MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Ubisoft is the latest publisher rumoured to be introducing an online pass that charges pre-owned buyers extra for in-game content. Gamerzines is reporting that ‘Uplay Passport’ will restrict access to online multiplayer in upcoming racer Driver: San Francisco. Only those who buy the game new – or buy a code …
Read More »Martin Davies joins GAME board
High Street retailer GAME has hired former Holidaybreak boss Martin Davies as non-executive director. 51-year-old Davies joins the GAME board with immediate effect. He keeps his role of chief executive at travel group Holidaybreak which he has held since April 2010. Before this, Davies worked as CEO of school trip …
Read More »Its too late for game retailers to start offering digital downloads
Online retailer Gameseek has warned other boxed game retailers that it’s too late to join the digital download market. The website – which has been online since 2000 – scrapped its download service earlier this year due to low demand. MD Stephen Staley told MCV that the success of established …
Read More »Codemasters wants Pole Position for F1 2011
It was one of the top-selling titles of 2010 and now Codemasters is ensuring this year’s F1 game follows suit. The developer-publisher has invested its biggest ever marketing spend forF1 2011.Last year’s F1 2010 was backed by Codies’ largest ad campaign at the time and went on to sell over …
Read More »App Store game prices rise
Apple has upped the cost of games and other downloads on the App Store platform. Prices for apps increased in several countries – including the UK – and dropped in others. Games like Angry Birds which were previously 59p now cost 69p, while 1.19 apps have become 1.49. Apple reportedly …
Read More »Sony: PSN hack a great learning experience
The man in charge of Sony’s network entertainment division has outlined the lessons learned from PSN’s hack attack. Speaking at the Gamesbeat 2011 conference in San Francisco, Tim Schaaff told VentureBeat recovering from a major hack is about more than just improving security. Sony switched off its online gaming PlayStation …
Read More »Deus Ex set to kick off market recovery
It’s beena tough six months for the UKindustry, but Deus Ex: Human Revolution is shaping up to be the game that will kick-start the turnaround. Square Enix’s RPG shooter – out August 26th – is being promoted by one of the publisher’s heaviest marketing spends to date.It’s the first big …
Read More »New publisher targets PCsector
Astart-up publisher has targeted the PCgames market as it expands its presence in the UK. Cheshire-based Merge Games entered the UKretail market in March 2011 after setting up last year. It’s predominantly a PC game publisher but also focuses on the mobile and tablet formats. It has plans to enter …
Read More »Bethesda kicks off Rage ads early
Bethesda’s upcoming FPS Rage has benefited from a string of early ads to build excitement well ahead of release. The publisher kicked off its Rage marketing action plan around half a year ahead of its October 7th release to set the new 360, PS3 and PC IP apart from other …
Read More »Summer of Arcade to drive XBLA card sales
Retailers: Make sure you stock up on Microsoft Xbox Live points cards. The annual summer games lull may be approaching retail, but Microsoft is expecting nothing of the sort on Xbox Live Arcade. The platform holder is kicking off its 2011 Summer of Arcade promotion on July 20th with the …
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