’. Sky reports that the sticky …

EA chief creative officer and company co-founder William ‘Bing’ Gordon is to leave the company to join investment firm Kleiner Perkins. Gordon will keep some ties with Electronic Arts as its ‘Chief Creative Officer Emeritus’, and will "return to the company to lead periodic workshops on innovation with EA Studio …

Microsoft has cut the price of the Xbox 360 in four key Asian territories. The drop has been put into practice in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. According to Bloomberg, the price of a ‘basic version’ of the console (360 Arcade in Europe and the US) will drop …