MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The popularity of emerging business models and free-to-play has significantly reduced the scope for full-price triple-A success in the modern games market. That’s the opinion of Ubisoft’s Toronto Studio boss Jade Raymond, who believes that while the sector has reduced in size there is still scope for success in more …
Read More »Warner announces F2P DC arena brawler Infinite Crisis
Lord of the Rings Online studio Turbine is developing a free-to-play arena battler based on the DC Comics licence. It’s called Infinite Crisis and it will be published by Warner Bros. It’s due out at some time in 2013 on PC. It’ll feature lots of recognisable DC faces and will …
Read More »Warner launches free Hobbit browser game
The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age is now available to play for free in browsers. The Facebook game is developed by Kabam and draws heavily on the license recently popularised by the first of Peter Jackson’s films. It’s the second game to be released via the collaboration between Warner …
Read More »Real Racing 3 smashes series’ download records
One of the great things about the internet is that it gives everyone a voice. But one of the bad things about the internet is that it gives everyone a voice. Remember the furore that erupted over EA and Firemonkey’s decision to make Real Racing 3 a F2P title? Remember …
Read More »Cliffy B: "It’s bullshit that EA has ‘scumbag’ memes and that Good Guy Valve can Do No Wrong"
Former Epic developer Cliff Blezsinski has called for a halt to the endless stream of vitriol aimed at the free to play market. Instead of spending so much time shouting loudly at the internet, he argues, all gamers need to do is vote with their wallets. All publishers are businesses …
Read More »Will free-to-play console games lead the next generation?
We’re days away from learning more about how the next generation of consoles will take shape – and developers predict free-to-play games will be at the heart of it. The games industry has embraced the business model in the past few years, with publishing giants like EA and Ubisoft investing …
Read More »Firemonkeys tones down freemium elements of Real Racing 3
A consumer backlash to the freemium business model implemented in Real Racing 3 has forced a change to the game. Earlier this week the game was dated for February 28th, although it is currently available as part of a soft launch” in some territories (not including the UK). However, what …
Read More »Now Tetris is getting the free-to-play treatment
EA has decided to give age-old puzzle classic Tetris a free-to-play makeover. Tetris Blitz is described as an innovative new twist on the world famous puzzle game” that contains fresh new features and stunning visuals for the ultimate Tetris experience”. In much the same way as PopCap altered the rule …
Read More »Tank! Tank! Tank! goes free to play on Wii U
Nintendo has made good on its promise to broaden its digital software offer by making Namco Bandai’s Tank! Tank! Tank! Free to play. The game has failed to perform commercially, not least because of the critical mauling that saw it win a Metacritic average of just 45 per cent. Gamers …
Read More »SimBin releases free-to-play RaceRoom Racing Experience
Swedish developer SimBin, best known for the GTR games, has released a new free-to-play game titled RaceRoom Racing Experience. Pegged as being more than a game”, the RaceRoom experience is spread across three destinations – a game, a content store, and a motorsports portal. SimBin’s past games have been known …
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