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

Steel Penny Games formed by ex-Naughty Dog staffers

With a firm release date now seemingly set in stone by Rockstar, the Grand Theft Auto IV developer has admitted that familiarising themselves with the unique architecture of Sony’s PS3 was a factor in the game’s delayed shipping date. Speaking to MTV, Rockstar’s vice president of product development Jeronimo Barrera …

The recent rumours of a possible playable Metal Gear Solid 4 demo had got the pulses of PS3 gamers racing, but it seems now that disappointment is on the way with the news that no demo is planned. In a recent webcast on Hideo Kojima’s Konami blog, Kojima Productions’ Ryan …

In-game ad firm also secures new funding from Translink Capital

Ukrainian developer GCS Game World has confirmed that its upcoming FPS-prequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky will be made available on Valve’s online distribution network Steam simultaneously with its release at retail. For the full story, head over to MCV’s best online buddy Develop.

GCS FPS follow-up to hit Valveâ??s Steam network the same time as High Street shelves

Atari parent Infogrames has told MCV it is to double the number of games in development and build up a 30 strong network of partner studios as it looks to recover from a difficult few years. The group received a €150 million financial boost last week courtesy of BlueBay Asset …

Microsoft’s Xbox games team has announced an operating profit of $357 million for its 2008 second fiscal quarter – up from a $302 million loss the year before. According to Next-Gen, Operating income within the Entertainment and Devices division primarily increased because of increased revenue, decreased cost of revenue and …

Franchise fusion Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games takes the number one spot in the Australian software charts for the second week in a row, reported Next Generation. Elsewhere, DS titles perform particularly well, taking four of the top ten spots, led by The Simpsons Game at number two. …

A fresh batch of anti-games bile came from a columnist in The Times, and follows some cheeky comments about games causing obesity from (drumroll, please…) McDonalds’ UK boss . And even Prime Minister Gordon Brown got in on the action, linking knife crime to games in a recent Sun story. …