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

ZeniMax, the parent company of US publisher and developer Bethesda, has confirmed that part of the $300 million investment it has received from Providence Equity Partners will be used to finance Bethesda’s future MMO development. We believe that Providence will be an ideal partner for us as we build our …

Dutch game studio to port its audio middleware

British Government's culture minister shows contradictory stances on tax breaks during London Games Festival

After years of losses, Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division has for the first time reported a profit, raking in operating income of $165 million for the quarter ending September 30th – a stark improvement over the $142 million loss in the same period last year. The Division’s revenue reached $1.93 …

LEADING developers have spoken out against pre-owned games at retail – warning that studios could turn their back on the ‘traditional’ publishing model if the trend continues. TimeSplitters and Haze developer Free Radical Design and Frontier Developments’ David Braben have both told MCV that the current system is flawed – …

Free Radical and Frontier slam 'jumble sale' second-hand games market

Midway has lined up a heavyweight marketing campaign for upcoming shooter Unreal Tournament III. Promotional activity will kick off at fast-growing championship gaming centre Omega Sektor in Birmingham, as part of what the publisher is calling a ‘massive European-wide launch’. UT3 tournaments will take place across the continent, whilst the …

Watch out Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s: Woolworths has promised to outspend its supermarket rivals in a bid to be crowned entertainment king this Christmas. And the general retailer has promised an ‘aggressive’ focus on games in its marketing – which recently became a bigger moneyspinner for the firm than either …

Representatives from Crytek, Blitz and Ninja Theory to present talks

Established High Street and online games retailers risk losing significant share to broadband suppliers, and possibly even utility companies, if they do not embrace digital distribution. That is the robust view of Pierre Gaudet, CEO of Europe’s leading games digital distribution outfit Metaboli, which has begun a renewed effort in …