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

Certain Affinity in Austin, US has today opened, revealing that it has scored a hot deal as its first project, producing Halo 2 multiplayer maps that will be exclusively released for Xbox 360.

Hellgate: London developer Flagship studios is already expanding, ahead of its first games' completion, with the opening of a new office in Seattle.

A direct-to-consumer, publisher-free agenda is on the cards for Realtime Worlds after an investment boost, says chairman Ian Hetherington.

Who needs triple-A titles? That's the message from studios as the support for digital distribution swells, but beware: games for such platforms are now more complex – and more expensive to make.

UK development stalwart Team17 is preparing to enter its 17th year in the games industry with a next-gen project on the way and a major recruitment drive in the pipeline.

A Mumbai-based media company has shown its interest in games development by acquiring 70 per  cent of UK development studio Ignition and buying over half of India's big mobile games studio Indiagames.

The second Develop In Brighton conference and expo has been confirmed for 2007, taking place on July 24th to 26th – and the Develop Industry Excellence Awards return, too, on July 25th.

Grand Theft Auto creator Rockstar is putting together a games development team that will be based in central London.

The movement of Electronic Arts Warrington staff to local studios continues, with former EA NW technical director Fred Gill moving over to Birmingham-based Swordfish.

Two very different developers have signed up to product amBX-specific versions of their games, with indie team Introversion and Codemasters supporting Philips' upcoming 'ambient experiences' kits.