MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The UK government has again rejected calls for tax breaks in the game development sector. Making what was clearly a coarse pre-budget speech for tough times, Chancellor Alistair Darling declared that his budget is one that would "secure the [economy’s] recovery and promote long-term growth." But Darling’s pre-budget speech – …
Read More »ICE joins forces with Daily Mirror
ICE Games have signed a deal with Trinity Mirror Group to provide gaming editorial for the Daily Mirror website. The firm’s Cheats Unlimited website was integrated into the Mirror’s website – which boasts eight million unique users per month – last week. The Mirror deal is part of many exciting …
Read More »40m 3D displays predicted by 2014
A new report entitled Stereoscopic 3D Gaming has predicted that over 40m 3D-capable displays will be installed in households around the world by 2014. Its conclusion is seemingly based on both the fact that 3D films are currently outperforming their 2D variants on a revenue per screen basis and extensive …
Read More »New streaming service revealed
An Israel-based company that directly provides streaming games to set top boxes has claimed its service will offer publishers long-term revenue opportunities when it launches next year. PlayCast allows modern video games to be played live via on-demand TV providers such as BT and Virgin Media, without the need for …
Read More »Halo Reach a huge leap forward
Its release remains a long way off but the hype machine looks like its about to kick into life as Microsoft looks to finish the year by bigging up what could be its biggest release of 2010 – Bungie’s Halo Reach. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s Video Game Awards on December …
Read More »Physical media extinction inevitable
A cocktail of strong debate and sparkling wit was the outcome of sister site Develop’s first ever Jury Service feature, which resulted in a near-unanimous verdict that physical content is now on borrowed time. If you look at the model adopted by the music industry, it is getting rarer and …
Read More »US: Ghostbusters grabs Google search gong
Search engine leader Google has published its Zeitgeist 2009 report – which lists the Top Ten searches in North America across a number of popular entertainment sectors over the last year – and Atari’s Ghostbusters has emerged as the winner. Google’s report is compiled from the billions of queries people …
Read More »THQ and Dreamworks extend deal
Publisher THQ has signed an extension to its partnership with animation studio Dreamworks that will see three new titles released over the next two years. Alongside the previously announced MegaMind, THQ will now also publish Kung Fu Panda: The KaBoom of Doom, Puss in Boots and The Penguins of Madagascar, …
Read More »Riccitiello: Digital to overtake boxed product in 2010
In the wake of EA’s long-expected purchase of social network gaming specialist Playfish earlier this month, boss John Riccitiello has predicted that emerging online-based gaming models will overtake traditional console gaming to become the dominant force by next year. When people think of games they traditionally think of the Xbox, …
Read More »Livingstone: Pre-owned threatens boxed market
UK development legend Ian Livingstone has raised concerns over the growth in pre-owned sales on the High Street – suggesting the practice may force publishers and studios to bypass traditional retail. Speaking exclusively to MCV, Eidos life president Livingstone predicted that IP owners will begin looking to online activation codes …
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