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

ALL FORMATS TOP 20 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360, PS3, PC, DS) Activision 2. The Simpsons (360, PS2, DS, WII, PSP, PS3) EA 3. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2, 360, PS3, PC) Konami 4. Assassins’s Creed (PS3, 360) Ubisoft 5. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 (360, PS2, …

Developer to make mobile casino for online gambling site

Electronic Arts has proclaimed FIFA 08 as ‘the true entertainment launch of the year’ after the game achieved one million sales in the UK after just nine weeks on the market. The title was the first release to hit the milestone this year – a week earlier than FIFA 07 …

The biggest names in the UK publishing industry have predicted great things for new giant Activision Blizzard – and celebrated the audacity of the Vivendi-driven deal. Giants such as Nintendo and Ubisoft have predicted that the consolidation of the two companies will enhance the quality of product coming to market, …

As the online news services of sister titles Develop and MCV became the first media to break the story last Sunday afternoon, it became clear that everyone was reacting with similar astonishment. We broke the news before many Activision and Vivendi Games staff had been told. Indeed, this was less …

The industry is still reeling following the Vivendi/Activision acquisition earlier this week, with the announcement throwing up the question of how the two companies will be integrated, what this means for the industry – and, most importantly, how its competitors will react. The deal, worth an astonishing $18.9 billion, means …

Of all the pressures that come from beavering away in the industry in the lead up to the Q4 gifting frenzy, distribution companies bear the brunt. Not only are they responsible for ensuring that publishers’ frenzied delivery demands are met, but they’re also in the firing line from retail when …

VFX house contributes graphic sequences to hit title

Indie publisher 505 Games can boast a substantial feather in its increasingly valuable hat today following the confirmation that the ever-popular DS and Wii cook-em-up Cooking Mama has now surpassed the one million sales barrier in Europe. Proving that the right product can see even smaller publishers match the performance …

It’s phenomenal to think that there are still people out there who are yet to buy The Sims, but the series’ dominance of the ChartTrack Budget PC Top Ten suggests that the franchise is a long way from burning out. EA’s life-management series occupies an astonishing seven of the available …