MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
After what can rightly be described as a mixed first year, EA and BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic is now a free-to-play title. Throughout the game’s early life subscriber numbers hit a reasonable 1.7m, although within six months that number had fallen to 1.3m and as of July this …
Read More »GameStop pre-orders point to great Wii U software tie ratio
You can sell all the consoles you want, but unless you can convince the people that own them to buy software you’re still screwed. So Nintendo will take great heart from the fact that it isn’t just the Wii U hardware that’s showing huge signs of popularity – the software’s …
Read More »Wargaming sets down roots in Southeast Asia
Players of World of Tanks in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines will soon be finding that their gaming experience has become somewhat smoother. Wargaming has announced the establishment of a direct presence in the region, in which it released World of Tanks back in May. As well as a dedicated …
Read More »Animal Crossing propels 3DS skywards in Japan; Outsells Vita by 47:1
Sales of the PlayStation Vita have fallen to an all-time low in Japan, but that’s not Sony’s biggest concern this week. The release of new title Animal Crossing: New Leaf – a very popular IP in Japan – saw 3DS hardware sales rocket, with 187,077 units being shifted last week. …
Read More »GameStop reports physical decline and digital boom
International games retail giant GameStop has reported a decline in physical sales but a boost in digital for the quarter ending October 27th. Net losses for the period reached $624.3m compared to net earnings of $53.9m the year before, but this includes goodwill and other impairment charges of $678.8m stemming …
Read More »PS3 version of Black Ops 2 has a few online teething issues
With millions of day one sales, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was always going to experience a couple of hiccups. Sadly for owners of the PS3, both of the early issues are dogging only their systems. Some players have taken to the European PlayStation forums to complain of online …
Read More »8GB Wii U console has 3GB of usable memory
Nintendo may be taking bold strides into digital distribution with the Wii U, but owners of the 8GB Basic console will need to invest in external storage to make the most of it. Kotaku reports that, as is standard with any electronic device, the Basic Wii U actually ships with …
Read More »Judge dismisses Beyonce’s attempt to throw out $100m dance game lawsuit
Beyonce Knowles WILL have to go to court to face a $100m lawsuit from developer Gate Five. The studio began legal proceedings against the R&B star last year over an alleged breach of contract concerning a dancing game called Starpower: Beyonce, claiming "a bad faith breach of contract so callous …
Read More »Flickr creator’s social game Glitch announces closure
Glitch, the free to play social game from Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield, has confirmed that it will terminate next month. The developer said in 2010 that he had been working on Glitch since before the creation of Flickr. It combined elements of platforming and RPGs with social networking. The gameworld …
Read More »Punch Quest no longer free as dev laments lack of returns
One of the more popular iOS games of late has been forced to drop its free-to-play model and instead ask players to pay up front. Punch Quest was a hit with critics not only for its gameplay but also for its generous freemium model that allowed players to choose between …
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