MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Sony has announced that the number of PS3 owners who have downloaded and booted up PlayStation Home at least once has reached 19m. Director of Home Jack Buser wouldn’t confirm how many users are actively using the service, however, though he did say that 1.6m people in North America played …
Read More »Ngmoco: NGP is dead on arrival
Sony’s upcoming PSP successor the Next Generation Portable will be unable to compete with Apple’s iPhone and its digital distribution portal the App Store, a leading casual games exec has warned. His thoughts echo those muttered by analyst Michael Pachter last year. I think they are hurt; I think they’re …
Read More »EA and Bigpoint strike F2P deal
EA and Bigpoint have announced a ‘strategic relationship’ to distribute certain titles from within EA’s Play4Free online platform. The first EA title that will be featured on the Bigpoint network will be Lord of Ultima this March. "I believe that the gaming industry is starting to fully appreciate the shift …
Read More »GDC11: Rovio counters Nintendo’s app warning
Speaking at a lively session at the Game Developers Conference today, Rovio exec Peter Vesterbacka has argued that 59p title Angry Birds is in no way disposable. In February, Nintendo’s US boss Reggie Fils-Aime said one of the biggest risks today in our gaming industry are these inexpensive games that …
Read More »GDC11: Angry Birds approaches 100m
The iPhone phenomenon Angry Birds is feasibly close to being downloaded 100 million times, an exec from the game’s creator has said. Speaking earlier today at the Game Developers Conference, Rovio exec Peter Vesterbaka said the Finnish studio was close to that remarkable milestone. People were saying we were crazy …
Read More »GDC11: Steam to support ‘TV interaction’
More Steam in more places as Valve's 'big picture' mode lets players enjoy games on television screens
Read More »Zynga settles Mafia Wars lawsuit
FarmVille creators Zynga have settled out of court after being sued by online game developer Digital Chocolate. The latter claimed Zynga’s popular 2008 Facebook title Mafia Wars infringed on copyright of its own 2004 mobile game of the same name, according to The Recorder. Terms of the settlement have not …
Read More »Smurfs’ Village hits 10m downloads
The rebirth of the Smurf continues to gather pace following Capcom’s confirmation that its free-to-play iOS title Smurfs’ Village has now passed the 10m download mark on the Apple App Store. Fellow Capcom title Zombie Cafe has also hit the same milestone. In this highly competitive market, the secret behind …
Read More »FTC to examine freemium games model
The US Federal Trade Commission is looking into reports of children blowing their parents’ credit cards on mobile social games. The FTC says it’s aware of complaints that in-app payments can allow children to spend money within mobile social games without their parents’ permission, and is looking into the issue. …
Read More »PlayStation Home – 2 years on
Sony’s PlayStation Home is two years old. That’s a success in itself, but perhaps the service’s biggest accomplishment is how successfully it has overcome the initial cynicism and flourished into a money making business. "From a business point of view, virtual items and microtransactions… it just works," Home’s platform director …
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