NEW YEAR, NEW JOB: Develop February out now

The February 2012 issue of Develop is now live in print, online, to download, and on iPad, offering a range of features looking at the games industry jobs market.

Our cover feature brings together 128 pieces of advice from dozens of the industry’s best studios, tool companies, HRs, discipline specialists and recruiters, providing an essential guide to those looking for a new job, considering setting up on their own, or employing a workforce.

On the following pages, Develop’s industry Salary Survey, compiled from input from almost 1,000 games industry professionals and sponsored by MPG Universal, offers a frank look at the state of pay packets across all disciplines, and addresses the issue of gender-inbalance in the games sector. You can also, of course, see how your wage compares with the industry average.

Also in the issue is a fascinating look at free-to-play, with NaturalMotion Games arguing that the space will soon outgrow traditional triple-A games in terms of its financial potential and status. There’s also a look at a computer named Angelina, which is starting to develop its own games without the need for humans; something that could have major implications for the future of the industry.

We also interview Irrational Games’ Ken Levine, who talkz about his time in the spotlight and the culture at the studio behind BioShock Infinite.

Additionally, there’s a visit to Ubisoft’s creatively daring Montpellier studio, where Michel Ancel and Eric Chahi work their magic, and a consideration of the future of the UK’s Cambridge development hub.

There’s also all the latest tools, tech and service news, and opinion from industry leaders.

And you can read it all right now, either by downloading the Digital Edition of this month’s Develop magazine, or by viewing it in your browser here. And, if you’re an iPad user, you can view the issue in our superb Develop iPad app.

Both the iPad app and the Digital Edition of Develop are sponsored by Big World Technology – a vendor of mature and reliable middleware for MMO games and networks.