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

As part of its yearly financial announcements today, Ubisoft has said it is continuing to ambitiously grow its studio operations with plans to add 900 new staff to its business in the next 12 months. The French publisher, which owns 18 studios in 13 countries, said in an earnings call …

Ubisoft’s full year sales for the 12-month period to March 31st, 2008, reached €928 million ($1.45 billion at current exchange rates) – thanks to the outstanding success of the likes of Assassin’s Creed and the publisher’s casual range. The figure represents a 36.4 per cent jump from the same period …

French firm targets expansion in Singapore, India and China with plans to take total studio headcount to 4,500

Blu-Ray may have consigned HD-DVD to history’s rubbish bin , but it may still struggle to replace the traditional DVD format – not least because the format’s market is too ‘heavily titled’ towards PS3. That’s according to research firm ABI, which notes that consumer take-up of non-PS3 Blu-Ray players has …

Nintendo has finally confirmed a date for the roll out of WiiWare in Europe – with the download platform set for a May 20th launch in the territory. The service arrives just a matter of days after the May 12th roll out of the platform in the USA. The service …

Nintendo has announced dates to some of its key summer titles for both Wii and DS. Included amongst the Super Smash Brothers: Brawl date, is Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon on DS for July 4th and the Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice on May 9th. The release schedule in full: Wii Software 2008 …

Super Smash Brothers: Brawl will be finally arriving on UK shores on June 27th, according to Nintendo. The game pits Mario and company against the likes of Sonic and Solid Snake, and was released to huge sales and wide acclaim in both Japan and North America.. The game reportedly sold …

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has told Conde Nast’s Portfolio magazine that the popularity of Facebook is a "challenge" his firm must overcome. After stating that he believed Activision could continue to grow at a rate that outpaced the overall games market and the publisher’s competitors, Kotick was asked: ‘Is there …

Activision boss Bobby Kotick has hinted that the Guitar Hero series is set to take a different direction on Wii than on other consoles – and that the firm is working on better utilising the physical experience” of the console. Speaking to Conde Nast, Kotick said the same principle applied …

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has releaveled that it was he and his Board – not Vivendi – that kicked off the proceedings that led to last year’s $19 billion Activision-Blizzard ‘merger’. French entertainment giant Vivendi currently holds a 52 per cent stake in Activision – which is expected to increase …