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

French entertainment giant Vivendi is set to increase its stake in Activision from 52 per cent to 68 per cent within five days of the initial deal closing. The news comes following yesterday’s announcement about the ‘merger’ of Vivendi and Activision to create new games giant Activision Blizzard. In a …

Vivendi will also purchase 63 million shares of Activision common stock for $1.7 billion, leaving the company with around 685 million fully-diluted shares outstanding. The new company (Activision Blizzard) will then tender $4 billion for up to 146.5 million outstanding common shares at $27.50 per share. Vivendi has agreed to …

KONAMI * Sales Manager * Chiswick, West London Konami is looking for an experienced Sales Manager to join our UK team. This is a key role with responsibility for Konami’s sales of computer and video game software in UK and Ireland. This will suit a professional with several years experience …

Casual Games Association head Jessica Tams reveals inner workings of fast-growing industry category

Selling more games. That, you would imagine, would be the main thrust of the recent Games Marketing Forum at the Cumberland Hotel. But it was about a lot more than that. Gaming’s cultural resonance, legal advice on prize promotions, how to make an emotional impact, proximity marketing, working out a …

Vivendi’s share price has this morning rose by 3.22 per cent following the news of its merger with Activision – and the surprise move seems to have set tongues wagging in the city, Reuters reports. Alongside Vivendi’s rise, fellow French publishers Ubisoft and Atari-owning Infogames also saw stock gains of …

As well as the previously touted retro download offering Xbox Originals that will arrive alongside Microsoft’s Autumn Xbox 360 Dashboard Update tomorrow, the platform holder has now outlined a near complete line-up of new features that will be available to console owners from tomorrow. The biggest announcement is the arrival …

Following the news of Vivendi’s surprise purchase of a majority stake in former rival Activision , Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime has assured the company’s MMO fans that the deal will have no impact on the future of its globally popular World of Warcraft. In an interview with 1UP, Morhaime stated: …

Chris Dring has joined MCV as editorial assistant this week in a further expansion of the magazine’s resources. He will now be the industry’s first port of call for release schedules, appointments and product news, and joins from his role at Partnertrans as a QA tester. Dring boasts a strong …

Former Empire Europe general manager David Pain has been appointed to head up Blackbean Games’ head office in Milan. Pain – who has also worked as the sales and marketing director for Virgin UK – takes up the role with immediate effect. His first task will be to oversee the …