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

With just five weeks to go, the Finalists of the MCV Industry Excellence Awards have been revealed . Retailers, publishers, distributors and developers are doing battle. Over 40 companies are still in with a shout of winning something on the night. Apart from our Advisory Board Award, voted for exclusively …

As the final piece of the XNA intiative falls into place with Xbox Live Community Games, we caught up with XNA lead Chris Satchell to get more detail on how distribution to ten million Xbox Live subscribers will draw even more into game development and help the struggling talent pipeline...

Chief executive of THQ Brian Farrell has predicted that Sony and Microsoft can still catch Nintendo in the next-gen console sales battle. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, Farrell said he expects the PS3 and Xbox 360 sales to increase as both platform holders drop their price, reports Kotaku. …

Casual development community experiences huge growth

MCV media partner Famistu has revealed the Japanese sales charts for February in a month when Nintendo titles Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Fit claimed the top two spots, selling 1.3m and 309,000 units respectively. This brings Wii Fit’s lifetime sales to 1.5m since its release on December 1st. …

This morning, we reveal the deserving nominees for the MCV Excellence Awards 2008. To discover who has made the shortlist in the Retail category, click here. To see who has been nominated in the People & Industry category, click here. And to find out who is up for an Award …

PR Team There’s no doubting that the standard of PR in the UK games industry has stepped up a gear over the past couple of years, with the market’s key communications execs not only having to promote their latest products, but also dealing with often unfair swipes from the national …

Sales Team Whether they’re having too cope with a rogue, unfair review score or they have a massively hyped new next-gen franchise, this award praises the team which has the hard task of selling . But it’s not all about sales, it’s about after-sales service, customer care as well as …

Sega plans to remain independent despite ther current climate of consolidation in the publishing business, says Sega of America chief executive Simon Jeffery. Reuters reports that as Jeffery revealed that current ChartTrack all formats number one Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games had sold five million copies, he added …

Ziff Davis Media, publisher of Electronic Gaming Monthly, PC Magazine, and 1up , has announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to restructure its debt and operations. According to BtoBonline, Ziff Davis Media has reached an agreement with an ad hoc group of noteholders, who will …