MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Publisher Ubisoft has revealed that the servers set-up to facilitate its new PC game DRM strategy are once again under attack in what many are presuming is a further protest against its anti-piracy measures. Players of both Assassin’s Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 – the first two games from …
Read More »Xbox 360 is most used online platform
Gamers spend more time playing the Xbox 360 online than any other console, with an average 7.3 hours spent per week, a new NPD report claims. The PC and PS3 follow with 6.6 hours and 5.8 hours respectively. However the PC remains the most owned online format, with 85 per …
Read More »Government cools net disconnection threats
In a lengthy response to a petition calling for Government to abandon Business Secretary Peter Mandelson’s plans to disconnect the internet connections of file-sharers, Number 10 has seemingly confirmed that it is distancing itself from the proposals. Mandelson has previously expressed his approval of France’s controversial three-strikes-an-you’re-out” policy, and last …
Read More »Ubisoft: Impact of piracy measures will be "limited"
The contentious copy-protection method that will require all Ubisoft PC titles to be constantly connected to the web is crucial for fighting piracy, the publisher says. The new ‘online platform’, as the publisher describes it, will be introduced with the release of Assassin’s Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 on …
Read More »iPad the reaction
Now the long wait is at last over, the tech industry has been keen to share their impressions of Apple’s smartphone-netbook stopgap, the iPad – and the reactions paint a very mixed picture. Some foresee big things for iPad, with the extra screen space and five-point mutli-touch opening up a …
Read More »Ubisoft defends piracy plans
Ubisoft has further clarified its intentions to employ an always-on” internet connection policy in some of its future PC releases. The publisher’s plans have evoked a strong reaction from PC users – as is demonstrated in the comments on MCV’s earlier story – with many fearing that they will be …
Read More »Ubi looks to net piracy solution
In a move to try and quell the ongoing piracy problem on PC, Ubisoft will require players of a selection of its future PC titles to have a constant connection to the internet. Titles will constantly verify themselves via a connection to Ubisoft’s servers. To spruce up the offering Ubisoft …
Read More »Online retail explodes over Xmas
The Christmas break may be a time to focus on family and loved ones, but it now seems that it has become the prime opportunity for online shopping – and Xmas 2009 looks to have been the most successful yet. The Retail Bulletin reports that number from the Interactive Media …
Read More »IsoHunt downed by copyright lawyers
Though Christmas day is behind us, IP holders have been given a late festive present with news that another high-profile BitTorrent site – Gary Fung’s IsoHunt – has been closed following a successful prosecution in California. A US District Court judge found that Fung and his site had infringed copyright …
Read More »Pirates "spend more on content"
In what will surely encourage the self-validating conscience of illicit file-sharers, a new study has concluded that people who pirate digital content end up spending more on it than those who don’t. A survey commissioned by the think-tank group Demos showed that broadband users who never pirate material each spend …
Read More »