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

Thought PlayStation 2 hardware sales were going to quietly disappear after the revenue frenzy of Christmas? Think again – Sony is preparing to introduce a new, cut-price model of the console in early 2008. MCV can exclusively reveal that this ‘compact’ PS2 will hit the US at just $99 in …

Electronic Arts is to close its Chertsey, UK facility as part of a large-scale reorganisation of the business. The plan to split the company into four separate labels was announced in June, but was official approved by EA’s board of directors at the start of this week, according to MCV …

Restructuring hits full swing as publisher announces Q2 financials

One of the biggest franchises in Japanese gaming has assumed its normal position atop of the Japanese software charts with DS release Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire debuting in first place according to date from Media Create, Kotaku reports. The Square Enix title is one of seven new …

Only hours after its official release in North America, hackers familiar with Sony’s PSP have discovered that the scenes of gore removed from Manhunt 2 to appease US censors are still present in the code – and an unedited version of the game has already made its way onto file …

Dutch firm gets third contract with Sony

Epic claims it has been 'irreparably harmed' by Silicon Knights actions

What exactly are the new Clever Kids games about? Targeted at the six-12 year age group, Clever Kids has the explicit aim of encouraging youngsters to learn through interaction and exploration of some of their favourite subjects. Through playing the games they will solve maths puzzles, complete jigsaws, develop observation …

Clearly from the developer (and publisher) point of view, the second- hand market is a real problem. This is not just an issue from the revenue point of view – there are other elements too. The shops are essentially defrauding the rest of the industry by this practice, whether they …

Marketing firm Peppermint M moves into studio representation