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

The governing body of the US games industry, the ESRB, has struck out at the National Institute on Media and the Family for undermining what it believes is a working, credible video games rating system in North America. Next-Gen reports that the recent release of the NIMF’s annual Video Game …

Swedish virtual world firm plans to go public

GAME board members will be breathing a sigh of relief this morning as the Competition Commission has – provisionally – cleared its 74 million acquisition of former rival Gamestation. GAME has released a statement saying: GAME Group plc welcomes today’s announcement of the provisional findings by the Competition Commission that …

But I do remember hooking it all up when I first got the machine around two years ago and being a bit… underwhelmed. Project Gotham 3 and Call of Duty 2 were both fine games (I won’t mention Perfect Dark Zero). But did they smack me round the face with …

There has been mixed reaction to the deal by UK retail, with some stores relishing the prospect of a publishing entity with the firepower to take on EA, while others are wary of what further consolidation means for the business. Many from the front line of the industry are anticipating …

Ubisoft has moved to greet the mega-publisher Activision Blizzard to the international industry – and said that it can comfortably ‘rise to the challenge’ of the new competition. Ubisoft’s UK managing director Rob Cooper told MCV: "Ubisoft are well placed to meet any challenge with our strategy of strong internal …

Veteran industry label Virgin made a splash at Game Connection this week as it looks to relive the glory days of the nineties. The Spanish-based company Virgin Play, headed up by industry stalwart Tim Chaney, was out in full force at Lyon Game Connection as it looks to sign up …

Comet’s Debbie O’Neill and Gameseek.co.uk’s Stephen Staley are the latest new additions to MCV’s prestigious Retail Advisory Board – an elite group of the industry’s top games buyers. They join Retail Advisory Board luminaries such as GAME’s Lisa Morgan, Gamestation’s Martyn Gibbs, Sainsbury’s Brian Foote, Play.com’s Gian Luzio and Woolworths’ …

A survey conducted on behalf of Microsoft has claimed that over 75 per cent of parents in the UK, France, Italy and Germany are concerned about the content of games played by their children, the BBC reports. Half of the parents surveyed also believe that gaming should be kept to …

EA’s Need for Speed: Pro Street might have shifted up a gear in the ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 this week as it prepares for its campaign to capture the Christmas Number One crown, but Ubisoft’s popular Middle East-themed outing is holding tight in the next-gen console race. Assassin’s Creed …