MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Microsoft is fostering new relationships with developers in a bid to bring free-to-play gaming to Xbox, Develop understands. Several sources connected to the matter say Microsoft is, behind the scenes, calling on developers to discuss possible free-to-play game deals. This will be games that can either be monetised by in-game …
Read More »EA losing ground in casual sector
Cowen & Company’s Doug Creutz has predicted that EA will slip drop a place in the casual and social games market within the next few weeks, with German company Wooga overtaking it in terms of active monthly users. "EA’s user base continues to decline," a note to investors claims. "Over …
Read More »INDIE FOCUS: Barkman Computers
You’ve been in business for almost 25 years – what has been key to your success?The ongoing support of publishers and distributors – without them we wouldn’t be where we are today. We started out selling Atari, Amiga, Spectrum and Commodore systems, the early home computer formats. We soon began …
Read More »HMV offers 10% 3DS Street Pass discount
Retailer HMV has launched an impressively innovative 3DS offer for customers. It will give a ten per cent discount on any 3DS game to any customer who picks up an HMV store Mii using the 3DS Street Pass system. Street Pass, for those who aren’t familiar, allows 3DS owners to …
Read More »Sledgehammer’s COD spin-off on hold
Activision has said that the mysterious "action-adventure" instalment to the Call of Duty franchise is on hold. The game was first cryptically mentioned in the wake of the Infinity Ward saga of early 2010. However, with Sledgehammer named as one of the four studios working on Modern Warfare 3 the …
Read More »Sony ‘laid off security staff’ prior to PSN hack
An American lawsuit filed this week alleges that Sony laid off a number of staff in charge of maintaining the security of its online networks. It also claims that the company invested more in securing its corporate information than it did in protecting the details of its customers. Reuters reports …
Read More »No ETA for PSN restoration in Japan
Japanese gamers are still none the wiser as to when the PlayStation Network will be fully restored in their country where the PS Store still remains offline. When PSN was eventually reactivated last month, the Japanese government stepped in to block its restoration in Japan saying that it wanted further …
Read More »LulzSec dismisses Cleary links
A supposed member of LulzSec has claimed that Ryan Cleary, the man arrested and charged by the MET earlier this week, is not a member of the organisation. Although concrete information on the subject is sparse, many believe that Cleary is indeed the mastermind behind LulzSec. Not so, an anonymous …
Read More »Bee.com launches first High Street store
Everyone thought Play.com or Amazon would do it first. Even The Hut Group talked about it last year. But it’s emerging online retailer Bee.com that has taken the bold step onto the High Street. The website launched a shop in the Manchester Arndale Centre last weekend. The new outlet is …
Read More »1m dance games sold every month
The lucrative dancing game genre shows no signs of slowing down. Over 1m dance games are sold globally every month, according to MCV research. That includes 12m Just Dance games, over 3m copies of Michael Jackson, 2.5m copies of Microsoft’s Dance Central and 2m units of 505 Games’ Zumba Fitness. …
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